DX Bulletin No. 1199

• Details
• Category: DX Bulletin
• Published on Saturday, 31 January 2015 13:19
• Written by Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW

3G0, JUAN FERNANDEZ ISLAND (Update to OPDX.1193/1197/1199). Members of the Provins ARC (F6KOP) will activate Robinson Crusoë Island (SA-005, aka Juan Fernandez Archipelago) as 3G0ZC between February 20th and March 8th. A team of 20 operators plan to be active with 8 stations on the air on 160-6 meters, using SSB, CW and the Digital modes. The Web site has been announced but is still under-construction at: http://www.juanfernandez2015.com

5E, MOROCCO. Jim, W7EJ, and a team will be active as 5E5E from the CN2R
Casablanca contest station in Morocco during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest
(March 28-29th) as a Multi-2 entry. Operators mentioned are Juan/EA8RM,
Jorge/EA9LZ, Mark/M0DXR, Mark/LU8EOT, Manu/LU9ESD, Olli/OH0XX and Jim/W7EJ.
QSL via W7EJ. Visit the CN2R Web page at:        http://cn2r.net

ARRL NEWS [If you haven't heard!](From their Web site).............
  * ARRL Board Okays Changes to DXCC Program, VHF and Above Contesting Rules.
    For complete details, see:
    http://www.arrl.org/news/view/arrl-board-okays-changes-to-dxcc-program-vhf-and-above-contesting-rules

  * QRZ Logbook Now Offering Reciprocal Confirmation Credit and LoTW
    Download. For complete details, see:
    http://www.arrl.org/news/view/qrz-logbook-now-offering-reciprocal-confirmation-credit-and-lotw-download

BD1, CHINA. YUAN, BD1IIJ, will be active from the town of Sujiatuo during
the ARRL International DX CW Contest (February 21-22nd) as a Single-Op/
All-Bands/High-Power entry. QSL via LoTW.

CARIBBEAN TOUR (Reminder/Update). Once again operators Mek/SP7VC, Ted/
SP3IPB and YL Kate/SQ7OYL will be on a Caribbean tour but will also have
operators Bogdan/K2RPF, Zbyszek/SP3CFM and Jerzy/SP7TF join them. They
plan to activate several islands between January 24th and February 14th.
The tentative schedule, islands and callsigns have been announced:
 January 24-26th    - Martinique (NA-107, DIFO FM-001, WLOTA 1041);
                      callsigns FM/SP7VC and FM/SP7TF
 Jan. 27th-Feb. 3rd - St.Lucia (NA-108); as J6/homecalls
 February 4-5th     - St.Vincent (NA-109); as J8/homecalls
 February 6-7th     - Grenada (NA-024); as J3/homecalls
 February 7-8th     - Carriccou (NA-147, Grenada IOTA); as J3/homecalls
 February 8-9th     - Union (NA-025, Grenadies IOTA); as J8/homecalls
 February 13-14th   - Martinique (NA-107); as FM/homecalls

  Activity will be holiday style on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and the
Digital modes. Their equipment consists of TS-590, FT-847, FT-857 and
with three Amp (500W). Antennas: Inv-L for 80-160m, 2 phased verticals
160/80/40m, HexBeam SP7IDX Technology, VDA antennas and verticals R-7000.
QSL via their home callsigns. Watch for updates on Mek's Blog pages at:
                         http://www.sp7vc.dxing.pl
                         http://expedition.sp7vc.pl

CT8, AZORES. Karel, OK2ZI, will be active as CT8/OK2ZI from Sao Miguel
Island (EU-003) between February 1-6th. Activity will holiday style with
100 watts into a vertical on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and the Digital
modes. Emphasis will be on 30/17/12m bands. QSL only via the OQRS on
ClubLog and LoTW. Logs will be uploaded after his return home.

DAYTON HAMVENTION NEWS.............
  * RTTY Contest Dinner 2015 (Update) -- Fred, WW4LL, announced that the
    RTTY Dinner for the Dayton HamVention will be on at 7:15 PM Thursday,
    May 14th, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel, 5th and Jefferson Streets (Next
    to the Dayton Convention Center),  Dayton (Downtown), Ohio. Tickets
    can be purchased through PayPal at <rttycontestdinner.com>. No tickets
    will be sold at the door and must be purchased before May 1, 2015.
    Ralph Fedor, K0IR, will be the keynote speaker at the dinner. There
    will be doors prizes and the NAQP RTTY plaques.

DXER K5LBU (Update/Status). Charles Frost (Frosty), K5LBU, a well-known
DXer noted for his African DXpeditions/Safaris reportedly is not doing well.
Rachael Larkins, Frosty's daughter reports that he has been moved to a
hospice location (Windsor Quail Valley Post-Acute Healthcare Center in
Missouri City, TX). Visitors are welcome, as are prayers, etc.... Also,
a fund has been set up for Frosty's medical expenses, as he has been booted
by his insurance company and the Medicaid has not kicked in. Expenses are
piling up. Visit <http://www.gofundme.com/kpgpqg> to help and get further
information on Frosty's status. Frosty was active last year as 7P8CF
(Apr-May 2014) and A25CF (Sep 2014). He has also been active as 9L1CF,
9J2CF, 9G1LL, 3DA0CF and C91CF.

E4, PALESTINE (Update). Members of the "PALESTINE 2016 TEAM" will be active
as E44Y from the village of Sebastia in the Mosaic Guesthouse sometime
during March of 2016. Current operators listed are Romeo/S59M (Co-Leader),
Marco/HB9OCR (Co-Leader), Jorge/HK1R, Santos/EA4AK, Col/MM0NDX, Miran/S50O,
Salim (Sal)/HK1T, Kaspars/YL1ZF, Peter/PD1RP, Mariano/LU8EOT, Rodrigo/EA7JX,
Fulvio/HB9DHG and Tim/LW9EOC. Pilot stations are Lee/ZL2AL (VK/ZL), Michele/
IW7EGQ (EU) and Jonathan/W6GX (W6/W7). Activity will be on 160-6 meters
using CW, SSB and RTTY. Suggested frequencies are listed at:
                         http://palestine.ig9y.com/plans/
QSL via direct, by the Bureau, LoTW or the OQRS; direct cards via EB7DX.
Visit the following URLs for more details and updates:
        Web page --  http://palestine.ig9y.com
        FaceBook --  https://www.facebook.com/pages/Palestine-Dxpedition-2016/729525207130528
        Twitter  --  https://twitter.com/PALESTINE_DXped

EP, IRAN. By time you read this, the members of the Rockall DX Group,
signing EP6T from Kish Island (AS-166), Iran, may be QRT. Their Web page
now states January 26th (not the 31st as first announced). QSL Manager
is Tim Beaumont, M0URX: P.O. Box 17, Kenilworth, Warwickshire CV8 1SF,
ENGLAND (w/SASE and 2 USDs). Use M0URX's OQRS via PAYPAL for direct and
Bureau cards. No eQSLs. Some LoTW uploads have taken place. For more
information and updates, visit QRZ.com or <http://www.rockall.be>.
As of January 24th at 1103z, they have made 54732 QSOs with 14257 Unique
callsign (27164/CW, 23627/SSB and 3941/RTTY). Breakdown by Continents:
393/AF, 1/AN, 9867/AS, 38006/EU, 5134/NA, 668/OC and 663/SA.
  The EP6T Team posted on their Web page Saturday: "We know that receiving
is our main problem at this time, the noise level on most of the bands is
very high. The first 2 days we had very high QRM level of humm and buzz on
all bands. We bought a portable radio to search for the QRM and found a
neighbors faulty air conditioner, this is now eliminated.
  But there is still a high noise level on all bands, on the phased array
for 30m it goes up to S9 ! Even our receiving antennas have S5 noise, man-
made noise probably caused by neon lights and battery chargers all around
our QTH, so you can imagine how we are struggling with the weak signals
from the USA.
  The 4 Square on 40m is useless for receiving in NA and SA direction. For
us is it also very frustrating to hear the pile-up in the noise with some
strong signals peaking sometimes just above our noise level.
  Our receiving antennas (K9AY, Bev. en loops) are vertical polarized.
Today we put up another one for horizontal polarization. Maybe this will
do better against the vertical polarized man made noise, we will see in a
few hours. We brought all kinds of net filters and common mode filters and
installed a proper ground, but all this can not help us to kill the QRM we
are having.
  On the low bands we have to pull out all callers and this takes time! On
80m we have better propagation to NA and SA around our SR and S/N is very
good, but than everyone is calling  We cant work all of you in this short
time but we will keep doing our best.
  Please remember that this project is a start for all new radio amateurs
in Iran, promoting ham radio is our main goal, so in the future, contacts
with EP will be guaranteed.....  73's from the EP6T team"
  Other update was posted later in the day, stating the team had to
stop transmitting (for 30 min.) because 8 officials from the CRA visited
their location and wanted to test their radio equipment on different bands.
They also stated, "Tomorrow (Sunday) another government delegation will
visit us and probably will request us to stop the operation for a short
time...... Monday morning after sunrise we will start dismantling the
topband antenna. Monday evening after the higher bands are closed, we will
start taking down these antennas. During our last night including the
sunrise opening, we will be active on 30,40 and 80m." To read the complete
post, go to their Web page.

FO, FRENCH POLYNESIA. Pete, K8PGJ, will be active as FO/K8PGJ from Bora
Bora (OC-067) between February 15-24th. He states that this will be an
"Island Style Operation" when not diving and will occur on 20-10 meters
SSB. LoTW will be utilized and Direct QSL to his home callsign. Operation
schedule will be posted on QRZ.com.

FT5X, KERGUELEN ISLANDS. Gildas, TU5KG, is once again active as FT5XT/mm
around the Kerguelen area. Most of the time he is active as a Maritime
Mobile, but can be occasionally be active from the Islands. QSL via F4DXW
(direct only please).