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The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 490
BID: $OPDX.490
December 18, 2000
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio
Online at 440-237-8208 28.8k-1200 Baud 8/N/1

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, K2MFY, KF2HC, WB2YQH/WB2RAJ & The 59(9) DX Report, NG3K, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4ZC, WA4FFW, WB4PVT, N5VT, N6RT, WA7OBH, K8YSE, DJ5AV & DX News Letter, DL1YFF, EA5KB, G3MII, OE7SEL, OK1DTP, OZ 50 MHz DX Bulletin, PY2YP, VE9DX, VK0MM, ZP6CW and ZS6DX for the following DX information.

NEWS FLASH OF THE WEEK
3Y0C, BOUVET ISLAND (2000 brings one more rare entity!)
A press release from Mac, WA4FFW, informs OPDX of the following: "Chuck, N4BQW, of Palmyra and Kingman Reef fame, will begin a 4 month operation from Bouvet Island. Operations will commence on Saturday, December 16th at 2000z on 14.195 MHz. Chuck has been a granted license with the callsign 3Y0C. This callsign was issued some years ago but was never activated according to officials, therefore, it was reissued to Chuck for this operation. Chuck arrived on Bouvet on December 11th aboard the 'MV Polarstern'. Landing was with the aid of a helicopter. Chuck is part of a scientific team consisting of 4 Norwegian Scientists and himself. He is the only Ham operator. He will be involved in conducting some experiments; however he will have plenty of time to operate. Joe, N4OL, the Operations Equipment Manager, states Chuck will be running an ICOM 756 Pro and an ICOM PW-1 solid state linear. He has vertical antennas for 160-40 meters and will use beams on 30-10 meters. They are not all in place at this time but should be up in a week to 10 days as weather and work permits. Pilot station, Gene, WJ4T, states that Chuck will have a generator for approximately 12 hours a day and will use large banks of batteries when the generator is not available. Gene reports that Chuck will have some other responsibilities on the Island but will have plenty of time to operate. Gene also reports that the temperature is 0 degrees C with winds at 50 MPH. He also reported there have already been winds in excess of 70 MPH since the team landed. Therefore antenna erection has been and will continue to be difficult. WA4FFW is the QSL manager for the operation. Mac asks that no cards be sent until an address is posted sometime in early January 2001. There will be no computer logs. Logs will not be in hand until after Chuck's return to the U.S. sometime in April." Chuck has been quite active over the past weekend on 14195 and 21298 kHz. Bruce, WD4NGB, states for 3Y0C propagation, check the Web page:

3B6, AGALEGA
Han, HB9BXE, (from a press release by HB9CRV) states:
"The supplementary work caused to the postponement of our expedition has now been completed. All the expedition material except those items which have been returned to suppliers are stored safely at Basle. We can now concentrate our efforts again on the preparations for the May 2001 expedition." The 3B6RF crew for next year's DXpedition has a few changes. For business reasons their financial manager Joe, HB9AJW, has had to cancel his participation and Cedric Baechler, HB9HFN, was added. The crew now consists of: HB9BQI, HB9BQW, HB9BXE, HB9CRV, HB9HFN, HB9JAI, HB9JBI, 3B8CF, 9A4TU, CT1AGF, DL3KUD, DL6UAA, F6HMJ, G3KHZ and NK6F. The crew is still looking for a good CW operator. The scheduled operation is to take place on May 5th for 14 days. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the latest press release as an additional bulletin. Watch their web site for updates at:

4S, SRI LANKA
Ananda, 4S7NB, located in Colombo was active over the weekend on 20 meters around 14180 kHz between 0100 and 0230z. Meanwhile, Nelson, 4S7NE, near Colombo, has been active on 30 meters (10108 kHz) between 2300 and 0030z.

4U, UNITED NATIONS HQ
4U1UN made a surprise appearance on the air Friday and Saturday. Operator was Mohammed and was active on 3793 kHz after 0000z.

A4, OMAN
Sadiq, A41KJ, was heard this past weekend on 21241 kHz around 1145z. QSL via N5FTR.

A9, BAHRAIN
Gus, K4SXT, active as A92ZE, has been very active on 160 and 40 meters. Check around 1832 and 7003 between 0130 and 0400z. QSL via: Capt. Julius Gostel Jr., PSC 451, Box 1198, FPO AE 09834, USA.

ANTARCTICA RECORD?
Nobert, OE1SNW/MM, is cruising with a sailboat around the Antarctica Continent which will take about 100 Days. He is trying to set a one man record for his class of boat. He is also active on Ham Radio on 14313 kHz (reportedly around 1600z). More details and information about his daily position can be found on the Web site:

ET, ETHIOPIA
Claudio, ET3VSC, was active on 80, 40 and 12 meters this past week. Check around 7030 and 3788 kHz between 1500 and 1530z and 24967 kHz after 1300z.

HZ, SAUDI ARABIA
HZ1AB was heard this past week on 12 and 10 meters. Check 28460 kHz around 1215z and between 24960 and 24970 kHz from 1330 to 1430z. There was also a QSN from Europe stating that HZ1AB was on 3508 kHz at 1544z. QSL via K8PYD.

IOTA/LIGHTHOUSE OPERATION
Pete, MM5PSL, will be operating from the Sumburgh Head Lighthouse on the Shetland Islands (EU-012) during the "Amateur Radio Light House Society" (ARLHS) sponsored Christmas Lights operation from December 18th until January 2nd. The ARLHS number is SCO-232. The following information has been received from Pete: "The following are times broadly available and I will be on the air as much as possible but obviously can't operate all the time.
December 18th - 1800-1900z
December 19th - 2200z through to 0900z December 20th
December 20th - 2200z through to 0900z December 21st
December 22nd - 1000z until 1300z
December 23rd - 2200z through to 0900z December 24th
December 27th, 28th, and 29th - 1200z until 2200z
December 31st - 0900z until 2000z
January 1st - as and when I can??
Janaury 2nd - most of the day till close of play."
The 20 meters will be his primary band, and he will be on or near the usual lighthouse frequency, 14270 kHz. Pete's QSL Manager for the operation will be longtime IOTA and lighthouse chaser WA7OBH: Lee Graves, 4341 SE Satinleaf Place, Stuart, FL 34997 USA.

IOTA NEWS
OC-135. Steve, P29BI, will be active from Bougainville Island in his spare time for the next 2 months. Activity will be on 20 meters SSB only. QSL via VK4EJ.

PIRATE ALERT
A station signing 4W1CW on 12 meters at 1034z was active saying QSL via N7RO. This is SLIM. "The Daily DX" also reported that Dick, N7RO, knows nothing about this guy.

QSL INFO AND NEWS
CORRECTION. There is a correction to a Web page URL address in last week's bulletin. Nob's, JF2MBF, ZK1NDK (Penrhyn Atoll, N. Cook Island) log is now available on-line log at: http://www.jm1szy.com/zk1n/index.html (The "l" was left off on html.)

Doug, N6RT, reports that the log for A52XX is now available online at:

Hans, DL1YFF, reports that QSL cards for the 7P8AA operation has arrived, and Fritz, DL7VRO, is now answering them. Direct cards will be answered directly, the rest via bureau. Any questions can be sent to Fritz via his E-mail address: dl7vro@qsl.net

The "OZ 50 MHz DX Bulletin" reports that the E4/JM1LJS Palestine QSLs have been accepted for DXCC. Hide, JM1LJS, reports that his 6m operation was also recognized by the DXCC.

Pepe, EA5KB, reports that he is the QSL Manager for the following stations: TG9AMD, TG9AAK, CO3JR, CO2FN and CM2FN.

Nigel, G3TXF, reports that he is now waiting for the J3G cards to come from the printers. There should be a mailing soon after Christmas.

Tom, K1KI, was the operator of J38DX, and he is also the QSL Manager. He reports that it might take a few weeks until he gets the cards printed for J38DX. Tom states, "If you don't mind waiting longer I will QSL 100% via the bureau as well." For direct requests, send to: Tom Frenaye, K1KI, P O Box 386, West Suffield CT 06093

Brian, KF2HC, reports that the operators from the FS/W2JJ operation would like to thank everyone who worked them between December 5-12th and during the 10m contest. They had a great time putting FS into your logs. It was especially rewarding when someone thanked them for "a new one". Brian states, "We didn't get the 160m antenna up until Sunday afternoon but we did manage to operate 160m a few hours Sunday and Monday evenings. The only 6m activity we heard was from South America and a few other Caribbean islands. Mike worked 37 grid squares on 6m during our stay. We made special efforts to work 12m and 17m and we hope we gave a lot of you a new one for those bands. Several hams reported the address we were giving for W2JJ (a club call) differed from what a certain call book CD showed. The correct address for W2JJ is: P.O. Box 244, Allamuchy, NJ 07820, USA. If you choose to QSL direct please keep in mind the US postal rates are going up in January 2001. Via the bureau is OK, too. On behalf of the entire FS/W2JJ team and our families Have a Healthy and Happy Holiday Season!"

Caser, PY2YP, reports that the PS0S logs on-line now show the status of your QSL card. Stop by to see if your QSL has reached the PS0S QSL Manager at: http://www.cwsp.org.br/srchps0s.html

QSL SM2T via SM2EZT. Torvald, SM2EZT, states that he uses SM2T in contests. The Swedish contest callsigns are "2x1". To see the offical Swedish contest callsigns, check the Web page at: http://www.sk3bg.se/contest/speccall.htm By the way, Torvald states that if you hear him as SM2EZT in a contest, then it is EazyTest (EZ T)....HiHi.

Doug, ZP6CW, informs OPDX that his wife, ZP6CU, is acting as his QSL Manager (Box 73, Caacupe, Paraguay). She is also the QSL Manager for Ross, CN2UN, and his operation from Western Sahara as S07UN. She now has the 1980's logs of the 9L1GG operation of about 10,000 contacts and will honor any requests for Greg's operation there. She will also act as the Manager for the current operation of ZP6GG.

S2, BANGLADESH
Junji, JA7KXD, will operate S21YT again from December 27th, 1800z to January 2nd, 1759z. Details on his activity were not mentioned. QSL via Junji Ogawa, 2-3-51, Kimachidori, Aoba-ku, Sendai-city 980-0801, JAPAN.

S2, BANGLADESH
Carl, SM6CPY, has delayed his trip here which was going to take place during December and January. The delay is due to the local flooding. He now hopes to be active as S21YD during February 12-19th.

S7, SEYCHELLES
David, OK1DTP, will active on CW/SSB with callsign S79OK now through December 26th. He will visit the islands of Mahe and Praslin, IOTA AF-024. He will use an IC-706 MKII (100w) and 40m delta loop. QSL via OK1TD.

SPECIAL EVENT
Frank, N5VT, reports that he will be active as a special event station to celebrate the "Battle of New Orleans" from January 1-10th (2001). Activity will be on CW/SSB/RTTY and PSK31 with operations on 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters. A special award is available if you work him on 80-10 meters. QSL via N5VT w/SASE.

SY, MOUNT ATHOS
Monk Apollo, SV2ASP, continues to be active as SY2A until the end of the year. He has been keeping people happy on 20/12/10 meters. Watch around 14205, 24963 and 28456 kHz between 1330 and 1530z. QSL ONLY direct to SV2ASP.

T8, PALAU
Look for Hiro/JK1FNN and his XYL Mie/7L1MKM to be active from here as T88HA and T88MY from December 30th through January 3rd. Activity will be on 80-10 meters CW/SSB. QSLs via JK1FNN.

V31, BELIZE
"The 59(9) DX Report" reports that Gisela/DK9GG and Gerd/DJ4KW will be active as V31GW from January 9th through February 20th. Activity will be on all bands including 160 and 80 meters. Klaus, DJ4SO will join them on January 16th thru February 20th. QSL via DJ4KW.

VK0MM QRT
Alan, VK0MM, is permanently QRT from Macquarie Island as of 1330z December 16th. Alan states, " Thanks to everyone for all the QSOs and E-mails over the thirteen months... it's been great fun. All proceeds from the VK0MM QSL process will be donated to Camp Quality, an Australian charity that provides care for children with cancer and other terminal illnesses; please dig deep when you mail your QSLs. The QSL address will be announced in January on:

XV & XU, VIETNAM AND CAMBODIA (Change of plans!)
Rodger, N4ZC, informs OPDX that Mauro, IN3QBR, reported to him the following changes from the OPDX.489 bulletin. Mauro states that there is no flight from Phnom Pen to Vientiane until December 24th. So, Mauro will be on the air now as XV7AAZ from December 20-23rd while waiting for the flight. Rodger adds that Mauro will be visiting him in February. He plans to take Mauro to the Carolina DX Association's meeting and the Orlando hamfest during that month. Rodger states that he will have all logs and cards for XW3QBR, XW3ZNR and XV7AAZ to hand out at the hamfest. Normal QSLing is via IN3ZNR, but those going to the Orlando hamfest can save postage and IRCs if they wish to get their cards there. Mauro will be at Rodger's "ARRL W4QSL Bureau" booth space all day Saturday, February 10th.

ZC4, UK SOV. BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS
Steve, ZC4BS (also G4KIV ZD8SB N5ZFR), reports that the ZC4 club station should be up and running as ZC4ESB (Eastern Sovereign Base). The station will be operated by Steve/ZC4BS, Des/ZC4DW and Graham/ZC4GK. They will be active for the next 3 years, and hopefully a little longer on all bands 160-6 meters and on all modes. Des and Steve are also keen contesters and will be participating in most contests.

ZK1, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS (Also 3D2)
Look for Dan, N6PEQ, to be active a few days from Fiji signing 3D2CQ until December 20th before moving onto South Cook. Once there he will signi ZK1PEQ between December 20th through January 6th. He plans to travel to Raratonga and Aitutaki using a FT-847, dipole and vertical on 80-10 meters (and possibly 6 meters). QSL via N6PEQ. For more details, check Dan's Web site at:

ZS6, SOUTH AFRICA
Rudi, ZS6DX, who has been active in the CQWW CW and the ARRL 10 Meter Contest as well as general DXing, reports that he will be more active over the next few weeks on 17 and 12 meters. QSL via: R. Venter, 11 Bushbuck Lane, Monument Park, Pretoria, 0181, South Africa.

SPECIAL NOTE BY EDITOR: If you are having a problem receiving bounced mail by sending mail to me via " kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org ", please send mail to me via " kb8nw@arrl.net "...... TNX de Tedd KB8NW

OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST:

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

ALSO VISIT THE NORTERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB HOME PAGE:
http://www.en.com/users/k8yse/nodxa.html

Excerpts and distribution of The OPDX Bulletin are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receive credit. To contribute DX info, call BARF-80 BBS online at 440-237-8208 28.8k/14400/9600/2400/1200 and leave a message with the Sysop or send via InterNet Mail to:

Additional Bulletins for OPDX InterNet Subscribers

The supplementary work caused to the postponement of our expedition has now been completed. All the expedition material except those items which have been returned to suppliers are stored safely at Basle. We can now concentrate our efforts again on the preparations for the May 2001 expedition.

Below are further details concerning the most important items:

Force 12
Shipping the antennas back to Force 12 and then shipping them back to Switzerland in April 2001 would cost approximately 50% of the total value. We therefore decided to buy the antennas at a favourable price instead of shipping them back. After our return from Agalega these antennas will be sold at a reduced price. We would like to thank Force 12 for their understanding and kind co-operation in this matter.

YAESU
Negotiations with YAESU as to whether we can keep the transceivers and power amplifiers in our Basle store and whether YAESU will continue to support our expedition are on-going. We also would like to thank YAESU for their understanding in this matter.

Comtek
We have on loan 2 switch boxes for 40m and 80m 4 square arrays. As OM Kurt HB9AFI will loan us his 40m switch box we have sent back to Comtek the 40m switch box and bought the 80m switch box at a favourable price. This 80m unit will be sold after returning from Agalega at a reduced price. We would like to thank Comtek for their understanding and kind co-operation in this matter.

Crew
For business reasons, our financial manager Joe, HB9AJW has had to cancel his participation. We all are very sorry about this cancellation specially because Joe was a member of the 3B7RF crew. On the positive side we welcome a new member on board: Cédric Baechler, HB9HFN

The crew now consists of:

1. HB9BQI
2. HB9BQW
3. HB9BXE
4. HB9CRV
5. HB9HFN
6. HB9JAI
7. HB9JBI
8. 3B8CF
9. 9A4TU
10. CT1AGF
11. DL3KUD
12. DL6UAA
13. F6HMJ
14. G3KHZ
15. NK6F

3B6-2001-Schedule:

Sunday, April 29 2001 departure from Zurich to Mauritius
Tuesday, May first departure by ship from Port Luis to Agalega
Thursday, May 3, arrival at Agalega
Saturday, May 5, QRV for 14 days
Friday, May 18, dismantlement of the stations and the camp
Saturday, May 19 flight to Mauritius
Sunday, May 20, 09.00 flight back to Zurich

As we will have an aircraft at our disposal for the travel back to Mauritius the whole expedition will last 3 weeks which many crew members prefer.

As a result of Joe's HB9AJW cancellation we have a vacancy. We are looking for a good CW-operator with contest and field day experience. If you are interested please contact our leader Hans-Peter HB9BXE: hb9bxe@pilatusnet.ch

HB9BXE Hans-Peter Blaettler

Path: barf80!news
From: "Charles Harpole" {k4vud@hotmail.com}
Subject: A52UD Report #2
Date: Wed, 13 Dec 2000 08:40:52

Hello DXers... I departed Kingdom of Bhutan yesterday (Dec. 12 USA time) and now will spend some weeks in Thailand. My laptop computer was stolen from my airline checked bags in India, so I have many sheets of hand logs, but all written clearly, do not fear!!! I do not have them here at the keyboard, but I know I made less than 10 Qs on 160 despite calling every sunrise sunset Bhutan time and other times as well. Did same on 80 and 40 and 30 and made some West Coast (mostly) Qs on 80, and scattering of other states on the other two low bands. Had some good openings to SA and to ZS-land. Disappointing 10 m contest, only 100 Qs.

The Ham Center in Bhutan is wonderful...a great place to stay during a visit even if not ham-ing. The Bhutanese are a great people, with warm smiles on the street and fearless children running about. A real treat from the hard stares, begging hands, or fearful looks from people in other countries. Bhutan is truly the last unspoiled place on earth. See it now, because TV and autos have arrived in a big way fortelling many changes soon.

When I get back to USA, I will write more about propagation etc.

Thanks for treating me with such patience on the air!!

73, Charly A52UD (K4VUD)

Path: barf80!news
From: "Ken Holdom" {zl2hu@clear.net.nz}
Subject: Kind Wishes
Date: Fri, 15 Dec 2000 22:18:25 +1300

Hi All

On behalf of the Kermadec DX Association I would like to wish you all the very best for the coming festive season and the new year 2001.

We will be undertaking a further DXpedition to the Tokelau Islands in mid 2002 and being only approx 18 months away we are actively seeking support for this DXpedition.

Whilst we accomplished something that satisfied many many DXers world wide with the ZL9CI Campbell Island DXpedition in January 1999 we believe we have the ability to satisfy many many more in the future and we look foward to working you from ZK3.

ZK3 may not be as rare as some would perceive but we predict that the pileups will be just as great for ZK3 as they were for ZL9CI and it will be our enjoyment and pleasure to work you all.

For further information please watch both these reflectors and if you have any specific questions about this DXpedition please direct them to the writer and not to either of these reflectors.

Thank you for your interest

Kind Regards

Ken Holdom ZL2HU & ZL4HU
Group Organiser / Team Leader / QSL Manager
Kermadec DX Association

Please Note our new Postal Address

P O Box 7
Clyde
Central Otago
New Zealand.

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