The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 901
BID: $OPDX.901
March 23, 2009
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, NG3K, W3ML, W3UR & The Daily DX, K4ZLE, N4AA & QRZ DX, K8YSE, N0TG, 7Z1SJ, 9A2X, DF7ZS, DL7MAE & The DX News Letter, DX World of Ham Radio Web Site, EC1AE, F5NQL & UFT, I1JQJ/ IK1ADH & 425 DX News, OK1DOT, Pete's-DX-Newsdesk, RSGB IOTA Web Site, VA3RJ & ICPO, VE8EV and VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF) for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 15th-March, through Sunday, 22nd-March there were 229 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1U, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5U, 5V, 5W, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C6, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FH, FK, FM, FO, FR, FW, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, H40, HA, HB, HC, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/m, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, 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, PY0F, PZ, S2, S5, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TL, TN, TR, TT, TU, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9C, VK9L, VP2E, VP2M, VP2V, VP5, VP6, VP8, VP8/g, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XW, XX9, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, ZA, ZB, ZC4, 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" (WFWL).

4Z, ISRAEL
Ziv, 4Z4OQ, will be active during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op/Single-Band (20m) entry. QSL via 4Z4OQ.

8P, BARBADOS
Tom, W2SC, will be active as 8P1A during the CQWW WPX DX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entry. QSL via NN1N.

9A800, CROATIA
Members of the Radio Club "Varazdin" (9A1HDE/9A7A) will be active as 9A800VZ until the end of the year. First activity will be during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th). Activity is to celebrate the 800th anniversary that King Andrija II gave to the people of Varazdin the status as a free and royal town. More details are available on QRZ.com. QSL via 9A7A.

9M8, EAST MALAYIA (Update/Change)
Steve, 9M6DXX, will operate as 9M8Z from Sarawak (OC-088), March 21-29th. Activity will include the CQ WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Operator/Unassisted/All-Band/ High-Power entry. Outside the contest look for him to be on 20 meters SSB early afternoons, 40 meters SSB later on. He will use a 3 element Yagi. QSL via M0URX, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. The reason Steve is going earlier than first announced, is that he has been asked to give a presentation on DXpeditioning at an "Amateur Radio Roadshow" being held by MCMC, the Malaysian licensing authority, on Saturday, March 21st.

ANOTHER ANTARCTIC OP & CRUISE IS BEING PLANNED
Mehdi, F5PFP, announced this past weekend that he is in touch with several French skippers for another planned expedition to the Antarctic area to take place in 2 years. He stresses that this is just in the "PROJECT stage", not an official announcement!! The itinerary would be more or less the following:

Machu Picchu + Republica del Ecuador refuge (King George Island)
Cerda traces station (Deception Island)
Maldonado (Greenwich Island)
Portal Point traces station (West Graham island)
Port Circoncision (Petermann Island)
Yelcho (Doumer Island)
Melchior (Observatorio Island)
And possibly a few more bases/refuges

ATTENTION TOPBANDERS! This web page may be of interest to the Topbanders. Site provides a "Whos Who on Topband" at:

C9, MOZAMBIQUE
Just a reminder that members of the Texas DX Society will be active as C91TX from Bilene, Maputo Province, between March 25th and April 5th. Bilene is 180km from the capital city of Maputo. Activity will be on all bands 160-10 meters with 3 active stations, one station each for CW, SSB, and the Digital modes. They will participate in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th). Operators mentioned are: Cal/WF5W, Paul/W5PF, Madison/W5MJ, Bill/K5WAF, Dale/KG5U and Jim/N4AL. QSL Manager for C91TX is W5PF. Depending on internet access, they hope to have an online log search page once operations start, but don't expect daily updates. For updates, visit the Texas DX Society C91TX Web page at:

CQ3, MADEIRA ISLANDS
Members of the CT3Team will be active as CQ3T during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Multi-Single entry. QSL via the LoTW or CT3KN.

CT3/CS9, MADEIRA ISLANDS (Update)
Helmut, DF7ZS, will be active as CT3/homecall between March 24-31st. His activity will include the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th). He will sign CS9L for the contest. QSL via DJ6QT. Look for casual operation before the contest. QSL via the Bureau. Visit his Web page at:

CY0, SABLE ISLAND
Randy, N0TG, informs OPDX: "Everything is coming together nicely for the October 2009 DXpedition. Formal authorization to access the island has been received, and the team is actively preparing. Everyone is invited to visit the Web site periodically for continuing detailed information at:

DAYTON HAMVENTION DX ACTIVITIES
The SouthWest Ohio DX Association (SWODXA) is pleased to announce the speakers for this year's DX dinner to be held in conjunction with the 2009 HamVention. Their speakers will be John Stanley/K4ERO, and Ruth Stanley/WB4LUA. This husband and wife team travel the globe installing, maintaining and training personnel for religious international shortwave stations. They have been to over 60 DXCC entities and operated from more than 12 of them. John has written many technical articles in the ham journals (with one in the April 2009 issue of QST), is a recipient of the 2007 Doug DeMaw Technical Excellence Award and is an ARRL Technical Advisor, having contributed many pieces to the ARRL Handbook. When they accepted the invitation to be our speakers, Ruth commented that they have "....lots of interesting details about antennas and contest sites and DXing possibilities along with stories and more stories. I can hardly wait to hear what we'll say."

The dinner will be Friday evening, May 15th, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, located in Dayton city center. Attendees will have their choice of either a steak dinner or a vegetarian dinner. They must be informed when the tickets are ordered if you want the vegetarian option. Tickets are 39.00 USDs per meal, payable in U.S. funds to SWODXA. (Sorry, they do not process PayPal or Credit Card payments.) Please advise if you want a vegetarian meal when you order. Order from Pete Meyer, N0FW, at his CBA. SASE is required or you may pick up your tickets at the door. They attempt to honor group seating requests when tickets are ordered together. There is not a bad seat in the house, but seating is definitely limited. Come join them for an evening of fun and fellowship.

As in the past, there will be some nice door prizes. Last year the main prize was an Icom IC-756 Pro III, but this year ICOM has promised them one of the first IC-7600's to be brought in to the United States! Up-to-date information may be found on the club's Web site at: http://www.swodxa.com Pete's E-mail address is: n0fw live com. Last year Yaesu joined them in sponsoring the DX forum during HamVention. They have agreed to partner with them again for 2009. There will be a FT-2000 with PEP raffled off at the end of the DX forum. The winner does not have to be present. Tickets for a chance on the FT-2000 are 5.00 USDs each or 5 for 20.00 USDs. For your convenience, they may be ordered at the same time you purchase your DX dinner tickets. All proceeds from this raffle are used by SWODXA to assist in providing DXpedition grants. Confirmed DXpeditions to present at the DX forum are: E44M by Simone, IZ0BTV; K5D by TBD; African DX Safaris by Frosty, K5LBU; VK9DWX by Josh, W4WJF. The DX forum is currently scheduled for Saturday, May 16th, to begin at 2:45 PM.

E7, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
Operators Richard/9A1TT, Vlado/E70T, Zoka/E76C, Braco/E77DX and Rob/E77E will be active as E7DX during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Multi-Single entry. QSL via E77E.

EF8, CANARY ISLANDS (AF-004)
Operator Valery, RD3AF, will be active as EF8M during the CQ WW WPX CW Contest (May 30-31st) as a Single-Op/All-Band/ High-Power entry. QSL via UA3DX (QRZ.com).

FJ, ST. BARTHELEMY (NA-146)
Operators Oscar/EB1HF and Pablo/EC1DPM will be active as FJ/homecall between April 7-12th. Activity will be only on the digital modes, principally on RTTY, on the 20/15/10 meter bands. They will have two Icom 706s into dipoles and a 2 element yagi (by Super Antenna). Their QSL Manager is EC1AE. QSL only direct, (w/SAE + 2 USDs) or (w/SAE + 1 IRC) VALID CN01 IRC, to: Oscar Gancedo, P.O. Box 921, E-33080, Oviedo, SPAIN.

HH, HAITI (Update to OPDX.849/899)
Operators Jan/K4QD and Don/AF4Z will be active as HH4/homecall from the Northwest Haiti Christian Mission (www.nwhcm.org) between March 24th and April 4th. They will operate 80-10 meters on CW, SSB and RTTY as time permits. Nighttime low band operations will be limited to the availability of AC power. They will also participate in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th), along with Jean-Robert, HH2JR, using the special prefix and callsign 4V4JR for the contest. QSL via their home callsigns. Operators prefer direct or LoTW, but the Bureau is "OK".

HQ2, HONDURAS
Operator Dan, HR2DMR, will be active as HQ2W during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power/ Assisted entry. He will use monobander antennas on 20/15/10m and sloper antennas on 160/80/40m. QSL via HR2DMR. QSL via address on (QRZ.com).

IOTA NEWS
AS-192. (UPDATE/New IOTA) Operators Firas/HZ1FS, Mohamad/HZ1MD and Suli/7Z1SJ are now active as HZ1FS/P from Hibar Island in the Red Sea Coast South (Jizan Province) Group until March 23rd (but may stay longer). Activity will be mainly SSB with possibly some CW and Digital, on 160/40/20/17/15/10 meters. They will have three stations with many antennas (mainly using a spider beam on 20/15/10m). QSL via EA7FTR.

EU-052. Operators George/SV1QN, Fotis/SV1AIN, Giannis/SV1GYG and Nikos/SW1GYN will be active as homecall/8 from Zakynthos Island [aka Zante] (GIOTA INS-015, MIA MG-138, WLOTA 0209) between March 23-29th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters using all modes. QSL via their home callsigns.

EU-189. SPECIAL NOTICE by Theo, ON4ATW, about the Rockall operation (dated March 21st): "We are disappointed and surprised to read the news on some web pages and DX-bulletins about our planned operation from Rockall Island sometime this year. Apparently one of the organizations where we filled out an application form in order to receive sponsoring has abused this information and distributed this without notice to us. Sadly all information on those web pages and personal blogs is misleading and definitely not correct! Please be advised that any information will be forthcoming from me ON4ATW or at least will carry my signature in order to inform the DX community with real and up-to-date information. We are at a critical phase in preparing this expedition and releasing info at this stage could jeopardize the whole operation. Therefore, I ask you, our audience, to standby until accurate and inside information will be released once we have the feeling it is time to do so. Up until now nothing is official and we do not agree with individuals sending info to the DX-bulletins without prior notice to one of the actual Rockall 2009 team members."

NA-192. (Op Delayed) The date for the VX8X DXpedition has been moved back two weeks due to the requirements of the ongoing drilling operations on Ellice Island. Operators John/VE8EV, Wally/VE8DW and Gerry/VE8GER will now be active as VX8X from Ellice Island, April 2-5th. Activity will be on 40/20/15 meter CW/SSB during a 24 hour per day non-stop operation. Expect to see them on CW, but most of the focus will be on 20 meter SSB on 14260 kHz. QSL via the information on (QRZ.com) under VX8X. For additional info and possible updates, visit the following Web page at:

JW, SVALBARD
Just a reminder that Francois, F8DVD, will once again be active as JW/F8DVD from the Longyearbyen ARC located on Spitsbergen Island, 78 degree North, and about a thousand kilometers far from the geographic North Pole (EU-026, WAZ 40 and Grid Square JQ78TF), April 19-25th. His activity will be on all HF bands both CW and SSB. This will be Francois's 6th time on the island. He will use the Longyearbyen Radio Club's equipment which consists of an ICOM 751 and a 500 watts PA, into a 5 elements yagi on a 30 meters high tower. QSL via his home callsign, through the French REF-Union Bureau or direct, w/SAE + 1 IRC (or 1 USD for EU, and 2 USDs for elsewhere) to: Francois Bergez, 6, Rue de la Liberte, F-71000 MACON, France.

K5D DXPEDITION DVD
The K5D Desecheo Island 2009 DVD is in the works. Bob/K4UEE and Ed/W4ZSB will produce yet another exciting DXpedition video. In the tradition of previous video productions, the K5D Dxpedition video, entitled, "Desecheo---so near, yet so far" will be full of exciting footage of the helicopter trips, the island from the air, camp set up and takedown, pileups you won't believe and of course an inside look into the logistics of a big DXpedition, interviews with key team members and of course, humor. The video should be ready by September 2009 and will sell for 25.00 USDs. But by ordering now, you reserve an early copy of this collectors' item at a discounted price of 22.00 USDs. As always, this includes shipping and handling. To reserve your copy, go to:

LX, LUXEMBOURG
Lars, DF1LON, will be active as LX7I during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via LX2A. Visit the following Web page at:

OH0, ALAND ISLAND (EU-002)
Anne, OH2YL, will be active as OH0/OH2YL between April 9-14th. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via OH2YL.

OL, CZECH REPUBLIC
Members of the Jelinek Vladimir Radioklub (OK2KJU) of Prerov will be active as OL7T during the CQ World Wide WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as Multi-Single entry. Operators mentioned are: OK2BXU, OK2BXE and OK2BZP. QSL via OK2BXU.

P2, PAPUA NEW GUINEA (IOTA Op)
Once again the team of operators Luis/ CT1AGF, Derek/G3KHZ, Steve/G4EDG and Hans/SM6CVX, plus Gordon/G3USR, will activate three Papua New Guinea IOTA islands between October 22nd and November 9th. Islands mentioned are Tanga Island (OC-102), Green Island (OC-231) and Woodlark Island (OC-205) . Activity will be on 160- 15 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY modes. Gordon/G3USR will be exclusively on SSB. The team will be using new single band vertical dipoles for 30-15 meters and a ground plane for 40 meters.

PJ2, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES (Contest Station Available)

Geoff, W0CG (PJ2DX), resident caretaker of PJ2T, announced that nobody in the PJ2T club (CCC - Caribbean Contesting Consortium) is interested or able to operate the Curacao station for the IARU HF World Championship in July. Thus, the place is available if you would be interested in coming there as a Single- Op, or to organize a group operation. With sufficient lead time, Geoff could arrange for you to get a callsign of the form PJ2* (except that PJ2A, PJ2R, and PJ2T are unavailable). If you wanted to do a group operation that would include Geoff for a little bit of the operating time, you would be able to sign PJ2T. Two by two callsigns are NOT allowed for visitors to Curacao, sorry. The QTH has two bedrooms, two baths, and four beds available. (Geoff will sleep in another room attached to the house.) There's tons of info about the place at:

QSL INFO AND NEWS
QSL 4U1UN via HB9BOU. Activity took place this past weekend (Friday through Sunday. Operators mentioned were: Mohamed/ KA2RTD, Johnny/LA2IIA (NQ2G), George/N2GA, Tony/ N2UN and "The Daily DX" editor Bernie/W3UR.
QSL KH0/K2JA via his home callsign, JL3SIK.p
QSL V47NT via W2RQ

Petr, OK1DOT, informs OPDX that he is now the QSL Manager for Kunle, 5N0OBA. Kunle is the General Secretary of NARS (Nigera Amateur Radio Society) and the guardian of Amateur Radio in Nigeria.

CN8CG QSL ROUTE. If you recently used the QSL information on QRZ.com for CN8CG, the QSL route is not correct. The route did state QSL to Jules, W1GPY, but has since been removed. It was reported to OPDX that Jules ceased to be CN8CG in 1998 and was reissued. There is no QSL Manager list for CN8CG. According to HAMCALL, the callsign CN8CG was reissued in 2001 to Kamal Bella (Bloc, Kenitra, Kenitra 14000, Morocco).

OLD LOGS CHANGE HANDS. It was reported that Russ, WA3FRP, has received the following logs that were previously held by Ron, AC7DX, and are now in his possession for safekeeping and possible old QSLs:
XW8FA - Laos (13-Dec-1972 - 09-Apr-1974)
VK0HM - Heard Island (22-Nov-1969 - 03-Apr-1970)
V31UN - Belize (22-Oct-1991 - 31-Oct-1991)
T30W - Western Kiribati (07-Mar-1993 - 14-Aug-1994)

QSLS VIA LOTW: 4M5R, 5K0T, CW7T, CX7TT, EA1WX, EA6NB, HK6P, HQ9R, LQ0F, OA4SS, P40R, PS0F, PY2WC, S53F, T42T, TI5N, TO5A, V26G, WP4SK, YS4M and ZF2AM

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4L4MM, 6W/DL2RMC, 9Y4AA, CE0Z/DL2AH, CX9AU, E51QQQ, EL2DX, EY7AF, FK5RE, FK8CP, FO/DJ7RJ, II5AM, KP2AD, OZ1CTK, PA1RJ, T31DX, T33ZZ, TR50R, VK9DNX, VK9DWX, YB1ALL and ZK3AH

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: None reported this week!

SPECIAL EVENT
Look for special event station R150A to be active through the end of April. Activity is to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of A.S.Popov. Operations will be from the Central Museum of Communications in St.Petersburg. Activity over the past week has been on 40/20 meters CW and SSB. QSL via RK1A.

SPECIAL EVENT (Dayton HamVention)
Look for special event station W1AW/8 to be on the air during the Dayton HamVention (May 15-17th). They are currently looking for volunteers to operate the station for 4 hour shifts. Volunteers will receive an on-grounds parking pass, an admission ticket and a hat. Sign up in advance is STRONGLY recommended -- first come first served on requested shifts. This WILL fill up quickly. Contact via E-mail Jerry Bodey, N8OWV at: jerrybodey@sbcglobal.net

VK9C, COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS (OC-003)
Bernd, VK2IA, continues to be very active as VK9AA from the Cocos Beach Motel, West Island, until March 27th. Most of his activity this past weekend has been on 20/17/15 meters CW, with some 40/30/10 meters. QSL via DL8YR, direct (QRZ.com) or via DARC Bureau.

VK9L, LORD HOWE ISLAND (Update)
As this was being typed, there was some VK9LA activity on the air. The last of the DXpedition team should arrive on the island by March 24th (total of 16 operators). The operation with 7 full HF stations from 2 separate sites, as well as one 6m station will be on the take air until April 3rd. Modes of operation are SSB, CW and RTTY. For suggested frequencies, see OPDX.899. The QSLing chores will be handled by VK4FW. An online QSL Requesting Service is now available at:

VK9M, MELLISH REEF (Update)
Operators George/AA7JV and Tomi/HA7RY, who were expected to be active as VK9GMW early this week (possibly Monday), suffered a major delay due to weather. As of Saturday, March 21st, the operators are on Marion Reef and have been there March 17th. As this was being typed, their latest press release states): "It appears the Tropical Low has dissipated. If this is correct, a serious danger to us has been removed. Winds, however, are still near gale force and are forecast to remain strong at least until Tuesday. This means that we will not be able to leave for Mellish until Wednesday, the earliest. The soonest we are likely to be on the air from Mellish is Friday, March 27th. In any case, we will be able to extend the operation to make up for any lost time. While we continue waiting at Marion Reef for the weather to break, we are operating as HA7RY/MM and AA7JV/MM using a short vertical and 00W. Please follow updates at:

YJ0, VANUATU (Pacific CW Tour)
Operators Dennis/F5VHY (G3MXJ) and Nigel/ G3TXF plan to operate as YJ0MXJ and YJ0TXF, respectively, from the Aore Island Resort off Espiritu Santo (OC-035) in Vanuatu for six days between Friday, March 27th and Wednesday, April 1st. This will be a CW only operation. Given the current paucity of sunspots, the main bands are expected to be 40/30/20/17 meters. They will try 80 meters, if local conditions permit. There will be no 160 meters. QSL YJ0MXJ via F5VHY, and YJ0TXF via G3TXF. The duo also plan to do short operations from New Caledonia (FK) on the way out to Vanuatu, and from Norfolk Island (VK9N) on the way back. Their approximate activity times are as follows:

 
 * FK/G3MXJ & FK/G3TXF: 0006z, Wednesday March 25th to
                        1200z, Thursday, March 26th

 * YJ0MXJ & YJ0TXF    : 1000z, Friday, March 27th to
                        1500z, Wednesday April 1st

 * G3MXJ/VK9N & G3TXF/VK9N: 1000z, Saturday, April 4th to
                        1900z, Saturday April 4th

ZD8, ASCENSION ISLAND
Karol, G0UNU, will be active as ZD8KR between May 4-11th. Activity will be mainly on 20 meters CW and SSB. More details will be forthcoming closer to these dates (on (QRZ.com)). QSL via G0UNU, by the Bureau or direct.

ZP0, PARAGUAY
Tom, ZP5AZL, plans to be active as ZP0R during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via ZP5AZL. Visit Tom's Web page at:

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