Ten X DX News March 7, 2003 I just finished working the last two states I needed to complete my WAS Mobile award. Thanks to Evillo KH6DRT/M #33751 from Hawaii and Lloyd KL7JGN/M #27834 from Alaska, for operating mobile. Now I have to collect all the QSL cards to submit for the award. The ARRL DX Contests are over and I am looking at my two logs to see what DX was worked. I noticed that the northern European countries were not worked/heard. I concluded that propagation into Europe and Asia has fallen to a lower level as a result of the decline in the Solar Flux which has yielded lower contest scores for many. A drop in the Solar Flux to a low of one hundred two has not been seen in four years. I hear complaints about the weaker DX signals on ten which has resulted in fewer contacts in the log. However, during the last year, six new 10-10 countries have been reported and logged. There are now 307 countries documented with 10-10 activity, a new record! There are about three dozen countries that remain unworked for a new 10-10 country. The second most wanted country, Ducie Island will again be active as I finalize this article! There are three 10-10 members: DK9KX Hans #21879 on CW, N6TQS Doug #72301 on RTTY, and VP6MW Miralda #50434 on CW/SSB. Miralda was confirmed to be the CW operator on 18 and 24 meters for the second Ducie trip. The ship Braveheart did leave Pitcairn on the 6th, for a two day trip to Ducie. QSL manager is JR2KDN. A short list of call signs worked this past quarter: Dem Rep Congo 9Q/9S1X by Pat #66013. Greece SW1W by Dimitris #68921. S.Africa ZS5NK by Gary #38361. Haiti HH2JR by Jean #27279. Japan JI1KXL by Aki #73405 and JI1IXW Sei #32978. Guatemala TG0AA by Dennis K7BV #5414. Mexico 6D2YFM by Mike K5NZ #64303. US Virgin Island. by Norm KP2/K8NI #54103 and Tony N2TK/NP2 #22425, was signing WP2Z. Puerto Rico by Nelson WP4KZN #70292. Ireland by Pat EI9HX #72414. Belarus by Nick EU6TV #73407. General 10-10 DX: 7P Lesotho. Andre ZS6WPX #73604, was active as 7P8ZZ in the 10 Meter contest in December. I gave Andre his new 10-10 number over the air when we worked. CE Chile. 3G5A by Ferdi XQ5SM #36136, we worked recently in a DX contest for a new prefix. EY Tajikistan. Look for Nodir EY8MM #52767, to be active in many DX contest. QSL via K1BV. 3C Equatorial Guinea. Vitaly VE6JO #35994, used the callsign 3C2MV. His DXpedition was approved for DXCC credit and this will increase the 10-10 country count to 308 when the QSL cards come out this month. Vitaly did a very nice job doing everything by himself. Any donation to help with QSL expenses is appreciated. HR Honduras. Gerard HR5/F2JD #63443, gave me a new prefix recently and leaves in March. Tom W0GLG #72295, was in Puerta Limpera from Feb. 14 and March 5. S9 Sao Tome. Charles S9SS #16955 (KY4P) is on ten SSB about 2230Z on 28377. QSL to N4JR. SV Greece. Dimitris SV1CIB #68921 gave me a new prefix when he used the call SW1W. QSL via SV1CIB. V2 Antigua. Doug W3CF/V26DX #55779, and a group of operators were active as V26DX from March 1-2 from the Royal Antiguan Hotel. QSL via KU9C. Bill W4WX #62600 may have operated as V25WX February 17-25th . V5 Namibia. Hubertus DJ1HN #25951, has been active as V51/DJ1HN in January. QSL to home call. VP5 Turks and Caicos Island. Chrissy KB9VAL and her father Gary VP5/K9SG #62951, used the station of Judy VP5JM #52729, from Jan. 31st until Feb. 3rd . Chet VP5/W6XK #27737 and Ron VP5/N6EE #10392, were active using CW, SSB and RTTY until January 7th. Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity: A7 Qatar. Roger W9ROG #67454, is in Qatar for three months and has applied for the call A71ROG. New one! VK9C & VK9X, Cocos-Keeling & Christmas Island. The YL's who operated VK9YL and ZK1XYL last year, namely Gwen VK3DYL, June VK4SJ #63451 and Elizabeth VE7YL #50488 (CW), will activate Cocos Keeling Island from October 12-25th, and Christmas Island October 26th through November 9th. HH4 Haiti. Jan Heise K4QD #13423, a radio team will be part of a humanitarian mission team traveling to Haiti. They will operate three stations at the Mission from March 10-21st. The 10-10 members are Jan K4QD #13423, Bob K9MDO #24292 and Bill W4WX #62600. Website address: http://www.geocities.com/n2wb2003/ . 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 engineer at the base on the Ekstroem Ice Shelf, Atka Bay. QSL to DL1ZBO. HV Vatican. Stefano IK0OER #62293 was active from the Vatican as HV5PUL last year. This call only transmits twice a year for a few days in May and November. The Vatican is a wanted country as it is not on the air often. Yugoslavia becomes Serbia-Montenegro: Yugoslavia's parliament has voted to abolish that nation and replace it with a new name. For DXCC purposes, it will be the same country and amateurs there are expected to continue using YU/YT prefixes. In three years, residents will vote to either stick together or go their separate ways. Propagation: The first peak of this Solar Cycle 23 was in April 2000 and the second peak was in November 2001 just over two years ago. In the USA, the winter months, give us the best DX period, until the spring. My six month prediction is for the Solar Flux to range from 95-150 for mid-2003. Phase II is ending because the flux has dropped below 125 and we have moved into Phase III with lower flux readings. This means fewer openings to Europe for the next few years until the cycle ends in 2006-2007. Cycle 23 is now 5 1/2 years old. The flux continues to stay moderate but last year was a better year than 2003 is expected to be. On March 1st, the Solar Flux was 125 the A index 18 and K index 3, which is lower than the flux was 3 months ago and the average flux continues to fall. One year from now, I expect a flux range of 85-125. Expect the best conditions on March 4-8, April 1-4, & 27-30, May 23-27 and June 19-23. USA stations, expect a 30% chance of DX to Asia, Europe or Africa and a 50% chance into S. America in the mid-afternoon. Expect a 2% chance of Long Path into Asia or Europe, 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: C6 Bahamas. NA-001. Ivars KC4PX #8549, was active as C6APX from Nassau, from February 8-15th. VP5 Turks and Caicos Island. NA-002. David K3LP #13394 and Jim WX3B #70445, were on North Caicos from Feb 12-19. ZF Cayman Islands. NA-016.Bruce K5PX #20946, used the call ZF2PX. 8P Barbados. NA-021. John K4BAI #45389, was active as 8P9HT in December. J3 Grenada. NA-024. Bill VE3EBN #24663, was active as J37LR between Jan. 31st and April 2nd. J7 Dominica. NA-101 Bob AA1M #17930, and Mike W1USN #51238, signing J75PL and J75RN from Jan. 21-28th. KP2 U.S. Virgin Islands. NA-106. John Walker WZ8D #48825, and Joe Pater W8GEX #41393, went to the Caribbean in January. V3 Belize. NA-180. Art Phillips, NN7A #39677, will operate as V31JZ/p from South Water Caye in January. S. America: PY0F Fernando De Noronha. SA-003. Bill W9VA #2706, was active as PY0ZFO from February 12- 18th. PJ2 Netherlands Antilles. SA-006. Bill W9VA 32706 and Jerry K9BG #5184, used the call PJ2T. P4 Aruba. SA-036. Alan K4AVQ #15889, was active as P40AV from January 4-18th. Oceania: KH6 HAWAII OC-019 Marty K2PLF #13123, is visiting Maui and will be active to March 14th. YB Indonesia. OC-021. Stan OK1JR #20103, was active as YE0X from Jawa Island. V6 Micronesia. OC-059. Bert WH7USA/V73GOD #72117, used the callsign V63USA from Kosrae from Feb. 15-23rd. He then traveled to the Marshall Isl. QSL: P.O. Box 1480, APO AP 96555, USA. Europe: MM0 Scotland. EU-005. Leo W3LEO #48035, will again be active as MM0LEO from Portpatrick from March 4th to April 3rd. Aran Island. EU-006. Declan EI9HQ #71019 was there Feb. 28th . MJ Jersey. EU-013. Pete K8PT #24099 will be in the Channel Island of Jersey again and will be operational from March 19-24th. OY Faroe Island. EU-018 Tom GM4FDM #31864, will be on March 24 to April 3rd with the call OY7TW along with Bill AK0A #13996 as OY7WB. Isle Of Poel Island. EU-098. Andy DL4OK #18412, was activate from a lighthouse for a few hours each day from Feb 14-18. Africa: VQ9 Chagos Island. AF-006. Larry WD0HSP #30784, is using the call VQ9LA on Diego Garcia, for the next year. CT3 Madeira Islands. AF-014. Hermann HB9CRV #72110, was here and also on the neighboring island of Porto Santo until February 12th. The 28555 DX Net on Sunday 1400utc will stop meeting April 20 until the DX season begins in late Sep. I will be speaking at the 10-10 Convention DX Forum in June where you will get the latest country info. QSL Help: http://files.billnjudy.com/ . New DX members Dec. 2002 to March 2003: 73600 DH8BM, 73601 DH1HF, 73602 VE4AHH, 73603 F6BDM, 73604 ZS6WPX, 73605 VE7RCF, 73606 VE4HST, 73607 ON6LY, 73608 VE6DDT, 73609 DL3OT, 73610 EI2JD, 73611 VK3DBQ, 73612 MD0BJM, 73655 VE7WGG, 73675 VE4ROG, 73699 WH6AQI, 73737 GB3RS, 73771 HB9DTE. 10-10 Bar Awards: Congratulations to Rawn VE5RMO #70608 for his 1000 Bar, Alfred DK4QO #69087 for his 1000 Bar, Alan VE4ALN #69127 for his 2300 & 2400 Bars, Club VE4WSC #50470 for 1000 thru 2100 Bars, and Nel LU5HE #10334 for his 7600 Bar. Countries Award: There are now 593 basic certificates issued, I processed 4 basic certificates and 23 upgrades this quarter. I can email a list of your country credits. 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 2003 by N5MT