Ten X DX News
Dec. 16, 1995
Several New 10-10 countries were on the air over the past
four months, a major DXpedition to Heard Island was
postponed, everyone is waiting on P5 North Korea, and
the Ten Meter Contest was not fun due to conditions.
The Ten Meter Contest has just ended as I begin to write
this article and poor propagation reduced everyone's score!
I made 221 contacts and 69 multipliers for my mixed mode
efforts with a Solar Flux = 73 with A = 1 and K = 0. I did
not hear any Europe or Asian stations all weekend. As I
mentioned last time, it is going to take at least a year
before the new Solar Cycle 23 really begins to improve
conditions before we see the solar flux up above 100. The
NOAA agency predicts the start of Cycle 23 in May 96.
The 555DX net at 1400Z Sunday mornings has had poor
conditions, the band has been opening about 1600Z with
only a few stations checking in each week. The 555DX
net will close operations in late February as the DX season
closes for the US and it will reopen the fall of 1996. I
continue to work stateside short skip looking for new
counties while finding only one DX opening to the east the
past four months when I worked a few Europeans during
the CQWW contest! We continue to hear south skip into
Central & S.America with regularity. Stations in S.
Africa have had better luck with Europe but the signals
have been weak. I expect the number of sun spots to
increase in late 1996 when the winter DX season opens for
the US. The Maximum Usable Frequency (MUF) will go
up and possibly create openings into Europe/Asia from the
US. Conditions will improve so keep working the short
skip looking for 10-10 numbers, certificates and counties.
There has been no news from P5 North Korea as no one
has announced plans to operate from P5 in 1996 as yet. A
North Korean delegation was in China recently attending
a radio convention to gain more experience with Amateur
radio before they allow a full scale DXpedition from P5.
I am sure the Finish operators who made the first contacts
from P5 will be back again when the political climate is
OK. Good luck to all, wait and be patient!
Feature DX Station & New 10-10 Country:
3V8BB Tunisia Club Station by DL8OBC Felix #55519
and two Rhein Ruhr DX Assoc. members DJ7IK Andy and
DL2OBF Hein, have returned to Germany after the 3V8BB
operations 22-29 November. They logged about 7500
QSOs, 5000 of which during the CQWW CW Contest.
The QSLs will be automatically sent by the end of March
via the bureau to all stations in their log. QSL direct to
DL2OBF Heinrich Langkopf, Ritterstrasse 42, D-31174
Schellerten, Germany. (Ed: I need to verify someone
swapped numbers with Felix on ten meters, thanks!)
Ten Meter Contest Stations Heard:
WP4LNY Puerto Rico by Julio #64747. I talked with
Julio the week after the contest and he only worked 4
states! He still needs Montana for WAS so look for him
on 28370 at 16-1700Z. VP2VF British Virgin Isl. by
Derek #28450 on his usual frequency of 28450 at 1500Z.
V51BG Namibia by Karl #25980 just giving out a few
contacts. ZS6SA S.Africa by Don #61566 with a very
weak signal and ZS6NB Ken #63494 on 28425 with the
Spring Bok group. (ZD7CRC St.Helena by Charles
#63447 sometimes shows up on 28425 occasionally.)
CQWW Contest Stations Heard:
6D2X Mexico by Quin #11737. 8P9Z Barbados by
K4BAI John #45389. HC8N Galapagos Isl. by
WN4KKN Trey #26780. P40W Aruba by W2GD John
#14109. V47NX St. Kitts by N0BSH Mike #29804.
VP2EFO Anguilla by K8MFO Don #10615. ZL7PYD
New Zealand by K8PYD #44582.
Congratulations to 3A/I1YRL Luc #58966 who has had
his Monaco documentation accepted for DXCC. Luc had
plans for several trips to Monaco in 1995 and he likes to
operate ten meters. I need confirmation that he swapped
numbers on ten so I can add Monaco to the list of
confirmed 10-10 countries. QSL: Glarey Luc, Via
S.Martino 11, 10091 Alpignano, Torino, Italy.
Upcoming Dxpeditions & New Activity:
VU7 Andaman Isl. - Jim Smith, VK9NS #47404, hopes
to return to the Andaman Islands during February 1996.
This will be a New 10-10 country if Jim operates ten.
Gerard, F2JD #63443, was active as S79JD, left the
Seychelles in December. Due to a change of plans, his
trip to Kenya was cancelled but his trip to 5R Malagasy is
still expected to begin in January 1996. He will be
working in Malagasy for several months operating all
bands. New 10-10 Country pending.
LIBYA 5A. Reports indicate LZ1WR Ted #51524 will be
here in March 1996. He hopes to operate from 5A1A, (get
his 10-10 number as 5A1A is not a member) possibly with
his non-member daughter, LZ1HH. He plans to build
monobanders for the usual DX bands and possibly improve
the low band antennas. New 10-10 Country pending.
RWANDA 9X. Mark, ON4WW # 49103, who was signing
9X/ON4WW has received his new callsign and is now
signing 9X4WW. New 10-10 Country pending.
4U1UN United Nations NY #55555. If you can't receive
the QSLs of this station from W8CZN, try sending to
AA2FN (Carmelo Marrero Jr., 447 Leland Ave., Bronx,
NY 10473, USA) or WB8LFO (Jerry Kurucz, 5338
Edgewood Drive, Lorain, OH 44053, USA.).
KH9 - The Dateline DX Association announces a Wake
Island DXpedition from 24-31 January 1996. The
operators will be WB2DND Don #27629, with non-
members AL7EL, KC7V and K4HQI. No call was
announced to avoid pirates. All HF bands, WARC
included, in SSB/CW/RTTY, and also 6 meters and
satellite. QSL via AL7EL, Tom Harrell, 27257 Nellis Rd,
Evans Mills, NY 13637, U.S.A.
VK0 Heard Isl. by a select group of ops was organized by
WA4JQS Tony #3621 for a DXpedition to this rare island.
Their original plans were to arrive in November 1995.
Several team members went to Australia to evaluate the
chartered vessel but found that they were mislead about the
ship as it would not have made the trip safely! All the
equipment had been sent to Australia and was waiting to
go. The advanced group then tried to find a replacement
ship but nothing was available until late 1996. They tried
to get their money back from the ship captain but he had
already spent it and would not give back many thousands
of dollars! So K0RI Ralph #2609 and others, returned to
the US and announced the Heard Island DXpedition group
is re-organizing for a trip in late 1996. (Ed: If conditions
improve, we could hear them on ten!).
NN7A Art #39677 used these calls: V31JZ Belize,
VK3FBM Australia, and UA9F/NN7A Asiatic Russia.
QSL to Art Phillips, POBox 201, Flagstaff AZ 86002.
KD7P Bob #26991 is closing out many of his NH4, NH5,
NH6, NH7, 5W1GB and other logs. Send to Bob Winters,
314 A Bedrock Dr., Everett WA. 98203.
KH2 Guam by Ray WH6ASW #65818 will be working
as a teacher on Guam for the next two years and will use
the call WH6ASW/KH2. QSL to G3EZZ.
Christmas Isl. by VK9XRS Bob Shapiro ND3A #32116
made 560 QSOs and the cards will be out soon. QSL CB.
VP2V/WB8ZTY British Virgin Isl. by Jay #16127 on his
Honeymoon 1-12 January. Do not expect much radio, hi.
ZS8MI Marion Isl. sources say that an HF licensed
amateur is expected on the island in March 1996. This
isolated weather station has had no amateur activity in 95.
BS7H Scarborough Reef by KJ4VH Tim #41856 put on
a DXpedition with five other operators from what could be
another new country if the ARRL votes for approval. The
DXCC Advisory Committee voted NO for DXCC status
since the reef is just a big rock in the South China Sea but
the ARRL Awards Committee could vote YES for
approval. (Ed: A big hammer could remove the reef from
existence!) They made 12,000 contacts in April but I have
no reports of any 10-10 activity. New 10-10 country?
NEW 1996 ARRL AWARDS COSTS: Effective 1
January 1996, the fees for awards will increase. DXCC
$10 for the first certificate and $5 for the endorsements.
QSL check at Conventions or in ARRL offices $2 with a
limit of 120 QSLs for each application. Many changes are
listed in QST so check for more details before you send!
Propagation: Solar flux will range from 68-89 in the
Winter 95 / Spring 96. As I write this, the Solar flux is 70,
the A index 22 and K index 1, about the same as last
quarter. Expect flux dips to 65, high A indexes greater
than 20 and the K index greater than 4, will occur 25% of
the time. For stations in the US, expect a 4% chance of
DX propagation to be East-West paths into Europe, Asia
and Africa. For stations in S.America, expect a 20%
chance of DX skip into Europe and Asia. Expect sporadic
E Layer conditions to be 1-2 hop skip from 400 to 1600
miles with fading. Remember to listen for the beacons
(28.2-28.3) when you want to check band conditions. If
you are looking for the "Daily Solar Radio Noise flux" and
you have access to WWW, a lot of good information is
available at: http://www.drao.nrc.ca/web/solar.shtml .
Letters & Cards Received:
DL7IO Germany by Holger #22401 and DL7IQ Birgit
#62276 are getting ready for their first baby due just about
mid December 1995. They recently changed their
callsigns as Holger was DL7VTM & Y58IO and Birgit
was DL7VTZ. Their address: Holger Hannemann,
Rudolf-Seiffert-Str. 589, 10369 Berlin, Germany.
You can obtain QSL information via Email by sending
a message to qsl-info@aug3.augsburg.edu. In the
message just type the callsign of interest, nothing else, and
return. ONE call per line, but certainly you can list several
calls. This service is by WQ5L Ray Rocker #42108.
Thanks to : Russ Gauthier #1525 (N5EJS@linknet.net) for
his assistance; to everyone for the letters and photos that
you have been sending; to the on-line DX Reflector, QRZ-
DX & Ohio/Penn DX Bulletins. Send photos to Mike
Davidson, 3518 Bellefontaine, Houston, TX 77025 USA
or Email to Mdavidson@infosvcs.tmh.tmc.edu or
KC5CP@aol.com.
Good DX & 73. ... Mike Davidson KC5CP #24949
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