The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 849
BID: $OPDX.849
March 10, 2008
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, K3TRM, NG3K, W3HC, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, W4ETN, K8YSE, DX-IS News Site, Pete's-DX- Newsdesk, URE RadioSolidaridad, CO8TW, DJ8NK, DK8JB, DL7MAE & The DX News Letter, F5NQL & UFT, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, G4MKP, G0VGS, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, OE1HMC, RSGB IOTA Web Site, SM5FWW, SP2FAP, VA3RJ & ICPO and VK4FW for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 2nd/March, through Sunday, 9th/March there were 228 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4U1U, 4X, 5B, 5N, 5R, 5U, 5V, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 8R, 9A, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C2, C3, C5, C6, C9, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E5, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FH, FK, FM, FO, FO/c, FR, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JT, JW, JX, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH9, 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, S0, S2, S5, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T5, T7, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TL, TN, TR, TT, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9N, VP2E, VP2V, VP5, VP6, VP8, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, YA, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, ZD7, ZF, ZK3, 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" (WFWL).

4W, TIMOR-LESTE (URE - RadioSolidaridad Press Release)
The following was received last week from "URE - RadioSolidaridad":

"The Union de Radioaficionados Espanoles, URE, (The Spanish Amateur Radio League) is proud to announce a project in East Timor to take place in June 2008. URE's Radiosolidarity Department will organize an Amateur Radio DXpedition, combined with activities to promote Amateur Radio including the donation and setting up of a complete amateur radio station at the University of Dili. It is hoped that by operating alongside students and teachers of the Electrical Engineering and other departments it will be possible to sow the seeds of future amateur radio activity of a permanent nature in East Timor.

During the last few years URE's Radiosolidarity has been involved in projects in the following countries:
1998-TJ2RSF-Cameroun [ in collaboration with RSF]
1998/1999-Cuba [campaign of donation of material]
1999-HU4U-El Salvador
2000-HQ0R-Honduras
2001-TG0R-Guatemala
2003-ZA1A-Albania [an IARU project]
2004-7W0AD-Algeria
2004-T42R-Cuba
2005-TZ6DEL-Mali
2007-T42R-Cuba
2007-HQ2R-Honduras

This new project will take place in cooperation with the University of Dili, located in the capital of East Timor. We don't yet know the callsign that will be used; whether it will be a special one for the occasion, hopefully 4W6R, the callsign of the University (4W6UTL) or the callsign of one of the operators (4W6ERC).

The group that will take part in the activity is made up of the following experienced operators:
EA1QF Angel (team leader) EA4KA Eugene
EA3CUU Pere EA5BWR Txema
EA4DB (ex-EA4BPJ) Jose CT1ERC Jose

QSLs will be via EA4URE.

A complete station (Kenwood TS690 + Mosley TA63M + G5RV + rotor) will be donated to and installed at the University of Dili for use of the students and teachers of the Electrical Engineering Department or anyone else who might be interested in Amateur Radio. Another station will be set up, temporarily, at the team=B4s lodgings in order to have two stations (CW and SSB) operating permanently during the 15 days of operation. Time will be spent on other modes (RTTY, etc) and special attention will be paid to operation on six meters.

The majority of this project`s funding is provided by the Alicante Provincial Government and by URE. The rest of the budget, at this time, will be down to the operators although we have already received news of some small but useful donations. We would be very grateful if individuals and organizations could consider making contributions to this project at any time, including after the operation. Please bear in mind the following two considerations.

The objective of this project is to contribute to the development of a very young country and to promote amateur radio activity by East Timor nationals.

The DXpedition part of the activity is intended to achieve 30,000 plus QSOs in spite of the limitations imposed on us. We feel able to achieve this due to the very considerable experience of our six-man team of proven DXpedition operators."

5T, MAURITANIA
A German team of operators will be active from Nouakchott between March 15-30th. No callsign(s) were provided. They plan to be active in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March -29-30th) as a Multi-? entry. Operators mentioned are: DK8YY, DL2ARD, DL2JRM, DL3JJ, DL4JS, DL5SE and DL7ZZ. QSL via DH7WW, direct or by the DARC Bureau.

6V, SENEGAL
A Swedish team of operators will be active as 6V7I between April 6-12th. Operators mentioned are Ronnie/SM7DKF, Goran/SM7DLK, Mats/ SM7DXQ, Christer/SM7KJH, Tore/SM7MPM and Mike/SM7TGA. The team plans to have two stations on 160-10 meters operating CW and SSB, with monoband yagis and verticals. QSL via SM7DXQ.

6Y, JAMAICA (60m Activity)
Frank, K3TRM, informs OPDX that he is returning to Lucea, Jamaica (NA-097), again for vacation and will be active as K3TRM/6Y5 from March 14-23rd. Activity will be on 80-10 meters SSB, CW, and RTTY. He has also received permission from the Jamaican authorities to activate 60 meters for the first time from Jamaica. QSL via his home callsign direct (w/SASE), by the bureau or LoTW. Additional information is available on his Web site at:

9A70, CROATIA (Special Event)
Look for amateur radio operators of Lipik to be active using the special callsign 9A70LPC. Activity is to celebrate the return of and the 70th anniversary of Lipik stud horses. The Lippizaner horses were taken during the war in 1991 by Serbia and were recently returned to Lipik in October 2007. For details, please see:

9M0, SPRATLY ISLANDS (Update)
Operator Ed/N1UR and his xyl Christine/ KB1PQN (her first DXpedition) are still expected to be active from Layang- Layang Island Resort, Spratly Islands (AS-051) between 0800z, March 22nd and 0000z, March 30th (See details in OPDX.848).

Ed (now in BY-land) informed OPDX this past week that both operators now have permission from the Navy to use the callsign 9M6/N1UR. He is also looking for any donations (if possible) to help defray the significant "Extra Baggage" charges to Spratly. There are lots of coax and wire going over to the island to put up the best TX and RX antennas possible with their limited budget. Ed mentioned that he will be updating their Web site regularly as it gets closer to their arrival on Spratly. He is not sure if they will be able to post updates from Spratly itself, but they will try. QSL via K2RET: Bob Tomkovich, Jr., 405 Hemlock Dr., Lanoka Harbor, NJ 08734 USA. More information, as well as a "needs and wants" mode/band survey can be found at:

9X, RWANDA (Update)
The multi-national DXpedition team scheduled to be active as 9X0R this coming weekend between March 16-27th, has added another operator to their team. The new operator is Benard, F9IE. The 9X0R team plans to have at least 3 stations on the air on the following suggested frequencies:

CW - 1824, 3504, 7004, 10104, 14024, 18074, 21024, 24894 and 28024
SSB - 1845, 3795, 7065, 14195, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28495
RTTY - 7035, 10140, 18100, 21080, 24920 and 28080 kHz

CARIBBEAN TOUR (Update)
Yannick, F6FYD/HH2FYD, who is expected to be active between March 10-13th from St. Barthelemy, possibly as FJ/F6FYD or under the St. Barth ARC callsign FJ5KH, will go back to Haiti (HH) before leaving for France at the end of March (26th). Look for him to be active again active from Ile a Vache (IOTA NA-149) between March 21-23rd as HH2FYD/6. QSL via F6FYD.

FR/G, GLORIOSO ISLANDS
Jean-Michel, F6AJA, editor of Les Nouvelles DX, informed OPDX on Monday last week that after many years of effort, the permission has finally been received and an operation to Glorioso (Glorieuses) Islands will take place, probably early May (possibly between May 5-9th) for some weeks. At the moment, operators mentioned are Pascal/F5PTM, Freddy/F5IRO, Stephane/F6KIN, David/F8CRS, Yves-Michel/ F5PRU and possibly 3 others. The team plans to have 3 or 4 stations on the air. They are currently looking for sponsors, and if you would like to help, please contact Didier, F5OGL. Presently, Glorioso is ranked 4th in "DX Magazine's 2007 Most Wanted Countries World-Wide" in the mixed modes (EU 7th, Asia 9th and NA 4th). There is no Web page currently available for this operation, but details from the 2005/2006 planned operation Web page (which did not take place) states:

"The Glorioso Archipelago consists of two coral islands: Grande Glorieuse (3 km in its larger diameter) where the human installations are, and Ile du Lys (circular island, 600 metres in diameter) which is desert. The archipelago also includes two rock islets - Roches Vertes and l'Ile aux Crabes - as well as a sand bank more or less above water at high tide. At the east and northeast of Grande Glorieuse are a series of dunes reaching a maximum elevation of 12 m. The islands and rocks are surrounded by a reef and a lagoon which is drained dry at low tide. The Glorioso islands are situated 220km northwest of Diego Suarez (Mada- gascar).

The island became French territory in 1930. Around 1912, a French came from the Comoros and planted a fine coconut palm plantation there. Exploited until 1958 by people from the Seychelles, it is currently abandoned. There are also filaos. Fauna consists exclusively of a rather large colony of terns.

The meteorological service of the French colony in Madagascar installed on the island a rather primitive weather station in 1955 which was opened only during the hurricane season from October to April. Since 1960 the the station is open all year round. The importance of this station is clear. It predicts cyclones for the North Madagascar and Comoros area. It ensures safe navigation on the Madagascar-Djibouti- Madagascar and Kenya-Mauritius-Kenya air and maritime routes. (From minister for the French overseas Web site)"

HH, HAITI
Operators Jan/K4QD and Don/AF4Z will be active as HH4/homecall from the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission

INDIAN OCEAN TOUR (3B8 and 3B9)
The "425 DX NEWS" reports that Slavo, SP2JMB, will be active as 3B9/SP2JMB from Rodrigues Island (AF-017) between April 1-8th, and 3B8/SP2JMB from Mauritius Island (AF-049) between April 9-24th. Activity will be mostly CW.

IOTA NEWS
AS-155. Operators Bill/BV8BC, Bob/BV8BQ, Jeng/BV8SE and Chan/BX8AD will be active as BV9O from Orchid Island, March 28-31st. QSL via BV8BC. EU-008. Members of Macclesfield and District Radio Society will be active as GS4MWS/P from the Isle of Jura (IOSA NH21, SCOTIA CS28), Inner Hebrides between April 26th and May 3rd. Activity will be on or near the usual island and IOTA frequencies. The main IOTA meeting frequency is 14260 kHz. Other suggested frequecies are:
SSB - 28560, 28460, 24950, 21260, 18128, 7055 and 3755 kHz
CW - 28040, 24920, 21040, 18098, 14040, 10115 and 3530 kHz
No specific frequency has been nominated for 7 MHz CW, but it is recommended that operations should include a frequency above 7025 kHz when the band is open to North America. Operators mentioned are: Keith/G3VKF, Ray/M1REK, Adrian/2E0DOD, Andy/G1DDU and Alan/G0JNJ. QSL via 2E0DOD, direct or by the bureau. Further info is available at:

EU-008. Members of Sands Contest Group and Workington Amateur Radio Society are combining to activate the Isle of Jura, between September 22-29th. They hope to be active on all modes and bands as conditions allow. The Sands Contest Group has previously activated Mull in 2006 and the Workington Amateur Radio Society has had several activations, the last of which was Barra Island in 2007. More information as it happens can be found on the Sands Contest Group blog at:

EU-057. Look for Frank/DL2SWW and his XYL Gabi/DF9TM to be active as DL2SWW/p from Ruegen Island (O-07 for the German Islands Award), March 14-16th. QSL via DL2SWW, direct or by the bureau.

EU-125. Klaus, DK9LO, is expected to activate Romo Island (NS-001 for the Danish Islands Award) as OZ/DK9LO between now and March 21st. Activity will be on 80-10 meters, conditions permitting. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the bureau or eQSL.

OC-142. Bill, VK4FW, reports that there is a chance for him to be active late this week for 4 days from Fraser Island. He states, "My wife is slowly on the mend and we will visit the island to have a few days away from the hospital rat race, so I will take an antenna. I will be only barefoot so it will primarily be a CW operation when time permits. I would like to also take this oportunity to thank all those wonderful people who have sent us their kind thoughts over the last months. My wife is especially grateful to the many who sent personal emails."

OC-164. John, VK6HZ, will be active as VK6ARI from Rottnest Island during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th) possibly as a Single-Op/All-Band or Single-Band(15m)/Low-Power entry. QSL via VK6NE.

J8, ST. VINCENT
Operators Babs/DL7AFS and Lot/DJ7ZG are now active as J8/DL7AFS and J8/DJ7ZG, respectively, until March 20th. Activity will be 80-6 meters, mostly on RTTY, PSK31 and SSB. QSL via DL7AFS.

MEGA DX PEDITIONS HONOR ROLL
Jari, OH2BU, has put together and maintained an interesting Excel spreadsheet over the last 12 years called - The "Mega DX Peditions Honor Roll". This Honor Roll listing currently includes data of 114 DXpeditions that have worked 30,000 or more QSOs since 1979. This unique listing includes data on:
- A summary on the DXpedition (dates, length, QSOs, stations..etc.)
- Information on Logs, Web site, QSL routes and if it is in LoTW
- List of operators of the DXpedition
- QSO statistics per continents, modes and bands
- Also continental, band and mode records

The whole purpose of this listing is to help future DXpeditions in planning their next operation, and to understand the possibilities in making QSOs to different continents and to optimize their efforts.

  The following is the currently "TOP TEN DXPEDITIONS ON THE HONOR ROLL":
                              Length                      QSO total
  Pos.  Call    DXCC Entity   (days)  Dates         Year  with dupes   Stns
    1   VP6DX   Ducie I.        17    Feb 11-27     2008  183,686        7                      
    2   D68C    Comoros Is.     20    Feb  8-28     2001  168,722       10
    3   3B9C    Rodrigues I.    24    Mar 19-Apr 12 2004  153,113      10-12
    4   3B7C    St. Brandon     15    Sep  9-24     2007  137,500
    5   4O3T    Montenegro      24    Jul 20-Aug 13 2006  120,000
    6   N8S     Swains I.       11    Apr  4-15     2007  117,205        7
    7   5A7A    Libya           14    Nov 16-29     2006  112,232     7+1(6m)
    8 VU7RG/VU7MY Lakshadweep Is.14   Jan 15-29     2007  110,201       13
    9   ZL9CI   Campbell Is.    17    Jan  7-24     1999   96,004      6+(1)
   10   K1B     Baker & Howland  9    Apr 28-May 7  2002   95,127        6

OJ, MARKET REEF (EU-053, ARLHS MAR-001)
A Swedish team will activate the reef during the first week of June 2008. Activity will be on 160-2 meters CW/SSB/RTTY/WSJT and also the satellites. The callsign(s) and the operators (as well as QSL routes) are to be announced later.

PACIFIC TOUR
Rick, AI5P, is expected to start his month long Pacific tour this week. Between March 15th and April 16th, look for him to be active as AI5P/KH2 from Guam (OC-026) between March 15-23rd, as V73PX from Kwajalein (OC-028 - Marshall Islands) between March 24th and April 5th, and ending his trip as AI5P/KH0 from Northern Mariana Islands (OC-086) between April 7-16th. QSL all his operations via his home callsign.

QSL INFO AND NEWS
QSL ROUTES by Johannes/DK8JB and Tedd/KB8NW:
4F1VDU direct
AO1A via EA1AHO
CO8TW via HB9SVT

FJ/OH2AM QSLS AND THE OH2BN WEB SITE. Bob, W4ETN, informs OPDX that he received a message from Martti Laine, OH2BH, concerning the OH2BN Web site being down and the QSL cards for the FJ/OH2AM operation. Martti states,

"Bob, yes OH2BN Web site is down because we were concerned about some hacking into it as was the case to our (QRZ.com) during our recent operation from Kosovo."

J79XBI QSLS. Leif, SM5FWW, informs OPDX that J79XBI is now QRT as of March 2nd (2008) and Seth, SM0XBI, should be home by the time you read this. All QSL cards are now to be sent to his home callsign (SM0XBI or SM7XBI - same guy). Leif states that he still has some 30 cards left, so if any late QSLers are sending cards to him, he can still help out.

QSLS VIA LOTW: LU5FF, PW2M and TR8CA

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 1A0KM, 3D2BV, 4L0A, 5L2MS, 8P9AG, 9N7BV/P, A45WD, A61Q/M, BY1TX/4, CE1/K7CA, CE0Z, CX5BW, E4/OM2DX, FJ/G3TXF, H44V, H44V/P, HB0/DL2OBO, HK1X, JA6WFM/HC5, KP2/K3TEJ, LU1ZA, MD0CCE, NE8Z/HC1MD, OD5XX, SU8BHI, T22V, VQ9JC and Z29KM

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3XD2Z, 3XM6JR, 9K2HN, 9U9Z and TO4T

SILENT KEY
It was reported that Paco, CO6FA, became a "Silent Key" on January 18th. Paco was an amateur for more then 50 years and a teacher of Ham Radio in Cuba. OPDX and its subscribers would like to send out our deepest sympathy to the family and friends of Paco.

SN0, POLAND (Special Event)
With the commencement of the new PGA Award (Polish Gminy Award) program, look for special event station SP0PGA to be active from March 11th to May 15th, 2008. Activity will be on the HF bands, CW and SSB. QSL via SP9YJC. For more information, please go to the following Web pages:

SP0, POLAND (Special Event)
With the commencement of the new PGA Award (Polish Gminy Award) program, look for special event station SP0PGA to be active from March 15th to April 15th, 2008. Activity will be on the HF bands, CW and SSB. QSL via SP2FAP. For more information, please go to the following Web pages:

SPECIAL EVENT (Attention PFX-Hunters)
The European Soccer Championship will be held in Austria and Switzerland during June 2008. Special event stations are expected to be on the air from April 26th to June 30th (2008) using special callsigns and prefixes ranging from HB2008AAA-ZZZ and OE2008AAA-ZZZ. A special limited time award is available. Please visit the following Web page for details:

TC3, TURKEY
Yasar, TA3D, will be active as TC3D during the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/Low-Power entry. QSL via TA3D.

TK, CORICA
Anne, OH2YL, (YL) will be active as TK/OH2YL from March 16-22nd. Activity will be on the HF bands, CW and SSB. OSL via OH2YL.

TK7, CORSICA (Update)
Members of the F6KOP Provins ARS, who will be active as TK7C between May 3-10th (see OPDX.847), have named Laurent, F1JKJ, as the final 6th operator of their team. The group plans on having 3 stations on the air, on 80-10 meters, with Acom 1010, Spider- beams, dipoles and verticals. Modes will be CW, SSB and the Digitals modes.QSL via Bernard, F9IE.

TX5C, CLIPPERTON ATOLL DXPEDITION UPDATE
The Clipperton team is now on the air!. Looks like activity by TX5C started around 0000z, March 9th. Reports indicate the team battled sea sickness getting there and are now fighting the heat (110 deg. F). Because of the heat, the team was approximately 24 hours behind their intended schedule during the set up. Their Web site stated,

"The heat has compounded our work load and Arnie, N6HC, had his hands full dealing with sunburns and mandatory work and water breaks every 30 minutes to ensure each team member's safety."

V2, ANTIGUA (NA-100)
Operators Mark/W9OP and Bob/W4OWY will again be active as V25WY and V25OP, respectively, from Gunthroppes (WLOTA LH-1118, WW Loc. FK97BC), March 11-17th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters, CW, SSB and RTTY. They plan to be very active on 50.110 MHz using an OMNI-7 at 100 watts with a 3 element yagi at 40 feet. QSL via their respective home callsigns.

VK9A, NORFOLK ISLAND
Masa, VK1ANU, plans to be active as VK9ANU between March 19th and April 2nd. Activity will be on 80-10 meters using vertical antennas for the LF, a wire for HF and only 100w. He also will be an entry in CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th). QSL via JO2SLZ.

VP2E, ANGUILLA
Operators Franz/DL9GFB (VP2EFB) and Jan/DJ8NK (VP2ENK) will be active from Anguilla between March 26th and April 6th. Jan tells OPDX that their activity will include the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th). They plan to operate on 160-10 meters, CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. The final decision about their equipment is yet to made, but for sure they will have a quarter wave antenna for 75/80m and an Inverted L for 160m. They also plan to have 2 stations with linears. The QTH is placed in the north part of the island at "Island Harbour" overlooking the sea. QSL via their home callsigns.

VP2M, MONTSERRAT
Art, N3DXX, will be active as VP2MAH between March 26-31st. Activity will be on 160-10 meters, as well as a Single-Op entry in the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th).

ZA, ALBANIA
Operators George/EC2ADN and Kepa/EA2DCF will be active as ZA/homecall between March 15-22nd. Activity will be on 40, 20 (14184) and 10 meters and possibly 17 and 30 meters. QSL preferably via the bureau.

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