Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin #1454

SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1454
Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin No. 1454

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1454
BID: $OPDX.1454
March 2, 2020
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)
Written/Send From Strongsville, Ohio

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, the AB5K's AR Cluster
Networks, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, NY3B, W3UR & The Daily DX, WB6RSE,
AF8C, K8YSE, KF8UN, KZ8Y, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W9ILY, DL1SBF, DL7UXG &
The DX News Letter, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, F4FET, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les
Nouvelles DX, HP1AC, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, Pete Rayer & ISWL,
RN3RQ, Sixitalia Weekly, and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the
week of Sunday, 23rd/February, through Sunday, 1st/March there were 212
countries active. Countries available: 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L,
4O, 4S, 4U1U, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5R, 5T, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 9A, 9G,
9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5,
C6, CE, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, DL, DU, E4, E6, 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, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J2, J3, J6, J7, JA, JD/o, JT, JW, JY, K,
KG4, KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OK,
OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PY0F, PZ, S0, S2, S5, S7,
SM, SP, ST, SU, SV, SV5, SV9, T7, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TN, TR, TU, TZ, UA,
UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9N, VP2E, VP5,
VP6, VP8, VP8/o, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XX9, XZ, YB, YI, YK, 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".

4L & EK, GERORGIA AND ARMENIA. Byron, KF8UN, will be in Armenia in mid-May
for five days and in Georgia as 4L/KF8UN for five days on a bird watching
tour. No other details provided.

6O, SOMALIA. Ali, EP3CQ, will once again be active as 6O1OO as of February
25th, and will stay until March 25th. Activity will be limited to his
spare time because he works for the UN Department of Safety and Security
(UNDSS) in Mogadishu. Operations are on 160/80/40/30/20/17/15/10/6 meters
(mostly on 40/20 meters FT8) using CW, SSB and FT8. The 6O1OO station,
currently is the only active and licensed Amateur Radio Station in Somalia.
Ali informs OPDX that he posts updates on his QRZ.com page and is looking
for some equipment donations. He posted the following on his QRZ.com
page: "Due to the harsh weather conditions super (hot, humid, windy and,
salty) there is a necessity to change the equipment antennas, wires, UPS
and defect RF units (due to overheat), I need and rely on your donations
to keep the station running. Sponsors and equipment donors, please contact
me (EP3CQ) directly."
REMINDER: Effective as of February 11, 2019, the callsign, 6O1OO, has
been accepted for DXCC credit. QSL direct to: Ali Solhjoo, Schnacken-
burgstr. 3, Berlin 12159, Germany. QSL cards will be replied to on a
bi-monthly basis. IRC's are not accepted. See QRZ.com for more info and
picture of his station. Flash news will be posted via Twitter: @EP3CQ

9J2LA ZAMBIA DXPEDITION NEWS (Reminder). Just a reminder that the 9J2LA
team will be active from Zambia between March 5-15th. Activity will be
on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and FT8. For more details see OPDX.1452.
QSOs will be uploaded to ClubLog if internet access is available. QSL via
M0OXO QSL service. The 9J2LA Web page is available at: https://9j2la.com
Facebook and Twitter will be used for “Breaking News” the weeks before
departure and during the Expedition. The media Web pages are:
FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/9j2la
Twitter: https://twitter.com/9J2LA

9X, RWANDA. Harald, DF2WO, will once again be active as 9X2AW from Kigali
(with a new Grid KI48xe) between March 4-22nd. He is currently preparing
his 160m antenna and will build a Hexbeam with Bamboo Sticks for working
on 20/17/15/12/10 meters using mainly Digital modes (FT8, PSK31, JT65 and
RTTY), CW and SSB. QSL via M0OXO or his OQRS. See QRZ.com for pictures.

BV120, TAIWAN (Special Event). Look for special event station BV120SU to
be active between now and August 4th. Activity is to celebrates the 120th
anniversary of Soochow University in Taiwan. Operations will be on various
HF bands and modes (FT8 was mentioned). QSL via BU2EQ or eQSL.

DAYLIGHT SAVING TIME (DST). Next weekend it will be time to change your
clocks again. Countries in the Northern Hemisphere (most of N. American
and some of the Caribbean) who observe Daylight Saving Time should change
their clocks on Sunday, March 8th at 2:00 AM, and should move their
"local clocks" forward 1 hour to 3:00:00 AM local time. Daylight Saving
Time will end on Sunday, November 1st at 2:00 AM. European countries will
switch to DST on March 29th. For the history and details about DST, as
well as an interesting map of the world (showing the countries who observe
DST), see: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daylight_saving_time
http://www.timeanddate.com/time/dst/2020.html
ADDED NOTES: Hopefully, all amateur radio operators know not to change
their GMT/UTC/ZULU clocks. However, since most operators usually set their
computers to local time, some may have to change their settings on "some"
ham radio software (ex. logging, propagation, DXTelnet, etc..) programs.

DXCC'S MOST WANTED (ClubLog). The "DXCC Most Wanted" entities list has
been updated on ClubLog as of February 27th. The list contains 340 entities.
The following are the top 26 entities:
1. P5 DPRK (North Korea) 14. KH4 Midway Island
2. 3Y/B Bouvet Island 15. ZS8 Prince Edward & Marion Islands
3. FT5/W Crozet Island 16. VP8O South Orkney Islands
4. BS7H Scarborough Reef 17. PY0S Saint Peter and Paul Rocks
5. CE0X San Felix Islands 18. PY0T Trindade & Martim Vaz Islands
6. BV9P Pratas Island 19. KP5 Desecheo Island
7. KH7K Kure Island 20. SV/A Mount Athos
8. KH3 Johnston Island 21. VP8S South Sandwich Islands
9. 3Y/P Peter 1 Island 22. EZ Turkmenistan
10. FT5/X Kerguelen Island 23. KH5 Palmyra & Jarvis Islands
11. FT/G Glorioso Island 24. JD/M Minami Torishima
12. VK0M Macquarie Island 25. YK Syria
13. YV0 Aves Island 26. ZL9 New Zealand Subantarctic Islands

The complete "DXCC Most Wanted" entities list (340) is available at:
https://secure.clublog.org/mostwanted.php

E44CC PALESTINE DXPEDITION VIDEO. A video of the recent 2020 February
E44CC DXpedition to Palestine by F6KOP team is now available online at:
E44CC Web site: https://palestine2020.wordpress.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/E44CC

IOTA NEWS..............
EU-107. Gil, F4FET, will once again be active as TM7P from Petite
Island during the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 25-26th). QSL via
F4FET.

EU-116. Fred, ON6QR, will once again be active as GD/ON6QR from Man
Island during the RSGB IOTA Contest (July 25-26th). QSL via
his home callsign.

EU-159. Thierry "Terry", F6CUK, will be active as TM8C from the light-
house on Cordouan Island (AT-032, FFF-2820, DPLF PB018, WLOTA
0271 and ARLHS FR007) between March 13-15th. Activity will
mainly be on 40/20 meters, possibly 30m, using CW and SSB,
with K3 and 300 watts into dipole antennas and delta loop.
QSL via his home callsign.

NA-069. Member(s) of the Black Mountain Radio Group will be active as
W1JXN/4 from Gasparilla Island between now and March 4th.
Activity will be holiday style on 40/30/20 meters using mainly
CW. QSL via info on QRZ.com.

IOTA DXPEDITIONS. Gil, F4FET, reports that he plans to come back to IOTAs
EU014-EU100-EU104-EU164 in Corsica, like he did as TK0INT, TK1INT and
TK2INT in 2013, during the periods of autumn 2020 or at end of winter
in 2021. He plans to stay a 2 full weeks in Corsica. He states that he
has changed his job recently and will have to accumulate leave days.
Look for more info 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......

ISWL CALLSIGNS (For March 2020). The following ISWL club callsigns will
be used throughout the month of March 2020:

GX4BJC/A - Operated /A, from Great Sutton, in Cheshire, by Geof, M0BAU
(WAB Square - SJ37 - England, IOTA EU-005, WLOTA 1841).

GX4BJC/P - Operated /P By Geof. His /P location and WAB details upon
request.

MX1SWL/A - Operated /A, from Eastbourne, in Sussex, by Peter, G0NQZ
(WAB Square - TQ50 - England, IOTA EU-005, WLOTA 1841).

MX1SWL/P - Operated /P By Peter. His /P location and WAB details upon
request.

ALL QSLs will be handled by Dick, M5DIK - The QSL Manager 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.qrzcq.com> or <www.qrz.com>
or via <www.eQSL.cc>. NO LoTW.

J6, ST. LUCIA. Steve, NY3B, will be active as J68SS from St. Lucia (NA-108,
WLOTA L-1336), between March 4-11th. Activity will be on the HF bands
including FT4/8. This includes being a Multi-Single entry in the upcoming
ARRL International DX SSB contest. QSL via LoTW

K5, UNITED STATES (Satellite Grid Op). Operators Josh/W3ARD, Doug/N6UA
and Ron/AD0DX are planning to activate DL88 in Big Bend National Park in
Texas on March 16th and 17th, using the special event callsign K5Z. They
will be operating on the FM and Linears satellites, and plan to operate
through the night. You can find more details on their QRZ.com page for
K5Z.

KH4, MIDWAY ISLANDS (Update). Ron, KH6DV, from Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii,
announced on February 22nd, that a KH6VV/KH4 DXpedition will take place
during the first two weeks in October. He states, "The changes we are
working on will make for a much better and more exciting expedition and
are well worth waiting for." Watch QRZ.com for updates.

KH7, HAWAII. Jim, N6TJ, will once again be active as KH7M (the Pu'u O'o
Radio Club callsign/station) from Volcano during the CQWW WPX SSB (March
28-29th) and CQWW WPX CW Contests (May 25-26th) as a Single-Op/All-Band
entries. QSL via KH6ZM (USA/Canada) or to I0MWI (the rest of the world).

NP2, U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS. Yuriy, N2TTA, will once again be active from
here as NP2P during the ARRL International DX SSB Contest (March 7-8th)
as a Single-Op entry. QSL via LoTW.

PACIFIC TOUR (Reminder). Operators Will/AA4NC and Ron/AA4VK who are now
active as P29NC and P29VK until March 1st, will be moving on to their
next operation which is Solomon Islands Their updated schedule is as
follows:
Solomon Islands --- As H44NC and H44VK between March 1-3rd
Vanuatu ----------- As YJ0NC and YJ0VK between March 3-6th
Fiji -------------- As 3D2AA and 3D2VK (callsign tentative); Look for
Will to be active as 3D2AA during the ARRL DX SSB
Contest (March 7-8th) as a Single-Op-Low-Power entry.

Activity on most islands will be holiday style on 160-10 meters using
CW, SSB and FT8/FT4, with 100 watts and wire antennas. QSL routes have
been changed. QSL all callsigns via EA5GL.

PJ4, BONAIRE. George, K5KG, will once again be active as PJ4/K5KG from
Bonaire (SA-006, WLOTA LH-1279) between March 2-9th. His activity will
be primarily CW. All QSOs will be posted to LogBook of the World (LoTW)
after his trip. If you want a QSL card, please send your request directly
to K5KG along with a SASE with sufficient postage. His main purpose
there is to join the PJ4G team (David/N2NG and Martin/W1MD) in the ARRL
DX SSB Contest (March 7-8th) as a Multi-Two entry. QSL PJ4G via WA2NHA.

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (March 2-8th).......
Mar 02nd AN Mar/05th HN Mar/07th AN
Mar/03rd AN Mar/06th AN Mar/08th AN
Mar/04th HN

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 for propagation:
* 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
* News and Information About The Sun-Earth Environment:
https://www.spaceweather.com
* Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve
overseas locations are at: http://arrl.org/propagation
* Information and tutorials on propagation are at: http://k9la.us
* 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) (March 1st)
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
G3U via G3UJE (L) LY30LY via LY5A OT5Q via ON4KNP
G3V via G3VER (N) LZ6E via LZ1GU OU2I via OZ1BII (L)
KL7RST via K7ICE OG1A via OH1JP S79VU via VU2IIX
LX/DL2JRM via DL2JRM OG60IPA via OH4MDY SZ3PC20 via SZ3PC20 (L/e)
TU5PCT via OK6DJ (O/L)

(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

LOGS ONLINE AT CLUBLOG.ORG THIS WEEK......
https://clublog.org/logsearch/3D2AG/P
https://clublog.org/logsearch/EX0QR
https://clublog.org/logsearch/TU5PCT (Updated)
https://clublog.org/logsearch/VU4R

QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 4U1UN, 5U9AMO, 6W1/EA4ATI, 9A9A, E44CC, OX3LX,
PJ5/KG9N, TI9A, V31MA and VP8PJ

QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: EI7M, FK/DB1RUL (OC-033), OH0W, OJ0O, XZ2D and
YW5F (SA-058)

QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3Z2012EFC, 3Z85PZK, 4K8YL, 4W/JH2EUV,
9H3EG, 9M2MRS, A65BG, B4R/5 (AS-138), B5/BA4TB (AS-141), B7/BA4TB
(AS-094), BA4TB (AS-150), BA4TB/4 (AS-135), BA4TB/5 (AS-137), BA7CK
(AS-143), BY1RX/4 (AS-160), BY1WXD/5 (AS-138), C6AXK, CE0Y/JA0JHO,
CP4DL, HK4EI, HS0ZJK, HS0ZNV, KL7YK, OH0C, OX90EDR, PJ5Z, SQ65HSC,
T88PB, T88UW, TA2K, VK5CE, WP4JLU, XU7MDY, XV2RZ and ZL7X
--- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc)
to send in their info....

T30, WEST KIRIBATI (Postponed). Alex, 5B4ALX, has postponed his T30ET
operation that was scheduled between March 18th and April 2nd, due to
the Tarawa's Ministry of Health of Kiribati announcement/communication.
He was informed that he would "need to undergo the 14 days quarantine
in Honiara and to obtain a medical clearance before traveling to Kiribati."
Alex states, "Therefore T30ET is currently postponed – NOT DELETED –
indicatively to October 2020, ever if the COVID-19 situation will be
resolved." You can read the bulletin received from Kiribati MINISTRY of
HEALTH & MEDICAL SERVICES at:
http://www.5b4alx.cloud/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Revised-Health-Travel-Advisory-180220-1-2.pdf

TC4, TURKEY. Tev, TA1HZ, will be active as TC4PLH and operating from the
historical Patara Lighthouse area (home to the oldest lighthouse unearthed)
during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op entry. QSL
via LoTW.

TO0, ST. MARTIN. Operators Marco/FS4WBS, Pier/W1NA, Pasquale/I8QLS,
Steven/N7QLS and Phalier/FS5PL will be active as TO0A from Pic Paradis,
Saint Martin Island (NA-105), in memory of Morton Bardfield/W1UQ/FS5UQ/SK
during the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 7-8th) as a Multi-Single entry.
QSL via LoTW or IZ1MHY.

TO7, REUNION (Update). The DL7DF, Team that was expected to be active
from Djibouti between March 4-16th, has cancelled their operation, and
has now announced that they will be active as TO7DL from Reunion Island
(AF-016) between March 4-16th. Operators mentioned are Manfred/DK1BT,
Wolf/DL4WK, Annette/DL6SAK, Sigi/DL7DF and Frank/DL7UFR. Pilot station
for this DXpedition is Bernd, DF3CB. Activity will be on 160-10 meters
using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. After the recent permission of the
5 MHz band in France and the French territories, the team will also acti-
vate 60m. Please check our "News Page" during the DXpedition:
http://www.dl7df.com/fr/news.php
QSL via DL7DF, direct or by the DARC Bureau. They will upload the full
logs of the DXpedition to LoTW within 6 months after the DXpedition. For
more details and updates, see: http://www.dl7df.com/fr

TX3, CHESTERFIELD ISLANDS. "The Daily DX" reported on February 28th
[edited]: An experienced multi-nation team plans to operate from Chester-
field Island in October of 2020. The team of 12 operators will depart
from Noumea, New Caledonia, and will be on Chesterfield Island for 14
days, and operating for 12 days on 160 -10 meters with a strong focus
on the low bands. Additional information will be released detailing the
operation as plans continue to solidify.

TX8, NEW CALEDONIA. Moto, JA1GZV, will be active as TX8A from Noumea,
Grand Terre Island (OC-032),between March 10-18th. Activity will be on
40-15 meters using CW. Suggested frequencies are: 7010, 10120, 14010,
18080 and 21010 kHz. QSL via JA1GZV, by the Bureau, direct or eQSL.

V3, BELIZE (Reminder). Iain, G4SGX, will once again be active as V31GX
from Ambergris Caye (NA-073) sometime in March. Activity will be holiday
style on 160-6 meters using mainly CW, and possibly some Digital modes
(FT8). Iain will also participate in the Commonwealth Contest (Beru)
[March 14-15th]. Also, he will be very active on 160m after the contest.
He will run 100 watts into 1/4 verticals over seawater and inverted-L
over seawater for 80m. QSL via his home callsign, ClubLog or LoTW.

V4, ST. KITTS & NEVIS. Operators Matt/K0BBC and Paul/W6PNG will be active
as V4/K0BBC and V4/W6PNG, respectively, from Calypso Bay, Saint Kitts
Island (NA-104), QTH of John/W5JON/V47JA, between March 5-11th. Activity
will be on various HF bands (80-6m) using SSB and FT8, including the ARRL
DX SSB Contest (March 7-th) as a Multi-Single entry signing as V47P. QSL
V4/K0BBC via M0OXO. QSL V4/W6PNG via direct. QSL V47P via LoTW or ClubLog's
OQRS.

V6, MICRONESIA (IOTA Op Postponed). Members of the Nara DX Association
Japan (NDXA) who were planning an IOTA DXpedition to OC-253 (Murilo Island,
Hall Islands) this year have announced the following: Thank you for your
showing an interest in our next V6J IOTA trip. Although we received many
mails asking about our trip to OC-253, we decided to postpone OC-253 until
2021 or later. We hope the propagation will be better then. We hope
spreading of coronaviruses will be stopped right away. We pray for the
people who got infected with coronaviruses.... We look forward to meeting
you on the air in 2021 or later.....
Best regards, V6J Team, 28 February 2020

VP8PJ SOUTH ORKNEY DXPEDITION NEWS (Update). The VP8PJ team is now on
the air as of Sunday, February 23rd. The team reported the following
important items throughout the week [edited]:

* Sunday, FEB 23rd, 11:47 (EST): We are aware of our bandplan. In the
coming days more activity will be focused for the USA folks inside
the General Class License portions of the bands..... Team VP8PJ

* Tuesday, FEB 25th, 1600Z (Update): An attempt to upload the log will
be done later today. QSO count is over well 11,000 at this point. The
island team is working hard to hand out as many QSO's as possible.
The team remains upbeat given the miserable cold and damp conditions.
The team appreciates your patience regarding the log uploads and the
difficulty they have encountered with this aspect of the operation.

* Tuesday, 25th, 4:06 PM (EST): We found a path to the satellite from
the ship, where I am at the moment and hope we can find it tonight..
We will try a log update later today. The team was installing the 60m
antenna when I left the island 2 hours ago, and doing maintenance on
other antennas. It's very cold and windy, with snow last night, team
is doing well, staffing the stations, as planned for their shifts.
More later...... 73, GS K5GS

* Tuesday, 25th, 4:06 PM (EST) From K5GS (Update): We are having spotty
success getting an adequate signal from the satellite, even from the
ship. We've been in contact with the service provider and we all agree
that the problem is the terrain and the satellite's low angle in the
sky. That said, we're here to work DX and will deal with the usual
challenges all DX-peditions to the Southern Ocean tend to experience.
One of the ship's crew asked "they make a contact on the radio and
need to Internet to confirm they made the contact?". Interesting
observation from a fellow that knows little about ham radio. We ask
that people do not send us or the pilots e-mails asking about logs,
if we can get uploads done, we will. If not you'll have to do your
best to get a contact. This is an experienced DX-pedition and Contest
team, if you hear them repeat your call you're in the log. The pileups
have been what we expected, always energetic, sometimes chaotic but no
surprises. The team is working under very cold and windy weather con-
ditions, with snow at night. Doing any work outside is challenging any-
time and can not be done at night..... Have patience.

* Thursday, 27th, 7:05 AM (EST): "The team is currently dealing with
significant winds and snow. It remains cold!"

* Norman, G4AYU, informs: The RRS James Clark Ross is off the coast
of Signy just for today. The ship webcam is updated every 15 minutes,
but haven't spotted any aerials yet
https://legacy.bas.ac.uk/webcams/rrs_james_clark_ross/webcam.jpg

* Saturday, 29th, 9:20 AM (EST): After a storm blew through we're cur-
rently experiencing the weather conditions we expected. The antennas
are staying up, with only some challenges with the larger verticals.
The WeatherPort buildings have performed as expected, even with occa-
sional wind gusts that we estimate at 75 - 80 kph, or higher. We have
reports of missing FT8 QSOs, we can not fix that on the island, Tim,
M0URX, will handle the missing contacts once he has all the FT8 files.
Schedule: We must depart the island by the afternoon of Thursday,
March 6th. Depending on the weather, we expect to begin tearing down
the camp on Weds, March 4th. We estimate (with reasonable weather)
March 4-5th for the tear down, load the ship and be ready to sail on
Thursday. Estimated time at sea is 5 full days, and arrive at the
entrance to the harbor on the evening of March 11th. We will unload
the ship on March 13th and turn to equipment over to our Customs
Broker. Braveheart will leave Punta Arenas on March 15th.
73, VP8PJ Team

* Saturday, 29th,Pre DXpedition Donors: QSL Manager Tim Beaumont, M0URX,
reports: I have received the updated excel file from Doris with the
PreDXpedition Donors List. This has now been uploaded to LoTW. If
there are any issues please contact me privately with a receipt of
your donation so that I can get it updated. The file will be uploaded
after each log update..... Thank you

EDITOR NOTES: VP8PJ will be active from the South Orkney Islands (AN-008)
until March 4-5th. South Orkney Island is currently #16 most wanted on
ClubLog. QSL via M0URX, direct or OQRS (direct and Bureau). LoTW will
be uploaded 6 months after DX-pedition. Online log is available at:
https://www.m0urx.com/oqrs/logsearch.php?dxcallsign=VP8PJ
Current statistics show (as this is being written), as of 0018z February
29th, VP8PJ work 38276 total QSOs with 12853 Unique callsigns. QSO Modes:
21868/CW, 6911/SSB, 8679/FT8 and 818/RTTY. By Continent: 382/AS, 0/AN,
2455/AS, 19693/EU, 13346/NA, 293/OC and 2100/SA. The following are VP8PJ
media pages to watch:
The VP8PJ Web page is at: https://sorkney.com
The VP8PJ Twitter page is at: https://twitter.com/SouthOrkneyDX
The VP8PJ Groups.io group is at: https://groups.io/g/VP8PJ

VP9, BERMUDA. Steve, K3SW, will be active as VP9/K3SW from Ed/VP9GE's
Hamilton Parish QTH (NA-005, WLOTA 0201) between March 5-10th. Activity
will be CW only. However, he will be in the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March
7-8th) as a Single-Op entry signing as VP9I. QSL VP9/K3SW via K3SW direct.
QSL VP9I via WW3S or LoTW.

VU4R ANDAMAN ISLANDS DXPEDITION NEWS (Press Release #1, dated February
24th) [edited]. VU4R Team will be active from 20th March 2020 to 31st
March 2020 in Neil Islands, Andamans.
Thanks to the Government officials for support to grant the license.
The operation will mainly focus on low bands 160M,80M,40M. We propose
to activate 60M for the first time from VU4R Dxpediton. We will also be
operating during the CQ WPX SSB Contest, giving the contest’s yet another
Rare prefix!
We do have concern band limitation on 160M due to the recent changes in
our WPC which we are working on to resolve the Frequency Spectrum issue.
Based on that we will also announce later final frequency and operating
schedule.
The location will be the Northern tip of the Neil Island with clear
opening to Europe / USA and All the antennas will be on the beach.
Our Team has decided that Charles, M0OXO, of great repute will be the
QSL Manager, ClubLog and Online Log will be uploaded during or after the
Expedition as the network permits.
We will also be active on Eshail satellite for one day.
A minimum of three stations will be active, more will be operation
depending on propagation and resources.
We will be using SteppIR / Hex beam for the high bands. Verticals for
the low bands.
We need to hire the boat from Portblair to Neil Islands. The Island
has intermittent power supply. We have to hire generators and many other
items needed to procure for this activity in addition to Station Rooms
in Resort for 11 days.
We will be operating over 150m from the beach. A large QTY of Low Loss
LMR cables, poles and many items are required.
Your contribution to this DXpedition is "welcome" and every contri-
bution will acknowledge and updated in our website.

All individual supporters 25$+ will receive direct QSL.
All individual supporters 50$ + will receive direct QSL + VU4 Pin
All individual supporters 100$ + will receive direct QSL + VU4 Pin
+ Custom T-Shirt.

Our Website is (http://vu4r.vu3rsb.org) for more information – Please
support via paypal or international bank.... 73s and CU, from VU4R

XV, VIETNAM. Sven, HB9DXB, will once again be active as XV9DXB from his
second home in Nha Trang starting March 10th, possibly for a few weeks
(no date was mentioned). Look for activity possibly in contests, and
usually on 80/40/20/10 meters (mostly on 20m) using CW and SSB. QSL via
EB7DX direct or LoTW.

YJ, VANUATU (Reminder). By the time you read this, operators Will/AA4NC
and Ron/AA4VK will be active as YJ0NC and YJ0VK, respectively, from the
New Hebrides Island (OC-035) between March 3-6th. Activity will be holiday
style on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8/FT4, with 100 watts and wire
antennas. QSL routes have been changed. QSL all callsigns via EA5GL.

YJ, VANUATU. Chris, VK2NYA/VK2YUS, will once again be active as YJ0CA
from Port Vila, Efate Island (OC-035), between March 22nd and April 1st.
Activity will be on 40/20/15 meters (possibly 10m) SSB only. He also
plans to be in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th) as a Single-Op
entry. QSL via his home callsign direct.

YN3, NICARAGUA. Gerhard, OE3GEA, is once again active as YN3GEA from
Leon and Esteli, Nicaragua, until March 6th. Activity will be mainly on
30 and 20 meters using CW, but can operate 40-10m. During March 7-8th,
he will be on Corn Island (NA-013). QSL via OE3GEA, by the Bureau or
direct. Logs will not be uploaded to LoTW or ClubLog.

ZC4, U. K. SOVEREIGN BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS. Adrian, G0KOM, will be active
as ZC4MK from Melanda Beach, Avdimou, SBA, Cyprus, between March 26th and
April 1st. Activity will probably be on 40-10 meters using CW and SSB,
with an IC-7000 (on load from Tony/G4LDL), portable hexbeam, and doublet
wire antenna. He also plans to be in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March
28-29th) as a Single-Op/Low-Power entry. QSL via his home callsign,
ClubLog or LoTW. ADDED NOTE: If you miss him on this trip, he plans to
return in June/July, depending on the finances. For updates, watch his
QRZ.com page.

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Just a reminder, you can still obtain the OPDX Bulletins via the
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QRZ.com (under Forums; News; Special Events, Contests.. etc.), several
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rec.radio.amateur.dx). The weekly bulletin (issue # from the OPDX Web
page URL) is also posted on the following Media pages:
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Twitter -- https://twitter.com/kb8nw_opdx
ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT:
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long as KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receives credit.

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....... 73 de Tedd KB8NW
/EXIT

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