The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Special Bulletin No. 1214.1
BID: $OPDX.1214.1
May 11, 2015
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Special Bulletin No. 1214.1 BID: $OPDX.1214.1 May 11, 2015 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 G3VOF, K4MQG, N7QT and N8PR for the following DX information.

SPECIAL NOTE/REMINDER FROM EDITOR (By KB8NW)
There will not be an OPDX Bulletin next week and "possibly the week after". I will be attending the Dayton HamVention. "IF" I receive a major announcement, I will probably send out a special bulletin. However, PLEASE continue to send your DX information. You never know what I might do.... See you in Dayton! 73 de Tedd KB8NW

The following are last minute updates and dated announcements....... GB6, ENGLAND (Special Event)
Look for special event station GB6GEO to be on the air between May 22-23rd, from the Prehistoric Caves, of "Kent's Cavern", England's oldest in Britain. GB6GEO will be situated in the English Riviera (Torbay), that is recognized as having Geo Park status by UNESCO. There are six in the UK, and fifty three in the world. They hope GB6GEO will help to promote geological heritage to the general public. GB6GEO will issue a special commemorative QSL card, and there is a certificate for the paper chasers. Just work one contact with the GB6GEO HQ station or any other two stations. For more details please look up GB6GEO on QRZ.com
ADDED NOTE: There will be other Geopark stations on the air during the Geoparks Communication Weekend -- DK0GEO (Germany), EI2GEO (S.Ireland), GB2GEO (Scotland), GB5GEO (Wales), GB6GEO (England), SZ8LSV (Lesvos Island), and 9A1GEO (Croatia).

THE QSL MAN (W4MPY Update)
David Carroll, W5QDF, son of Wayne, W4MPY, The QSL Man, wants to get the story out about Wayne and why he dropped off the earth last year with the QSL printing business. He provided the following: The QSL Man is NOT Dead -- Wayne, W4MPY, the QSL man has been gravely ill with cancer, but is still alive.

During his illness the QSL business was taken over by a member of the family that is not a ham, but does know graphic arts and was instrumental in helping Wayne with the software he used for creating the variety of QSL cards.

Unfortunately this family member did not do well with the business and things just spiraled out of control until Wayne, W4MPY, and his XYL Lola, N4KAI, were forced to close the business. We are aware of the money owed many and are working to fullfill our obligation to these loyal customers.

Please contact David Carroll, W5QDF, on this E-mail account QSLman_Recovery@yahoo.com and let David see what he can do to resolve things. David, W5QDF, and his XYL Sonya KF5ZRA are taking care of Wayne and Lola and their doing well.

TYPOS IN OPDX.1214.
There were two typos in OPDX.1214. First the BID number was wrong - should be $OPDX.1214 (not $OPDX.1213). The second typo was under "TN, REPUBLIC OF CONGO" the callsign TN/CT1FJS should be TN/CT1FJZ.

VK9W, WILLIS ISLAND (Press Release)
Rob, N7QT, sent out the following [edited]:

An international team of amateur radio operators will activate DXpedition station VK9WA from Willis Island, November 12-21st, 2015. Willis is currently #34 on the ClubLog's most wanted list and has not been activated since 2008.

The team will depart Cairns, Australia, on the "MV Phoenix" vessel for the 30 hour trip to Middle Cay Island in the Willis Islets. The island is only 4 acres in size and uninhabited. They will operate high power CW, SSB, and RTTY on 10 through 80 meters (possibly 160 meters) for 10 days (subject to weather, etc.). The primary focus will be providing all time new contacts with this highly demanded, rarely activated entity.

Additional details are available at: http://VK9WA.com

Initial team members include Rob/N7QT, Jared/N7SMI, Sandro/VE7NY and Adam/K7EDX. Additional team members (up to 8 total) are being considered.

While this is a small, budget-conscious DXpedition, activating Willis requires significant expense for a charter boat and equipment. We kindly invite you to donate to the cause and support us. Donation and sponsorship details are available at:

http://VK9WA.com

The Intrepid DX Group's VP8SGI/VP8STI team is pleased to announce our operating strategy which will allow us to work as many unique callers as possible during each of these activations.

During our voyage to South Sandwich, which is the first island that we will activate, we will use our newly donated BGAN terminal to access solar data. We will also check in with our US, EU and JA Pilots to determine which bands are currently propagating well. We will then select a band; possibly 20, 17 or 15 meters and we will be QRV with one station on this band for the duration of the Dxpedition. This will give everyone a chance to work us at least once on the selected band.

In addition, during our final 24 hours of QRV from each island, we will announce and only accept contacts from new-first time stations on this selected band. Those chasing band slots can work us 10-160 meters on the other bands; however we feel that it is of critical importance that our primary strategy includes a means for everyone to make at least one contact with these rare islands.

We are pleased to announce our “Early Donor” program for donations prior to departure to the Islands.

For all donations of $25 or more, we will perform an early LoTW upload and we will include all $25 or more donors in the first batch of QSL processing. Our OQRS will be live during the Dxpedition. Direct QSL cards and bureau QSL cards will be processed last.

Our plans are moving forward in all aspects. We are about to make our second installment of $113,000 to the Braveheart. The Dxpedition Team has committed to paying half the costs of this Dxpedition and our Team’s contribution is $210,000.

To date, we have raised $105,000 towards our goal of raising $215,000. This puts us at 47% of our target. We would welcome additional support from the many DX Clubs around the globe.

At the time of our activations, South Sandwich will be the #3 most wanted entity, while South Georgia will be the #7 most wanted DXCC entity.

All information about our plans can be found on our website:

http://www.intrepid-dx.com/vp8 Lastly, many of the VP8STI/VP8SGI Team members will be attending the 2015 Hamvention this weekend in Dayton, Ohio. We look forward to meeting and sharing our plans with everyone interested in VP8STI/VP8SGI.

Thank you, The Intrepid-DX Group VP8 Team

TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to:
Help: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:help
Subscribe: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:subscribe
Unsubscribe: opdx-request@barf80.org Subject:unsubscribe

OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME (provided by John, K8YSE (k8yse@papays.com):
http://www.papays.com/opdx.html

ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB HOME PAGE:
http://www.nodxa.org
http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation