Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1396

SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1396
Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1396

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1396
BID: $OPDX.1396
December 31, 2018
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)
Written/Sent from Murfreesboro, TN

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, the AB5K's AR Clusters
Network, NJ1Q & W1AW, W1VV, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WB6RSE,
K8GG, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W9ILY, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX
News Letter, DL7VEE, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, EI9FBB,
ES1CW, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News,
I2MQP & DX Italia News, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, PY2ZA, Sixitalia Weekly
and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information.

*** SPECIAL NOTE FROM EDITOR (Tedd, KB8NW): My family (wife/OPDX's chief
proof-reader Linda, son Teddy [TJ] and his wife Jessi, daughter Katie and
her husband Kevin and son Lliam & daughter Lilly Grace), and I (KB8NW)
would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy
New Year". Thanks to the many individuals who have provided DX information
over the past year. Without them there would not be an OPDX Bulletin. Also,
thanks to the individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me.....
73 and Have a Great/Safe/Healthy New Year de Tedd KB8NW
P.S. Sorry for the small content this week. I have been busy with the
grandkids and family during the holiday week......

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the
week of Sunday, 23rd/December, through Sunday, 30th/December there were
214 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W,
4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5W, 5Z, 6Y, 7X, 8Q, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J,
9K, 9L, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3,
C5, C6, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D4, DL, DU, E4, E5/n,
E5/s, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ,
F, FG, FJ, FK, FM, FO, FP, FR, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB,
HB0, HC, HC8, HH, HI, HK, HK0/a, HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3,
J6, J7, 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, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4,
PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S7, SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T7,
T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TR, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V5,
V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XU, XX9, YB, YI, YJ, YL, YN,
YO, YS, YU, YV, 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".

3D2 & FW, FIJI AND WALLIS & FUTUNA ISLANDS. Nobby, G0VJG, will be active
from Fiji between May 3-5th, Wallis Island (OC-054) [and possibly OC-118]
between May 6-20th, and Fiji again from May 20-22nd, 2019. Callsigns are
pending at this time. Activity will be on 80-10 meters using SSB and FT8.
His equipment will be a FT-857 with 300 watts into Hex beam. QSL via
M0OXO's OQRS.

3W, VIETNAM. Neven, LZ1COM, will be active as 3W9ND from Hoi An between
December 30th and January 5th, 2019. Activity will be mainly 20 meters.
QSL via his home callsign.

3Y0I BOUVET DXPEDITION NEWS. On December 25th, the 3Y0I team posted
the following update with pictures on the Rebel DX Group Web site at:
https://www.rebeldxgroup.com
"Merry Christmas from the 3Y0I Rebel Team! -- Everything has been shut
down here on the Western Cape of South Africa for Christmas and the New
Year's Holidays. Stores, offices, warehouses and the shipyard are closed
until early January. So in the meantime we will also enjoy the Season
Holiday's too. But in a Ham Radio way! The 3Y0I Rebel Team is spending
our holidays in the cargo hold of our ship pre-assembling some of our
gear. One advantage of doing this inside the ship is that we've got
natural air conditioning here – sea waters cool the vessel nice and
easy, and we're also protected from the fierce subtropical sun. In Stan's
(SP8S) pictures we are pre-assembling our multiband verticals. Tomorrow
we'll assemble the Kohjinsha beams.
Better to prepare now, because once landed, there will be no time or
mercy for mistakes!
Stay tuned for more news coming soon."

No other details to report, other than that there were still 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

5V, TOGO. Members of EIDX Group will be active as 5V7EI from Main Street,
Togo, between March 14-26th, 2019. Operators mentioned are Dave/EI9FBB
(Team Leader), Jeremy/EI5GM (Co-Leader), Declan/EI9HQ, Pat/EI9HX, Enda/
EI2II, Thos/EI2JD, Niall/EI4CF, Jim/EI4HH, Norbert/DJ7JC, Heye/DJ9RR,
Alain/F5JTV, John/F5VHQ and Gabi/YO8WW. Activity will be on 160-10 meters
using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. They plan to have up to 5 stations
on the air. This is the same group that activated 9N7EI and 7Q7EI earlier
in 2018. QSL via M0OXO OQRS, direct, by the Bureau (OQRS) or LoTW (3 months
after operation). For more info and updates, watch: https://5v7ei.com

C5, GAMBIA. Przemyslaw, SP3PS, who became a resident of Gambia in 2017,
is once again active as C5SP from Sanyang. Checkout his house being built
on QRZ.com (under C5SP and SP3PS). He was heard on 20 meters using FT8
on December 29th at various times. According to Przemyslaw QRZ.com page,
he can be active on the following bands:
80/40/30 meters using SSB and FT-8, into dipole antennas
30/20/17/15/12/10 meters using SSB and FT-8, into a Directional
MultiBand-7-PL Antenna from Julian, SP3PL
QSL via SP3PS, direct, LoTW or eQSL.

E5, SOUTH COOK ISLANDS (Update). Hans-Martin, DK2HM, will be active as
E51HMK from Rarotonga Island (OC-013), South Cook Islands between March
14-22nd, 2019. Activity will be on various HF bands using SSB. QSL via
his home callsign, direct, by the Bureau, LoTW, ClubLog's OQRS or eQSL.

HC8, GALAPAGOS ISLANDS. Gerhard, OE3GEA, will be active as HC8GET from
three of the Galapagos Islands (SA-004) between January 13-25th, 2019.
Activity will be from Santa Cruz, Isabela and San Cristobal Islands.
Operations will be on 30-10 meters. QSL via his home callsign, direct
or by the Bureau. ADDED NOTE: After his HC8 activity, look for Gerhard
to be active from Guadeloupe (FG), Dominica (J7) and Martinique (FM)
for approximately 6 days each.

IOTA NEWS..............
AF-018. Operators Ivan/LZ1PM and Dimitar/LZ1UQ will be active from
Pantelleria Island between January 24-31st. Activity will be
on 160-10 meters with operators signing IH9/homecalls. Look
for them to be in the CQWW 160 Meter CW and UBA Contests
signing as IH9/LZ1UQ. QSL via their home callsigns.

NA-092. Rich, WA5LFD, is now active as WA5FLD/p from North Padre
Island until January 14th. Activity will be on 80-10 meters
using CW, SSB, and RTTY. QSL via LoTW or WA5LFD direct.

SA-071. Junior, PY2ZA, informs that he will be active as ZY2FM from
Moela Island (DIB SP-06 and DFB SP-07) and the Lighthouse
(ARLHS BRA-043 and WLOTA 1335) during the American Lighthouses
Weekend (February 14-17th, 2019). Activity will be on CW and
SSB. Look for more information on QRZ.com.

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. Last week we mentioned that DX-WORLD.net reported: "A DX-
pedition to Djibouti (J2) in the early part of 2019 is currently in
planning stages." This week they reported that the callsign would be
J20DX. Look for more details to be forthcoming.

PJ4, BONAIRE. Operators Fred/WW4LL and Mike/NN9DD will be active as
PJ4/WW4LL and PJ4/NN9DD, respectively, between February 4-10th. Activity
will be on FT8, RTTY and SSB, on all bands, and including the CQWW WPX
RTTY Contest (February 9-10th) as PJ4Z. For paper QSLs, please QSL via
K4BAI, but LoTW is the preferred method for all QSLs (PJ4Z, PJ4/WW4LL and
PJ4/NN9DD). Log will be uploaded post contest.

PJ5, ST. EUSTATIUS ISLAND. David, W9DR, will be active as PJ5/W9DR from
Sint Eustatius Island (NA-145, WW Loc. FK87ml) between June 25th and
July 2nd, 2019. Activity will be on 6 meters only using CW, SSB and FT8.
QSL via W9DR direct.

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 31st-January 6th).......
Dec/31st AN Jan/03rd LN Jan/05th LN
Jan/01st HN Jan/04th LN Jan/06th HN
Jan/02nd LN

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

Meanwhile, check out the following Web sites:
* VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/hf
and http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html
* 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
* Graphic propagation tool by DR2W: http://www.dr2w.de/dx-propagation
* Point to point propagation at: http://www.predtest.uk/p2p.html
* Realtime propagation at: http://www.predtest.uk
* Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm

QSL INFO AND NEWS...................
QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF <www.qslinfo.eu> <December 30th>
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
6Y6Y via W8YCM (d) F/DF3FS via DF3FS PH2A via PH2A (L/e)
9A60KDE via 9A1AA HB0/DJ4MF via DJ4MF SN50CUG via SP3CUG
9L1YXJ via KW4XJ (d) HB0/DK3RED/P via DK3RED SO100PWJ via SP3J & (L)
9V1YC via W5UE HF19NY via SP5Y SO750W via SP6CES
AL7KC via AL7KC (d/L) HI3Y via RW6HS (d/L) TJ/PD3AFI via PD3AFI
C5SP via SP3PS HI8S via EA5GL (d) UN6T via UN6T (d/L)
CT7/EI4JT via EI4JT LZ/4X6TT via N4GNR (d/L) UP4L via UN7LZ
DJ5I via DJ5FI LZ/EA3HSO via N4GNR (d/L) V5/ZS1WO via DH3WO
DP1POL/P via DL1ZBO N1F via K1TA (d) VK2SR via VK1TX (d)
EG1PPE via EA1AUM OK8DCC via DL3DCC & (L) W2T via W2ZQ
EM1111U via US7UU OQ5M via ON5ZO (L/e) YT100SF via YU1SRS
EO70UWC via UT4UWC OZ/DJ1AA via DJ1AA ZZ5P via PY2GTA

(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

NOT THE QSL MANAGER. Bill, W1VV, informs OPDX that occasionally he
receives a QSL for VP2MVV. He states, "I have never been a QSL Manager
for any VP2M__ operation, and never will."

QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3B8CW, 5B4AMX, 6W1SU, A35EU, CE3YP, CU5AM,
EA1ALE, EA3EW, EA5GHD, EL2BB, ET3AA, FO5QB, JD1BOI, LB7ZG, OH0Z, OH4NDU,
OZ1FHU, R71RRC, RI0X, S55OO, SP2LIG, TK/S57K and VE3CGR

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: E6Y, FM/DL7VOG, J68GU, KP4/EI9FBB, OX3LX,
RT65KI and TT8KO

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: NONE REPORTED THIS WEEK!!!!
--- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc)
send in their info....

V84, BRUNEI (Update). Operators John/9M6JC, Kom/9M6KOM, Nur/9M6ZAE, Faiq/
9M6ZIM, Choigonjav/JT1CO, Krassimir/K1LZ (team leader), Jeffrey/K1ZM,
Patrick/KK1ZM, Adrian/KO8SCA, Nikolay/LZ1NK, Andrey/LZ2HM, Atilano/PY5EG,
Dmitri/RA9USU, Roman/RN5M, Adi/S55M, Chris/VK3FY, Hrane/YT1AD and the
honorary Brunei members (Tamat/V85TL and Azril/V85AN) will be active as
V84SAA from Sera Kanangan Beach in the Tutong District, Brunei, between
February 7-18th, 2019. From their new Web page <http://v84saa.ko8sca.com/>:
"The team will be operating with the special call V84SAA, thanks to
the support of V85T, Tamat Lampoh, and the Brunei Darussalam Amateur
Radio Association.
Team members will begin to arrive February 4th, meet on February 5th,
begin setting up the antennas and stations on February 6th, to be ready
to begin operations at 0001 local time on February 7th (1601Z February 6th).
The license is good through 2359 local time on February 18th (1559Z February
18th).
The team will focus on the low bands, but will also have a presence on
the WARC-79 bands and higher bands. For antennas the team will use verticals
on 160 and 80 meters and a four square on 40 meters located on the beach.
Plans call for two Beverages: one on Europe and another towards North
America.
Topband Guru K1ZM, Jeff, a member of the V84SAA team, noted that the
greyline at V8 sunset will match up great with the sunrise in North America
starting in NorthEast Canada. So, all of North America will have some
portion of common darkness with the V84SAA team."
QSL Manager is Tony Stefanov, LZ1JZ, direct or by the Bureau. During
the DXpedition, they will upload their log DAILY to ClubLog.

W2, UNITED STATES (Special Event). To celebrate the 20th annual Ham Radio
University educational conference and 2019 ARRL New York City Long Island
Section Convention, look for club station W2HRU to be on-the-air from
Sunday, December 30th, through the day of the event, Saturday, January 5th,
2019. Activity will be at various times with operations on 3923, 7273 and
14273 kHz +/- QRM. An online printable QSL Certificate available at:
https://www.elemcoshopfloor.com/w2hru_cert
An Electronic QSL will be available via eQSL and LoTW. Paper QSLs are via
W2 QSL Bureau or direct w/SASE to Phil Lewis, N2MUN, 22 Belle Terre West,
Lindenhurst, NY 11757.
Ham Radio University on January 5, 2019, will be a day of education,
sharing knowledge and friendship at LIU/Post College in Brookville, Long
Island, New York, with more than thirty ham-related forums and workshops.
Further information is online at: http://www.HamRadioUniversity.org

XX9D MACAO 2019 DXPEDITION NEWS (Bulletin #2, dated December 17th). So far
so good: We are collecting and distributing the equipment we want to use
in Macau, always having in mind that we have to minimize the freight-costs.
By the way, most of the equipment is private property of the team-members.
Thanks to our generous sponsors, foundations and individuals, we were
able to complete our equipment with a new 2-element full-size wire beam
for 10 to 20 meters. This antenna has been modified by LZ Antenna for our
special expedition-purposes. That means low weight and easy to handle. We
are looking forward using this antenna and are sure that it will perform
well together with our new Pentaplexer from LBS. We also were able to add
a VA5 antenna analyzer from FUNKAMATEUR to our equipment list. Tuning and
pruning our antennas will be much easier with that.
As announced earlier we will show up more frequently on all low-bands.
We will have therefore separate antennas for every single band this time.
So we can work 160-80-40 m the same time.
Please have a look on our homepage <https://xx9d.mydx.de/> news from
time to time to be informed about the newest developments. As in 2017 we
will have a daily update of our ClubLog online log. To avoid dupes we ask
you to have a look on ClubLog before you give us a call. It's just a
question of fairness.
Sorry that we have to inform you, we got the official information, that
60 m-activities are not allowed in Macau.
FT8 seems to be a more and more popular mode for DXpeditions. We will
use this mode on the usual frequencies as well as the dxpedition mode on
the announced frequencies. Please consider, that we will use the newest
version WSJT-X 2.0, which is the regular one from January 1st, 2019.
Don't call us on our audio frequency and make sure that you follow the
hints given on the WSJT-homepage.
Hopefully the conditions will be fair or better. All 4 to 5 stations
will be manned around the clock. Having the antennas relative close to-
gether, we can only have one active station per band the same time.
We will have no pilot-stations worldwide, but reports about band openings
are welcome via internet. Please accept that we will not arrange skeds.
LoTW uploads will made for our supporters first, all others 6 months
after the last day of our expedition.
For now we wish you and your families a Merry Christmas and a Happy
New Year. See you in 2019 on all bands and modes.
73 Rolf, DL7VEE

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