OPDX Bulletin 1233 September 28, 2015

The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1233
BID: $OPDX.1233
September 28, 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, K1XN & GoList, NJ1Q & W1AW, N3YUG, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, N4AA & QRZ DX, K5GS, K8GI, K8YSE, N8LJ, W8GEX & 60m News, CO8TW, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DL7VEE, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, LU1ARG, OH2BAD, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, Pete Rayer (ISWL), RSGB IOTA Web Site, RW6HS, Sixitalia Weekly, VA3RJ & ICPO, VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF) and YF1AR for the following DX information..

EDITOR'S SPECIAL NOTICE
This week's bulletin was sent out earlier than normal to accommodate the late CQWW DX RTTY Contest announcements. Sorry for the short content and we were not able to put together a consolidated listing of the CQWW DX RTTY Contest participants. (Watching the grand-kids is too much fun here in Tennessee....73 de Tedd KB8NW)

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Friday, 18th/September, through Friday, 25th/September there were 215 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5B, 5H, 5R, 6Y, 7Q, 7X, 8P, 8R, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9V, 9Y, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C6, C9, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E4, E5/s, E6, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR, FW, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J6, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KH8, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OJ0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S5, S7, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T2, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TL, TR, TU, TY, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9C, VK9L, VP2E, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XU, YA, YB, YJ, YK, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, 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".

3B8, MAURITIUS (Correction)
Willi, DJ7RJ, will be active as 3B8/DJ7RJ (not 3B8/DL7RJ) between October 5-30th. Activity will be on 160-10 meters with a focus on 160m using CW and SSB. QSL via his home callsign direct.

3V, TUNISIA
Operator SWL Ashraf "Ash", 3V4-002 (KF5EYY) will be active as 3V8SS from the "Radio Club Station of Tunisian Scouts" in Sousse, during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27th) as a Single-Op/ All-Band/Low-Power entry. QSL via LoTW or to LX1NO. Read about Ashraf on the following Web page at:

http://www.kf5eyy.info

4K, AZERBAIJAN
Alim, 4K6FO, will be active during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27th) as a Single-Op/Low-Power entry. QSL via LoTW, eQSL, paper QSL via DC9RI or see QRZ.com.

8P, BARBADOS
Marty, W8AKS, will be active as 8P9EZ from Barbados between December 5-12th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using a Dell tablet with a Flex 1500, HFPacker amp, z100+ tuner with small power supply. The antenna is slated to be a Super MP1 on a tripod covering 40-10m. Marty states,

"Plan is to carry the rig and tablet in a B&N book bag and pack the antenna and power supply in the suitcase. I will be at the All Seasons Resort, Europa. They have never hosted a ham op before, so new experience all the way around."

9K, KUWAIT
Operators Hamad/9K2HN, Essa/9K2HQ, Yasser/9K2MY, Muhammad/ 9K2NO, Osama/9K2OD, Ahmad/9K2QA, and Basil/9K2RX will be active as 9K2HN during the CQWW DX SSB Contest (October 24-25th) as a Multi/Single or Multi-2 entry. QSL via 9K2HN, by the Bureau, direct or LoTW. Visit the home page at:

http://www.9k2hn.com

C3, ANDORRA
Members of the "Andorran Amateur Radio Union (URA)" will once again be active as C37NL during the CQWW DX SSB Contest (October 24-25th) as a Multi-Multi entry. QSL via C37URA or by the Bureau.

DXCC YEARBOOK 2014 (Update)
The "2014 DXCC Annual List" in the October digital edition of "QST" has now been updated and fixed.

E2, THAILAND
Dej, E21YDP, will be active during the CQ WW RTTY Contest (September 26-27th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/Low-Power entry. QSL via E21YDP.

E5, NORTH COOK ISLANDS (Update/Reminder)
Operators Rob/N7QT, YL Melanie "Mel"/N7BX, and Grant/KZ1W will be be active as E51MQT, E51MBX and E51MKW from Manihiki Atoll (OC-014) between September 29th and October 27th. KZ1W's operation as E51MKW will end on October 13th. Activity has been updated to 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY, with a K3/KPA500 and a CrankIR vertical on the beach. QSL Manager for this expedition is N7BX." QSLs available using LoTW, direct with SASE (IRC or 2 USDs for international), or by the Bureau.

EA6, BALEARIC ISLANDS
Jose, EA5IDQ, is now active as EA6/EA5IDQ from the Balearic Islands (EU-004, EAFF-0061) until October 4th. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using SSB and RTTY, with a focus on 30/17/12m and RTTY. QSL via EA5IDQ, direct or by the Bureau.

FT4X, KERGUELEN ISLANDS
Update - From Nicolas, F4EGX, on QRZ.com [edited]:

My work will bring me to south hemisphere for a scientific mission at Ratmanoff, 30km northeast of Port-aux-Français, Kerguelen archipelago. My scientist job is to maintain measuring instruments whose electronics works in very rough conditions and to prepare equiment requirement for future missions. In the same time, I will also study king penguins with col- leagues and help them in their work.

I will leave France at mid-November to Réunion Island, and there get on board of "Marion Dufresne", the supply ship of the French Austral Territories. It will take approximately 10-15 day to reach the Kerguelen archipelago with a stopover at Crozet archipelago. After few days at Port-Aux-Français station, I'll have to probably walk 30km to the shelter at Cap Ratmanoff, carrying my stuff on the back with heavy rain and strong wind. That is why I will try to travel as light as possible.

About my hamradio activities: They will be secondary to scientific work. To give a little idea of this activity, I will be isolated for weeks with only daily local marine-VHF non-ham radio-communications with the Port- Aux-Français base. FT4XU is primary to give somes news to hamradio friends around the world, like ham-spirit. :) It's not intended for contest-QSO style.

At the shelter, I will live with other persons in a confined space and my colleagues will have probably no knowledge about this hobby. They will maybe have to endure the traffic audio noise and this noise will be a potentially disturbance for them after a long and harsh working day. I hope to have the opportunity to present to my col- leagues the best of hamradio as a pleasant communication, with friendly, but disciplined OM. Although my English is not particularly good, I had nice memories of some great long QSO with Australia, New Zealand and Crozet Island when I was in Antarctica as FT5YI in 2008. I want to replicate this scheme, but my working conditions will be even more difficult.

My working conditions will be : FT857, 50W and a dipole antenna which can only be installed at human height, battery powered. There will be no PC for logging, only paper log. Logs won't be sent while activity because of no internet connection. Our camp will have no electricity, so I will have to work with batteries. They will be charged with solar energy when not needed by the scientific work.

QSLing: I will give my log to Jean-Luc / F1ULQ who will handle cards AFTER I come back, don't ask for correction before. QSL card will be designed with travel photos and printed AFTER also. As I'm not member of national bureau, only direct exchange will be possible.

Sked: It will not be possible to organize skeds: My only way to contact the world is my hamradio equipment. No internet or no phone connection. Band operations: don't ask for specific bands, there will be no low bands or magic band activity. I can not carry a lot of material. For weight and volume reasons, I have to take only the minimum and necessary equipment.

Thank you for your understanding.
Activities will end, maybe, middle of January 2016.
Hope that chance will allow us to cross our antennas in good conditions.
73, F4EGX Nicolas

HR, HONDURAS
John, G4IRN, will be active from Javier/HR2J QTH in Honduras between November 21-30th. Activity will include the CQWW DX CW Contest (November 28-29th). Look for activity before the contest on 80-10 meters (possibly 160 and 6 meters). QSL via HR2J (see QRZ.com).

IOTA NEWS
EU-038. Roland, DL1EAL, is now active as PA/DL1EAL from Texel Island until October 8th. Activity will be holiday style on 40-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital modes, with a vertical antenna and 100 watts. QSL via DL1EAL, direct, by the Bureau, eQSL or LoTW.

EU-048. Operators Pascale/F4HLR, Lionel/F5HNQ, and Pascal/ F8CGL are now active as TM48B from Belle-Ile-en-Mer (DIFM AT-015) until October 1st. Activity will be on the HF bands using mainly SSB. QSL via F5HNQ, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW.

OC-177. Budi, YF1AR, was expected to be active as YF1AR/0 from Panggang Island (until September 26th) and Pramuka Island (between September 26-27th). Both are in the Seribu Islands group. Activity will be on 40-10 meters using mainly SSB as well as on CW and the Digital modes. QSL via N2OO or by ClubLog's OQRS. For more details, see Budi's Web page at:

http://www.yf1ar.com/2015/09/yf1ar0-oc-177-pari-island-seribu-islands.html
http://www.yf1ar.com/2015/08/yf1ar0-ybff-025-oc-177-pramuka-island.html

SA-055. Members of the Radio Club Argentino will activate the special callsign LU4AA/D from the Argentine exclave Martin Garcia Island (ILLW AR 022, WW Loc. GF05VT) in Uruguayan waters (part of the La Plata in Buenos Aires Province) between/around 2000z, October 1st and 1400z, October 4th. Operators mentioned are Francisco/ LU1AET, Martin/LU1AMH, Fernando/LU1ARG, Carlos LU1BCE, Fernando/ LU2BPM, Nico/LW3DN and Juan/LU8ARI. Activity will be on 80-10 meters, as well as 6m/2m/70cm, and using CW, SSB, Satellites, SSTV and the Digital modes. QSL by the Bureau or via LU4AA direct.

PLEASE NOTE: The trip, originally planned for middle August had to be rescheduled as a strong storm caused a heavy flooding and closed the departure port.

SA-089. Venezuelan operators are expected to activate Cayo Sombrero Island between October 8-12th. Operators will sign homecall/1. List of operators mentioned are YY4TSS, YY4DCT, YV1KK, YY1YLY, YV4ET, YY4FJF, YV4KW, YY4CFS, YV6DFF, YY6MEM, YV6CR, YV4MP, YV2CAR, YY4CDM, YV4BHH, YY4AKA, YY4ALE, YV4NR, YY4RDC and YY4SAT.
Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL via operator's instruc- tions.

ISWL CALLSIGNS (For October)
The following ISWL club callsigns will be used throughout the month of October 2015:

GX4BJC/A - Operated from Walton on the Naze, in Essex, by Herbie, G6XOU. (/A WAB Square TM22 - England, IOTA EU-005, WLOTA 1841). Herbie will also operate as GX4BJC/P from various locations. His WAB information will be given if requested.

MX1SWL/A - Operated from Huntingdon, in Cambridgeshire, by Tom, G3RPV. (/A WAB Square TL27 - England, IOTA EU-005, WLOTA 1841).

ALL QSLs will be handled by Herbie, G6XOU, and NOT the individual operator. The I.S.W.L. is a member of the European PSK Club. All QSL info is on
www.iswl.org.uk or www.qrz.com or via www.eQSL.cc
NO LoTW. I.S.W.L. Awards are available to all Hams and SWLs, see www.iswl.org.uk for full details. The eQSL.cc cards ARE welcomed for their awards.

IS0, SARDINA
Operators Miha/S54KM, Gordan/S55OO and Marko/S50P will be active as IS0/S50P from Sardinia (EU-024) during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27th) as a Multi-Single/Low-Power entry. They will have Flexradio3000 and Kenwood TS-480 radios and Spiderbeam+triplexer, 40m vertical and 80m Inverted V. QSL via the Bureau.

MJ, JERSEY
Kazunori, M0CFW/JK3GAD, will once again be active as MJ5Z during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27th) as a Single-Op/All- and/Low-Power entry. QSL via LoTW or via M0CFW. Look for activity before and after the contest using the callsign MJ0CFW. QSL for both callsigns via ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW.

NY3, UNITED STATES (USI Op)
Operators Jason/N3YUG and Todd/W3EME will be activating Smith Island, MD (NA-140, MD003S), as N3YUG from 2200z, October 8th, until 0400z, October 11th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters, using SSB mostly and possible Digital modes. Operations will be more than casual but not full time. Smith Island is the only unattached inhabited island in the Chesapeake Bay, and was settled in the mid to late 1600’s. QSL via N3YUG, a special QSL card will be printed for this activation.

P4, ARUBA
Bavarian Contest Club (BCC) operators Ben/DL6RAI, Wolfgang/ DK7MCX and Luise/DL2MLU will be active as P40BC from the P40V station on Aruba during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27th). QSL via DL2MLU or LoTW. Logs will be uploaded to LoTW after the operation and all contacts will be confirmed through the QSL Bureaus.

P4, ARUBA (Update)
Operators Miika/OH2BAD and Jaakko/OH1MA will be active as P40MH (CW/SSB) and P4/OH1MA (CW/SSB/RTTY) [pending], from Cook's Rental Resort on Aruba (SA-036) between November 3-10th. All QSLs via OH2BAD, direct or by the Bureau. QSL P4/OH1MA via LoTW or OH2BAD.

PJ4. BONAIRE
Operators Miika/OH2BAD and Jaakko/OH1MA will be active as PJ4/OH2BAD (CW/SSB) and PJ4/OH1MA (CW/SSB/RTTY), from the PJ4DX station on Bonaire (SA-006, WLOTA LH-1279) between November 10-18th. All QSLs via OH2BAD, direct or by the Bureau. QSL P4/OH1MA via LoTW or OH2BAD.

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (September 28th-October 4th)

 Sep/28th AN      Oct/01st  HN     Oct/03rd  AN
 Sep/29th AN      Oct/02nd  AN     Oct/04th  DIS
 Sep/30th AN


   SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE
   ======================================================
    NORMALITY               GEOMAG       K Values    Alpha
   -----------------        ------       --------    ------
   AN  - Above Normal       Quiet        K=0-1       0-7
   HN  - High Normal        Unsettled    K=2         8-15
   LN  - Low Normal         Active       K=3         16-29
   BN  - Below Normal       Minor Storm  K=4         30-49
   DIS - Disturbed          Major Storm  K=5         50-99
   VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9       100-400
REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE
http://www.bandconditions.com
The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre- dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry" which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA.

QSL INFO AND NEWS

  QSL-INFO from DB0SDX (September 25th)
  -------------------------------------------------------------------------
  3B8/IW1GIO via IW1GIO    GC4BRS via GW0ANA        PD17WFF via PD5MVH
  3D2YA via JA1NLX         HB200G via HB9GE         RA0AY via UA9AB (d/B)
  3D2YJ via JA8ECS         IK5/OE1XRC via OE4RGC    RI0POL via UA4WHX
  4L8A via K1BV            IO2ENG via I2MYF         SD0T via SM0THU
  6Y4K via VE3NE       JA0JHQ/VK9C via JA0JHQ (B/d) SI5Y via SM5BKK
  8P6ET via KU9C           KH2/KU0Q via JR1EFG      TM51SP via F6AJM
  AT150ITU via VU2CDP      LN7TTT via LA7TTT        V73A via JH3QFL
  EA9QD/7 via EA9QD (d)    OE40MURECK via OE6WIG    V73YL via JP3AYQ
  EG4IBR via EA4URP        P4/DK7MCX via DK7MCX 
  GB75BB via GW4EZW        P4/DL2MLU via DL2MLU 
    (e) eQSL only  (d) direct only   (B) Bureau only  (*-B) DX's- Bureau
    (O) OQRS only  (C) ClubLog only  (L) LoTW only    (*) WAE-SSB 2015 only
E6GG QSOs are already uploaded to LoTW!!!

QSL TO RW6HS. Vasiliy, RW6HS, informs that he is the QSL Manager for the following stations: CO2VE, T45FM, T41GDXC, T42GDXC, T44GDXC and stations from the Donetsk People's Republic - D0B, D1A, D1B, D1DNR and D1DPR.

QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: E21IZC, E6GG (OC-040), EI9HX, FK8CE, OK5CW, P40ER, PX8Z (SA-060), S55SL, VK5LJ, XR0YY (SA-001), YV4JCF and ZL4PW

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 5R8SV, FO/JI1JKW, JR3IXB/VP9, SV9/G4DJX and TI9/TI2HMJ

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 8P9XB, EM0ITU, EM150ITU, PT7AG, YL25BJ, YL2014I, YL2014W, Z37M and ZX8W

T48, CUBA (Special Event)
Station T48D, one of 13 special event stations from eight Cuban call districts will be active until September 30th. Activity is to celebrate the 35th anniversary of "Grupo DX de Cuba" foundation. Look for operations on CW, Digital and SSB on 80-10 meters. QSL only via EA7TV.

TX3X CHESTERFIELD DXPEDITION NEWS (Update #4, dated September 25th)[edited]
Six members of the TX3X team are now in Noumea, New Caledonia, five arrived by air and one by sea. The boat arrived on Thursday, Sept. 23rd, and is docked at the Port Moselle Marina with a crew of 6. She had a relatively comfortable ride from New Zealand, with some moderate seas north of New Zealand and then the seas settled down which made for a smooth ride, total time at sea 7 days. The other 6 team members are scheduled to arrive on Noumea on Saturday, Sept. 26th. This is a holiday weekend in New Caledonia, many businesses and government offices are closed. We are planning to depart for the reef on Monday, Sept. 28th, after Customs and Immigration formalities are processed. We will send out an update just before we leave Noumea.

Cheers, Team TX3X Chesterfield Islands DX-pedition

V7, MARSHALL ISLANDS (Update to OPDX.1228)
A German team will be active from the Republic of the Marshall Islands as V73D from Majuro Island (OC-029) between October 13-28th. The following 12 operators are highly experienced by various contests and DXpeditions: Rolf/DL7VEE (Initiator and team leader), Werner/DJ9KH, Heye/DJ9RR, Rudolf/DK3CG, Joe/DK5WL, Guenter/DL2AWG, Norbert/DL2RNS, Georg/DL4SVA, Hans/DL6JGN, Franz/DL9GFB, Wolf/DM2AUJ and Sid/DM2AYO. They will have 4 500-watts-stations simulta- neously on the air 24/7, on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. Suggested frequencies are listed in OPDX.1228. An OQRS will be used from ClubLog for both direct or Bureau QSLs (Preferred). QSL via DL4SVA, direct or by the Bureau. Log will be uploaded 6 months after DXpedition. The Web page has been redesigned and is available at:

http://v73d.mydx.de

VP2M, MONSTERRAT (Update)
Operators Stan/AC8W (VP2MAC), Lee/N8LJ (VP2MLJ) and Jim/KB8TXZ (VP2MXT) [all from Michigan] will be active from Gingerbread Hill, St. Peters Parish, Montserrat (NA-103, WLOTA 1475, WW Loc. FK86VS), between October 1-8th. Activity will be on 160-6 meters, using CW, SSB and RTTY, with Elecraft K-2, Elecraft K-3S, Ten-Tec Eagle and 100 watts into a Tri-band beam, multi-band vertical, dipoles and 6m beam. QSL all via K8ESQ.

YB, INDONESIA (WFF Op)
Operators Hajar/YB8HZ, Ram/YB8BRI and Andi/YC8HBN will be active from Bantimurung (YBFF#053), Bulusaraung, between October 1-4th. Callsign(s) and QSL route(s) were not mentioned.

Z3, MACEDONIA
Tone, Z36N, will be active during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 26-27th) as a Single-Op/Single-Band (15m) entry. QSL via his home callsign, direct or by the Bureau.

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