The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1444
BID: $OPDX.1444
December 16, 2019
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)
Written/Sent from Strongsville, Ohio

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, the AB5K's AR Cluster
Networks, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, WB6RSE, K8GI,
K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, 4X1VF, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter,
DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX,
I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2YSB, IW4CLV, RN3RQ, RW6HS, Sixitalia Weekly,
and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the
week of Sunday, 8th/December, through Sunday, 15th/December there were
214 countries active. Countries available: 3B8, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 4J, 4L, 4O,
4S, 4U1U, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5R, 5T, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J,
9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5,
C6, CE, CE0X, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D4, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA,
EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FP,
FR, FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H4, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK,
HL, HP, HR, HS, HV, HZ, I, IS, J3, J6, J7, J8, JA, JD/o, JT, JY, K, KG4,
KH0, KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK,
OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PZ, S0, S5, S7, SM, SP,
ST, SV, SV5, SV9, T2, T5, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TT, TU, TZ, UA,
UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V4, V5, V6, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP5,
VP6, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XT, XU, XW, XX9, YA, YB, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU,
YV, Z2, Z3, Z6, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, ZF, ZL, ZP, ZS

* PLEASE NOTE: The report "could" contain "Pirate/SLIM" operations or
 more likely a "BUSTED CALLSIGN". As always, you never know - "Work
 First Worry Later".

3D2AG/P ROTUMA DXPEDITION NEWS (Update). By the time you read this,
Antoine, 3D2AG, should arrive on Rotuma; around Monday 16th, 0600 UTC.
He was expected to sail on the 14th, and it is a 48 hour trip to Rotuma.
He mentions that unloading the boat might only happen during the morning
of Tuesday, the 17th (local time). His 3D2AG/p activity may not start
until the evening of 17th or morning of 18th.
 EDITOR'S NOTES: For more details, updates, and operating schedule and
frequencies, watch the QRZ.com at: https://www.qrz.com/lookup/3D2AG/P

4U1, AUSTRIA (Special Event). As of December 12th, members of the Amateur
Radio Contest DX Club (ARCDXC, http://www.cqdx.ru/4u1a ) are active using
the special callsign 4U1XMAS during the Christmas season from the 4U1A
station at the United Nations Vienna International Center. Activity will
last until December 31st. They have been on 80/40/20/15 meters using CW
and SSB. They state that there will be an International team of operators
- Santa, Ded Moroz & (YL) Snegurochka. QSL via UA3DX, direct or by the
Bureau. Just a reminder that this counts for Austria for DXCC purposes.

4X, ISRAEL (Update/Correction). Members of the "Holyland DX Group" will
operate as 4X9R from the heart of Beith Shearim site between December
27-28th. The operators mentioned are Ruben/4Z5FI, Mark/4Z4KX, Alexander/
4Z4AK, Ros/4Z5LA, Yuli/4X6HP, Vladimir/4Z5IW, Hilik/4X6YA, Arthur/4X4DZ,
Jan/4X1VF and Hal/W8HC. Beith Shearim is a very attractive site for tour-
ists from all over the world. The catacombs were declared a UNESCO World
Heritage site in July 2015. (https://biblewalks.com/sites/BeitShearimCatacombs.html)
They will start their activity on Friday, December 27th, at 0730 UTC,
and close down on Saturday, December 28th, 1300 UTC. Activity will be on
80-10 meters using CW and SSB, with two stations. Reference numbers: Holy-
land Square - H-07-YZ (not J-07-HF) and WFF 4XFF-063. QSL Manager is Ros,
4Z5LA.

CE0Y, EASTER ISLAND. Oleh, KD7WPJ (UR5BCP), will be active as CE0Y/UR5BCP
from Hanga Roa, Easter Island (SA-001) between December 26-31st. Activity
will be on 60-6 meters using CW, SSB and FT8/FT4 with 100 watts. QSL via
KD7WPJ, direct or by the Bureau. Digital mode contacts will be uploaded
to LoTW.

CE0Y, EASTER ISLAND. Mike, VE7ACN, will be active as CE0Y/VE7ACN from
Easter Island between March 19-30th (2020). Activity will be on 80-10
meters (possibly 160m) using CW and SSB. QSL via VE7ACN, ClubLog's OQRS
or LoTW.

DXCC NEWS. The following operation has been reportedly approved by the
ARRL for DXCC credit: VU7RI -- Lakshadweep Islands (2019)

FJ, ST. BARTHELEMY. Col, MM0NDX, reports on Eham.net (dated December 10th):
"Tentative plans to return to St Barts in early May 2020. I was last in
St. Barts (for one day only) in 2014 after the PJ7PK NA-247 IOTA DX-
pedition. Instead of FJ/MM0NDX, I may use FJ/OJ0Y, or even both! Couple
more ops may join me. More info after the New Year."

FS, ST. MARTIN. Mike, VE7ACN (aka RW0CN, VA7XW, AA7CH), will be active
as FS/RW0CN from Saint Martin Island between February 9-16th (2020).
There is a possibility (but not guaranteed) of a side trip to Tintamarre
Island (NA-199) as FS/VE7ACN. Activity will be on 80-10 meters (possibly
160m, if there is room) using mainly CW and SSB (FT8 very unlikely). He
also plans to be in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 15-16th). Equipment
is a K3 w/Expert 1.3K-FA (1300 W) into a vertical and/or Inverted V. QSL
via ClubLog's OQRS (preferred), LoTW, direct or by the Bureau to VE7ACN.
Mike also plans to go to Puerto Rico after this operation (see KP4 below).

HC, ECUADOR (Update). Antonio "Toni", EA5RM, is now in Ecuador until
January 5th. He is on the air during his spare time mainly as HC3ACT
(not HC3/EA5RM as first announced) from Loja. He may also be active as
HC2/EA5RM from Guayaquil. His activity will be on 40-10 meters using
SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via his home callsign.

IOTA NEWS..............
 EU-125. Volker, DJ8VW, is once again active as 5P8VW from Romo Island
 (WWFF OZFF-0004) until December 21st. Activity will be on 160-6
 meters, including the 30/17/12m bands, using CW, SSB and FT8.
 QSL via DJ8VW ONLY DIRECT, LoTW, eQSL or ClubLog's OQRS.

 PLEASE NOTE: Since the Webmasters of the new  have
 decided NOT to post or dedicate a Web page to announce upcoming IOTA
 operations, PLEASE send your IOTA operations information to the OPDX,
 and we will post it here in an upcoming bulletin......

J6, ST. LUCIA. John, AI6LY, will be active as J6/AI6LY from Soufriere,
St. Lucia, between January 4-11th (2020). Activity will be holiday style
on various HF bands. QSL via his home callsign.

KP4, PUERTO RICO. Mike, VE7ACN (aka RW0CN, VA7XW, AA7CH), will be active
as KP4/AA7CH from Vieques Island (NA-249) between January 31st and Feb-
ruary 5th (2020). Activity will be on 80-10 meters (possibly 160m, if there
is room) using mainly CW and SSB (FT8 very unlikely). Equipment is a K3
w/Expert 1.3K-FA (1300 W) into a vertical and/or Inverted V. QSL via Club-
Log's OQRS (preferred), LoTW, direct or by the Bureau to VE7ACN.

"MARCONI: GENIUS AND BRAINWAVE" 2020 (Award). Cristiano Cornini, IW4CLV,
A.R.I. Fidenza Radio Club President, reports the following: ?MARCONI:
GENIUS AND BRAINWAVE? is an international amateur radio award organized
by A.R.I. Fidenza (www.arifidenza.it), a Radio Club affiliated to A.R.I.,
Associazione Radioamatori Italiani (Italian Amateur Radio League) with
the sponsorship and the historical consultancy and supervision of "Guglielmo
Marconi Foundation" (www.fgm.it) and "Marconi Museum" (www.museomarconi.it).
 The main objective of the award is to commemorate and honor some of the
most important events and steps in the life of the great Italian scientist,
spreading their knowledge as much as possible both at national level as
well as internationally.
 The award period lasts the whole year 2020: every month of the year is
dedicated to one specific event, and is associated to a different special
callsign. Further details visiting our official website: www.arifidenza.it
 We believe that is mainly interest all Ham Radio operators, so please
notify it to your associated OM and /or your webmaster/website.

OPDX MAILING LIST (Just A Reminder). The "new" OPDX Mailing List is back up
and running! Details on how to subscribe/unsubscribe are at the bottom of
this bulletin. PLEASE pass the word around.... Thanks and 73 de Tedd KB8NW

PACIFIC TOUR. Operators Will/AA4NC and Ron/AA4VK will be active from four
islands during 2020. Their schedule is as follows:
 French Polynesia -- As TX4N between February 11-17th (2020). Look for
 Will to be active during the ARRL DX CW Contest
 (February 15-16th, 2020) as a Single-Op-Low-Power
 entry.
 Norfolk Island ---- As VK9NR between February 20-25th.
 Vanuatu ----------- As YJ0NC between March 3-6th.
 Fiji -------------- As 3D2AA during the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 7-8th)
 as a Single-Op-Low-Power entry. Operator will be
 Will.
 Activity on most islands will be holiday style on various HF bands. No
other details were provided. QSL all callsigns via EA5GL.

POSSIBLE NEW DXCC ENTITY (Update). On November 23rd, more than 200,000
registered voters on the Islands of Bougainville, part of the Papua New
Guinea (PNG), headed to the polls to cast their ballots to choose between
"greater autonomy within PNG or full independence." Bougainville voted
overwhelmingly (98%) for independence from Papua New Guinea. The govern-
ment of Papua New Guinea has not yet announced what they are going to do
next. For more details, see:
 https://www.cnn.com/2019/12/11/asia/bougainville-papua-new-guinea-intl-hnk/index.html
 https://www.euronews.com/2019/12/12/could-bougainville-be-the-world-s-newest-country
 https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/world/asia/bougainville-independence-papua-new-guinea.html
 https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/bloody-past-casts-long-shadow-over-pacific-islands-poised-to-become-worlds-newest-nation/2019/12/13/0c9472be-1d75-11ea-977a-15a6710ed6da_story.html

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 16-21st).......
 Dec/16th AN Dec/19th HN Dec/21st HN
 Dec/17th AN Dec/20th AN Dec/22nd AN
 Dec/18th HN

 SOLAR REFERENCE KEYS/INDEXES AND GEOMAGNETIC REFERENCE
 ------------------------------------------------------
 NORMALITY GEOMAG K Values Alpha
 ----------------- ------ -------- ------
 AN - Above Normal Quiet K=0-1 0-7
 HN - High Normal Unsettled K=2 8-15
 LN - Low Normal Active K=3 16-29
 BN - Below Normal Minor Storm K=4 30-49
 DIS - Disturbed Major Storm K=5 50-99
 VRY DIS - Very Disturbed Severe Storm K=6-9 100-400

 *** Solar Cycle 25 Forecast Update (date December 9th): The NOAA/NASA
 co-chaired, international panel to forecast Solar Cycle 25 released
 their latest forecast for Solar Cycle 25. The forecast consensus: a
 peak in July, 2025 (+/- 8 months), with a smoothed sunspot number (SSN)
 of 115. The panel agreed that Cycle 25 will be average in intensity
 and similar to Cycle 24.
 Additionally, the panel concurred that solar minimum between Cycles
 24 and 25 will occur in April, 2020 (+/- 6 months). If the solar minimum
 prediction is correct, this would make Solar Cycle 24 the 7th longest
 on record (11.4 years).
 For more details, see: 
 https://www.swpc.noaa.gov/news/solar-cycle-25-forecast-update

 Meanwhile, check out the following Web sites for propagation:
 * VOACAP predication Web page at: http://www.voacap.com/hf
 and http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html
 * DX.QSL.NET Propagation page: https://dx.qsl.net/propagation
 * A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at:
 https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm
 * SolarHam Web page: http://www.solarham.net
 * Radio Propagation/Space Weather/Sunspot Cycle Information at:
 http://sunspotwatch.com
 * Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve
 overseas locations are at: http://arrl.org/propagation
 * Information and tutorials on propagation are at: http://k9la.us
 * Graphic propagation tool by DR2W: http://www.dr2w.de/dx-propagation
 * Point to point propagation at: http://www.predtest.uk/p2p.html
 * Realtime propagation at: http://www.predtest.uk
 * Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm

QSL INFO AND NEWS...................
 QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (www.qslinfo.eu)(December 15th)
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 4L8A via K1BV & (L) EG1HMT via EA1OK OQ4U via ON4AMX
 4U1XMAS via UA3DX EG5ERC via EB5AG (e/L) OR18GTM via ON6UJ
 5P3KP via DL3KP EH2WFF via EA2BV OR18NBT via ON4ANN
 5P8VW via DJ8VW & (L) F/PB8DX via PB8DX OR4LAN via ON4LAN
 5Q6EE via OZ1BII (O/L) HF2020HNY via SP2PBM (B/d/OL) R95WJV via RA9WJV
 5Z4/G3AB via G3AB (L) K7BX/VP9 via K7BX SO5N via SP5BMU & (L)
 A75GR via M0OXO (O) LS2D via EC6DX & (L) YP1989TM via YO2KQT (e)
 AO2XMA via EA3RKF M6T via G4BWP (O/L) ZS3Y via N4GNR (d/L) 
 DF0HSC via DJ1YFK ON/PA82AD via PA3EFR
 EE5T via EA5URT (d/L) OP75USA via ON4JM

 (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau
 (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only (N) No QSL needed
 (I) No IRC (P) PayPal (NB) No Bureau

 LOGS ONLINE AT CLUBLOG.ORG THIS WEEK......
 https://clublog.org/logsearch/A50BOC
 https://clublog.org/logsearch/A50BPC

 RK3SWB/1 QSL STATUS. Vasily, RA1ZZ, states, "There is a delay with
 printing QSL.. Hope this question will be closed until the end of
 December. Nevertheless IOTA Clublog auto-confirmation is OK!"

 QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3DA0AQ, 4O4T, 4U1UN, 9G2HO, 9X0T, 9X0Y, AH2R,
 CO2RQ, CT9/DL5AXX, DL7JAN, EA7KW, FM5BH, FS4WBS, HP3AK, J35X, KH6/KU1CW,
 OM2VL, OX7A, PJ4KY, T6AA, TK0C, TO9W, TR8CA, TT8SN and VE3IDS

 QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4X4DK, 5K0K, C21WW (OC-031), GM4WJA, JH1AJT,
 K5P (NA-089), N5C (NA-082), RA1ALA/8 (AS-083) and T30L (OC-017)

 QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3B9FR, 4S7AYG, 5U9AMO, 6W1SU, 6Y3T, 7P8LB,
 9X2AW, A70X (AS-088), C4II, EL2EL/4 (AF-111), GS0NWM (EU-010), HC5DBT,
 HK3C, J79TA, J79U, MD/OP2D, OY1OF, P29VCX (OC-025), PJ2/G4IRN, PJ4NX,
 PJ4V, PZ5V, TG9AJR, TO6OK, TO8FTDM, TX5T, V31FO, V31IT, V37DX, VP6D,
 VU4G, XT2AW, Z66DH, Z68UR and ZC4A
 --- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc)
 to send in their info....

TT8, CHAD. After a delay in their planned early 2019 Chad DXpedition,
the Italian Dxpedition Team is pleased to announce their next operation
will be from Chad sometime in mid-2020. The team finally received the
required security clearance, and will be active from the Capital City
Ndjamena. Callsigns will be TT8RR on SSB/CW/RTTY and TT8XX on FT8 only.
Look for more details to be forthcoming and also watch:
 http://www.i2ysb.com/idt

V4, ST. KITTS. Fred, WB4M, will be active as V4/WB4M from St. Kitts between
January 5-11th (2020). Activity will be limited on various HF bands and
all modes including the Digital modes. QSL via his home callsign, direct,
by the Bureau or LoTW.

VP8, ANTARCTICA. Sebastian, SQ1SGB, has been active as VP8HAL occasionally
from Halley VI British Antarctic Research Station. He will be there until
February 8th. Activity has been mainly on 7170 kHz and 14305 kHz each day
at 0100 UTC for one hour. Sometimes he can be active at 1000 and 1630 UTC.
He states that he still can't link his IC706MkIIG by CAT so he can't make
Digital QSOs. QSL via EB7DX.

Z6, KOSOVO. Co-Leader Guenter, DL2AWG, reports that a group of 6 Germans
want to go to Kosovo in October 2020. The team leader is Wolf, DM2AUJ.
The team will be active as Z66DX for 14 days between October 9-28th,
2020. However, the exact dates may change due to flight availability.
Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8, with two stations
on the air. Look for more details to be forthcoming.

ZF, CAYMAN ISLANDS. Frank, KK5XX, will be active as ZF2FD from Grand
Cayman Island (NA-016) between June 10-17th (2020). Activity will be
holiday style on 80/40/20 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via his home
callsign, LoTW or eQSL.