TenX DX Sept 2009 by Mike N5MT

[N5MT]

TenX DX News Sept. 10, 2009
Mike Davidson N5MT, #24949

A DXpedition to Yemen nine years ago using call sign 7O1YGF, had documentation problems until this summer when the ARRL DXCC finally approved credit. The logs of 7O1YGF were uploaded by Franz DK1II, to LoTW on August 19th. There were 32,500 QSOs and 6,000 QSL matches, says Bill Moore at ARRL DXCC. The nine year old operation was keeping many from DXCC credit for this rare country. There was one 10-10 member in the 7O1YGF group, so 10-10 credit will be given if you swapped a number with that 10-10 member. In June 1990, a group using call 7O1AA got 10-10 credit for Yemen.

This summer was not a turning point for Solar Cycle 24 as the band has been mostly closed. Many members look forward to the fall DX season when we have a contest almost every weekend. As the sun continues to produce few sun spots, the Solar Flux has remained flat, with poor propagation and only allowing us to work a few stateside openings like August 2nd in the Summer QSO Party.
The May-June period showed us a slight increase in the number of days with band openings even though the number of sun spots remains almost zero. In June, we started to get more solar activity and this helped bring out some good scores for Field Day. Several small openings into Europe from the US have helped bring people back to the band to work some weak DX even with the low solar flux numbers. But these conditions have not appeared in July and August. So all kind of comments are coming from experts about what they think about the low sun spot activity, Solar Cycle 24, and declining gauss levels of sun spots. Will sun spots disappear in future years?
Solar physics is a new science and we have heard the predictions over the past two years. I see no reason to give up on sun spots in the long term since they have been counted for over 150 years. But, if the Sun does not start Cycle 24 by September 2010, then we are watching the Sun make history at the expense of poor propagation!
A solar flux of 85 is needed for the USA to hear Europe on a regular basis. The ARRL Ten Meter contest is the second weekend of December 12-13th — so Good Luck.

SK -Harry UA6JW #42059, died suddenly from a brain hemorrhage in August. His brother Vlad, UA6JD, says, "His DX saga stopped at 367 countries." RIP.

Countries Award: The number of basic certificates issued remains at 622. I had no Basic certificates and no upgrades this past quarter. Please, copy your QSL cards instead of sending the originals to save postage and read the website before you send an application. Email any questions to me at N5MT@aol.com.
______________________________________________

General 10-10 DX reported in the past quarter:

3B8 Mauritius. Luc I3LDP #45838, was active from here from June 29th to July 11th. Activity was on the HF bands using SSB and CW with his Icom IC-7000 running into a 10-40 meter vertical.
3D Swaziland. Doc WB6OJB #70675, was using call sign 3DA0JK in Swaziland from September 3-8th. He tries 10 Meters first but last year he made 3 QSO's on 10 Meters. He will operate on 10 to 40 all on SSB.
7P Lesotho. Frosty K5LBU/7P8CF #51322 and four friends were active until August 13th .
C6 Bahamas. The team was Ed K3IXD #8566, Dallas W3PP #37430, James K4QO #74374 and Peter W2GJ using call sign C6APR and C6AXD on RTTY.
CT3 - Madeira Island. Hans DL3ZH/CT9 #57710 and friends were active on Madeira from July 10-15th.
FJ St. Barthelemy. Gary W2VQ #73708 and his son Paul, WQ2N #74295, were to be active as FJ/W2VQ and FJ/WQ2N from St. Barthelemy from August 18-25th.
They should have operated SSB, CW, RTTY and PSK31, into a YP-3 beam running 100 watts.
FP St. Pierre & Miquelon. Peg KB9LIE/FP #69937 was active from Miquelon from July 10-18th. Web site: http://hamradio.pnpfarms.com .
HK0 San Andres Island. Dennis K7BV #5414 was at the same place he was last year from June 18-29th with call 5J0BV. Web site: http://www.qth.com/k7bv/caribe2009 .
J6, St. Lucia. Howard WB4WXE #7010,was active as J6/WB4WXE until July 20th. He was spotted operating from a high site. QSL via his home call sign.
JD Ogasawara. Tack JE1RXJ/JD1BNE #39968 was active until August 9th all modes and bands.
KH2 - Guam. Dennis K7BV/KH2 #5414 and George K6SV/KH2 were active from Guam on August 25-28th. They worked SSB and CW on all HF bands from a rental QTH. QSL via K6HRO.
OH0 Aland Islands. Marq CT1BWW #64689, was active as OH0/CT1BWW from Aland Island from July 26th to August 6th but no propagation on Ten meters.
Web site: http://www.geocities.com/oh0ct1bww .
TK Corsica Island. Lee F5MUX #42039, was using the call sign TK5UX from Corsica mostly on CW but also on RTTY from July 12-26th. Lee has only 100 watts into a vertical. Web site: http://www.f5mux.com.
V3 Belize. Terry W6WTG #49407 and Sharon N2OWL, were on from Caye Caulker from July 22-29th. Call sign V31UR. Web site: http://www.w6wtg.com .
VE1/VY2 Canada. Gregg VE3ZZ #38480 and friend Noel VE2BR used call sign VY2TT from Prince Edward Island from July 15-27th. Butch N8CHS/VE1 #61076, and friends on Big Tancook Island, July 23-26th.
VP2M Montserrat Island. John KB4CRT #41841, was active as VP2MRT from Montserrat on June 11-21st.

Upcoming DX & New 10-10 Activity:

3D2 Conway Reef. Uwe DJ9HX #22877, has joined the October 1-10th DXpedition to Conway Reef . They will be running four stations simultaneously, using call sign 3D20CR, to mark the 20th anniversary of the first DX operation by 3D2CR in 1989. Web site at: http://www.conwayreef2009 .
5W, A3, ZL, E5 & 9V: Pacific DXpedition. Andrea IK1PMR #62272, and six friends, will be on 5W Samoa from November 11- 18th . They will move to A3 Tonga on Nov 19 to December 2nd. Then to ZL New Zealand for three days. Then to E5 South Cook from Dec 5- 13th and finally 9V Singapore from Dec 13- 17th. No call signs as yet. Expect SSB, CW and digital. Web site at:
http://www.ik1pmr.com/plans/a3/index.php?s=intro .
6W Senegal. Sebastien F8IJV #64604, will be on his honeymoon in Senegal from October 15-30th. He will be in the CQ WW SSB Contest as 6V7Q and he could be on SSB when not in the contest.
7Q Malawi. Ely IN3VZE #31856, will use call sign 7Q7CE from October 3rd for two weeks. Plans only SSB and to focus on working RTTY to the USA.
DU Philippines. Gerard F2JD #63443, will stay in the Philippines from June thru October and he hopes to get his DU1/G0SHN licence extended. QSLs to F6AJA.
FP St. Pierre and Miquelon Islands. Tom W8TOM #74496 and EricKV1J #31247, are planning to return to St.Pierre and Miquelon in October. They will be active from Miquelon Island as FP/W8TOM from October 20th to 27th and they will have an amplifier to help the signal. They plan to use SSB, CW, RTTY and PSK. Web page at http://www.kv1j.com/fp/october09.html . Using LoTW.
J6 St. Lucia. Bill WB5ZAM #17086 will be using call sign J68WI from September 28th to October 12th. He will operate SSB and CW. QSL via home call.
KH4 Midway. The K4M Midway Island DXpedition is expected to happen October 9-19th. Look for Art WA7NB #74754, Don N1DG #27629, Paul N4PN #74476, Joe W8GEX #41393, and Arnie N6HC #29959. Web site: http://www.midway2009.com . This is a RARE country since there are now restrictions on operating from the island.
LZ Bulgaria. Gosho LZ1ZF #38328, will participate with a special call sign LZ09BR and others during 2009. Web site: http://www.mustafakemalpasatrac.org/ .
OY Faroe Island. A report that Johan OY2J #58972, is once again active after being off the air for many years. He has retired from his job and has found time to set up his radio station again. He has been on CW and SSB.
PJ5 St Maarten & Eustatius. David AH6HY #33750, is going to holiday on the island as PJ5/AH6HY from September 26th to October 1st. Look for SSB and CW.
PZ Suriname. Mike AJ9C #41205, will be active from October 22-29th. Call sign unknown. Mike is expected to be active on SSB, CW and RTTY.
TK Corsica. Rene DL2JRM #69623, will be active as TK/DL2JRM from Corsica from September 10-13th. He will move to San Cipriano Island on September 14- 15th. He operates mostly CW and low power. QSL home call.
V2 Antigua. Tom K7ZZ #71378, will use call sign V25Z in Antigua from October 19-28th. He will be in the CQWW SSB contest but when not in a contest, he will be on CW looking for the best propagation. He uses LoTW.
VK9 Christmas Island. Rene DL2JRM #69623 , Tom DL2RMC, and Harry DM5TI, are planning a DXpedition to Christmas Island from November to early December. Plans are to be QRV on SSB, CW, and digital modes using vertical and yagi antennas.
ZF Grand Cayman. Bob K3UL #1220, will be visiting Grand Cayman with his girlfriend from October 17-24th. Look for him with call sign ZF2UL.
ZL & E5: South Pacific. Bill N7OU #69318, will be on Chatham Island from September 18- 30th , signing ZL7/N7OU. Only CW, using 100 watts into a vertical. October 5-30th he moves to Rarotonga, South Cooks, for volunteer work, signing E51NOU during his spare time.

Miscellaneous Items & Notes:

QSL ROUTES. http://f6gcp.free.fr/qslinfos.htm.
Propagation forecast: http://www.solen.info/solar/.
DXTELNET http://golist.net/dldxt.cfm .
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 be poor as the Cycle 24 strains to start in 2009. The lowest solar flux reading was in August 2008 and we have seen many weeks of no sun spots as this trend continues into 2009.
Expect the daily solar flux to range from 71-77 the next quarter and the monthly flux will stay below 80 until solar Cycle 24 is made official by NOAA.

On September 10th the solar flux was 69 the A index 1 and K index 1. No storms expected.

X-ray emissions from the sun have not improved and the flux remains flat with a small chance of a storm or flare.
Expect the best conditions on September 29-30th, Oct 28- 31th, Nov 27-30th and December 24-27th. Over the next four months, for USA stations, expect a 10% chance of DX in the mornings to Asia, Europe or Africa and a 20% chance into South America or the Pacific in the afternoon. To tell what DX paths are open, use the beacons from 28.175-28.300 (especially 28.200).
New DX members’ June 2009 to August: June: 75420 EB5KAU; July: 75463 DF1AG; August: none.

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 © 2009 by N5MT