Ten X DX News
December 2, 1999
Spratly Island 10-10 Country No. 292?
A DXpedition by Bob 9M6OO/N2OO
#12732 and a small group, operated from Spratly
for the first time to put on this new 10-10 Country
during November 1999.
Spratly was a new country for many. There
has been no ten meter activity from Spratly Island for
many years. Many worked them on several bands and
they are in my log both modes on ten. Bob N2OO and
his band of ops toured through the Far East into East
Malaysia as 9M6AAC #70718, Brunei as V85OO, and
Spratly as 9M6OO. During the CQWW-CW contest,
they operated as 9M6AAC from Hillview Gardens,
Sabah, East Malaysia. As I understand it, Hillview
Gardens is like a small hotel with cottages that can be
rented. Bob wanted this site to have a 10-10 number
so licensed visitors can operate as 9M6AAC. A web
page is at: www.qsl.net/n2oo. QSL to Bob Schenck,
PO Box 345, Tuckerton, NJ 08087-0345.
Will Eritrea E3, Pratas Island BV9P or
Spratly 9M6, be the next new 10-10 country? Official
submit of a QSL card to Russ N5EJS for one of these
unclaimed countries will determine the next new one.
TY Benin the avid RTTY operator Eddie
G0AZT #45814 recently operated as TY1RY in Benin
for a RTTY contest. Ed is a nice person, I called him
on 15 meters at 2255Z on RTTY and asked him to
move to ten meters. (Note: In October, sunset in
Benin was at 1730Z so this is over five hours past
sunset!) He agreed to move and behold, our signals
were 579 each way. This was a first for me as I had
only made about ten RTTY contacts and here was a
surprised Eddie talking to me from a new 10-10
country! The chase involved a lot of software
preparations to get RTTY working with my TS450.
The experience now gives me another tool to work DX
plus the excitement of a new country as I work
towards that ultimate paper-chasing DXCC award.
QSL direct ONLY to Eddie Schneider, PO Box 5194,
Richmond, CA 94805, USA.
FP0 St. Pierre and Miquelon using the non-
standard callsign TO0DX operating from this French
island off Canada. The two operators Henry KE1AC
#51241and non-member Tony LA9VDA, were using
this callsign until November 2. QSL to LA9VDA.
OJ0/K7BV Market Reef. My friend Dennis
K7BV #5414 was on this rare lighthouse island for
several days in September. His signal was weak but
we made the contact on the 19th on CW, which is his
preferred mode of operation, and he gave me a new
10-10 country with that contact! Dennis is one of
those people that grew up with code as a kid (40+
wpm) and he had no problem copying me. Dennis
lived here in Houston many years before he moved out
to Nevada and we know each others style on CW. I
was grateful for him to make this trip up to the Baltic
Sea between Finland and Sweden to give out many
first time contacts from Market Reef on ten meters.
He made a similar trip in May to OJ0 and OH0 Aland
Island making 13,000 contacts. His QSL manager is
KU9C #31988 Steve Wheatley , 12 Netherton Terrace,
Morristown, NJ 07960.
3B8, Mauritius. Jacques, F6HMJ #52711,
has been active as 3B8/F6HMJ from November 15th
through December 5th. He has been on 28025 at
1430Z and 28506 at 1515Z.
HP Panama. To commemoration the transfer
of the Panama Canal, look for Camilo HP1AC #10107
as 3F1AC to be QRV until January 5, 2000.
3A Monaco. Gyuri #51584 has been
operating as 3A/HA5JI on ten CW in late November.
7Q7 Malawi by Edwin ZS5BBO #69603 will
be traveling in Malawi with a radio during December.
The 10-10 DX Net on 28.555 is on Sunday at
1400Z. N5MT is Net Control in Texas and there is a
need for an US East Coast station to help out with
check-ins from Europe.
The highest solar flux in November was on the
10th at 249 and the low for the month was 163 on the
30th. Since the flux has been above 150 since October
8th, we have entered into what I call Phase Two of this
Cycle 23. In this phase even the QRP rigs with a poor
trunk lid antenna can make a contact. So what has
happened to all the fuss about poor condition of Cycle
23, this new phase will keep things ionized enough to
make daytime skip a very nice experience. The best
DX months for the USA are November to February.
I predicted October 1st we would be hearing Europe
and we have heard them everyday since October 8th!
New DX Members.
3V8BB #70613 Tunisia. This club station
continues to be active in contest by guest operators
who do not know anything about 10-10. It is unknown
if the trustee Mr. Lotfi has ever been told about the 10-
10 membership. Non-member YT1AD was the
operator and is the QSL manager for both CQWW
contest but no 10-10. Any help is appreciated!
Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:
Beginning on January 13, 2000 to February 6th
as XZ0A from Thatay Khun Island, off the southern
most tip of the Union of Myanmar. There will be a
big group of operators so you must find the following:
KM5EP Sally #65064 ; N5IA Milt #8469; KD6XH
Clifford #4427; K7ZV Rich #8840; NA7DB Dan
Brown #21616; XE1L Luis Chartarifsky #18056.
Web: http://getnet.com/~k7wx/myanmar.htm .
FR5/G, Glorioso Island. Larry F5PYI
#54226 and several others, will be active in August
2000. Note: Glorioso will be a new 10-10 country!
3W6DK Vietnam. Mike N0ODK #67566
operated November 16-29 from Ho Chi Minh city but
only on 20 meter SSB. I talked with Mike by Email
before the trip and he did not know if he would be
allowed to operate on ten meters.
V6, Micronesia. Shoji JA7HMZ #30900 was
on Pohnpei Island Sept. 27th - Oct. 3rd as V63DX.
V3 Belize. Joe, K8JP #22977, is active as
V31JP until April 1, 2000, mostly CW, with some
SSB and RTTY. QSL via KA9WON.
EA Spain: "Just a note to let you know that
Heidi EA6/DH3KAT #70302 and Hans
EA6/DL1KBQ #70303, were active on 10m. I worked
them around 1700Z, they were new 10-10 stations for
me and they worked several US stations on 28.425."
73 from Mike G4BLH #18446.
Propagation: Solar flux will range from 135-
255 during the first quarter of 2000. On December 1st,
the Solar flux was 163 the A index 7 and K index 0,
which is the exact same flux number as last quarter.
There will be a 120 point swing in the flux numbers
during the next three months as the seasons change
and the first phase of Cycle 23 is just about complete.
It takes 4.5 years for the cycle to go up and 6.6 years
to come down for a total of 11.1 years. Cycle 23 is
now 24 months old, the flux continues to climb
upwards and I believe we have entered into what I call
Phase 2 of this cycle. Phase 2 is where you have the
best propagation for three years, except for the
summer months when things get soft.
The short term: the Solar flux should reach 230 by
Dec.9, then drop to 160 around Dec. 27, and back up
to 250 in January. Christmas holidays could be bad for
HF due to geomagnetic disturbances caused by
coronal hole effects. Expect the best conditions on
Dec. 9-11, Jan. 5-7, Feb. 1-3 & 28-29, March 28-30!
For stations in the Eastern USA, expect a 90% chance
of DX to the East-West path into Europe or Africa.
For stations in the Western USA, expect 75% chance
of DX into Europe and a 90% chance into Asia. All of
the USA will get a 70% chance into S.America in the
mid afternoon. Long haul F Layer skip continues to be
the dominant mode of skip. Expect a 2% chance of
Long Path into Asia. The beacons (28.175-28.300)
will tell you what is open, especially 28.200.
IOTA: 8P Barbados. Dean, 8P6SH #45815,
will be active as 8P2K for the all major contests, until
December 31st. Nov 19-21 Marsh Island (NA-120)
Max K5PP #11849, Buzz N5UR #9466, Mike
W5ZPA #17249 and Randy WX5L #45611, were
active as K5PP/P. Misc: As of October 1,1999 there
are 332 DX "entities", the last one added was E4
Palestine, October 1999.
New DX members this Fall. WH6CZU
70516, HS1NGR 70579, 9M6AAC 70718, DH3RM
70792, KH7LA 70852, KP4GSC 70872 these were
missed as they were assigned by Gerry WA6POZ.
Sept.: VK2NNN 70817, DK6RF 70818, DF5ZV (YL)
70819. Oct.: RM6MD 70820, TJ1PD 70821, 8P6FH
70822 and VE7ZTS 70823. Nov.: G0KYA 70824,
GW0IWD 71000, VE2ACP 71001, VE7HCB 71002,
JH3EQP 71003, ON6AA 71004, DH2IW 71005,
F5NFG 71006 and VE1SOB 71007. DX members
data is from Carol K8DHK #29588.
10-10 Countries Award: 125 Countries: Russ
N5EJS #01525 Cert.# 16; and 65 Countries: Cliff
WB4FBS #48461 Cert.# 110.
10-10 Bar Awards: Evillo KH6DRT #33751
for 2500 Bar #390; Janis VE7AAP #50407 for 1700
Bar #619; Garry VE7ACM #30939 for 2000 Bar
#520; Henry DL8YBM #36109 for 3900 Bar #144.
Thanks too: 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
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