TenX DX March 2011 by Mike N5MT

[N5MT]

TenX DX News March 15, 2011
Mike Davidson N5MT, #24949

On March 8th, the solar flux index was 153, a record for Cycle 24. The index will be 120 by the weekend. The last time the index was this high was back in mid-July of 2004.

The four new PJ entities: St. Eustatius and Saba (PJ5), St. Maarten (PJ7), Curacao (PJ2) and Bonaire (PJ4) are now accepted as new DXCC entities by the ARRL DXCC and 1010. DXCC credits started being posted on LoTW about March 5th. All of the new countries have been worked with 10-10 members. So the 10-10 country count has increase by four and the count of worked 10-10 countries increased to 319. Twenty-nine Countries remaining to be worked for a new 10-10 entity.

The DXpedition to South Orkney VP8ORK was a great success. Posted online logs are not showing all the Q’s but this may be the next New 10-10 Country as only 1161 contacts were made on Ten out of 63643 total!

Countries Award: There were no applications this past quarter. Please copy QSL cards instead of sending the originals to save postage.
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General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

3B9 Rodriguez Island. Jacques F6HMJ #52711, was active from January 11-20th as 3B9/F6HMJ. Activity was on all bands using SSB, CW and RTTY.
4S7 Sri Lanka. Mats SM6LRR #34451, was on briefly as 4S7LGR from Sri Lanka in early February.
5R8 Madagascar. Paolo IK2QPR #63455, was active as 5R8PR from Nosy Be between January 17-25th. Activity was SSB, CW and RTTY.
8P Barbados. Tony N3ME #14478, and son Bernie W3UR #25731, were on holiday from Cave Bay, Barbados. Tony used call sign 8P9ME from January 26th - February 14th and Bernie was there from January 26th - February 2nd as 8P9UR on SSB, CW and RTTY. The radio was an Elecraft K3 and amp to vertical mounted at the ocean. QSL via home calls and LoTW.
A6 United Arab Emirates. Gerry, VE6LB #24329, operated as A6/VE6LB from Dubai from January 12th to February 9th. He operated CW and digital, running 100 watts into a G5RV. QSL LoTW.
C6 Bahamas. Randy W6SJ #73541, was active on CW as C6AWS from Grand Bahama Island, until February 9.
CR3/CT9 Madeira Islands. Falk DK7YY #23467, used call CR3L from Madeira Island from February 19-20th in the DX CW Contest. Web: http://www.cr3l.de .
CY0 Sable Island. Randy N0TG/CY0 #12990, and friends arrived on Sable Island. The dates for the third attempt to get on the island were March 5-14th website at: www.cy0dxpedition.com . The team will fly out of Halifax, Canada as weather permits.
E5 South Cook Islands. Nigel E51SC/G4KIU #36106, is permanently back on Rarotonga, South Cook Islands. He is active on 80 - 10 meters on SSB, RTTY and PSK-31. Web site at: http://www.qrz.com/db/E51SC . EA8 Canary Islands. Andrea EA8/IK1PMR #62272, operated from the Canary Islands from January 20th to March 8th. No 10 meter activity reported.
HQ Honduras. Dale N3BNA/HQ5A #32100, had a heart attack while in Honduras on February 14th. After a hospital stay, he returned to operate HQ5A in the ARRL DX Contest. Dale is better but lots of things went wrong on what was suppose to be an easy trip. LoTW.
J3 Grenada. Bill K4LTA #14696, and his partner Ruby K4UPS, were on from Grenada between February 9th and March 10th. Bill entered the ARRL DX Contest as J38A and outside the contest using his J37BO call.
JT Mongolia. Ken K4ZW #18573, was active as JT5DX from January 24th to February 2nd.
KG4 Guantanamo. Bill W4WV/KG4WV #26180, and Stuart K4MIL/KG4SS #66937, were in Gitmo from February 22nd to March 8th. Bill operated from the Lighthouse as KG4WV and as KG4AN in the ARRL DX SSB Contest. Bill helped with VEC testing at Gitmo resulting in two upgrades and a new ham to help increase the activity from Club Gitmo!
KH6 Hawaii. Curt AH6RE #73570, Jim W6SC #8910 and friends, operated KH6LC during the ARRL DX CW contest February 19-20th.
KH9 Wake Island. Bruce AC4G/KH9 #49089, will be working on Wake Island and will try to get on the air.
P4 Aruba. Tim WD9DZV #25818, was active as P40D from Aruba between March 8-13th.
S9 Sao Tome. Rene DL2JRM #69623 and friends, were active as S9DX from Sao Tome from February
4-17th. Website: http://s9dx.hkmann.de .
T30 W. Kiribati. Bill N7OU/T32OU #69318 was on Western Kiribati from February 8-22nd.
T8 Palau. Tack JE1RXJ #39968, was active as T88RX from Palau on January 21-26th on all bands.
TI Costa Rica. Kam N3KS #11541, was active with a group in the ARRL CW DX Contest using the call TI5A.
TG Guatemala. David N6HD #13064, from February 15th - March 7th using call TG7/N6HD in Guatemala.
TJ Cameroon. Jean Paul F8BJI #71704, Gerard F2JD #63443 and many friends were on from Cameroon February 10-20th with call TJ9PF.
V2 Antigua. Bob W4OWY/V25WY #21678 and Mark W9OP/V25OP #12879, are active now from Antigua from March 8-18th. QSL to LOTW and eQSL.
V3 Belize. Will AA4NC #15774, went to Belize where was on as V31RR from February 16- 23rd. LoTW.
VP8 S. Orkney Islands. NEW 10-10 Country! A successful DXpedition to the South Orkney Islands has completed. They operated from January 27th to February 8, 2011. Operators were Nodir EY8MM #52767, Ralph K9ZO #6142, Ralph K0IR #2609, Doug N1DG #27629, George N4GRN #73941, John VE3EJ #5757, and Lewis W7EW #34378. Web site info at: http://www.vp8o.com .

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

3D2 Figi. Sebastien F8IJV #64604, will be in Fiji in October 2011 with call 3D2JV. He will operate from his friend’s place 3D2AG #72719 and will operate the CQ WW SSB using an FT-450 and Spiderbeam antenna and verticals. He expects to be on SSB, with FM on 10, and digital. LoTW. http://www.nookhill.com/n1dgvp8.html .
7P Lesotho. Frosty K5LBU #51322 and Wayne W5KDJ, are going back to Lesotho from March 11-21st. Frosty’s call sign will be 7P8CF. They will have two stations for an all band SSB, CW, RTTY and PSK effort. QSL LoTW. http://www.tdxs.net/lesotho2011.html .
8P Barbados. Paul W5PF #5921, Bill K5WAF #73432, Cal WF5W and Bob WB5IUU will operate from March 24th to April 3rd. SSB, CW and RTTY using 200 watt from a TS-480HXs, the antennas a Hex beam.
DX0 Spratly Island. The DXpedition planned for January is now set for April 2012. Dave AH6FY #33750, Gerard F2JD #63443, George N6NKT #44637, Paul N6PSE #68859 and Doug N6TQS #72301. Web site: www.DX0DX.net.
HI Dominican Republic. John HI3/KL7JR #43374 is active on Hispaniola Island until June.
HR Honduras. Gerard F2JD #63443, is leaving the Philippines and is going to Honduras. He will sign HR5/F2JD on SSB & CW on all bands from mid March to mid May. QSL via F6AJA, direct or via bureau.
PJ2 Curacao. Mike PJ2/W5ZPA #17249 and friends, are active from Signal Point Station on Curacao between March 10-17th. Activity will be on all bands and modes.
http://www.deltadx.net/Activities/PJ2/PJ2-DDXA.htm.
PJ2 Curacao. Hawa DK9KX #21879 and friends, will operate from Curacao between June 26th and July 7th. They will be on 6-80 meters on SSB, CW and RTTY.
PJ2 Curacao. These YLs will be active as PJ2/NA6YL. Gayle K6GO #62009, Ellen N6UWW #60918, Michelle W5NYV #74808, Cathy K6VC #71390 and others, will be on from March 18-21st. Web: http://yldxpeditions.com/.
PJ6 Saba & ST. Eustatius. Don N4HH #3651 was active from Saba Island February 6th for ten days on SSB.
S2 Bangladesh. Paul N6PSE #68859, KL2A and K3LP will be going to Bangladesh in March 2011.
ST0 Southern Sudan. The DXCC addition of the country of Southern Sudan may take place July 9, 2011. A group of DX’ers will be in country ready to operate if new country status is granted to the old ST0 prefix. Look for Paul N6PSE #68859, Dave AH6HY #33750 and Flo F5CWU #71812, will be there for a few weeks.
T31A Central Kiribati. The team includes: Jim K6ZH #40118, Arnie N6HC #29959, Bud N7CW #10375. They will be on Kanton Island from April 17th to the 29th.
T32 Christmas Island. A DXpedition to the Kiribati Islands with 30 operators from September 17 to October 25th. Falk DK7YY #23467, Arnold N6HC #29959, Justin G4TSH #42972 and Gerard F2JD #63443.
V3 Belize. Jim WB2REM/V31MM #48365, Paul W4PGM/V31PM #75574, and Glenn KD2JA, will be in Placentia, Belize from March 23-30, 2011.
V4 St. Kitts & Nevis. Halford V4/K5MV #9233, will be on St. Kitts from March 10-17th. LoTW.
VK9 Cocos Keeling. Tim NL8F #32796, will travel to Cocos Keeling and operate from March 19-29th with call VK9CF using a IC-7000 plus an amp feeding verticals.
VP2M Montserrat. Ed WA1ZAM #25435, was on Montserrat from March 1-8th. Call sign unknown.
VP5 Turks & Caicos. Dave VP5/W5CW #6506, will be on from the Turks & Caicos March 23 to April 20th. In contest he will be VQ51V on SSB & CW.
VU Andamans. A rare DXpedition to the Andamans will be March 15-31st. Look for Suhas VU2SMN #47460 as the only 10-10 member of the seventeen operators. http://www.arsi.info/VU4PB .
W5 USA. Dave AH6HY #33750 and AB5EB, will be on Chandeleur Island in Louisiana from April 16-17th.

Miscellaneous Items & Notes:
QSL Routes: http://www.dailydx.com/routes.html .
Propagation forecast: http://www.solen.info/solar/ .
Postage and IRCs: http://www.qsl.net/w9ol/ircchart.txt .
QSL help: http://files.billnjudy.com/ .
DX Calendar: http://www.dxwatch.com/ .
More propagation: http://dx.qsl.net/propagation/ .

Propagation: Propagation continues to improve and we have seen more active sun spots in March. Expect the daily solar flux to range from 99-155 the next quarter as solar cycle 24 continues to grow.
On March 12th the solar flux was 123. The A index was 25 and K index 2 with storms expected. Expect the best conditions on March 7-10th, April 3-5th, May 1-4th, and May 28-31st. Over the next four months, for USA stations, expect a 35% chance of DX in the mornings to Europe or Africa and a 60% chance into South America or the Pacific in the afternoon. To tell what DX paths are open, listen for the beacons from 28.175-28.300 (especially 28.200).

New DX members’ Dec to February 2011:
Dec: none; Jan: 75853 VE3UKO; Feb: 75855 9W2ESM.

Thanks to the QRZ-DX, DXNL, The Daily DX by W3UR #25731, Lee KH6BZF #8888 & Ohio/Penn DX Bulletins. Info to Mike Davidson, 3518 Bellefontaine, Houston, TX 77025 USA Email: N5MT@aol.com

DX IS! 73 Mike Davidson N5MT #24949
Copyright © 2011 by N5MT