The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 642
BID: $OPDX.642
January 5, 2004
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF-80 BBS Cleveland, Ohio

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, AA1M K1XN & GoList, NC1L, KP2/K2ZZ, NG3K, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, N5DD, N5FG, K8YSE, W9OL, AK0M, DL/VE3ZIK & www.contesting.info, DL2VFR & IOTA-POST, F5CWU & La Gazette du DX, F5NQL & UFT, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, JI6KVR & JA-IOTA Islands News, OH6KN, UA4WHX/AC4LN, VA3RJ & ICPO, VK4AAR and XE1BEF DX Bulletin for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 28th/December, through Sunday, 4th/January there were 229 countries active. Countries available: 1A, 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4S, 4W, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5U, 5V, 5W, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7P, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9V, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, AP, BV, BY, C3, C6, CE, CE0A, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D4, DL, DU, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FH, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FY, G, GD, GI, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, I, IS, J3, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/m, JD/o, JT, JW, 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, PJ7, PY, PZ, R1FJ, S2, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T2, T32, T7, T8, T9, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TN, TR, TT, TU, TY, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9L, VK9N, VP2E, VP5, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XX9, YA, YB, YI, YK, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, ZD9, ZF, ZK1/s, ZL, ZP, ZS

* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations. As always, you never know - "Work First Worry Later" (WFWL).

1A, SMOM (Sovereign Military Order of Malta)
By the time you read this, the team of 1A0KM operators led by Francesco, IK0FVC, should be QRT (as of January 5th). Remember to QSL via Sergio, IK0FTA. The logs are expected to be available after the operation at the following Web page:

5V, TOGO (Update)
An English Web page is now available on the InterNet for the upcoming Le Radio Club de Provins 77 (F6KOP) DXpedition to Lome, Togo, as 5V7C from March 6-12th. Please visit it at:

80 METER NEWS
Amateurs from VK-land are now active on their newly expanded 80m phone frequencies. They now have privileges on 3776-3800 kHz (their old allocation was 3795-3800 kHz).

AC4LN/UA4WHX OPERATION WRAP
OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive an additional bulletin containing an interesting E-mail received from Vladimir, UA4WHX/AC4LN. In the long E-mail, Vladimir talks about QSLing his operations and provides a list of all the DXCC and IOTA entities that he activated (with dates and time UTC) between May 1, 2003 and December 25, 2003. He made a little under 85000 QSOs and states he practically never operated from hotels. Almost all QTHs were local families that he stayed with.

ANNUAL TOP 5 QSL MANAGER SURVEY
John, K1XN, Editor of the GoList, states that it is that time again for the "Annual TOP 5 QSL MANAGER SURVEY". This is a nomination process by DXers of the Top 5 QSL Managers with whom they have had dealings with in 2003. Please send the callsigns of the 5 Best QSL Managers (in your opinion) for 2003. Send your nominations to:

C6, BAHAMAS
Steve, AK0M, informs OPDX that he will be operating C6ASB from the Sand Dollar Villa (Web Site at: http://www.sanddollarvilla.com ) at Treasure Cay, Bahamas, from February 21-28th. This is IOTA NA-080 and Grid Square FL16. There will be some casual all-band operation in the ARRL CW DX Contest (February 21-22nd) after arrival on Saturday, but some antenna work will have to be finished first that will add 30m, 40m and 75/80m capability to the rental QTH. Casual operation will continue throughout the week after the contest on 80-10 meters, including 12m, 17m and 30m, also 6m if the band opens. Modes are CW (preferred) and SSB, small possibility also of some digital modes. Station will be verticals and FT857 (100W), also FT817 and Buddipole from the beach. His XYL Sandy, KC0RD, may also be on as C6ASC. QSL via AK0M. For those still awaiting cards from the C6ASB operation in July, the cards have been received from the printer and will go out in the next week or two. More info at:

D4, CAPE VERDE
Alexander, 4L5A, plans to activate the D4B contest station again in the following two contests. Look for D4B during the CQ WPX SSB Contest (March 27-28th) as a Single-Op/All Band/High Power entry. Also, look for D4B in the CQ WPX CW Contest (May 29-30th) as Single-Op/All Band/High Power entry. QSL both operations to K1BV. For details and pictures of the D4B contest stations, visit the Web page at:

DXCC NEWS
Bill Moore, NC1L, ARRL DXCC Manager, reports that the following operation is approved for DXCC credit:

FG, GUADELOUPE
Pierre, F6FXS, will be active once again as FG/F6FXS from Guadeloupe mainland, January 14th to February 13th. His planned activity will be on CW only and low power (30 watts) into a long wire antenna. Operations will be on 40/30/20/15/10 meters. His daily time schedule is from 1300-1400z and 2200-2400z (possibly more time, especially for European stations). QSL via his home callsign, direct or the bureau.

FM, MARTINIQUE
Fabrice, F5FUA, will be active as FM/F5FUA/p from the Martinique (NA-107, DIFO FM-001) from February 3-24th. Activity is scheduled daily from 1100-1300z and 2200-2400z on 80/40/20/15/10 meters using an IC 706 MKIIG and a Double Dipole Multi-band Diamond W-8010. No information was provided on modes. QSL via the French REF Bureau is preferred.

FO, AUSTRAL ISLANDS (Update)
Veijo, OH6KN, informed OPDX that a group of OH amateurs will be going to Tubuai Island (IOTA OC-152) in the Austral Islands. Operations will take place January 6-18th. Their callsigns are not yet known yet. The team consists of the following: Henri/OH3JR, Veko/OH1AWW, Veijo/OH6KN, Kimmo/OH9MDV, Jouko/OH1RX and Merja (OH1RX's XYL). Their main focus will be on the low bands (160-30 meters) and QSOs with Europe and USA Eastcoast. The suggested operating frequencies are (+/- QRM):

   CW  - 1822, 3503, 7008, 10108, 14008, 18068, 21008, 24898 and 28008
   SSB - 1845, 3790, 7050, 14195, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28495
   RTTY- 14080, 21080 and 28070 kHz
          Note:  Split up operations will be used.

ISLAND AND LIGHTHOUSE 2004 TOUR
Look for Manfred/DL8DXL and possibly others to activate the following IOTAs and lighthouses. Information provided was very vague. No bands or modes of activity were provided. Callsign to be used are: DL8DXL/p and DL/LX1NO (only for new activations). Here is the planned schedule:

                              IOTA      GIA    GLHA      WLH       ARLHS
  May 16-19th Baltrum Island  EU-047   N-06     -         -          -
  May 20-23rd Neuwerk Island  EU-127   N-12     38       2311      FED-165
  May 22nd    Scharhoern Isl. EU-127   N-11     -         -          -
  May 24-27th Oland Island    EU-042   N-20     new      0712      FED-174
  May 27-29th Langeness Isl.  EU-042   N-19     -         -          -
  May 29th    Langeness Isl.  EU-042   N-19     new      1245      FED-134

J3, GRENADA
Bob/AA1M and Mike/W1USN will be active from here as J3/homecall from January 29th through February 6th. They will be operating on CW, SSB and some PSK on the HF bands. QSL to their home callsigns either direct or via the bureau.

KP2, U.S. VIRGIN ISLAND
George, KP2/K2ZZ, informs OPDX that he is now living in St. Thomas. He plans to be active on 20-6 meters. His QSL Manager is W1QJ. George also announced this past week that he will be in the ARRL CW DX Contest (February 21-22nd) as a Single-Op/Single Band (15m)/Low Power entry.

LX, LUXEMBOURG
Operators Jorgen/DL4SDW, Bernd/DL8SCG and Philippe/LX2AJ will be active as LX7I in the CQ 160-Meter CW Contest (January 24-25th) as a Multi-Single entry. QSL via LX2AJ.

MD4, ISLE OF MAN
Operators Martin/G4XUM, G0HSS and Tim/M0BEW will be active as MD4K during the CQ 160-Meter CW Contest (January 24-25th) as a Multi entry. QSL via G3NKC.

NEW OFFICERS FOR 2004
The Texas DX Society has elected the following new officers to serve in 2004:

   President      - Mike Anderson, N5MV    Secretary - Ed Gerber, W5GCX
   Vice-President - Don Daze, N5DD         Treasurer - Dave Topp, W5BXX

OX, GREENLAND (IOTA Op)
Operators Frank/DL2SWW and Ric/DL2VFR will be active as OX/homecall from Maniitsoq Island (Inuit-name or in Danish it is called Sukkertoppen), April 23rd to May 5th. Maniitsoq Island is IOTA NA-220 (12.4 % confirmed according to the most wanted IOTA-list). Ric informs OPDX that "the area will be probably difficult for the signal takeoff - the following information is taken from the Web site of the Maniitsoq Tourist Bureau:

The word 'Maniitsoq' means 'uneven' in the Inuit language. And uneven it is. The Maniitsup community is surrounded by the highest and wildest mountains in West Greenland. The wild mountains and the long and narrow fjords makes this landscape very unique and completely different from other landscapes in Greenland. The community has 4,000 inhabitants. 3,000 live in the town of Maniitsoq, situated on the island of the same name. Its distinctive appearance is due to the rugged landscape. From the small centre by the sea, the town stretches along the narrow valleys with wooden houses and even relatively big apartment buildings clinging to the hillsides. As a result the town is blessed with a labyrinth of stairways. There also used to be a number of canals and the town was called the Venice of Greenland. Today most of these canals are gone and have made way for roads and houses."

Activity will be CW/SSB and the operator's equipment is: two ICOM 706, 1 Finnfet Amplifier 1kW, 1 Amplifier 500 W, and vertical antennas (e.g. HF6V-Butternut). The operator's objectives are:

       1) To give/provide NA-220 to as many IOTA chasers as possible.
       2) Provide new band counters from OX as much as propagations
          allows. (They do not expect to have any good propagation on 160
          or 80m according to the time/season. However, they are going
          to try. Also, they are not planning any 6 meters operations.)
       3) There is a possibility to activate Lighthouses GRN-031 or
          GRN-030 (ARLHS numbers).

P4, ARUBA
John, W2GD, will be active as P40W during the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 21-22nd) as a Single-Op/All Band entry. QSL via N2MM.

P4, ARUBA
John, KK9A, will be active from the Iguana Villa between March 1-30th. His activity will include two contests. Look for John to be active as P40A in the ARRL DX Phone Contest (March 6-7th) as a Single-Op/Single Band (20m) entry. Also, look for him as P40A in the CQ WPX SSB Contest March 27-28th) as a Single-Op/All Band entry. QSL both operations to WD9DZA. To see the QTH, visit the Web page at:

QSL INFO AND NEWS
Bill, K5YG, is no longer the QSL Manager for 9H1PF and P29KPH. For 9H1PF, QSL direct. For P29KPH, QSL per operator instructions. Bill states he has a few cards left for those QSLing direct with return postage or a green stamp.

Bill, W9OL, reports that the logs for TYA11 (yep it's Tango Yankee Alpha One One) by Jacques Bernier from Benin are now online at the "Logbook of The World" (LoTW). These logs were originally managed by W4FRU. Also these logs are for June 19th, 1981, through June 21st, 1981 only. Bill will continue to provide hardcard QSLs. USA requests require SASE. Non USA requests require a SAE/1 IRC or equivalent postage. All bureau requests will be replied via the bureau. Bill states, "As these were handwritten logs, I tried my best to insure accuracy but an error in deciphering may have occurred. If you are NIL (Not In Log), E-mail me with QSO particulars and I will double check and make corrections if needed." This log was one of the rescue projects of the QSL MANAGER'S SOCIETY. Check out the Web Page at:

Alan Roocroft, VK4AAR, reports, "I am receiving E-mails and cards for 9V0A and VP8PJ simply because I am the manager for 9V1DX (the same operator in each case). Alan Cheshire, 9V1DX, has not yet announced his QSL route for these operations. The announcement on the S.A.R.T.S. Web page (Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitters' Society) has listed 9V1DX as the route because he is one and the same person. This is not necessarily the case. The place to get the REAL facts are on Alan's own web page at:

SV/A, MOUNT ATHOS
Monk Apollo, SV1ASP/A, was active this past weekend on 17 meters. Watch 18145 and 18160 between 0800 and 1400z. Also, there was a QSN on 24945 kHz at 0954z.

THE 9TH CCF CONTEST/DX MEETING
The Contest Club Finland (CCF) gladly once again calls all the contesters/DXers around the whole contesting/DXing world to come and join the great contesting/DXing company and atmosphere in the CCF's 9th annual Contest/DX meeting held on January 16-18th. The meeting will be held at Sokos Hotel Vantaa, in the city of Vantaa, near Helsinki. There is plenty of activity on their agenda. Read more detailed information about agenda, hotel, contest dinner etc.... at the following Web page:

V3, BELIZE (Lighthouse Activity)
Gerd/DJ4KW and Gisela/DK9GG are expected to be active from here January 10th through February 29th. Look for them to sign V31YN on CW and V31GW on RTTY. Activity will be on 160-10 meters. The duo plans a side trip between February 2-6th and operate as V31YN/P from Lighthouse Reef (NA-123). Activity will be CW only on 40-10 meters. QSL via their home callsigns, direct or by the bureau. Logs are expected to be available at the following two Web sites:

VK9, COCOS-KEELING ISLAND (Update)
There has been a report that Ken, JA1CMD, has had to cancel his VK9CA DXpedition due to transportation problems.

XU, CAMBODIA
Hiroo, JA2EZD, is once again in XU-land and is active with his new callsign XU7AAA. However, you only have a few more days to work him. He will go QRT on January 7th. Activity will be on all HF bands and 6 meters CW/SSB. QSL via the address: Hiroo Yonezuka, P.O. Box 10003, Vientiane, Laos. Check out the following Web page for more details:

XU, CAMBODIA
Remember, Peter, NO2R, will be active as XU7ACY from Sihanoukville, now through January 12th. Activity will be on 160, 80 and 40 meters exclusively. QSL via K2NJ, direct.

OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST:

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

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

Additional Bulletins for OPDX InterNet Subscribers

Hello to everyone!
And a Happy New Year!

Below please find DXCC and IOTA entities that have been activated (dates and time UTC) between May 1, 2003 and December 25, 2003

I practically never operated from hotels. Almost all QTHs were local families with which I stayed.

Rig used: 120 watts output and a vertically set delta loop resonant on 40 meters (which I used on all the bands). A long local bamboo (13-20 meters) was normally used as a support tower.

The total number of QSOs made is a little under 85000.

The correct QSL route is via UA4WHX.

Those who have doubts as far as UA4WHX route safety, they can send QSLs via AC4LN call-book address or W4-call area bureau, but I strongly do not recommend it as it will definitely be much slower.

If one is sending it all direct, US Dollars or IRCs are fine.

If someone is willing to contribute a little more (or if there is a great number of QSLs), please contact me first or send it all to AC4LN. We also have a facility of accepting credit cards here over the Internet, so for club shipments or payments over 10$ US we can definitely do that.

QSL practice:

a. I will QSL both direct and via the buro.
b. I will also confirm via the buro the requests sent by e-mail, not in the last priority though.
c. I do not e-QSL.
d. The logs are all on paper and will not be available on-line in any form anytime.

And to be as explicit as I only could (in response to a few negative comments I read or heard in the past months):

a. I did not operate from a boat, I flew. Boarded planes 75 times.
b. I did authentically operate from each and every QTH mentioned below
c. I did have (and still do) permits and licenses for all of them.

If someone wants to challenge any of those activities, they are more than welcome to do so. But please do not ask me to present paperwork 10 years after the end of the operation, as it appears to be happening with some of my activities of the past.

I will be happy to answer the queries of those who are planning to go to some of those places and need advice or ideas.

If possible, do not ask me if you are ok in the log book. Send your card with a note.

And, thank you, everybody, for calling, for making it all fun. It will probably be a couple of months before the first cards are being sent out. Please be patient with me if you could.

Whatever questions you have, you are welcome to ask, but I will hardly be able to write long answers back. My e-mail: ua4whx@mail.ru. Or if you choose to call: + 7 3412 25 88 29, between 17 and 19.00 UTC

Please note, that the corerct address is:
Vladimir M. Bykov
426000 Izhevsk
p.o. box 2040
Russia

Please do not send cards to the one that has K. Marx 270/33 in it, it is obsolete and the cards may never make it to me.

CU again. From somewhere.
73, Vladimir UA4WHX/AC4LN

Here is what was happening:

May 1 -  May 12, 2003:  KH6/AC4LN, Big Island, Hawaii, USA (mostly from
         Volcano village) OC 019
May 13, 2003: KH2/AC4LN,  Guam, OC 026
May 14  - May 15, 2003: V63MB, Yap Island, OC 012
May 16 - May 18, 2003: V63MB, Mog-Mog Island, Ulithy Atoll, OC 078
May 19 - May 20, 2003: V63MB, Yap Island, OC 012
May 21 - May 26, 2003: T88VV, Peliliu and Koror islands, OC 009
May 27 - June 1,  2003: KH0/AC4LN, Saipan Is;and, Northern Mariana
         Islands, OC 086
June 2 - June 6,  2003: V63MB, Pohnpei Island, OC 010
June 6 - June 11, 2003: V63MB, Kosrae Island, OC 059
June 11 - June 20, 2003: V73VV, Majuro and Arno atolls, OC 029
June 24 - June 30, 2003: 5W0VB, Upolu Island, OC 097
June 30 - July 4, 2003: ZK2VB, Niue, OC 040
July 4 - July 9, 2003: 5W0VB, Savaii Island, OC 097
July 10, 2003: A35VB,  Tongatapu Island, Tonga,  OC 049
July 11 - July 14, 2003: A35VB, Foa Island,  Ha'apai Group, Tonga, OC 169
July 14 - July 17, 2003: A35VB, Vava'u Island, Tonga, OC 064
July 17 - July 19, 2003: A35VB, Nukualofa, Tongatapu Island, Tonga, OC 049
July 19 - July 31, 2003:  ZL/AC4LN, New Zealand, various locations
August 2 - August 4, 2003: P29VVB, Rabaul, New Britain Island, PNG, OC 008
August 4 - August 8, 2003: P29VVB, Los Negros Island, Manus, PNG, OC 025
August 9 - August 12, 2003: P29VVB, Karkar Island, PNG, OC 258
August 12 - August 18, 2003: P29VVB, various locations inland  New Guinea,
            PNG, OC 034
August 18 - August 20, 2003: H44VV, Guadacanal Island,  Solomon Islands,
            OC 047
August 20 - August 23, 2003: H44VV, Ngella (Florida) Islands, OC 158
August 24, 2003: H40VB, Nendo Island, Temotu Province, OC 100
August 25 - August 29, 2003: H40VB, Pigeon Island, Reef Islands, Temotu
            Province, OC 065
August 30, 2003: H40VB, Nendo Island, Temotu Province, OC 100
August 31 - September 3, 2003: H44VV, Guadacanal Island, Solomon Islands,
            OC 047
September 5, 2003: YJ0VB, Efate Island, Vanuatu OC 035
September 6 - September 8, 2003: YJ0VB, Ambrym Island, Vanuatu, OC 035
September 9 - September 12, 2003: YJ0VB, Malekula Island, Vanuatu OC 035
September 13, 2003: YJ0VB, Efate Island, Vanuatu OC 035
September 14 - September 16, 2003: YJ0VB, Tanna Island, Vanuatu OC 035
September 17 - September 18, 2003: YJ0VB, Efate Island, Vanuatu OC 035
September 21 - September  24, 2003: FK/AC4LN, Art Island, Belep Islands,
               New Caledonia, OC079
September 25, 2003: FK/AC4LN, New Caledonia Island, OC032
September 27 -  October 3,  2003: FW/AC4LN, Wallis Island, OC 054
October 4 - October 7, 2003: 3D2VB, Viti Levu, Fiji, OC 016
October 8 - October 14, 2003: 3D2VB/R, Rotuma Island, OC 060
October 16 - October 20, 2003: 3D2VB,  Viti Levu, Fiji, OC 016
October 21 - October 28, 2003: T30VB, West Kiribati, Abaiang Atoll, OC 017
October 29 - November 5, 2003: T20VB, Funafuti Atoll, Tuvalu, OC 015
November 6 - November 7, 2003: 3D2VB,  Viti Levu, Fiji, OC 016
November 9 - November 15, 2003: ZK1/AC4LN,  Penrhyn Atoll, Northern Cooks,
             OC 082
November 18 - November 26, 2003: ZK1/AC4LN, Mangaia Island, Sothern Cooks,
              OC 159
December 2 - December 6, 2003: FO/AC4LN, Nuku Hiva Island, Marquesas, OC 027
December 7 - December 9, 2003: FO/AC4LN, Hiva Oa Island, Marquesas, OC 027
December 11 - December 12, 2003: FO/AC4LN, Rururtu Island, Australs, OC 050
December 13 - December 15, 2003: FO/AC4LN, Tubuai Island, Australs, OC 152
December 16 - December 25, 2003: FO/AC4LN, Various Society Islands of the
              Leeward Group, OC67

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