Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 454
March 27, 2000

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 454
BID: $OPDX.454
March 27, 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, WB2YQH/WB2RAJ & The 59(9) DXReport, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4GN, WP4U, N6RT, AC7DX, K7NO, K8NA, K8YSE, W9ZR, DJ5AV & DX News Letter, EA5KW, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, FM5GU, G3SWH, G3SXW, GM4DZX, GU0SUP, IK2XDE, LA2PA, OH2BVE, OM3LZ, PY5BF, SM3CVM, SM0BFJ, TG9AJR, ZS5BBO and ZS5NK for the following DX information.

4W, EAST TIMOR (New one to work!). More activity is beginning to show up on the bands from this new entity. Your editor's thoughts and fingers were not in sync last week when we stated that the DXCC entities total was 332. It is actually 333. Thor, TF1MM, continues to be active as 4W6MM. QSNs show that he likes 20 meters CW on 14001 kHz between 1130 and 1330z. He was also active this week on 15 meters CW on 21007 kHz after 1845z. QSL 4W6MM via TF1MM. Ross, VK8UN active as 4W6UN, was heard this week on the 14245 DX Net between 1530 and 1700z. QSL 4W6UN via VK3OT. Antonio, CT1EGH, is the newcomer on the air this past week as 4W6GH. His activity has been mainly on 15 and 20 meters SSB. QSNs show activity on 14265 and 14254 kHz anywhere between 1330 and 2000z. Also watch 21223, 21245 and 21286 kHz after 0600z and after (or a hour before) 2000z. This past weekend during the contest he was heard on 21306 kHz between 1430 and 1700z. QSL 4W6GH via CT1EGH. Remember to look for Neville, VK2QF, to be active as 4W6/VK2QF beginning Wednesday, March 29th and active until April 5th. His suggested frequencies are:

QSL direct only to VK2QF, Nev Mattick, Hargraves, NSW 2850, Australia. His Web site was published in OPDX.453.

4W DX NEWS FLASH! Just before going to print a press release from Doug, N6RT, reports that Bernie, W3UR, editor of "The Daily DX", has arrived safely in Dili, East Timor with all equipment intact. Due to a misunderstanding at the licensing authority, Bernie will be signing 4W/W3UR, not 4W6DX as previously announced. Bernie and Thor, TF1MM/4W6MM, will be relocating to Baucau (3 to 4 hours east of Dili) shortly and Jose, CT1EEB/ 4W6EB will join them on Monday, March 27th. Because of this relocation, online logs may not be posted daily as previously hoped. Bernie hopes to come on the air late Sunday or early Monday UTC. It was mentioned earlier in the week that Olli, OH0XX, unfortunately had to cancel out as one of the operators at the last moment due to a work conflict. This was a set back as the other two operators (Jose, CT1EEB, and Bernie, W3UR) had to cram more gear in with their luggage. (A more detailed press release on this will be available to OPDX InterNet Subscribers as an additional bulletin) The planned (updated) operating frequencies are:

QSLs for this operation are still via OH2BN, Jarmo J. Jaakola, Kiilletie 5-C-30, 00710 Helsinki, FINLAND. A web page has been set up at: http://www.dailydx.com/4W6DX.html

7P, LESOTHO. Two South Africian hams Deon/ZS5DCF and Leon/ZS5LS will be active on SSB only from April 23-27th. Their callsign will be 7P8/ZS5DCF and 7P8/ZS5LS, and they will operate from the Maluti hospital in Lesotho. They will be taking a tower, a tri-band beam and an amplifier. Gary, ZS5NK, reports that photocopies of their licences will be sent to the DXCC desk. QSL to the address: PO Box 401219, Redhill 4071, Republic of South Africa. For direct QSLs please send a S.A.S.E. with one IRC or 1 green stamp. Otherwise QSL through the SARL QSL Bureau.

9G, GHANA. QSL Manager Miro, OM3LZ, informs OPDX that Zdeno, OK2ZW, will be finishing his activity in Ghana as 9G5ZW very soon. He planned to stay in Accra (Czech Embassy) for 3 years, but situations have rapidly changed around him during the last few days (details may come later). Zdeno has decided to return to OK-land in the beginning of April 2000. So this may be the last week to work him. Zdeno has worked 30,000 QSOs as of the end of February. More details on his activity will be forthcoming. QSL via OM3LZ, he prefers direct; delivery time for return on QSLs are now 30 - 50 days. Cards via bureau later.

BQ9P, PRATAS ISLAND (Update, please refer to OPDX.453). Randy, W9ZR, informs OPDX that he will be joining the team of 13 experienced DXers from Taiwan, Japan and the USA to the return to Tung-Sha Dao (Pratas Island) during the April 5-12th BQ9P operation. He mentions that he hopes to concentrate on the low bands, propagation permitting. Also, he will bring with him amps, a 2 element beam for 40 meters and Titanex verticals for 80 and 160 meters. QSL cards for this operation can be obtained from KU9C: Steve Wheatley, PO Box 5953, Parsippany NJ 07054-6953 U.S.A.

BY, CHINA. Jari, OH2BVE, has informed OPDX that he has started a two year contract in Beijing. He will use the club callsign BY1DX (and he may activate other club stations, too). He plans to activate the WARC bands after he has found a good solution to repair the R7 antenna at the station or find a new antenna. Jari will also activate the low bands 160-80 meters during the next season. He will operate 160-10 meters on CW/SSB. The noise level is high on low bands, so please be patient. Most often Jari will start on Sundays at 0800z on 21325 kHz to work OH stations and Europeans but will work other parts of world, too. Jari suggests to send QSLs through the bureau system to OH2BVE or direct cards to Jukka Klemola, Aarontie 5, 31400 SOMERO, FINLAND. Jukka will act as a maildrop and deliver the cards to Jari through other routes. Jari will reply to direct QSL and send them them back direct. He states that he will auto- matically QSL each QSO via the bureau system, so there is really no need to send a QSL to him unless you need it directly or you are not a member of bureau system or some other reason.

DXCC ENTITIES LIST AVAILABLE. Dean, K7NO, has an Excel file showing all current DXCC entites (including East Timor) and which, when you enter your long/lat in the proper cell, will provide heading/reciprocal and distance for each entity. Anyone wanting this Excel spreadsheet can send an E-mail to Dean at: dnorris@k7no.com He will then send a zipped attachment file unless otherwise specified. This file is an Excel 97 and 2000 series .xls file.

FO0, AUSTRAL ISLANDS. Denise, F6WHU, is now active as FO0HWU from Tubuai Island (IOTA OC-152) in the Australes. She will be there until April 12th, and she is mostly active on CW (5 kHz from the bottom of the band) and also RTTY. QSNs show to watch 14005 kHz after 0400z as late as 0730z. Also, watch 7005 kHz after 1230z.

FT5W, CROZET ISLAND. The "LNDX" reports that Alain, FT5WI, has been here since last November and will be here for one year. He is not familiar with DX and pile-ups, so please be patient! OPDX has tried to find some current QSN reports, but had no luck - just older ones. QSL via F6KDF. Please be patient also for your QSL card because the logs will go back with Alain when he returns home.

FW, WALLIS ISLAND. Guy (ex-FR7ZL/T/G/J) has been signing FW5ZL since January 7th. He is mostly active on 15 to 20 meters (watch 14195, 14015, and 21240) after 0700z and again at 1100z. QSL route: Guy Petit de la Rhodiere, B.P. 2, Mata-Utu, Wallis Island 98600 via France.

IOTA NEWS......

JT, MONGOLIA. "The 59(9) DXReport" reports to look for Flo, GM4DMA, to possibly be active as JT1FCR on the HF bands from April 18-30th. QSL via GM4DMA.

JW, SVALBARD. Leif/LA2PA and Oystein/LA7QI will be signing JW2PA and JW7QI respectively from May 1st to May 8th. If propagation permits, they will concentrate on 12 and 10 meters SSB and CW.

PIRATE STATION. Phil, GU0SUP, RSGB QSL Sub-Manager for the GU/MU series callsign, informs OPDX that he has been getting quite a number of cards for three callsign that have been pirated.

Phil states that he now has such a large number of cards for these callsigns that it is not practical for him to return them to the sender, as its postage costs would be outrageous.

QSL INFO AND NEWS......

SPECIAL ACTIVITY. The "King Chulalongkorn Memorial Amateur Radio Society", SI9AM, will be active from Utanede, Sweden, next weekend starting March 31st, in the afternoon local time ending at Sunday noon. Activity will be on all bands CW/SSB. The station is located near the Thai Pavillion. QSL via SM3CVM bureau or direct CBA.

TX0DX, CHESTERFIELD ISLANDS (Possible New Entity, IOTA OC-176). Press releases by Tim Totten, N4GN, has kept the DX community well informed on the progress of this operation. TX0DX hit the airwaves from the Chesterfield Islands at exactly 0000z, March 23rd, signaling the start of what is expected to be the newest DXCC entity. From one of the press releases by Tim, the following was reported: "The International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) has officialy announced that Association des Radio-Amateurs de Nouvelle-Caledonie (ARANC) has been confirmed as the newest IARU member society, effective 22 March 2000. Due to the timing of the voting process, the first full UTC date for ARANC's membership was 23 March, making this the effective "event date" for DXCC purposes. The result is that QSOs with the Chesterfield Islands on or after 0000 UTC, 23 March 2000, are expected to count toward the new DXCC entity. This corresponds to the date and time when the TX0DX operation began." The full text of the IARU news release can be found at: http://www.iaru.org/rel000323.html An excerpt from the latest press release indicates that the operators at TX0DX continue to rack up impressive QSO totals, despite frequent rain showers. As they approach the end of the third day of operations, nearly 35,000 QSOs are in the log--an average rate of approximately 500 per hour! For low band enthusiasts, operations on 80 and 160 will also begin in earnest on Monday, March 27th. The TX0DX operation is expected to continue operating "at full force" until 0500z, March 29th, when the team will begin disassembling some antennas. At least two stations will continue operating until approximately 2200z, March 29th. OPDX InterNet Subscribers will receive the complete and latest bulletin as an additional bulletin. Regular bulletins will be posted throughout the operation on the TX0DX web site at: http://www.n4gn.com/tx0dx/ Lastly, the DXAC is in the process of studying the Chesterfield Island maps and other data. The vote hasn't been scheduled yet, but probably very soon.

WP4, ISLAND OF MONA. Carlos, WP4U, has planned a DXpedition here (IOTA NA-99) now through March 31st. He will sign WP4U/M. Mona Island is one of the five islands needed to get the certificate "Work Puerto Rico Island Award". A special QSL card will be issued. QSL direct or via bureau to WP4U.

OPDX INTERNET SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUEST: opdx-request@nshore.org
OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE):
http://www.en.com/users/k8yse/opdx.html
ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN 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 14400/9600/2400/1200/300 and leave a message with the Sysop or send InterNet Mail to one of the two following addresses: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org -or- aq474@cleveland.freenet.edu - OR - Send a message via packet to KB8NW @ WA8BXN.OH.USA.NA - OR - Use the VOICE or FAX answering machine at 440-237-8208 which shares the same phone line as BARF-80 BBS using a data/fax/phone switch. To access: 1) Dial Number. 2) Wait for first ring (the second ring should be a false ring from the fax/data switch box) and then dial four quick ones ("1111"). (NOTE: Some FAX machines that send single "BEEPS" every second will not have to do this step.) 3) The phone will pick up and after the "BEEP" leave your voice message or FAX.

Tedd Mirgliotta KB8NW
InterNet: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org
Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS (BARF-80) +1 440/237-8208
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