Ten X DX News
December 8, 2002

The only recognized amateur radio station operating from North Korea P5/4L4FN
Ed #72722, has been shutdown effective November 22, 2002. Ed was called to a
meeting with the P5 Radio Regulation Board when he was asked to quit all radio
activity. He spent the next day taking down his antennas and packing boxes.
That afternoon a government official came by and sealed all the boxes. Ed is
going on vacation in a few days and he will take everything with him out of
North Korea.
I talked with Bruce KK5DO #65027, who is Ed's QSL manager, about what Ed has
accomplished. Bruce sent Ed a computer logging program so that all contacts
would be computerized and sent to Bruce for QSL replies. Ed logged 16,194
contacts on his computer and Bruce has sent out eleven thousand QSL cards so
far. Ed made most of his contacts on fifteen but he worked 2,818 contacts on
ten meters, of which 1,682 were in North America. I helped Ed get his 10-10
membership and he was the only operator to give out a 10-10 number from North
Korea. As you would expect, Ed's operating efforts have allowed many thousands
to confirm North Korea, and put many DX'ers back to a worked all country
status of Number One Honor Roll. Many thanks to Ed who will be remembered for
his tenacity to get permission to operate and to give out the rarest one!
As I write this article, I have two people that have just submitted P5/4L4FN
cards for 10-10 country credit.
A pole was taken last month to determine which countries are the Most Wanted.
Here are the top ten: VP6D Ducie Isl., P5 North Korea, VU4 Andaman Isl., BS7
Scarborough Reef, VU7 Laccadive Isl., VP8SA S.Sandwich Isl., 7O Yemen, 3Y8P
Peter Isl., FR/J Juan de Nova Isl., KP5 Desecheo Isl. Of these countries,
there has been 10-10 activity from all but VU4, BS7, VU7, and FR/J.
3C Equatorial Guinea. Vitaly VE6JO #35994, has received the callsign 3C2MV. He
is operating from the capital city Malabo located on Bioko Island (IOTA AF-
010). Vitaly was delayed three weeks while he waited on a visa. He was
expected to start in early November but finally got on the air November 21st.
He is making lots of contacts by himself and he was a great catch when he gave
me a first 10-10 country on ten SSB. He could stay until December 13th. This
will make the 10-10 country count go up to 308 countries. Thirty three
countries are waiting to be activated and have never had any 10-10 activity as
of December 2002.

The 28555 DX Net continues each Sunday, at 1400-1600Z for the winter season.
Austria, Belarus, Bulgaria, Brazil, Canada, Czech Republic, England, Germany,
Italy, Norway, Northern Ireland, Romania, Spain, Switzerland and South Africa
have checked in this past quarter.
QSL's received for new 10-10 countries: CY9DH St. Paul Island. James VE9DH
#72121 was active in July. Received a QSL from W7XU for a new one. VP6DI Ducie
Island by VR6TC Tom #73104 and VR6MW Miralda #50434. XR0W San Felix Isl. by
Joe KO4RR #46176. VP8GEO S. Georgia by Ralph K0IR #2609. P5/4L4FN North Korea
by Ed #72722, worked him September 22nd. OH0/OH3TY Aland Isl. by Ben #72703.
Ben used the call OH0HEY in the CQWW RTTY contest.
HV Vatican. Stefano IK0OER #62293 was active from the Vatican as HV5PUL for a
few days. He confirmed he did give out his 10-10 number at least once, so
maybe someone will confirm the Vatican for a new 10-10 country! They only
transmit two times a year in May and November.
JW Svalbard. Tom LA7VK #72716 flies into Svalbard for a 24-hour stay about
once a month. He then returns to Norway. His last trip on December 1st was
very poor for ten meter propagation. Expect Tom in January 2003 for a two day
stay on a weekend. QSL to LA7VK.
S9 Sao Tome. Charles S9SS #16955, (ex. KY4P) continues to be active on ten
meter SSB & some CW. He likes to work on 28377 from 1900-2100utc. QSL to N4JR.
ZS6 South Africa and 3DA0CF Swaziland. Frosty ZS6WPX/K5LBU #51322, was again
in Africa during the Thanksgiving holidays using the call 3DA0CF. He used the
same call in July 2002. Frosty made 900 contacts this trip on several bands.
His friend, Andre ZS6WPX is now applying for his 10-10 membership.

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
XU Cambodia. Dick N6FF #24616, is now active as XU7ACB from December 3-18th.
He has been active on RTTY/PSK31/CW so far on 80, 40, & 20. QSL to N6FF.
(Editor's Note: Please advise if you get him for 10-10, as there has never
been any 10-10 activity from Cambodia.)
9Q Dem.Rep. of Congo. Patrick, 9Q1A (F6BLQ #66013) will participate in the
ARRL 10 Meter Contest as 9S1X (SSB only), then Pat and Nicole 9Q1YL (ex.TU5NC
#66012) will leave Kinshasa. In early January 2003, they will move to Matadi,
D.R. Congo, where they plan to be active as 9Q1A & 9Q1YL with wire and
vertical antennas at first, with beams to follow. QSL to F2YT #22871.



DP1 Antarctica. Felix DL5XL #55519, will be at a German Antarctic research
base from March through November 2003. His callsign will be DP1POL when he is
not working as a radio operator and electronics engineer at the base which is
located on the Ekstroem Shelf Ice, Atka Bay, at 70"39'S, 08"15'W. QSL to DL1ZBO.
FS French St. Martin. Look for Ann W2AZK #70464, Mike WA2VUN #12733 and others
to sign FS/home-call from December 4-11th. Website: http://www.njdxa.org .
HR Honduras. Gerard F2JD #63443, will be in Honduras from December 10 to March
3, 2003 and will operate as HR5/F2JD from 160-6 Mtr on SSB and CW. He will be
based at La Entrada de Copan, but he may also operate from some IOTA islands.
QSL to F6AJA.
J3 Grenada. Ann Santos WA1S #48144, operated as J38AA from November 12-22nd.
QSL to WA1S.
P40MR Aruba. Martin VE3MR #40238, will be active from now until April 2003.
QSL to VE3MR.
TI9 Cocos Island. Jose TI2JJP #45800, will be using the call TI9JJP from
December 10-25th.
TO2 Guadeloupe Island. Jack F6HMJ #52711, will be active as TO2FG from the
main island (IOTA NA-102), for a month starting December 15th and ending on
January 15th. He expects to operate on all HF bands. QSL to F6HMJ.
V31JP Belize. Joe K8JP #22977 will return to Belize November 20th through
April 2003. QSL to KA9WON. YI IRAQ. Peter ON6TT #51565, was able to operate as
YI1BGD #38353 from a club station in Bagdad. I wonder if anyone remembers that
YI1BGD has a 10-10 number! Peter recently operated from Afghanistan as YA5T.
ZL7C Chatham Island OC-038 took place from October 17-28th. About a dozen
operators with Reinhard DF4TD #21100, Murray ZL1CN #10048, and Ken Holdom
ZL4HU #37889 were the only 10-10 members.

Propagation: The peak of this Solar Cycle was 23 months ago and we are coming
to the end of what I call Phase II. Phase II occurs when we have the best
propagation with a flux above 125. During our Winter months, we have the best
DX here in the USA, until the Spring of 2003. My prediction is for the Solar
flux to range from 125-175 the next four to six months.
Cycle 23 is now 5 years old. The flux continues to stay moderate as this cycle
grows older but expect 2002 to be a better year than 2003. On December 8th,
the Solar flux was 151 the A index 15 and K index 2, which is much lower than
the flux numbers three months ago. Solar activity has been less frequent the
past month which means the average flux continues to fall. One year from now
in December 2003, I expect a Solar flux range of 100-130.
Expect the best conditions on December 3-5 & 30-31, 2003 January 1-2 & 27-29,
February 23-26, & March 22-24. USA stations, expect a 75% chance of DX to
Asia, Europe or Africa and a 50% chance into S. America in the mid-afternoon.
Expect a 3-5% chance of Long Path into Asia or Europe, starting at sundown for
central USA. The beacons from 28.175-28.300 will tell you what is open,
especially 28.200. Good luck.

IOTA: North America: ZF Cayman Islands NA-016. Pete N2LM #72434, was active as
ZF2PD until December 1st on CW/SSB. FS St Martin NA-105. Ann W2AZK #70464, &
Mike WA2VUN #12733 until December 11th. KL7 Alaska NA-037. Shemya Isl. by John
KL7JR #43374 on sundays 28.500 after 1600Z.
Oceania: V7 Marshall Islands OC-028. Bruce AC4G #49089, has been active as V73CW.
Europe: GU Guernsey. EU-114 Justin G4TSH #42972, used the call GU4TSH and MU5X
from the club station.

New DX members September to December 2002: 02654 VE3ZT was VE3BBH, 13728 KL7TF
was K1TF, 38920 VK2BW was VK3TI, 73415 YB2OBL, 73416 DL0KAC, 73417 DK0HHC,
73418 DK0DWK, 73419 DL7PP, 73420 DL1YC, 73421 DJ5OU, 73422 YB9AY, 73423
JE4BTE, 73437 KP4HLR, 73530 NH7CJ, 73570 AH6RE, and 73595 KH6NZ.

10-10 Bar Awards: Congratulations to Carl PY2DBU #8264 for his Bar 4900,
Evillo KH6DRT #33751 for Bar 2800, Fred VA7TEN #24752 for Bar 2600 and Alan
VE4ALN for Bar 2200.
Countries Award: There are 589 basic certificates issued; I processed three
basic certificates and seven upgrades this quarter. I can send a list of your
country credits by email or by regular mail with an SASE with one stamp.

Thanks to the on-line DX List, QRZ-DX, Lee KH6BZF #8888 & Ohio/Penn DX
Bulletins. Send photos to Mike Davidson, 3518 Bellefontaine, Houston, TX 77025
USA Email: N5MT@aol.com
DX IS! 73 Mike Davidson N5MT #24949

Copyright 2002 by N5MT