The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1445
BID: $OPDX.1445
December 23, 2019
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)
Written/Sent from Strongsville, Ohio
Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, the AB5K's AR Cluster Networks, NJ1Q & W1AW, W2GB, WA2HZR, K3LR, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W9ILY, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, MM0NDX, RN3RQ, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO 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 daughter Lilly Grace), and I (KB8NW) would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy Holiday, Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings and Happy New Year". Thanks to the many individuals who have provided DX information over the past year. Without you there would not be an OPDX Bulletin. Also, thanks to the many individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me...... 73 and Have a Great Holiday de Tedd KB8NW P.S. Generally, this is the time of the year (Christmas/New Year holiday season) where the DX information reaches a low. So over the next two weeks there "may" not be a bulletin (especially on December 30th) or possibly a small content bulletin. During this time, I plan to spend my time with my daughter's family in Tennessee. However, I will send out any special announcements/bulletins. PLEASE keep sending your DX information to me. You never know what I may do.... Thanks and 73 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 203 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3D2, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1U, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5T, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H40, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JT, JW, JY, K, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PZ, S0, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, ST, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TT, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP5, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XW, YA, YB, YL, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z6, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS * PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later". 3B9, RODRIGUES ISLAND. David, F8AAN, will be active as 3B9AN or 3B9/F8AAN from Rodrigues Island (AF-017) between March 9-18th (2020). Activity will be on 160/80/40/30/20/17/15 meters CW. QSL via his home callsign, direct or ClubLog's OQRS. 6W, SENEGAL. Willy, ON4AVT, will once again be active as 6W7/ON4AVT some time in February 2020. His main activity will be on 60 meters using mostly FT8, with some CW and SSB, with a FT-891 with 100 watts into a HyEndFed antenna. QSL via the Bureau. For more details and updates, watch: https://www.on4avt.be/trip_to_senegal.htm 7X, ALGERIA. Members of the "Association des Radio Amateurs Tunisiens" (ARAT) are traveling to Algeria to conduct a joint Low Bands DXpedition with five members of the "Amateurs Radio Algeriens" (ARA) between December 28th and January 2nd (2020). The team is led by Afif/7X2RO and Ash/3V8SS/ KF5EYY, and will also includes Ahmed/3V1B/KG5OUE (22 years), Marwa/3V8CB (24 years, YL), Mohamed/7X3TL (27 years), Mohamed/7X5FG, Redha/7X5QB and Abdelghani/7X2TT/M0NPT. The operators will be focusing on working as many stations as possible on 160 and 80 meters as well as the other HF bands and Satellites. Modes will be CW/SSB/FT8. QSL via 7X2RO and LoTW. There will be ClubLog Live Streaming. For more details on how to help and/or LF skeds, E-mail Ash at: ash.kf5eyy@gmail.com Your financial support will be used to cover youngsters' costs. 8Q, MALDIVES. Roman, RN5M, is now active as 8Q7MA from Mathiveri Island (AS-013) until December 24th. Activity will be holiday style on 80/40/30/20 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via LY5W direct only and ClubLog. 8Q, MALDIVES. Sergey, RX3AMY, will be active as 8Q7BS from Mahibadhoo and Maafushi Islands, Maldives (AS-013), January 3-23rd (2020). Activity will be holiday style and with periodical work, operating mainly on 40 and 20 meters SSB (possibly CW), using a Yaesu FT-897 transceiver with dipoles. QSL via his home callsign. 9Q, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Fernando, EA4BB (ex-9Q5BB, D2BB, ST2BF, TU5JL, TZ6BB, Z21BB), who has been active as 9Q6BB from "The Democratic Republic of the Congo" for nearly 4 years, is now QRT. He dismantled his Goma station on December 18th, after making 26,000 QSOs. QSL via W3HNK, LoTW or eQSL. C5, GAMBIA. Przemyslaw, SP3PS, who became a resident of Gambia in 2017, will once again be active as C5SP from Sanyang between December 27th and January 17th. Activity will be on 20-6 meters using SSB and FT8/FT4. He will mainly call on 20m, but will also try to run on other bands, including LF in SSB. QSL via SP3PS, direct, LoTW or eQSL. DAY-ZENIA NEWS. Tim, K3LR, reports [edited]: I am proud to announce that student registration is now open for the 2020 Dayton ConTest University ("CTU") to be held all day on Thursday May 14th, 2020, at the Crowne Plaza in Dayton, Ohio. (http://contestuniversity.com) This is the day before Hamvention opens in Xenia, Ohio. Registration opened on December 16, 2019, and already 50 contesters have signed up!. Last year (2019 was a sell out with 350 attending). Eight different countries have hosted CTUs over the past thirteen years. USA, Australia, Russia, Germany, Italy, England, Brazil and Finland. Over 8500 students have attended these CTUs with more than 100 CTU Professors sharing their contesting experiences. 2020 will be the 14th year in a row for CTU Dayton. To give you an idea of the quality of the CTU content and activities you can see videos and PDFs from past CTUs on the CTU web site at: http://contestuniversity.com The 2020 CTU Professor line up will be posted on the CTU website very soon. Thanks to our returning professors NC0B, W0YK, K3LR, W3LPL, N6TV, W3YQ, N0AX and K1DG. You will notice additional NEW professors for 2020 once the posting is complete and posted. CTU professor stalwart Frank, W3LPL, is back for CTU 2020 after his sabbatical in 2019. Frank has taught many many sessions at CTU over the past 13 years. The 2020 CTU Dayton course outline will be posted soon. Check the CTU website for updates. Each presentation is carefully prepared with up to date information. There are scholarships (registration fee paid) available for CTU through a grant from the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) for those students 25 years old and younger. Please use the "contact us" button on the CTU website to get more information. 2020 Student registration information is on the CTU web site at: http://contestuniversity.com CTU registration makes a great Christmas gift! Important - as we did last year - if you want to sign up for CTU 2020 Dayton and you have given (or will give one by Hamvention 2020) a talk about Amateur Radio to any club, Hamfest or group since May 14, 2019 - you qualify for a 10.00 USDs registration fee discount. Please choose the "Registration with Club talk discount" option to get the 10.00 USDs discount. Spreading the word about amateur radio is lots of fun and can save you money at CTU! Thanks to all of the CTU sponsors including Icom America, DX Engineering, the Northern California DX Foundation, YASME, the Radio Club of America and CQ Magazine for making CTU possible. Thanks to K8MNJ and K1SO for all of their help with CTU. Special thanks to Scott, KA9FOX from QTH.com for hosting and constructing the CTU headquarters web site. CU in Dayton at CTU 2020 and Merry Christmas, Tim, K3LR, Contest University Chairman" FJ, ST. BARTHELEMY. Col, MM0NDX, from DX-World.net, reports the following update: "A team has now been formed and will be QRV from St. Barts during early May 2020. Since FJ is very wanted in Asia, focus will be given to that region. Our QTH is a hilltop villa with good take-off to difficult to work areas. Full info and callsigns after the New Year." FM/TO7, MARTINIQUE. Miguel, EA1BP, will be active as TO7BP from Martinique during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th, 2020). Outside of contest Miguel will be signing FM/EA1BP and will be on various HF bands. QSL via his home callsign by the Bureau. HR, HONDURAS. Dirk, WA4DT, will once again be active as HR9/WA4DT from West Bay, Roatan Island (NA-057), between January 19th and February 2nd (2020). Activity will be on the same bands as last time (40/30 meters) using CW and FT8. QSL via his home callsign direct only. IOTA NEWS.............. SA-029. Members of the UBRO DX Team will be active as ZZ1R from Rats Island (Ilha dos Ratos) between December 26-29th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4. SA-034. (Update) Jon, EA1VE, will be active as HC2JKT (not HC2/EA1VE as first announced) from Puna Island, Ecuador, between January 10-30th (2020). Activity will be on 40-6 meters SSB only. QSL via his home callsign. THE STORY BEHIND THE K5P (NA-089) & N5C (NA-082) OPERATIONS. Read the story about the N5C Cat Island (NA-082) and K5P Isle Au Pitre (NA-089) activation at: https://dx-world.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PitreandCatIsland.pdf PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the newhave decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX, and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... J2, DJIBOUTI. Operators Tom/DJ6TF, Manfred/DK1BT, Wolf/DL4WK, Annette/ DL6SAK, Tom/DL7BO, Sigi/DL7DF, Frank/DL7UFR and Leszek/SP3DOI will be active from Djibouti between March 4-16th (2020). Their callsign is pending. They will have three stations on the air from 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. Their equipment consists of a trans- ceiver Elecraft K2, three transceivers Icom IC7300, four power amplifiers, bandpass filters, a vertical for 160 and 80m, a 40m loop, a 30m loop, a Spiderbeam for 20-10m, loop antennas for 20/15/10m and a beverage. Pilot station for this DXpedition is Bernd, DF3CB. QSL via DL7DF, direct or by the DARC Bureau. They will upload the full logs of the DXpedition to LoTW within 6 months after the DXpedition. For more details and updates, see: http://www.dl7df.com/j2 OPDX MAILING LIST (Just A Reminder). The "new" OPDX Mailing List is back up and running! Details on how to subscribe/unsubscribe are at the bottom of this bulletin. PLEASE pass the word around.... Thanks and 73 de Tedd KB8NW P4, ARUBA. Ben, DL6RAI, is once again active as P4/DL6RAI from Aruba until December 26th. Activity has been on CW and focused on the low bands. QSL via DL6RAI, direct, by the Bureau, ClubLog or LoTW. 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 Meanwhile, check out the following Web sites for propagation: * VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/hf and http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html * DX.QSL.NET Propagation page: https://dx.qsl.net/propagation * A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm * SolarHam Web page: http://www.solarham.net * Radio Propagation/Space Weather/Sunspot Cycle Information at: http://sunspotwatch.com * Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at: http://arrl.org/propagation * Information and tutorials on propagation are at: http://k9la.us * Graphic propagation tool by DR2W: http://www.dr2w.de/dx-propagation * Point to point propagation at: http://www.predtest.uk/p2p.html * Realtime propagation at: http://www.predtest.uk * Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm PZ, SURINAME. Arie, PA4ARI, is now active as PZ/PA4ARI close to the city of Paramaribo until January 7th (2020). Activity will be on 80/40/20 meters using SSB, FT4 and FT8. Some suggested frequencies are 7080, 7090, 7150, 7160, 14160 and 14240 kHz. QSL via PA4ARI, direct or by the Bureau. QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (www.qslinfo.eu)(December 22nd) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 9K91BND via 9K2RA IQ1OD via 9A8MDC PZ/PA4ARI via PA4ARI C4XMAS via IZ4AMS & (L) KH0/WB6Z via JF1OCQ SF0Z via SM0HEV (L/B) DA0FONTANE via DK6AN OA4/YV6CW via YV6CW (e) SV1AHH/AM via SV1AHH (d/L) DL/KU1CW via KU1CW (L) OE4XLC via OE4RGC SV9/KC8JNV via KC8JNV & (L) DL250BTHVN via DL7DSW OE50NOE via OE6XMF TR8CR via F6AJA EA8/HB9EIZ/P via HB9EIZ (N) OO9A via ON8YB & (L) Z68MA via Z32ZM (O) HB30YDL via HB3YDL OR18OST via ON4OS II8FT via II8FT (e) OR18WRA via ON4WRA (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (I) No IRC (P) PayPal (NB) No Bureau LOGS ONLINE AT CLUBLOG.ORG THIS WEEK...... https://clublog.org/logsearch/A5A https://clublog.org/logsearch/A5B https://clublog.org/logsearch/A50BOC QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3B8/W6XD, 3D2A, 4U1UN, 5B4AMX, 8R1/AG6UT, 9X0Y, 9Y0T, C21WW, C56XA, D68CCC, DS3EXX, HK0RMR, HR5/F2JD, IS0GQX, KA1ERL, PJ4K, RU3GF, TI7W, UA4HBW, V55A, VK9NC and WH0RU QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 8R1/AH0G, 9H1XT, C21WW, ON7PQ, RV1CC/0 (AS-025), RW0IM/p (AS-059) and YE0M QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3W2MAE, 8J50IARU, 8Q7PE, AM870DA, CE3/DL5DSM, CT9/UZ5DX, DK200MARX, DL3SEM, DL65TRS, DQ1200ASP, EA5BY, EA8/OK2BUJ, EG25JRA, F5PRH, F8AAB, HS90IARU, IZ2DPX, J34G, J400EG, JD1BON, LZ117ML, LZ1809PNS, LZ391MW, LZ497OM, LZ815NI, LZ818PT, OF3077F, OH0V, OK7K, OY/DL1ZBO, P4/OK7MT, P4/S50M, PJ2/DL1RNT, PJ2/KF4DX, PJ4KY, PJ4Y, PP7DX, R27EKB, RO75NN, RW1AI, SF50CG, SP7VG, SV130PAP, SV5/DL3DRN, UK8AR, UN7AM, US7IID, UW7LL, V34AO, V5/DJ8VC, VK9X/PE7T, Z21LS, Z60A, ZP9MCE, ZR2A, ZS1SBW, ZS2/DL5DSM and ZS4AZ --- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc) to send in their info.... T46, CUBA (Special Event). Members of the Radio Club of Caibarien will once again activate special event station T46W from "The Heights of San Felipe" in the northeast Province from Villa Clara on the Republic of Cuba between December 29-31st. Activity is to to celebrate the 128th anniversary of Manuel Antonio Álvarez Álvarez (Manolín CO6MA). Operations will be on 80-10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via LoTW. A certificate is available. For more info, see QRZ.com. TK0C 2019 CQWW DX CW CONTEST (Video Released). The "Team Charlie" (S5 Team) that was active as TK0C from Sant Ambroggio, Corsica, during the CQWW DX CW Contest (November 23-24th) as a Multi-Single entry, has released an interesting video of their operation. To view it, see: https://vimeo.com/379807649 V3, BELIZE. Robert, W0YBS, will be active as V31CO from Caye Caulker Island (NA-105) starting February 1st (2020), for 3 weeks. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, RTTY and FT8. Robert bought a condo on the Island of Caye Caulker in October of 2019. He plans on being active on a fairly regular basis throughout the coming years. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. He will upload LoTW logs on a regular basis, but will not send QSL cards until returning to his home in Colorado. For more details and updates, see: http://w0ybs.com VO2, CANADA (Zone 2). Operators Chris/VE3FU (VO2AC), Frank/VO1HP and Dave/VE9CB (VO2AAA) will be active as VO2AC during the 2020 CQWW 160M CW Contest (January 24-26th) from the Point Amour Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, on the south coast of the rare Labrador (LB) multiplier. Point Amour is located in the southeast part of CQ Zone 2, and has a salt water path from NE clockwise through SW. The team will be putting in a serious Multi-Op/High-Power effort as VO2AC. Expect some pre contest activity as VO2AC, VO1HP/VO2 and VO2AAA on 160m as they get their wire vertical array and beverage working; they will especially be looking for JA/Asia on CW and FT8. If time permits, they may also be active before the contest on 80m, 60m, 40m and the FM satellites (AO-85, AO-91 and AO-92)from Grid GO11. Z8, SOUTH SUDAN. Diya, YI1DZ, continues to be active as Z81D from Juba for at least another 6 months. Activity has been on 80-10 meters (possibly 60m) using SSB, FT8 and possibly FT4. QSL via OM3JW.
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