The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1142
BID: $OPDX.1142
December 23, 2013
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, K5GS, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m News, W9ILY, K0IR, AT International, CO8ZZ, DK8JB & The DX News Letter, DL1SBF, DxCoffee.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I0JBL, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, IK7JWX, JI3DST/JS6RRR, JR3QFB, LA4LN, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, Pete's DX-Newsdesk, PT7CG, PT7WA, PY5EG, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, SM7RME, VA3RJ & ICPO, the VHF-DX- Portal (MMMonVHF), and YF1AR for the following DX information.

SPECIAL NOTE FROM EDITOR (Tedd, KB8NW)
My family (wife/OPDX's chief proof-reader Linda, son Teddy [TJ] and his wife Jessi, daughter Katie and her husband Kevin and son Lliam), and I (KB8NW) would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas and Season's Greetings". Thanks to the many individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me.
73 and Have a Great Holiday de Tedd KB8NW

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 15th-December, through Sunday, 22nd-December, there were 222 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B6, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5N, 5R, 5T, 6W, 6Y, 7P, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9U, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE0Z, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E5/s, E6, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FH, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H40, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J2, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JY, K, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PZ, S2, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TL, TR, TT, TU, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9N, VP2V, VP5, VP8, VP8/h, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, XX9, YA, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS, ZS8

PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later" (WFWL).

1A, SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA (Update)
An "international team" of operators led by Francesco, IK0FVC, will be active as 1A0KM from the Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM) between January 2-7th (2014). At present time, operators will be Francesco/IK0FVC, Luciano/I0JBL, Sergio/IK0FTA, Roberto/IK0PRG, Michele/IW0BYL, Gianfranco/I0ZY, Antonio/ I0GOJ, Fabrizio/I0HCJ, Marco/IK0DWN, Giordano/IK0XFD, Gianluca/IK5HHA, Cristiano/IZ0IEN, Andrea/IZ0NRG, Rudi/DK7PE, Franz/DJ9ZB, Seppo/OH1VR, Robert/S53R and Sandro/VE7NY. QSL via Sergio, IK0FTA, and also LoTW. 1A0KM operation supports the DX-Code of conduct. Online log facility will be also available. Look for more details to be forthcoming. Also, a Web page is now up and running, but with limited info at:

2014 N7QT DXPEDITIONS
Rob, N7QT, will be active during the new year from a few locations. He announces on QRZ.com his upcoming DXpeditions:

April 2014 - San Andres; callsign HK0/N7QT; 80-10m using CW, SSB and the Digital modes.
October 2014 - Austral Islands; callsign TX5D; holiday style DXpedition; primary focus on 80/40m using CW and SSB; see OPDX.1125
November 2014 - Manihiki Island, North Cooks (E51); 80-10m using CW, SSB and the Digital modes.

3C0 & 3C4, ANNOBON ISLAND AND EQUATORIAL GUINEA
Elmo, EA5BYP, is planning a trip to Annobon Island (AF-039) to be active as 3C0BYP, and a trip to Bioko Island (AF-010), Equatorial Guinea, to be active as 3C4BYP. Specific dates have not been announced yet, but the operations will happen soon. Stay tuned! QSL via his home callsign.

5Z, KENYA
Marc, ON4EZ, will be active as 5Z4/homecall from between December 22nd and January 6th. No other details were provided.

7P, LESOTHO
Ewald, DK3ID/OE8IDK, will be active as 7P8ID from Lesotho between February 11-16th. Activity will be on 40-6 meters SSB using 100 watts. QSL via DK3ID or OE8IDK direct.

8Q, MALDIVES
Kasimir, DL2SBY, will be active as 8Q7KB from two of Maldives' islands in 2014. Activity will be on 20-10 meters including 17/12 meters and possibly 30 meters using CW and SSB. His schedule is as follows:

February 12-18th - Ziyaaraifushi Island (AS-013)
February 18-24th - Fihahohi Island (AS-013)

C9, MOZAMBIQUE
Karl, ZS6ALB, is once again active as C91KHN from Mozam- bique. The length of his stay is not known at this time. Activity has been on 10 and 6 meters. He was using his new contest callsign C91C in the 10 meter contest last weekend. QSL via his home callsign direct (preferred). Log will be uploaded to LoTW and ClubLog.

EA, SPAIN (Satellites)
Mark, N8MH, will be active as EA4/N8MH from Madrid (WW Loc. IN80) between December 24th and January 2nd, while on a family holiday. It is possible that he will be active on FO-29, VO-52, AO-73, SO-50, and AO-7 (?) satellites. He states,

"This is a very low priority part of the trip, and I can't predict when I'll be able to get on the air (limitations of being in the city with poor view to sky, etc.). But I am going to try at least a few passes one way or another! .... My station will be very simple--FT-817, Elk antenna, and a hand mic. Working half-duplex on the SSB birds will be very challenging for me! I am spoiled by fully automated station operations."

FT5Z, AMSTERDAM ISLAND (Press Release: Dec. 21, 2013)

"Amsterdam Island DXpedition - All the equipment the Amsterdam Island DXpedition team shipped to New Zealand is now aboard the MV Braveheart. All our documentation ­ sanitation inspections, hull inspections, de-ratting certification, and bio-security clearance ­ has been completed.

The vessel will be fueled for its voyage to Australia on December 23rd. On December 24th, fresh produce for the initial voyage will be taken aboard. The crew will celebrate Christmas Day at home with their families and then on December 26th, at 1400 local time, during high slack water, the vessel will sail for Fremantle, Australia.

The Braveheart will sail around the north cape of New Zealand's north island, across the Tasman Sea, across the Great Australian Bight, and up the west coast of Australia to the port of Fremantle. Additional pro- visions will be taken aboard in Australia and the vessel will be re-fueled for the voyage to Amsterdam Island and back.

FT5ZM team members will begin arriving in Fremantle on January 9th. There will be team meetings, toasts, and shopping trips. Our good VK6 friends have acquired some additional supplies for us and we will take these aboard. The team will board the Braveheart on January 14th, configure our maritime mobile station, and sail for Amsterdam Island on January 15th.

You will likely hear from us one more time before we leave our respective countries and fly to Australia. However, as always, thank you to the amateur and DX community for your support and interest. Visit our website frequently for late breaking news and updates. We've not yet reached our financial goals, but with your continued support, that goal is in sight.
73 ­ Ralph ­ K0IR"

It was announced earlier that this DXpedition will also be a humanitarian operation with donations of medicines to the "Italy Day Hospital". QSL via IK7JWX, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. They are looking for sponsors for donations to Radio Club of Tanzania and Italy Day Hospital of Zanzibar : 1/2 Poste Pay Card (Visa Electron) nr. 4023600649350826 to Alfredo De Nisi - Vico della Cavallerizza, 4/D-73100 LECCE.

AS-124. (CANCELLED) During the last few days, operators of the A63RI tried to land on the island of Dibba Rock, but could not because of winds and waves. Another attempt -- "possibly" in January. For updates, watch: http://www.mdxc.org/a63ri

OC-272. (Correction) Last week we misunderstood Budi's, YF1AR, E-mail sent to OPDX and reported that Kisar Island was postponed. This is not the case. Instead, operators Budi/YF1AR and Imam/YF4IR will still be active as homecall/8 from Kisar Island (LH IDO-376) by the time you read this until December 25th. However, Joppy/ YB8XM is the operator who had to "postpone due to a new work assignment". For more details and updates, visit the Web site at:

SA-025. (Update) Operators Raimundo/PT7CG and Renner/PY7RP will be active as ZX8DX from Pedra do Sal Beach on Grande de Santa Isabel Island between December 26-30th. Raimundo informs OPDX that they are planning to operate on 80-10 meters, including 30/17/12 meter bands using the Digital modes, SSB and CW. They will use 2 FT-450 with vertical antennas and 100W power and a "Digikeyer II Microham". QSL via PT7CG.

SA-050. Well known DXer/Traveler Vladimir, UA4WHX, is now active as CE9/UA4WHX from Navarino Island. The length of his stay is not known. Activity has been on 20/15/12/10 meters CW. QSL via info on QRZ.com.

J3, GRENADA
Ulf, DL5AXX, will once again be active as J38XX between February 6-18th, 2014. Activity will be focused on the lower bands, but also in the ARRL International DX CW Contest (February 15-16th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via his home callsign. Online-QSL-Requests can be obtained at:

KP2, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS
John, K3TEJ, is now active as KP2/K3TEJ until December 30th. Activity will be on HF bands CW only. John is"usually" on 160m and 30/17/12 meter bands. QSL via K3TEJ.

LI/LJ/LM1814, NORWAY (Special Prefixes)
Tom, LA4LN, NRRL HF Traffic Manager, informs OPDX:

"During all of the year 2014, Norwegian LA stations may use the LI (Lima India) prefix, and LB stations may use the LJ (Lima Juliet) prefix, as part of the celebration of 200 years since the Norwegian Constitution, which was approved on 17 May 1814. QSL will be via the respective LA and LB permanent callsign. The special prefixes may only be used from the Norwegian mainland. There will also be a special station active, with the callsign: LM1814 (QSL via LA2G). The Norwegian Radio Relay League (NRRL) plans to offer a special award for contacts with the jubilee stations with LI and LJ prefixes plus the special station LM1814. Stay tuned!"

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 23-29th)

 Dec/23rd AN      Dec/26th  AN      Dec/28th  AN
 Dec/24th AN      Dec/27th  AN      Dec/29th  AN
 Dec/25th AN


   SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE
   ======================================================
    NORMALITY               GEOMAG       K Values    Alpha
   -----------------        ------       --------    ------
   AN  - Above Normal       Quiet        K=0-1       0-7
   HN  - High Normal        Unsettled    K=2         8-15
   LN  - Low Normal         Active       K=3         16-29
   BN  - Below Normal       Minor Storm  K=4         30-49
   DIS - Disturbed          Major Storm  K=5         50-99
   VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9       100-400

P40, ARUBA
Operators Aki/JR3QFB/W3JH and Take/JI3DST/JS6RRR will be active as P40JH and P40R, respectively (callsigns pending and may be changed), from Aruba (SA-036) between March 12-18th (2014). Activity will be on 160-6 meters, including the 30/17/12 meter bands, using CW, SSB, FM and the Digital modes (RTTY/PSK31/PSK63/JT65A/JT9). QSL via their home callsigns, by the Bureau or direct (SASE with 2-GC or 1-IRC). Please check QRZ.com for details.

PJ4, BONAIRE
By the time you read this Bill, K9HZ, will be active as PJ4/K9HZ from Bonaire (SA-006) until January 1st (2014). Activity will be on 80-6 meters using QSL via his home callsign direct, LoTW and eQSL. NO Bureau QSLs.

QSL INFO AND NEWS

  QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (December 22nd)
  --------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3W1T via RW6HS (d/L)    HB0/HB9CVQ via HB9CVQ (d/L)   RI20ANT/MM via RW3RN
  5B4AHL via M0URX       HI4/CT1GIF via CT1GIF (W2-B/d)  S506PMC via S59DCD
  9K2/SP4R via SP7DQR     IA0MZ via IW0EFA              SN3WOSP via SP3CGK
  C31LBL via EA3DDP (d)   NY4A via RN3RQ (d/B/L)        SO4R via SP4PND
  CE8/UA4WHX via UA4WHX   OD5/F5TLN via F5TLN           TI5/N2BA via WA3RHW
  CE9/UA4WHX via UA4WHX   OF9X via OH2BH                VR2/IV3TAN via IV3TAN
  CO3JA via CO3JA (d)     PJ4DX via M0URX               VY1JA via N3SL (d);
  CO7WT via N2CQ          R95DOD via RA3SI                 JA3JM (JA only)
  FW5JJ via F5RXL
    HF110RAEM via SP2FAP (before Dec 23rd) and via SP3GVX (after Dec 23rd)
    (e) eQSL only  (d) direct only   (B) Bureau only  (L) LoTW only

QSL RECEIVED VIA LoTW: CE2AWW, DL2CC, DR1D, EC7CW, ER5LL, FJ/DK7LX, G3VMW, G5W, GM3X, HB9BXE, HR2J, HV4NAC, JL1BYZ, JM1LRA, K9W, KL7RA, KL7SB, LA2MOA, LO5D, LW6DB, LY5E, M1CEC, M2X, OK2SAR, OY9R, P29VNX, P40W, TG7/HR2DMR, UD6DKW, UG5UT, UT8IO, V49J, VE7JH, VK4NH, VP2V/N3DXX, VP8BTU, VU7AG, XE2S, XE2X and ZP9MCE

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4J3DJ, 4X1FQ, 5B4AJC, 5J0R, C5DXC, CP1/UA4WHX, EG3INT/7, FO/G4MFW, FO/KH0PR, HP0INT/2, HP0INT/3, HP0INT/4, HP0INT/9, J3/WJ7R, JX9JKA, LX2A, NT5V/KP2, OA4/UA4WHX, P29VNX, T6T, TX5RV, V31MA, V31ZM, ZA/UA4WHX and ZM90DX

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 4O/OK1MU, 40/OK4ZW, 4S7HBG, 6O0JT, 750ARA, 7X5RS, 9J1JA, 9M2/JE1SCJ, 9M0L, AH0BT, AL5A/AH0, C5A, C50C, DU1/JJ5GMJ, ET3JA, JD1BLY, MJ/SM3TLG, 0H0CO, OH0/OK2BOB, OL140FIRE, OL2011VP, PJ4/OK5MM, PY5/SQ7NSH, SI9AM, SJ5SOP, SM75FOC, SV5/OK1AMM, SV5/OK2BOB, SV5/OK2ZV/P, T88EC, TC03W, TC07DX, TC098A, V31IZ, WH2DX, XV9NPS, ZA/OK2BOB, ZL1ANH, ZL1BGS, ZL1BYZ, ZL1YE, ZL2AOH, ZL2APV, ZL2AGY, ZL2ATU, ZL2IFB, ZL2JKY, ZL2JU, ZL2RR, ZL3ACU, ZL3CC, ZL3PAH, ZL3WD, ZL4NR, ZL5OVK, ZL6RWC, ZL7A and ZM4T

T32, EAST KIRIBATI (IOTA Op)
The DX-World.net" reports that

"A group of three operators plan to be active from Starbuck Island (OC-280) and Flint Island (OC-282) next March 2014."

TF, ICELAND
Jose, EA5IDQ, will be active as TF/EA5IDQ between May 11-22nd. This will be his first DXpedition. Activity will be holiday style on 40-10 meters using SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via EA5IDQ.

TR, GABON
Thorbjorn "Thor", SM7RME, was once again active as TR0A/p from Port Gentil, Mandji Island (AF-089). Most of his activity has been on 17/10 meters CW. However, by the time you read this, Thor should be QRT today (Monday). If you missed him, Thor informs OPDX that he will return in 2014 and will put up a log-periodic yagi, so then he will be active on 20 to 10 meters. QSL via SM7EHU.

VK0E, HEARD ISLAND
A press release was posted by Dr. Robert Schmieder, KK6EK, on December 15th, on the Heard Island Web page at:

"Following his visit to the Australian Antarctic Division offices in Hobart, Tasmania, Expedition Organizer Dr. Robert Schmieder made the final decisions that will define the expedition. The expedition is scheduled for Jan., 2015."

The team will be made up of several sub-teams, each with its own goals: mountaineering team, cryptobiology team, marine science team, documentation team, and the communications team who will use amateur radio to make up to 150,000 individual contacts worldwide using the callsign VK0EK, and provide real-time reporting of data and images to the internet, including automatically updating websites that display the activities of the team.

The expedition will be carried out under the auspices of Cordell Expedi- tions, a nonprofit research organization that has done expeditions to remote islands for more than 30 years. For further information, please contact Dr. Schmieder at schmieder@cordell.org, and visit the expedition Web site at

VK9M, MELLISH REEF
A new press release (#5 - dated December 22nd) has been posted on the VK9MT Web page. Excerpts from the release state that Norbert Meyer, DJ7JC, has been added to the team, and they also provide his bio info. They also list two more sponsors: DX Engineering and Astrid's Embroidery. The details on the boat scheduling has been confirmed for the DXpedition, and as well as Stu, K6TU, customized propagation prediction tools. The team continues their fund raising for the DXpedition with details on how to donate. For the complete press release, go to:

VQ9, CHAGOS
Jim, ND9M, is once again active as VQ9JC from Diego Garcia. The length of his stay is not known. Activity has been on 30/20/17 meters using mostly CW, with some SSB and RTTY. QSL via ND9M.

XW, LAOS
Champ, E21EIC, will once again be active as XW0YJY from Vientiane between December 24-30th. He informs OPDX,

"Focus will be on RTTY and I will try again on 160M. Last trip I worked 9 QSOs on 160M and 1 QSO from USA was Bob, W7LR."

ZD9, TRISTAN DA CUNHA
Members of the Italian DXpedition Team (IDT) have announced their next DXpedition. The IDT will go to Tristan da Cunha (AF-029) and be active as ZD9TT sometime between the period of September- October 2015. Their Web page states,

"The DXpedition will last a total of five weeks, of which two for travel and the middle three for operation. The main aim of the DXpedition will be to work the greatest possible number of unique calls, thus offering a possibility also to Little Pistols and QRP stations. All bands will be activated on CW and SSB, but RTTY operations will be confined to the 14 MHz band."

SPECIAL PRIZE THIS YEAR - ROUND TRIP AND ACCOMMODATIONS TO BOSTON TO ATTEND THE WRTC 2014 TO THE WINNERS SOAB AND ONE OF THE OPERATORS OF THE MOAB

Dear contesters:
During the next last full weekend of December 12:00 UTC Dec 28 till 12:00 UTC Dec 29, we are going to have the second edition of the World Wide Iron Ham Contest, sponsored by ADXG Araucaria Dx Group with full support of other Brazilian Contest Groups and LABRE.

It is a unique opportunity to exercise your operational abilities on three modes CW,PHONE and RTTY in one single 24 hours competition.

The main objectives of the competition is:
To promote the union of all radio amateurs in the world;

· To promote, CW, PHONE and DIGITAL modes to the entire ham radio community;
· To promote the integration of different mode operators around the world.
· To promote the integration of IT technologies with the Ham Radio competition.
· To promote and stimulate the ability for contest planning
· To drastically shorten the time for log submission and results publication
· To create contest alternatives for ham competition.

All the contest world community is invited to participate of the competition, and the Brazilian contesters will be honored to insert your call in their logs.

The rules are available at:

We recommend the use of the following contest softwares
N1MM - WWIH Contest
TR4W - WWIH (World Wide Iron Ham Contest) download TR4W_setup_244c_mmtty.zip
http://tr4w.com/download/mmtty

Regards
Oms PY5EG

ATILANO DE OMS
PP5EG - PY5EG - PY2OMS
ZW5B, PS2T, PT5T
ARAUCARIA DX GROUP

PLEASE NOTICE (as of February 12, 2007), NEW ADDRESS CHANGES FOR THE OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST:

Help: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:help
Subscribe: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:subscribe
Unsubscribe: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:unsubscribe

OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE (k8yse@papays.com):
http://www.papays.com/opdx.html

ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB HOME PAGE:
http://www.nodxa.org

http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation