SB DX @ WW KB8NW $OPDX.745
Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 745

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 745
BID: $OPDX.745
January 30, 2006
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, ARRL Letter, K1XN & GoList, W2LO, NG3K, W3UR & The
Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, K6VVA, K6WR, K8YSE, KU8E, DL1EK & The DX News
Letter, F5NQL & UFT, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, G3SWH, HA5X, HS0ZDX,
I1HYW, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, PY7RP, VA3RJ & ICPO and Pete Rayer
for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the
week of Sunday, 22nd/January, through Sunday, 29th/January there were 222
countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J,
4L, 4S, 4U1I, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5T, 5U, 5V, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7P, 7Q,
7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A3,
A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C6, CE, CE0Y, CE0Z, CE9, CM, CN, CP,
CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, DL, DU, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, ER, ES, ET,
EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FH, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM,
GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I,
IS, J6, JA, 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, PY0S, PZ, S2, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5,
SV9, T5, T7, T8, T9, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TR, TT, TU, TY, TZ, UA,
UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2V, VP5,
VP8, VP9, VQ9, VR, VU, XE, XT, 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 or
more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work
First Worry Later" (WFWL).

4L, GEORGIA. David, 4L1DA, will be active in the CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest
(February 11-12th) as a Single-Op/Single-Band (20m) entry. QSL via W7LPF.

8N, JAPAN (Special Event). To celebrate the ARISS contact with the
Yoneda-nishi Elementary School in Takasago, Japan, look for special
event station 8N3Y to be aired February 1-28th. QSL via JARL bureau.

9A, CROATIA. Chris, HA5X, will try to be active as 9A8XA between June
7-20th. His main QTH will be Mlini, near Dubrovnik, but he is expected
to occasionally do some IOTA/IOCA activity depending on the weather,
mood and family. QSL via HA5X.

ANTARCTIC NEWS..................
ANTARCTIC SPECIAL EVENT. To celebrate the 10th anniversary of the
Ukrainian Antarctic station, the "Academic Vernadsky Base" (WAP UKR-01),
several special callsigns have been issued by the Ukrainian authorities
to some of the operators who were active in the past years from the
Ukrainian Base. Look for activity between February 3-12th, by the
following operators: EM10KY by UT1KY - QSL via IK1QFM
EM10UA by UT7UA - QSL via home callsign
EM10LV by UR8LV - QSL via home callsign
EM10HO by UX2HO - QSL via home callsign
EM10KGG by UR5KGG - QSL via home callsign
EM10KY is actually referenced for the WAP as WAP-33; the other stations
will be referenced shortly, and they will be valid for the WAP Awards,
including the brand new WAP A.S.E.A. of the ARI Cassino.

3RD AAW NEWS. The Worldwide Antarctic Program (WAP) 3rd Antarctic
Activity Week (AAW) will take place between February 20-26th. The
annual event is to promote world-wide interest in the Antarctic and
to protect this continent. The following stations have announced they
will be operating from various Antarctic bases, as well as special
event stations, in this year's AAW:
4O3ANT (WAP-22) II8ANT (WAP-18) IU0ANT (WAP-19) TM7ANT (WAP-34)
AT3ANT (WAP-21) IO2MET (WAP-23) TM0TAF (WAP-43) TM8ANT (WAP-14)
II0ANT (WAP-16) IO6ANT (WAP-28) TM1ANT (WAP-37) TM8TAF (WAP-42)
II1ANT (WAP-32) IO8ANT (WAP-13) TM2ANT (WAP-40) TM9ANT (WAP-39)
II2ANT (WAP-30) IO0ANT (WAP-35) TM3ANT (WAP-38) TM0ANT (WAP-08)
II4ANT (WAP-17) IR0ANT (WAP-10) TM4ANT (WAP-41) TO2ANT (WAP-26)
II5ANT (WAP-25) IR1ANT (WAP-02) TM5ANT (WAP-29) UE6ANT (WAP-24)
II7ANT (WAP-12) IR8ANT (WAP-05) TM6ANT (WAP-31)

Please listen to operator's instructions for QSLing. More information
is available on the AAW at: http://www.ddxc.net/wap
Also, look at the ARI Cassino new WAP "Antarctic Special Event Award"
(ASEA) at: http://digilander.libero.it/aricassino
Stations listed above and other special event stations qualify for
the ASEA.

CN, MOROCCO. Jim, W7EJ, will be active as CN2R between March 16-29th. He
will be active in the CQ WW WPX SSB Contest (March 25-26th) as Single-Op/
Single-Band (80m) entry. His activity outside the contest will be on the
WARC bands and 6 meters EME. QSL via W7EJ.

E2, THAILAND. Operator Tony, E21IZC, to be active from Thailand in the
CQ WPX SSB Contest (March 25-26th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via
E21IZC (QRZ.com).

FO & FO/M, FRENCH POLYNESIA AND MARQUESAS ISLANDS. By the time you read
this, Ely, HA9RE, is expected to be active from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands
(OC-027 and DIFO FO-023), between January 28th and February 18th. His
callsign for this operation will be FO/HA9G. He will also be active for
about ten days from Ahe Atoll, Tuamutu Archipelago (OC-131 and DIFO
FO-028), French Polynesia, starting February 20th. Activity is planned
for 160-10 meters CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via HA8IB: Szabo Karoly,
Aradi u. 42, H-5525 Fuzesgyarmat, Hungary.

FT5W, CROZET ISLAND (Update). Gildas, TU5KG, who is now back in the
Austral Sea (in Southern Indian Ocean) on a fishing boat, has received
the callsign FT5WL for his upcoming Crozet activity. Start looking for
him possibly after February 3rd. He is expected to travel around the
Crozet Island area until early March before heading back around Kerguelen
area again until the end of March.

HAM IN SPACE NEWS. Congratulations to International Space Station (ISS)
Commander Bill McArthur, KC5ACR, for achieving "Worked All States" (WAS)
and "Worked All Continents" (WAC)from NA1SS. He contines to work on his
DXCC as well. On Sunday afternoon, January 29th, just as this was being
written, your editor heard Bill state he now has 95 countries. ADDED NOTE:
Your editor would like to thank Bill for the QSO on Tuesday morning,
January 24th.
PLEASE NOTE: An interesting event will be taking place this week. OPDX
readers may want to drag out the old 2 meter HT for this event. Bill
McArthur and his crewmate, Valery Tokarev, are scheduled to do a space
walk on February 3rd and will release "SuitSat-1". As the "ARRL Letter"
states, "--quite possibly the most unusual Earth satellite ever. SuitSat
consists of a surplus Russian Orlan space suit converted into a
transmit-only satellite with an FM downlink frequency of 145.990 MHz.
Using the callsign RS0RS, it will transmit voice messages, telemetry and
an SSTV image on a nine-minute cycle as it orbits Earth. The batteries
powering the satellite are expected to last about a week, and SuitSat's
free-floating, decaying orbit should cause it to re-enter Earth's
atmosphere after some six weeks in space. The SuitSat signal should be
strong enough to hear using a VHF transceiver or scanner and a simple
antenna." For more details on this event and pictures of SuitSat, please
visit the following Web pages (Plenty of interesting reading!):
http://www.suitsat.org
http://amsat.org
http://www.issfanclub.com/
http://www.amsat.org/amsat-new/artic...tsat/index.php
http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2...an_suitsat.htm

HB0, LIECHTENSTEIN. Kasimir, DL2SBY, will be active again as HB0/DL2SBY
from February 25th through March 4th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters,
CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31.

IOTA NEWS.........................
EU-125. Operators Jef/ON4ACA, Francis/ON6LY, Marcel/ON6UQ and possibly
others will be active from Roemoe Island (DIA NS-001 for the
Danish Islands Award) from July 29th to August 5th. They will
be signing OZ/homecall and hope to have a Danish callsign for
the IOTA Contest (July 29-30th). QSL via their home callsigns.
More information is forthcoming.

NA-062. Operator Jeff, VA3QSL, will be active as VA3QSL/W4 from Key
West (USI FL-040S, Monroe county, Florida), February 13-16th.
His activity will be near the IOTA frequencies on 20-10 meters
SSB. QSL via his home callsign, direct with SASE/SAE + postage,
or through the bureau.

NA-178. Rick/K6VVA and Mike/K9AJ will be active as homecall/6 from
SouthEast Farallon Island, February 14-16th. Activity will
be on 40-10 meters CW/SSB. QSL via N6AWD, by the bureau or
direct to: Fred Stenger, 6000 Hesketh Dr., Bakersfield, CA,
93309 USA. Visit their Web page at:
http://www.k6vva.com/iota/na178

SA-070. Operators Mario/CE6NE and Marco/CE6TBN will be active as CE5S
from Santa Maria Island (DICE reference ICE-502 for the Chilian
Islands Award), February 8-10th. Activity will be on 40/20/17/15
meters SSB with some CW. QSL via CE6NE: Mario Aranguiz,
P.O. Box 866, Temuco, Chile. More information is available at:
http://www.ce6ne.cl/stamaria.htm
ADDED NOTE: This operation also counts for Isla Santa Maria
Lighthouse (WLOTA LH-0543).

J7, DOMINICA. Operators George/K5KG (J75KG), Ron/KK9K (J79RV), Jim/WI9WI
(J79WI), John/W4IX (J79**) and Charles/K1XX (J79**) will be active from
February 11-21st. The group plans to be active as J7OJ in ARRL DX CW
Contest (February 18-19th) as a Multi-? entry. QSL J7OJ and J75KG via
KU9C. QSL all others via their home callsigns.

JW, SVALBARD. Mathias, JW5NM, will be active from Spitsbergen Island
(EU-026 and WLOTA LH-0125) in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 18-19th)
as a Single-Op entry. QSL via the information at QRZ.com.

JW, SVALBARD. Francois, F8DVD, is getting ready for his 10th DXpedition
to the Arctic. Look for him between March 24-31st, to be active as JW/F8DVD
from the Longyearbyen ARC, located on the Spitsbergen Island, 78° North,
and about a thousand kilometers far from the geographic North Pole (EU-026,
WAZ 40 and Grid Square JQ78TF). His activity will be on all HF bands both
CW and SSB. Francois will also enter the CQ WPX SSB Contest (March 25-26th)
as a Single-Op/Single-Band (20m)/High-Power entry. His equipment 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 USD for elsewhere) to:
Francois Bergez, 6, Rue de la Liberte, F-71000 MACON, France.

NP2/WP2, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Tony, N2TK, will be at the Windwood, WP2Z,
contest station on St. Croix from February 22nd through March 8th. He
will be active in the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 4-5th). QSLs for WP2Z
go to KU9C. Tony mentioned that he will probably also make some contacts
during the previous weekend on the CQWW 160M SSB Contest (February 25-26th).
Before and after the contests he will use the N2TK/NP2 callsign. QSL this
call to his home callsign. Tony mentions that this may be the last contest
from Windwood as it is to be sold by the end of March.

OM, SLOVAK REPUBLIC. Members of the LBCC will be active as OM7M in the
ARRL DX CW Contest (February 18-19th) as a Multi-2 entry. QSL via OM3PA.

PJ4, NETHERLANDS ANTILLES. Operators John/K4BAI and Jeff/KU8E will be
active from Bonaire (SA-006) as PJ4/homecall from February 14-21st. They
will be operating the in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 18-19th) as
PJ4R. Please QSL PJ4R via K4BAI.

PY0S, ST. PETER AND ST PAUL ROCKS. Joca, PY0S/PS7JN, is now active from
the scientific Brasilian base on St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks until the
end of the first week in February. The base is composed of a small house
that does not support more than 4 people. Joca's friend Renner, PY7RP,
was informed that due to a big storm on the rocks this past weekend,
Joca's PC has gotten wet and stopped working. During the day, the sea
waves often collide with the rocks making a big spray of salt water all
over the rocks. Fortunately, Joca's radio was in a safe place during the
storm (under the radio table), and it seems the radio has not suffered any
kind of damage. Joca will keep working on SSB with just 100w using a 160m
dipole tuned for on all other bands. However, he is now logging on paper
and there will be no more digital mode activity until he repairs his PC.
INTERESTING NOTE: Joca has made a QSO with the International Space Station
(ISS) on Saturday, using a portable VHF radio with just some watts of
power.

QSL INFO AND NEWS..................
QSL BUREAU ACTIVITY ON A DECLINE? Jay Slough, K4ZLE, W8 Incoming QSL
Bureau Manager, provided OPDX with his annual report on the ARRL's
8th Area Bureau (2005) activities. The ARRL Central 8th Area Incoming
QSL Bureau received approximately 110,905 QSL cards in 2005 for
redistribution. This is down almost 20% compared to 138,236 handled in
2004. They handled 154,054 cards in 2003. From these numbers and trends,
you can see that LoTW and decreasing sunspots are affecting QSL volumes.
(Could it also be a decreasing population of active DXers?) The monthly
breakout is as follows:
Jan. – 6,361 May – 16,102 Sep. – 4,676
Feb. – 8,083 Jun. – 5,417 Oct. – 4,387
Mar. – 10,401 Jul. – 11,321 Nov. – 18,773
Apr. – 8,947 Aug. – 10,891 Dec. – 5,5466
PLEASE NOTE: It would be interesting to hear from other area QSL Bureaus
to see if they are experiencing the same decline. QSL Bureau Managers
are welcome to send a small report to OPDX.

Phil, G3SWH, is pleased to announce that he has taken over the QSLing
duties for 9G5XA and 3C5XA effective immediately. He has copies of all
the past logs and is awaiting delivery of cards from the operator, G3XAQ.
Direct requests with SAE and adequate return postage is preferred, but
E-mail and bureau requests will also be processed, but please be aware
that the bureau system takes a very long time! Phil's E-mail address is:


7Q7RM LOG CLOSING. Allan, G0IAS, QSL Manager for Ron MacFarlane, 7Q7RM,
who died last year, has announced that he will permanently close the logs
on Ron's many years of operation from Malawi later this year. If you
need a card, it is suggested that you contact him soon.

QSL HS0ZDJ via W2YR. John, W2YR, was operating as HS0ZDJ in the CQ WW
160 Meters Contest this past weekend from Pattaya Beach, Thailand, about
180 km south of Bangkok as Single-Operator/High-Power entry. ADDED NOTE:
Permission was applied for and was received from Thailand's National
Telecommunications Commission (NTC) on Monday, January 23rd, for
operations on 160 meters during the CQ Worldwide 160 Meters CW Contest
last weekend (January 28-29th) with a frequency allocation of 1800-1825
kHz. Several Thailand-based stations were expected to be active during
this contest, including RAST club station HS0AC (QRZ.com address) and
HS0ZGL (QSL via G3TMA).

Logs for Gildas, TU5KG, last activity from Gabon as TR8CR are now
available at: http://LesNouvellesDX.free.fr

SA3/SM3, SWEDEN. Operators Ulf/SM3RAB and Tomas/SM3WMU will be active as
SM3D in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 18-19th) as a Multi-Single/High-
Power entry. Both operators will also be active as SA3D in the ARRL DX
SSB Contest (March 4-5th) as a Multi-Single entry. QSL both activities
via SM3WMU; bureau is preferred.

SPECIAL EVENT. Pete Rayer, ISWL Life Vice President, wants to remind
everyone that the International Shortwave League (ISWL) continues with
their 60th (Diamond) Anniversary celebrations throughout the year. If you
missed the "GB6SWL" activity this past weekend, look for it to be active
again on February 4-5th and 11-12th. Herbie, G6XOU, will be the main
operator from Walton on the Naze, Essex. Other February GB6SWL activities
are scheduled as follows:
February 18-19th - Dick, M5DIK, will be the main operator from Watford,
Hertfordshire.

February 25-26th - Phil, G4DMS, will be the main operator from Towcester,
Northamptonshire.

Also look for GB60SWL to be active on Sunday, February 12th, from the
Harwell ARS Rally at Didcot, Oxfordshire. For more details, including
the QSL information and Awards, please visit: http://www.iswl.org.uk

TI, COSTA RICA. Operators Mike/W9RE, Mark/N5OT, Mike/NT6X and Hal/N4GG
will be active as TI5N for ARRL DX CW Contest (February 18-19th) as a
Multi-2 entry. QSL via W3HNK. The team will also be active as TI5/homecall
on all bands from February 14-25th. QSL via the operator's home callsign.

V3, BELIZE (IOTA Op). Gerd/DJ4KW and Gisela/DK9GG currently in Belize as
V31YN and V31GW, respectively, will activate Southwater Caye (NA-180),
February 1-8th as V31YN/P and V31GW/P. Activity will be on 40 meters and
higher on CW and RTTY. QSL via their home callsigns.

V4, ST. KITTS AND NEVIS. Operatots Bob/AA1M and Mike/W1USN will be active
as V44/homecall from the island of St. Kitts between March 2-10th. Activity
will be on all bands 80-10 meters CW, SSB and PSK31. All QSLs go to their
home callsigns.

WP3, PUERTO RICO. Alfredo, WP3C, will be active in the CQ WW RTTY WPX
Contest (February 11-12th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/Low-Power entry. His
activity will also count for the WLOTA as LH-2802. QSL via W3HNK.

YI, IRAQ (Remote Station). Brad, K6WR, informs OPDX the W7DXX InterNet
Remote Base Group now has an InterNet Remote Base system operating in
Baghdad, Iraq, under the callsign YI9DXX. It is active on 75 meters in
the DX window about 23 kHz and on 20 meters with 13-16 kHz. For more
details on the operation, please visit: http://www.w7dxx.com

ZK1, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS. Jim, W1EMT, has comfirmed dates to be here between
April 29th through May 20th. No other details were provided.

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/EXIT
--
Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - --or--
Editor of the "Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin" (OPDX - "DXer's Tool of Excellence")
President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA)
DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society
ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division
Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG)