SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1393 Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1393 The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster DX Bulletin No. 1393 BID: $OPDX.1393 December 10, 2018 Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio) Written/Sent from Strongsville, Ohio Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, the AB5K's AR Clusters Network, NJ1Q & W1AW, N2OO, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W8HC, W9ILY, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DM2TO, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, ES1CW, F5JY, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, JI3DST, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, RW6HS, Sixitalia Weekly, UT5UY and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information. DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 2nd/December, through Sunday, 9th/December there were 216 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5U, 5W, 5X, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, C6, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E5/n, E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ5, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S7, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T32, T7, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V5, V8, VE, VK, VK0M, VP2E, VP2M, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XX9, YA, YB, YI, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z6, 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". 3Y0I BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. The following was posted (with pictures) on December 8th: "3Y0I fire-fighting training completed! -- The team building and high spirits are crucial when it comes to deal with danger. And you need firefighter training when you're getting ready to set the world on fire. Seafarers Firefighting Training continues in Cape Town, South Africa." No other details to report, other than there were a few 3Y0I pirates active recently. Departure dates are still not known. It is still a mystery... Remember, it takes 12 days to get to Bouvet from South Africa, and they plan to stay on the island for at least 2 weeks, if the weather cooperates. The 3Y0I DXpedition's band plan frequencies (160-6m) and modes (CW/SSB/ FT8) can be found at: https://www.rebeldxgroup.com https://bouvetoya.org/3yoi-bandplan QSL via ClubLog's OQRS (preferred), LoTW or via 3Z9DX. For more details and updates, we suggest to watch the following Web pages: https://bouvetoya.org https://www.rebeldxgroup.com http://jouban.jp/3y0i_ja (For JA stations) https://www.facebook.com/bouvetoya.org https://www.facebook.com/rebeldxgroup https://twitter.com/Bouvetoyaorg 4X0, ISRAEL (Update/Special Event). Members of the Holy Land DX Group will operate from the heart of "Masada Fortress" as 4X0M (M=Masada) between January 4-6th, 2019. Built by King Herod the Great, Masada, was designated a UNESCO World Heritage in 2001. From its strategic perch in the Judean Desert overlooking the Dead Sea, this historically famous palace fortress is one of the most visited tourist sites in all of Israel. For more info, see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masada Activity will start on Friday, January 4th, at 0730 UTC, and close down on Sunday, January 6th, 0600 UTC. They will have two stations on the air on 80-10 meters using CW and SSB. Operators mentioned are Ruben/4Z5FI, Mark/ 4Z4KX, Alex/4Z4AK, Ros/4Z5LA, Yuli/4X6HP, Vladimir/4Z5IW, Amir/4X6YA, Arthur/4X4DZ, Jan/4X1VF and Hal/W8HC. QSL Manager is Antonello, IK2DUW. 4X0, ISRAEL. Members of the Israel Amateur Radio Club (I.A.R.C) are pleased to announce the 2018 XMAS activity for its national award program: Holy-land Christianity On The Air (HOCOTA). The program includes numerous sites with major significance to Christianity - well-known to every Christian and based by the language and citation from the holy books, Christian tradition, beliefs and heritage, as well documented archeology and other researches. This is the third year of the program and the activity will be commenced during the 2018 Christmas season (December 25-29th) by 5 special event multi-operators stations. The current sub-program includes Christian sites from various sectors of the program including Kar Nachum, Caesarea, Jerusalem, Latrun and Massada. Look for the following to be active: 1. Callsign 4X2XMAS; KFAR NACHUM - (Capernaum) Church of the Holy Apostles; Ref. No. (WW. Loc. KM72SV, HOLYLAND Loc. K-07-YZ, HOLYLAND N05KN and 4XFF-0064); Operators 4Z1DZ, 4Z5SL, 4Z1SH, 4X6ZM, 4Z1KD and 4X1KW; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME 2. Callsign 4X3XMAS; CAESAREA - Crusader Fortress; Ref. No. (Category F-01, WW. Loc. KM72KM, F-09-FD and 4XFF0161); Operators 4Z1NB, 4X1OM, 4Z1KM and 4X6FR; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME 3. Callsign 4X19HNY; JERUSALEM; Ref. No. (WW. Loc. KM72 and J-18-JS); Operators 4X1KS, 4X1ZZ and 4X1TQ; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME 4. Callsign 4X9XMAS; LATRUN; Ref. No. (WW. Loc. KM71LU and G-17-RM); Operators 4X1IG, 4Z4DX, 4X6RE, 4Z4UO, 4X5AR and 4X5ZS; QSL ONLY via LoTW and eQSL.CC; NO BUREAU - DO NOT WASTE YOUR CARD or YOUR TIME 5. Callsign 4X0M; See details above under "4X0, ISRAEL (Update/Special Event)"; QSL via IK2DUW For more details, see QRZ.com for each callsign..... BLOCKED/BOUNCED OPDX BULLETINS (Update). Some OPDX Bulletins are still being BLOCKED. However, the good news is that the bouncing of bulletins seems to have stopped. The majority of the bounces/blockings are from the following ISPs: COMCAST, COX and GMAIL. We are not totally sure why this is happening, but if your ISP blocks the OPDX Bulletin, please send a complaint to your ISP. We were informed this past week that if you use one of the above ISPs there is away to stop the blocking. If you are an ARRL member, try using their mail forwarding service (see <http://www.arrl.org/member-support>). This service will pass the bulletin through to your ISP. If you did not receive the bulletin, there are other ways to receive it. The bulletin is posted every week at the following URLs: The OPDX (Mailing List) Archives: http://hamnet.org/pipermail/opdx The OPDX Web page (provided by John, K8YSE): http://papays.com/opdx.html The weekly bulletin (issue #) is also posted (for the above URLs) on FaceBook <https://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation/> and Twitter <https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx>. Let's hope this problem will clear up. Thanks for your understanding..... 73 de Tedd KB8NW DF13, GERMANY (Special Event). Look for special event stations DF13DEJU, DF13BLN, DF13BUD, DF13MUC, DF13PAR and DF13STO to be active between January 1st and June 30th, 2019. Activity is to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the maiden flight of the Junkers F-13, the mother of all commercial aircraft. All QSOs will be automatically confirmed after July 15th, 2019, with a QSL card via Bureau. If you do not need a QSL card, let them know. This saves their money and time. Send direct QSLs via DM2TO cards -- shipping starting after August 1st, 2019. For more details and info on awards, see their QRZ.com page. E4, PALESTINE. YL Elvira, IV3FSG, is once again active as E44YL from Bethlehem until December 18th. Activity will be on various HF bands. Look for Elvira to operate SSB and the Digital modes (RTTY and FT8). QSL all SSB and Digital mode QSOs via IK3GES. Logs will be uploaded to both LoTW and ClubLog after the operation. FK, NEW CALEDONIA. Phil, F6OBD, will be active as FK/F6OBD from New Caledonia between December 18th and February 10th (2019). Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands, using the Digital modes with a FT-857 into wire antennas. QSL via F6OBD. IOTA NEWS.............. AS-032. Take, JS6RRR/JI3DST, will be active from Nishinoomate-City, Tanega Island, between 0900z, December 26th and 0000z, January 7th. He will use the following callsign: JI3DST/6 for DX, and JS6RRR/6 & JL3YWN/6 for JA stations. Activity will be on 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10/6 meters using CW, SSB, FM, RTTY and FT8. Operations may vary in case of heavy rains or other conditions. QSL routes are as follows: JI3DST/6 via JI3DST; JS6RRR/6 via JS6RRR and JL3YWN/6: ONLY 1 WAY (Please don't send QSL to him). Please check QRZ.com for details. Look for logs to be posted on ClubLog. NA-079. Operators Faith Hannah (AE4FH), Hope (KM4IPF), and Dad (WX4TV) will be operating amateur radio from the Dry Tortugas National Park from December 14-17th. Their call will be N4T. QSL via WK1DS. This trip to the Dry Tortugas is a dry run to see if it is feasible to take other young amateur radio operators to the island to give them the experience of going on an amateur radio DXpedition. If this trip is successful, the plan is to form a 501-C3 non-profit to begin to take two or three young hams each year to the Dry Tortugas or other islands to give them this experience. The Dry Tortugas are a desired entity in the amateur radio world, so the team expects to make lots of contacts during the three days that they are on the air from the island. They will be operating on HF (shortwave) and also the amateur radio satel- lites, in an attempt to contact as many other amateur radio operators as possible. Reference numbers are: IOTA NA-079, USI# FL013S, WFF ref# KFF-0023, GRID EL-84, and the National Parks on the Air: Dry Tortugas K-0023. To prepare for this trip, the girls and Dad camped in the Crane Point Hammock in the Florida Keys and operated during the RSGB IOTA Contest in late July, 2018. The girls gained experience in primitive camping skills, preparing food over open fires, and operating from a tent with battery and solar power. The National Park Service and the Yankee Freedom Ferry do not allow liquid fuels or accelerants on the island, so they needed to find a way to boil water using dry fuel. They tried many different ways to boil water for food preparation and every one of them failed–until they found the Kelly Kettle. They will be using the Ultimate Stainless Base Camp Kit for food preparation. Watch the YouTube channel for a video that they will be producing about this very soon! <http://hamradio.world/activities/> NA-250. NEW IOTA! A couple of sources are reporting that operators Mike/K9AJ and Bruce/KD6WW are planning to be active from Yakutat County Group, Coastal Groups (Alaska), sometime between May 10-13th, 2019. Look for more details to be forthcoming. PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new <www.iota-world.org> have decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX, and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin...... J2, DJIBOUTI. DX-WORLD.net reports: "A DXpedition to Djibouti (J2) in the early part of 2019 is currently in planning stages. Full details in the coming weeks, however DX-World understands that side-trips to both IOTA groups AF-053 and AF-059 are under consideration. A license has been applied for and a callsign should be known soon." P4, ARUBA. Ben, DL6RAI, is once again active as P4/DL6RAI from Aruba (SA-036) until December 27th. Activity will be holiday style with a focus on CW, the low bands and some part-time activities in contests. QSL via LoTW or ClubLog. P4, ARUBA. John, W2GD, will once again be active as P40W from Aruba (SA-036) during the ARRL International DX CW Contest (February 16-17th) as a Single- Op/All-Band entry. He will be there between February 18-25th. Operations outside of the contest are usually on 160/80m and 30/17/12 meters as time permits. Watch 160m on the hour and 80m on the half hour. QSL via LoTW or direct to N2MM, Bureau cards are no longer accepted. Logs will be loaded on LoTW upon his return to the USA. PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 10-16th)....... Dec/10th AN Dec/13th AN Dec/15th AN Dec/11th AN Dec/14th AN Dec/16th AN Dec/12th 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> is still down. Nothing to report. Meanwhile, check out the following Web sites: * VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/hf * DX.QSL.NET Propagation page: https://dx.qsl.net/propagation * A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm * SolarHam Web page: http://www.solarham.net * Radio Propagation/Space Weather/Sunspot Cycle Information at: http://sunspotwatch.com * Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm QSL INFO AND NEWS................... QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF <www.qslinfo.eu> <December 9th> ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3W1T via XV1X (d) LZ532PSO via LZ1KCP SO750W via SP6CES 4Y1A via UA3DX OH9S via OH9S (O/L) SP/DJ1AA/M via DJ1AA B5/IK7YTT via IW7EGQ (d) PD18SANTA via PD2RKG TC630MECCA via TA3X C5A via OM2FY PF2018SNK via PA0MBD & (L) TM8AB via F4KJQ DU1/JH1FNS via JH1FNS (d**/e) R2AA via RW3RN TX0M via VE3LYC EG1AQ via EA1URO & (e) S510SOTA via S58R UZ2M via US0LW EH40CE via EA7URM S511PMC via S59DCD YP2XMAS via YO2MSB GW4J via GW0ETF (d/L) SN0UNESCO via SP9KDU HP3/NL8F via N7RO SN5M via SP5UAF (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed (I) No IRC (P) PayPal (NB) No Bureau (**) direct to DU address QSL MANAGER Vasiliy, RW6HS, informs that he is now the QSL Manager for all of the following stations: RZ4AZ, RZ4AZ/P, RZ4AZ/6, RZ4AZ/7/M, RZ4AZ/QRP, RY4AAE, RY4AAE/QRP, R110B, R163VW, R164VW, R165VW, RP72FV and UE64AS. QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 5Z4LS, A45XR, AA4V/VP9, C6AAT, DJ0SP, DL1DAW, DL1YAY, DP0GVN, FG/F6ARC, FG/SM7RYR, FM5FJ, FY5KE, IS0/OE2LCM, J68GD, J73WA, KG4HF, LA1MFA, LU2FGL, LZ33MM, LZ73ZZ, MD/DL7JOM, N1RNJ, OA4SS, OG7A, OH0Z, ON6VL, PI4CC, PJ7AA, RI1ANL, TI5/N3KS, TK0C, TO40CDXC, TO60K, V26K, VP2MUW, VP2MXP, VP2V/K6NAO, XE2JS, YJ0GC (OC-035), ZL7X (OC-038) and ZP4KFX QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 7X4AN, 9X0T, EK3SA (02/2010 and 11/2011) and TO6OK. QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 2M0DDS, 4L1MA, 5H1WW, 5V7BD, 6Y1LZ, A61ZX, CE3/UA4WHX, CR2X, CU9AB, DL0JBB, DL1BUG, GM4ULS, HB9LB, HB9TNW, HP1/IZ6BRN, HZ1XB, IN3ZNR, JA1OJJ, OA7/DL1CW, OH0V, SP9FOW, UA2FL, Z35T and ZD8N --- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc) send in their info.... TI5, COSTA RICA. Operators Mike/W1USN and Bob/AA1M will be active from Atenas, Costa Rica, as homecall/TI5 between February 2-13th, 2019. They will be operating on CW, SSB, some Digital modes, and they hope to catch a few of the FM satellites. All QSLing will be through LoTW, by the Bureau and direct to CBA. YP[2-9], ROMANIA (Special Event). Look for the following special event Santa Claus stations to be active during December. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. An electronic award will be issued for working stations on at least 3 different bands upon request. QSL via YO2MSB or see QRZ.com (under YP2XMAS) for more details. Here are the special event stations and their locations: YP2XMAS - Timisoara (QSL via YO9FNP) YP7XMAS - Arges (QSL via YO2MSB) YP3XMAS - Bucuresti (QSL via YO9FNP) YP8XMAS - Suceava (QSL via YO2MSB) YP4XMAS - Cernavoda (QSL via YO2MSB) YP9XMAS - Buzau (QSL via YO9FNP) YP5XMAS - Transilvania (QSL via YO9FNP) YP0XMAS - Giurgiu (QSL via YO9KYO) YP6XMAS - Brasov (QSL via YO2MSB) YS, EL SALVADOR (Update/Callsign & Date Change). Tom, KC0W, will be active as YS2/KC0W (not YS1/KC0W as first announced) from El Salvador between February 15-22nd, 2019. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using CW only. QSL via his home callsign. NO LoTW or NO Bureau. ADDED NOTE. Read about Tom's planning (or as he calls it the "Anatomy of a DXpedition") at: https://www.eham.net/ehamforum/smf/index.php/topic,123022.0.html Z6, KOSOVO. Operators Philipp/DK6SP, Tomi/HA8RT, Flo/OE3FTA and Horia/ YO3IMD will be active as Z66DH from Pristina between December 10-22nd. They state, "Who are we? ... We are 4 enthusiastic young amateur radio operators aged between 20 and 25 years old." Activity will be on all HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital modes (FT8 - mostly F/H - DXpedition Mode!) They will have three stations on the air. QSL Manager is Jamie, M0SDV (direct). Also, QSL via LoTW or ClubLog (for direct and Bureau). For any questions, special skeds etc, don't hesitate to contact the team directly at <z6.dxpedition@gmail.com>. ZK3, TOKELAU ISLANDS. An international team led by operators Roman/UR0MC and Alex/UT5UY is planning an DXpedition to Tokelau Islands sometime between October-November 2019. ZK3 is currently #42 on the DXCC Most Wanted List. Alex informs OPDX that ZK3 is very highly rated on the low bands and EME. Look for more details to be forthcoming. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- TO BE ADDED TO THE OPDX MAILING LIST -- Click or send requests to: Help: <mailtopdx-request@barf80.org?subject=help> Subscribe: <mailtopdx-request@barf80.org?subject=subscribe> Unsubscribe: <mailtopdx-request@barf80.org?subject=unsubscribe> OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE): http://www.papays.com/opdx.html NOW ON TWITTER: https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT: http://www.nodxa.org/ http://www.facebook.com/NorthernOhioDxAssociation -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- * All excerpts and distribution of "The OPDX Bulletin" are granted as long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receives credit. ** To contribute DX info, please send via InterNet Mail to: <kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org> OR <kb8nw@arrl.net> OR <kb8nw@hotmail.com> Information can now be faxed to the following phone line at: 1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!) /EXIT -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-