The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1069.1
BID: $OPDX.1069.1
July 9, 2012
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 and K6VVA for the following DX information.

P5, NORTH KOREA (P5/K6VVA Pending "CW ONLY" & IOTA AS-197 Activation Proposal Project)
Rick, K6VVA, released the following on July 9th:

"IMPORTANT INFO UPDATE #1 which should address some of the assumptions, speculations and inaccurate guessing I've seen posted various places.

INFO UPDATE #1

First of all, Tnx very much to each of you who have responded thus far via the P5 Interest webform. I am extremely encouraged by the level of generosity already expressed for the Humanitarian part of this Project in such a short time.

A longstanding hallmark of Amateur Radio is 'International Goodwill & Friendship. As a member of Rotary International for 25 years, I have a bona fide, genuine interest and commitment to the Humanitarian aspects of this unique P5 Project proposal. The U.S.A. NGO involved has an extremely high ranking on Charity Navigator. In fact, higher than many prominent and well respected other U.S.A. based Humanitarian Organizations.

Let me make it very clear - this is NOT a cash-into-the-pockets-of- officials endeavor as has been the case with some other expeditions. As I initially indicated, representatives of the NGO involved personally supervise the final delivery and distribution of agricultural, food and medical related items in the D.P.R.K. which have been purchased from any contributions to ensure the integrity of the donation programs. As a valid 501(c)(3) organization, at least the USA contributors will have the potential opportunity for their charitable contributions to be tax deductions. Regarding the donations level 'threshold' term used in the original information, this was established by me and not the D.P.R.K..

Over the past 15 years, when North Korea has been struck by famines and floods, the NGO participating in this project proposal has provided lifesaving assistance to help 2 million people survive. Current work focuses on delivering safe, clean and reliable water supplies to three major hospitals serving cities outside of the capital; and on providing emergency food relief through hospitals to children dying of severe malnutrition. If you saw the photos I've seen of some of these young children, it would break your heart. By providing some of the most fundamental of human needs, the NGO works to alleviate suffering and build hope in North Korea. It’s called 'Humanitarianism' & 'Goodwill'.

The U.S.A. NGO Humanitarian activities in the D.P.R.K. as a part of this combined P5 Project proposal must be approved by D.P.R.K. Officials. That's the way things work over there, but any future donations associated with bringing this P5 Project Proposal to fruition will be subject to written approval by all requisite D.P.R.K. entities for a P5 license, and an element of mutual trust required to operate first, with donations to follow AFTER the expedition is done. Sound impossible? It is highly 'challenging', but to paraphrase an old saying: 'I would rather attempt to do the seemingly impossible and fail, than to do nothing and succeed.' How many of you had attempted something like this lately???

Under no circumstances is anyone obligated to do any of the following:
1. No one is obligated to make a voluntary donation of any amount at any time.
2. No one is obligated to make a donation in order to receive a QSL for a P5 QSO.
3. No one is obligated to join in an on-air pileup and attempt to make a P5 QSO.

Since Amateur Radio Operators Worldwide are known to be people of integ- rity, we will be asking the D.P.R.K. Authorities to trust us that the stated donation interest level amounts which have been made in advance will be honored by each individual, and directed to the U.S.A. NGO at the conclusion of the expedition. In a venue of mutual understanding, we will need to trust the D.P.R.K. Authorities to honor the terms and conditions in the P5 License and Expedition related documents agreed to in advance. This would only be possible based upon the D.P.R.K.'s longstanding relationship and respect of the NGO for all of the Humanitarian work it has done in the D.P.R.K. for over 20 years. Another option if necessary might be some type of Escrow account scenario.

For those who have already indicated a donation interest level amount on the P5 Project webform, please note the following (be sure and include your callsign and name):

1. To CHANGE the amount, send an email to: p5changeme@k6vva.com
2. To DELETE your interest, send an email to: p5deleteme@k6vva.com

I will reiterate that under NO circumstances should any donations be sent to me directly at any time, either now or in the future. Any donations which may be made on behalf of this project MUST go directly to the U.S.A. based NGO for the Humanitarian purposes. At the appropriate time, the NGO name will be provided along with specific instructions for the donation processes (as well as the QSL route). As previously indicated, pursuant to this specific P5 Project Proposal, I will be paying ALL of my own expedition expenses. The only exception to this not considered may possibly be the printing of QSL cards which has just been offered, and would be a form of non-cash expedition-specific support.

Most of us in the HF DXing and Contesting arena are 'Old Codgers' now, and the 'SK' factor has been sadly accelerating amongst our ranks at an alarming rate. For many, there may not be another 5 or 10 years to wait for a P5 expedition. A reality check is that this *could* still end up the case. Others have likely been pursuing P5 license approval. Their efforts might succeed and mine fail. Because of the need to ascertain a realistic idea of donation possibilities for the Humanitarian aspect of my proposal, as I indicated months ago in the IOTA realm, there would be exceptions to my new policy of not making far-in-advance notice of my future IOTA expeditions. This was a planned for exception. The previously stated intention of 4 days QRV with 200 watt radios and Verticals near salt water was being very conservative. I indicated I also have two KPA500 amps, but that approval for use in P5 is questionable (for a number of reasons). I have a short-list of other experienced expedition operators who have been on stand-by for years now with an expressed interest in joining me on a P5 expedition. Of course a more than one operator venue is on the table, but I chose to be conservative at this time in seeking interest levels.

As to why a CW ONLY proposal, there are some very good reasons.

P5 is the most needed DXCC entity on CW. I also happen to prefer CW, which in times of challenging solar conditions, still provides the best opportun- ity for Little Pistol station operators with weak signals to make a desired QSO ­ especially over a long haul path. I can assure you I have a specific on-air operating plan to implement for maximizing QSOs and minimizing pileup chaos if I am fortunate to find myself on-the-air from P5 and IOTA AS-197.

My understanding is that the primary past P5 operation resulted in a bit over 16,000 QSOs with about 12,000 unique callsigns, and the majority of QSOs were on SSB. Let's face reality here. With so many still needing at least one contact with P5 (especially on CW), I'd be willing to bet that at least 75% of those who already have a P5 SSB QSL in hand would jump into ANY new P5 SSB pileup again (even on the same band already worked and confirmed) just because they can, or have nothing better to do. Sorry, but I have no interest in spending a lot of my own money to go work dupes on SSB who already have a P5 QSL card, and see so many Little Pistol station operators (many of whom only operate CW) miss out on a needed first P5, P5 'CW' and/or IOTA AS-197 QSO.

Should approval end up for only a 4 day, single op venue in P5 as I initially conveyed, my goal is a net 15 to 18 hours per day of operating. Since the CW SPRINT is my favorite CW contest, I can assure you things will move along very fast, but not so fast in WPM that the majority of DX'ers won't be able to copy. My minimum goal as a 4 day, single op is 7,000 to 9,000 QSOs (unless a major solar flare occurs). I will send 'UP' after each 'TU', and also I.D. frequently enough unlike too many major expeditions this past year. There will be no valuable time wasted having to call CQ-CQ-CQ from P5 as has been the case with most of the not-so-rare IOTA Expeditions or even DX Contests. I believe my QSO goal is quite attainable, considering that I made 4,467 QSOs in 2 days as KP2CW in the 2004 ARRL CW DX Contest (Top Ten Single Operator All Band), and was First Place World, Single Operator 20 Meters CW, in the 2009 ARRL CW DX Contest as VP2VVA.

People can make assumptions and speculate all they want about aspects of this unique P5 Project Proposal which is understandable. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, however some of the comments I've read by various 'Armchair Quarterbacks' are very inaccurate guessing. Please leave Political rhetoric out of your comments which serve no useful purpose. During the 'Cold War', many of us in the U.S. worked a lot of fellow Russian ham friends on the air regardless of what was happening in the Political World. Amateur Radio transcends Political Borders. Hopefully this INFO UPDATE has clarified a few things, however I am not at liberty to share all of the details of the P5 Project Proposal at this time. An additional INFO UPDATE will be made when deemed appropriate.

Tnx very much again to everyone including many of my ham friends who know me for their extremely encouraging generous level of Humanitarian interest provided thus far.

73...
Rick, K6VVA * The Locust"

The above letter is available in PDF format at: http://www.k6vva.com/p5/p5infoupdates.html

For more information/updates, watch: http://www.k6vva.com/p5

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