The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1328

BID: $OPDX.1328
August 28, 2017
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)
Written/Sent From Strongsville, Oh

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet Clusters Network, N1DG, NJ1Q & W1AW, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily DX, K4UEE, N4AA & QRZ DX, WB6RSE, K8GI, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter, DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX, I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, I2MQP & DX Italia News, OE1WHC, ON5SWA, OZ6OM & 50 MHz DX News, Pete Rayer & the ISWL, RSGB IOTA Web Site, Sixitalia Weekly, VA3RJ & ICPO, VHF-DX-Portal (MMMonVHF) and YO3JW for the following DX information.

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT
According to the AR-Cluster Network for the week of Sunday, 20th-August, through Sunday, 27th-August there were 213 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3B9, 3D2, 3DA, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L, 4O, 4S, 4U1I, 4W, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5H, 5N, 5R, 5T, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7P, 7X, 8P, 9A, 9H, 9J, 9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9N, 9Q, 9V, 9X, 9Y, A2, A3, A4, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, CE, CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, CY0, D2, DL, DU, E5/n, E5/s, E6, E7, EA, EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, EL, EP, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HH, HI, HK, HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J6, JA, JT, JW, JY, K, KG4, KH0, KH6, KH9, KL, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OH0, OK, OM, ON, OX, OY, OZ, P2, P4, PA, PJ2, PY, PZ, R1FJ, S0, S5, S7, SM, SP, SV, SV/a, SV5, SV9, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TJ, TK, TL, TT, TY, TZ, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN, UR, V2, V3, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VK9X, VP2E, VP2M, VP2V, VP5, VP8, VP8/h, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XU, YA, YB, YI, YJ, YL, YN, YO, YS, YU, YV, Z2, Z3, Z8, ZA, ZB, ZD7, ZD8, ZF, ZL, ZL8, ZP, ZS, ZS8

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

3B8, MAURITIUS. Hans, PA3HGT, will be active as 3B8/PA3HGT from Mauritius
(AF-049) between September 5-22nd. Activity will be holiday style on
40/20/10 meters using SSB and possibly some Digital modes. Equipment
will be an Icom IC7100 into an Endfed antenna. QSL via his home callsign,
direct or by the Bureau. Possibly LoTW (experimental).


3Y0Z BOUVET DXPEDITION (Press Release #7, dated August 22nd). This Press
Release is meant to be an update to our many financial supporters in the
DX community and others who may be considering supporting our efforts to
activate the # 2 DXCC most wanted--- BOUVET Island.
 Our fund-raising began about this time last year, so we have been at it
for 12 months. We are extremely grateful for the excitement, encouragement
and actual contributions that have come our way. It has truly been amazing
to see how the DX community has stepped up to help "make this happen".
 We believe that we have negotiated a contract with our transportation
partners that gives us a good idea of what our costs will ultimately be.
This expense represents most of our overall costs. Regarding the remainder
of our budget, cost control is a daily challenge and a priority for leader-
ship and the team. We take it very seriously.
 However, recently we made a couple of changes affecting the expense side
of our equation. This accounts for a small 3% increase in our overall
costs, but will make life on Bouvet safer and more comfortable. We have
decided to add a second Operating shelter (OP B) and a third sleeping
shelter (Sleep C). This will allow us to have more room to place our 14
one-KW stations (12 HF and 2 EME) and to separate the operating modes.
This will make our 14-16 estimated days of 24/7 operating more comfortable
and less challenging. The bottom line is we have a small percentage increase
in costs, but the on-island benefits are well worth the extra expense.
 In summary, looking at our income from the Operating Team itself, the
DX Foundations, DX Clubs and individual DXers worldwide and our estimates
of what our costs will turn out to be, we feel we are in a good and enviable
position...but we are still short over $100,000.
 With this in mind, we are continuing to ask for your financial support.
You may visit our DXpedition website www.bouvetdx.org and click on a
"donate" button.
 Many thanks, CU in the pileups!
 73, Bob-K4UEE
 Ralph-K0IR
 Erling-LA6VM


3Y0Z BOUVET DXPEDITION (More!!). It was a busy week for news and updates
on the 3Y0Z Web site .
 August 18th -- Ten more Flex stations arrived at K9CT’s QTH, each packed
 in its own Pelican case and including a power supply, a
 6500 or 6700 Flex radio, a Maestro, a RadioSport headset,
 and necessary wires and cables. We will have a total of
 14 stations, all of which will be teamed with its computer
 and tested on our network. When complete, the stations
 will be shipped to Atlanta for packaging in our shipping
 container. Two stations will be set up at our Atlanta
 team meeting during Sept. 7 to Sept. 10.
 http://www.bouvetdx.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/Flex-Arriving.jpg
 August 23rd -- None of us are immune from family medical and health issues.
 Unfortunately, Neil ­ VA7DX, faces this issue and had to
 withdraw from our DXpedition team. We will miss his skills
 and wit. Keith ­ VE7KW, will be taking Neil’s place. Keith
 brings DXpedition, contesting, and foul weather experience
 to our group and is a retired electrical engineer. We
 welcome Keith to our team.
 http://www.bouvetdx.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/VE7KW-photo-3.jpg
 August 25th -- We are proud to show you our Bouvet Island DXpedition 160
 meter vertical antenna. The antenna was designed by EY8MM
 and DX Engineering and fabricated by the DX Engineering
 staff. It is a 90 foot beauty consisting of 70 feet of
 aluminum tower section and a 20 foot stinger on top. It
 is top loaded, tuned with two base coils, and raised with
 a 40 foot falling derrick. The VSWR at 1.825 MHz is
 1 : 1.0, rising to 1 :1.7 at 1880. We have the radials
 pre-cut, spooled up, and ready to install. When we couple
 this transmit antenna with our directional receive
 antennas, you should be able to hear us and we should be
 able to hear you. SEE YOU ON 160 FROM BOUVET!
 http://www.bouvetdx.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/01/DXE-160-5.jpg


FK, NEW CALEDONIA. Alessandro, IZ4AMS, will be active as FK/5B4ALX from
a village near Noumea on Grand Terre Island (OC-032) between March 20th
and April 4th, 2018. Activity will be on various HF bands and he plans
to be in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 24-25th, 2018). QSL via his
home callsign. For possibly more details and updates, see:
 http://www.5b4alx.cloud/2017/08/21/fk-new-caledonia-2018


GREEN PARTY AND WWFF ACTIVITIES.......
 YOFF-231 -- By YP1WFF/p; August 28-31st; Op Cris/YO3LW and Vic/YO3GXO;
 from the Ciucas Park region YOFF-231; activity mostly on
 CW and the Digital modes
 YLFF-0012 -- By YL/DG1HVL; August 29th- September 2nd
 VKFF-0520 -- By VK5HSX/2; August 30th; between 0330-0900z; Warrumbungle
 National Park; on 7144 kHz SSB; camping for a couple of
 nights
 OZFF-0012 -- By OU7M/P; September 3-4th; the EDR Club Mors-Nordthy are
 doing the EDR HF Field day; at Mors Island EU-171; everybody
 is welcome in the log - Please RS(T) + a seriel number;
 activity on 80/40/20/15/10m SSB + RTTY + PSK31 + CW; more
 info at 
 1st SOUTH AMERICAN NATIONAL PARKS -- September 2-3rd; More details and
 available URLs at: 
 https://m.facebook.com/groups/1656293684649049?view=permalink&id=1882521222026293&_ft_=qid.6389746864898814630%3Amf_story_key.1882521222026293%3Atop_level_post_id.1882521222026293%3Atl_objid.1882521222026293&__tn__=*s
 FFF-0178 -- By FO/DF1YP; between September 6th and October 1st; holiday
 style operation from Lagoon de Moorea; activity 20/17/15m
 using SSB and the Digital modes; All details on QRZ.com
 KFF-2091 -- By WX2CIB/P; September 7-11th; 15th Annual K2P 2017
 Gathering at Kring Point State Park, NY; Please join them
 on-air and/or at the park if you can. All operating will be
 SSB, bands and times to come later; please watch for WX2CIB/P
 on DXclusters
 FFF-0048 -- By F/OO5G; September 10-12th; reactivation of FFF-048, from
 Parc Rйgional du Haut Languedoc; All bands, holiday style
 VKFF-0741 -- By VK4PF/P; September 10th; between 0300-0700z; from Lower
 Goulburn National Park; 7144 kHz SSB, usual caveats, Other
 bands likely
 OZFF-0001 -- By OZ0JD/P; September 10-14th; from EU-088; see webpage
 for more info: http://oz0jd.dk/ozff-expeditions/


 For more information about WWFF upcoming operations, see:
 http://wwff.co/agenda
 Also suggest URLs: 
 World-Wide -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/WWFF44
 USA -- https://www.facebook.com/groups/parksontheair
 A special DXCluster for WWFF is available at: http://wwff.co/dx-cluster


HAM RADIO 2017 (Friedrichshafen) LECTURES. Wolf Harranth, OE1WHC, from
the Amateur Radio Section of ORF (Austrian Broadcasting Corporation) and
the Documentary Archives Radio Communications/QSL Collection, reports:
DokuFunk presents the major papers and speeches from the HamRadio 2017
in Friedrichshafen in its "Lecture Room" and invites guests to a virtual
visit of the Archives on the Documentary Archive's Web page at:
 http://www.dokufunk.org/index.php


IOTA NEWS..............
 EU-190. (New IOTA/Update) Members of the Russian Robinson Club (RRC)
 continue planning for their next Arctic operation. Look for
 RI1F to be active from Victoriya Island (EU-190). They will
 will leave Murmansk sometime late September (27th), and they
 are expected to operate between October 1-7th. This island
 group has never been activated before. By the way, thes islands
 counts for DXCC purposes as Franz Josef Land. Activity will
 be on 160-10 meters, including the WARC bands, VHF and UHF.
 Operations will be on CW, SSB, the Digital modes, EME (dates
 are October 3-7th) and the satellites. They plan to operate
 from two different sites (one HF and EME; one VHF/UHF). The
 complete break down can be see on QRZ.com. Currently, 12
 operators have been named: Igor/UA9KDF (Team leader), Yury/
 UA9OBA (RRC President), Andrey/UA9LDD (CW op), Valery/UA0ZC
 (CW/SSB op), Vladimir/R9LR (SSB/CW op), Sergey/UA9KB (CW op),
 Artemy/UA9KAM (Photo, video, SSB op), Andrey/RT9K (Mechanic,
 cook, SSB op), Victor/RW0BG (CW/SSB op), Mikhail/UA1QV (CW/SSB
 op), Valery/RA9J (CW/SSB op) and Vladimir (Son of UA9LDD;
 CW/SSB op). Pilot station is Igor, RA3CQ. QSL via ClubLog's
 OQRS or by the Bureau. QSL Manager is Alexandr, RX9KM. Watch
 QRZ.com for updates. Their Web page is still under construction
 at: http://legendsarctic.com


ISWL CALLSIGNS (For September). The following ISWL club callsigns will
be used throughout the month of September 2017:


 GX4BJC/A - Operated from Skegby in Nottinghamshire, by Merv, G0UJD
 (/A WAB Square SK56 - England, IOTA EU-005, WLOTA 1841).


 MX1SWL/A - Operated from Eastbourne, in East Sussex, by Peter, G0NQZ
 (/A WAB Square TQ50 - England, IOTA EU-005, WLOTA 1841).
 
 ALL QSLs will be handled by Herbie, G6XOU, and NOT the individual
operator. The I.S.W.L. is a member of the European PSK Club. All QSL
info is on  or  or via .
NO LoTW. I.S.W.L. Awards are available to all Hams and SWLs, see
 for full details. eQSL.cc cards ARE welcomed for
their awards.


J6, ST. LUCIA. Bill, K9HZ, will once again be active as J68HZ from his
villa at Labrelotte Bay, Castries, St. Lucia (NA-108, WLOTA L-1336) between
September 1-16th. Activity is usually on 160-6 meters using CW, SSB and
RTTY. He states, "Will try to fill some band-mode slots for WAS and DXCC.
Particularly looking for AK and MT in the USA to complete 8BWAS." His
equipment will consist of an Elecraft K3, a 3 element beam for 20-6
meters and wire antennas for 160-30 meters. QSL via his home callsign.
He does use the LoTW, ClubLog and eQSL.


J8, ST. VINCENT. Brian, GW4DVB, will once again be active as J88PI from
Palm Island (aka Prune Island, WW Loc. FK92HO, IOTA NA-025), in the St.
Vincent and the Grenadines Island group, between January 21-27th. Activity
will be on 40/20/17/15/10/6 meters SSB only using a Yaesu FT991A into a
10m vertical antenna and a M0CVO HW-40HP off center fed dipole. QSL via
GW4DVB, by the Bureau or direct to: PO Box 20:20, Llanharan, Pontyclun,
Wales - UK CF72 9ZA. For more details and updates, check:
 http://www.g4dvb.co.uk
ADDED NOTE: Palm Island is an exclusive, private-island resort. This
idyllic tropical hideaway is situated near the southern tip of St. Vincent
and the Grenadines, an idyllic archipelago of 32 tropical islands and
cays known for its stunning natural beauty, clear, warm waters and turtles.


KH1, BAKER ISLAND DXPEDITION (Press Release #2). The Dateline DX Association
is very pleased to announce significant progress in our planning to operate
in 2018 from KH1, Baker Island National Wildlife Refuge, the 4th most wanted
entity in the DXCC program.
 We have executed a charter agreement with a ship, the Nai'a out of Fiji
with an anticipated arrival at the refuge during the 3rd week of June,
2018.
 We intend to be at the refuge a total of 12 days with 10 days of oper-
ations. This ship and dates were chosen in consultation with the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife service based on availability of their resource monitor,
avoidance of the cyclone season, and Nai'a availability. Propagation
forecasts look favorable for HF to Western Europe (a large target audience
for us) during this time as well.
 As with any DXpedition to the really rare ones, this will be another
financially demanding operation. The 11 operator team will contribute
over 50% of the expected budget of $400,000. You can help make this
DXpedition happen by visiting our new website, 
and contributing today.
 We wish to thank the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for their trust in
our group to safely and responsibly activate this rare location.


 Don Greenbaum/N1DG, Tom Harrell/N4XP and Kevin Rowett/K6TD (co-leaders)


OJ0, MARKET REEF. Jukka, OH2BR, will be active as OJ0/OH2BR from Market
Reef for one week starting on Saturday, September 2nd. Activity will be
on various HF bands and including 60m operations. QSL via his home call-
sign. Also, OH2BR has a new address: Jukka Heikinheimo, Kannuskatu 8 F 72,
20880 Turku, Finland. ADDED NOTES: Jukka mentions, "There will be a guest
op representing "CQ DX Hall of Fame" taking the main load. He is a bit
shy as he never announces his operations in advance... As we have other
chores (for the Finnish Lighthouse Association to preserve the lighthouses)
while on Market Reef, the operation will be of the 'during our free-time'
type."


PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (August 28th-September 3rd).......
 Aug/28th AN Aug/31st LN Sep/02nd AN
 Aug/29th AN Sep/01st HN Sep/03rd AN
 Aug/30th 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


 REALTIME BAND CONDITIONS WEB SITE :
 The purpose of this experimental Web site is to provide 24-7-365 actual
 (REALTIME) band condition information to CW QRPp, QRPe and CW/SSB for
 Contesters interested in increasing their scores. It can also be of
 benefit to other Radio Amateurs to determine band conditions for Nets
 and casual QSO's. This information is NOT based on any software pre-
 dictions or any kind of satellite based readings. It is based on a
 new Ionospheric sounding method called "HF Ionospheric Interferometry"
 which operates very similarly to the PolSAR system used by NASA.


 Also, check out the VOACAP predication Web page at:
 http://www.voacap.com/prediction.html
 A daily HF radio wave propagation forecast can be found at:
 https://www.facebook.com/thomasfranklingiellaw4hm
 Also on Twitter: https://twitter.com/@GiellaW4hm


QSL INFO AND NEWS...................
 QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF... 
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 3Z560SC via SP7KMX GB1AFV via GB1AFV (e) R44QKO via RU3KO
 6E3A via XE3WM GB2LMG via GB2LMG (L) RA70MD via RQ7L (O)
 8S0C via SM0MPV HI3T via HI3T (d/L) S01WS via EA2JG
 9A8DV via IK6VXO IQ6KX via IW6ATQ (d) SO1CC via DL1CC
 9X0TA via N4GNR (d/L) NL6/AA7CH via VE7ACN SO1RE via DK8RE
 E7/9A57AX via 9A5AX OD5YA via EA5GL SV5/OH2FUW via OH5AB
 E718MEDITERAN via E73Y OF5Z via OH5LIZ T88WH via 7K1HLJ (d)
 EH1LHA via EA1RKA & (L) OZ/DL1SWT via DL1SWT UT/DH4OAM via DH4OAM
 EH1LSI via EA1AUO & (L) PF38T via PA7HPH ZB2LGT via ZB2BU
 EM7UT via UR7UT PG6N via PA7DA ZS9V via M0OXO (O)
 EO26U via UR8US (B) R17SMW via RZ3LC
 EV500S via DL7VFM R270ENG via UA4CGR
 (e) eQSL only (d) direct only (B) Bureau only (*-B) DX's- Bureau
 (O) OQRS only (C) ClubLog only (L) LoTW only


 PIRATE ALERTS. The DXNews is reporting the following: Jacky, 3B8CF,
 Secretary of the Mauritius Amateur Radio Society, says the local telecom
 authority, ICTA, has told him no license (including 3B9DX) has been
 issued for Rodrigues recently for anyone. Also, a P5/3Z9DX pirate has
 been active and it is not Dom, 3Z9DX.


 QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 9X0TA, EA6ALW (JM29), JS6RRR, S21ZED, S21ZEE,
 SN7Q, SX5R and VK2GGC


 QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 4V1G, E51LYC (OC-098), EY7AD, HD2RRC (SA-034),
 HD2RRC/4 (SA-033), PA2M, TE8DX and V6J


 QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: NONE REPORTED THIS WEEK!!!!!


SV8, GREECE (Cancelled/Update). Berkin, TA3J, was not able to be active
as SV8/TA3J from Mytilene-Lesvos (EU-049) between August 14-17th, because
of problems due to the local Police Department. His complete story is now
available on: 
 https://dxnews.com/forum/forum/iota/2588-sv8-ta3j-lesvos-island


TOP CW - THE MOST INTERESTING SPOTS. James, G8DNH, has been watching
the DXcluster in frustration (due to the poor propagation) and has been
working on a script to filter spots so that only the 'most interesting'
are displayed - something like 'Most Wanted' and/or DXpedition and some
other criteria he has been experimenting with. He has been posting his
findings and they can be view at: http://topcw.net
He is looking for a few people to try it out and give him some feedback
<2013jameswebber@gmail.com> to influence the development. Give it a look
and let him know....


V6, MICRONESIA (Reminder). Toshi, JA6REX, will once again be active as
V63KS from Chuuk Islands (OC-011) between August 28th and September 3rd.
Activity will be on 160-10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via his home
callsign, ClubLog's OQRS or LoTW. Visit his Web page at:
 http://v63.webcrow.jp


VB2, CANADA (CQ ZONE 2 DXPEDITION). Operators Jean-Pierre/VA2SG and
Jean/VE2VIA will be active as VB2SG/2 from ZONE 2 (Sept-Iles, Quebec)
during the CQWW DX RTTY Contest (September 23-24th) as a Multi-Single/
Unassisted/Low-Power entry. QSL via VE2JCW direct only. More details
are available at: https://jpcouture68.wixsite.com/va2sg/cq-ww-rtty-zone-2


VK0EK WINS AN AWARD. In their annual acknowledgment, DxCoffee and the
DXUniversity has awarded VK0EK for "Best Communication" in 2016. See the
complete details at: 
http://www.dxcoffee.com/eng/2017/dxcoffee-and-the-dxuniversity-award-vk0ek-for-best-communication-in-2016


YB348, INDONESIA (Special Event). Special event station YB348P was active
between August 26-27th, to celebrate Padang's 348th anniversary - "The
Anniversary of the Capital of West Sumatra". Operations were to take
place on 80/40/20/15/10 meters SSB. Awards are available - see QRZ.com
Please do not send your QSL card as the "ORARI LOKAL PADANG HQ" will
automatically send YB348P QSLs.