The Ohio/Penn Dx PacketCluster
DX Bulletin No. 1445
BID: $OPDX.1445
December 23, 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, W2GB, WA2HZR, K3LR, NG3K & ADXO, W3UR & The Daily
DX, K8YSE, W8GEX & 60m DX News, W9ILY, DL1SBF, DL7UXG & The DX News Letter,
DxCoffee.com, DXNews.com, DX-World.Net, F5NQL, F6AJA & Les Nouvelles DX,
I1JQJ/IK1ADH & 425 DX News, MM0NDX, RN3RQ, Sixitalia Weekly,
and VA3RJ & ICPO for the following DX information.

*** SPECIAL NOTE FROM EDITOR (Tedd, KB8NW): My family (wife/OPDX's chief
 proof-reader Linda, son Teddy [TJ] and his wife Jessi, daughter Katie and
 her husband Kevin and son Lliam and daughter Lilly Grace), and I (KB8NW)
 would like to wish all DXers, Contesters and OPDX readers a very "Happy
 Holiday, Merry Christmas, Season's Greetings and Happy New Year". Thanks
 to the many individuals who have provided DX information over the past
 year. Without you there would not be an OPDX Bulletin. Also, thanks
 to the many individuals who sent holiday wishes to my family and me......
 73 and Have a Great Holiday de Tedd KB8NW
 P.S. Generally, this is the time of the year (Christmas/New Year holiday
 season) where the DX information reaches a low. So over the next two
 weeks there "may" not be a bulletin (especially on December 30th) or
 possibly a small content bulletin. During this time, I plan to spend
 my time with my daughter's family in Tennessee. However, I will send
 out any special announcements/bulletins. PLEASE keep sending your DX
 information to me. You never know what I may do.... 
 Thanks and 73 de Tedd KB8NW

DXCC COUNTRY/ENTITY REPORT: According to the AR-Cluster Network for the
week of Sunday, 15th/December, through Sunday, 22nd/December there were
203 countries active. Countries available: 3A, 3B8, 3D2, 3V, 3W, 4J, 4L,
4O, 4S, 4U1U, 4X, 5A, 5B, 5T, 5W, 5Z, 6W, 6Y, 7X, 8P, 8Q, 9A, 9G, 9H, 9J,
9K, 9M2, 9M6, 9Q, 9V, 9Y, A2, A4, A5, A6, A7, A9, AP, BV, BY, C3, C5, CE,
CE0Y, CE9, CM, CN, CP, CT, CT3, CU, CX, D2, D4, D6, DL, DU, E5/s, E7, EA,
EA6, EA8, EA9, EI, EK, ER, ES, ET, EU, EX, EY, EZ, F, FG, FK, FM, FO, FR,
FS, FY, G, GD, GI, GJ, GM, GU, GW, H40, HA, HB, HB0, HC, HI, HK, HK0/a,
HL, HP, HR, HS, HZ, I, IS, J3, J5, J6, J7, J8, JA, JT, JW, JY, K, KH0,
KH2, KH6, KL, KP2, KP4, LA, LU, LX, LY, LZ, OA, OD, OE, OH, OK, OM, ON,
OX, OY, OZ, P4, PA, PJ2, PJ4, PJ7, PY, PZ, S0, S5, S7, S9, SM, SP, ST, SV,
SV5, SV9, T2, T7, T8, TA, TF, TG, TI, TK, TR, TT, UA, UA2, UA9, UK, UN,
UR, V3, V4, V5, V7, V8, VE, VK, VP2E, VP2M, VP5, VP8, VP9, VR, VU, XE, XT,
XU, XW, YA, YB, YL, 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".

3B9, RODRIGUES ISLAND. David, F8AAN, will be active as 3B9AN or 3B9/F8AAN
from Rodrigues Island (AF-017) between March 9-18th (2020). Activity will
be on 160/80/40/30/20/17/15 meters CW. QSL via his home callsign, direct
or ClubLog's OQRS.

6W, SENEGAL. Willy, ON4AVT, will once again be active as 6W7/ON4AVT some
time in February 2020. His main activity will be on 60 meters using mostly
FT8, with some CW and SSB, with a FT-891 with 100 watts into a HyEndFed
antenna. QSL via the Bureau. For more details and updates, watch:
 https://www.on4avt.be/trip_to_senegal.htm

7X, ALGERIA. Members of the "Association des Radio Amateurs Tunisiens"
(ARAT) are traveling to Algeria to conduct a joint Low Bands DXpedition
with five members of the "Amateurs Radio Algeriens" (ARA) between December
28th and January 2nd (2020). The team is led by Afif/7X2RO and Ash/3V8SS/
KF5EYY, and will also includes Ahmed/3V1B/KG5OUE (22 years), Marwa/3V8CB
(24 years, YL), Mohamed/7X3TL (27 years), Mohamed/7X5FG, Redha/7X5QB and
Abdelghani/7X2TT/M0NPT. The operators will be focusing on working as
many stations as possible on 160 and 80 meters as well as the other HF
bands and Satellites. Modes will be CW/SSB/FT8. QSL via 7X2RO and LoTW.
There will be ClubLog Live Streaming. For more details on how to help
and/or LF skeds, E-mail Ash at: ash.kf5eyy@gmail.com
Your financial support will be used to cover youngsters' costs.

8Q, MALDIVES. Roman, RN5M, is now active as 8Q7MA from Mathiveri Island
(AS-013) until December 24th. Activity will be holiday style on 80/40/30/20
meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via LY5W direct only and ClubLog.

8Q, MALDIVES. Sergey, RX3AMY, will be active as 8Q7BS from Mahibadhoo
and Maafushi Islands, Maldives (AS-013), January 3-23rd (2020). Activity
will be holiday style and with periodical work, operating mainly on 40
and 20 meters SSB (possibly CW), using a Yaesu FT-897 transceiver with
dipoles. QSL via his home callsign.

9Q, THE DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF THE CONGO. Fernando, EA4BB (ex-9Q5BB,
D2BB, ST2BF, TU5JL, TZ6BB, Z21BB), who has been active as 9Q6BB from
"The Democratic Republic of the Congo" for nearly 4 years, is now QRT.
He dismantled his Goma station on December 18th, after making 26,000
QSOs. QSL via W3HNK, LoTW or eQSL.

C5, GAMBIA. Przemyslaw, SP3PS, who became a resident of Gambia in 2017,
will once again be active as C5SP from Sanyang between December 27th and
January 17th. Activity will be on 20-6 meters using SSB and FT8/FT4. He
will mainly call on 20m, but will also try to run on other bands, including
LF in SSB. QSL via SP3PS, direct, LoTW or eQSL.

DAY-ZENIA NEWS. Tim, K3LR, reports [edited]: I am proud to announce that
student registration is now open for the 2020 Dayton ConTest University
("CTU") to be held all day on Thursday May 14th, 2020, at the Crowne
Plaza in Dayton, Ohio. (http://contestuniversity.com) This is the day
before Hamvention opens in Xenia, Ohio.
 Registration opened on December 16, 2019, and already 50 contesters
have signed up!. Last year (2019 was a sell out with 350 attending).
 Eight different countries have hosted CTUs over the past thirteen years.
USA, Australia, Russia, Germany, Italy, England, Brazil and Finland. Over
8500 students have attended these CTUs with more than 100 CTU Professors
sharing their contesting experiences.
 2020 will be the 14th year in a row for CTU Dayton. To give you an idea
of the quality of the CTU content and activities you can see videos and
PDFs from past CTUs on the CTU web site at: http://contestuniversity.com
 The 2020 CTU Professor line up will be posted on the CTU website very
soon. Thanks to our returning professors NC0B, W0YK, K3LR, W3LPL, N6TV,
W3YQ, N0AX and K1DG. You will notice additional NEW professors for 2020
once the posting is complete and posted. 
 CTU professor stalwart Frank, W3LPL, is back for CTU 2020 after his
sabbatical in 2019. Frank has taught many many sessions at CTU over the
past 13 years.
 The 2020 CTU Dayton course outline will be posted soon. Check the CTU
website for updates. Each presentation is carefully prepared with up to
date information.
 There are scholarships (registration fee paid) available for CTU through
a grant from the Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) for those
students 25 years old and younger. Please use the "contact us" button on
the CTU website to get more information.
 2020 Student registration information is on the CTU web site at:
http://contestuniversity.com
 CTU registration makes a great Christmas gift!
 Important - as we did last year - if you want to sign up for CTU 2020
Dayton and you have given (or will give one by Hamvention 2020) a talk
about Amateur Radio to any club, Hamfest or group since May 14, 2019 -
you qualify for a 10.00 USDs registration fee discount. Please choose
the "Registration with Club talk discount" option to get the 10.00 USDs
 discount. Spreading the word about amateur radio is lots of fun and can
save you money at CTU!
 Thanks to all of the CTU sponsors including Icom America, DX Engineering,
the Northern California DX Foundation, YASME, the Radio Club of America and
CQ Magazine for making CTU possible. Thanks to K8MNJ and K1SO for all of
their help with CTU. Special thanks to Scott, KA9FOX from QTH.com for
hosting and constructing the CTU headquarters web site.
 CU in Dayton at CTU 2020 and Merry Christmas,
 Tim, K3LR, Contest University Chairman"

FJ, ST. BARTHELEMY. Col, MM0NDX, from DX-World.net, reports the following
update: "A team has now been formed and will be QRV from St. Barts during
early May 2020. Since FJ is very wanted in Asia, focus will be given to
that region. Our QTH is a hilltop villa with good take-off to difficult
to work areas. Full info and callsigns after the New Year."

FM/TO7, MARTINIQUE. Miguel, EA1BP, will be active as TO7BP from Martinique
during the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 28-29th, 2020). Outside of contest
Miguel will be signing FM/EA1BP and will be on various HF bands. QSL via
his home callsign by the Bureau.

HR, HONDURAS. Dirk, WA4DT, will once again be active as HR9/WA4DT from
West Bay, Roatan Island (NA-057), between January 19th and February 2nd
(2020). Activity will be on the same bands as last time (40/30 meters)
using CW and FT8. QSL via his home callsign direct only.

IOTA NEWS..............
 SA-029. Members of the UBRO DX Team will be active as ZZ1R from Rats
 Island (Ilha dos Ratos) between December 26-29th. Activity
 will be on 80-10 meters using CW, SSB, FT8 and FT4.

 SA-034. (Update) Jon, EA1VE, will be active as HC2JKT (not HC2/EA1VE
 as first announced) from Puna Island, Ecuador, between January
 10-30th (2020). Activity will be on 40-6 meters SSB only. QSL
 via his home callsign.

 THE STORY BEHIND THE K5P (NA-089) & N5C (NA-082) OPERATIONS. Read the
 story about the N5C Cat Island (NA-082) and K5P Isle Au Pitre (NA-089)
 activation at:
 https://dx-world.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/PitreandCatIsland.pdf

 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......

J2, DJIBOUTI. Operators Tom/DJ6TF, Manfred/DK1BT, Wolf/DL4WK, Annette/
DL6SAK, Tom/DL7BO, Sigi/DL7DF, Frank/DL7UFR and Leszek/SP3DOI will be
active from Djibouti between March 4-16th (2020). Their callsign is
pending. They will have three stations on the air from 160-10 meters
using CW, SSB and the Digital modes. Their equipment consists of a trans-
ceiver Elecraft K2, three transceivers Icom IC7300, four power amplifiers,
bandpass filters, a vertical for 160 and 80m, a 40m loop, a 30m loop, a
Spiderbeam for 20-10m, loop antennas for 20/15/10m and a beverage. Pilot
station for this DXpedition is Bernd, DF3CB. QSL via DL7DF, direct or
by the DARC Bureau. They will upload the full logs of the DXpedition to
LoTW within 6 months after the DXpedition. For more details and updates,
see: http://www.dl7df.com/j2

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

P4, ARUBA. Ben, DL6RAI, is once again active as P4/DL6RAI from Aruba until
December 26th. Activity has been on CW and focused on the low bands. QSL
via DL6RAI, direct, by the Bureau, ClubLog or LoTW.

PROPAGATION FORECAST/REPORT (December 23-29th).......
 Dec/23rd AN Dec/26th AN Dec/28th AN
 Dec/24th AN Dec/27th AN Dec/29th AN
 Dec/25th AN

 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

 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

PZ, SURINAME. Arie, PA4ARI, is now active as PZ/PA4ARI close to the city
of Paramaribo until January 7th (2020). Activity will be on 80/40/20
meters using SSB, FT4 and FT8. Some suggested frequencies are 7080, 7090,
7150, 7160, 14160 and 14240 kHz. QSL via PA4ARI, direct or by the Bureau.

QSL INFO AND NEWS...................
 QSL-INFO from DB0SDX by Lothar, DL1SBF (www.qslinfo.eu)(December 22nd)
 -------------------------------------------------------------------------
 9K91BND via 9K2RA IQ1OD via 9A8MDC PZ/PA4ARI via PA4ARI
 C4XMAS via IZ4AMS & (L) KH0/WB6Z via JF1OCQ SF0Z via SM0HEV (L/B)
 DA0FONTANE via DK6AN OA4/YV6CW via YV6CW (e) SV1AHH/AM via SV1AHH (d/L)
 DL/KU1CW via KU1CW (L) OE4XLC via OE4RGC SV9/KC8JNV via KC8JNV & (L)
 DL250BTHVN via DL7DSW OE50NOE via OE6XMF TR8CR via F6AJA 
 EA8/HB9EIZ/P via HB9EIZ (N) OO9A via ON8YB & (L) Z68MA via Z32ZM (O)
 HB30YDL via HB3YDL OR18OST via ON4OS
 II8FT via II8FT (e) OR18WRA via ON4WRA

 (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/A5A
 https://clublog.org/logsearch/A5B
 https://clublog.org/logsearch/A50BOC

 QSLS RECEIVED VIA LoTW: 3B8/W6XD, 3D2A, 4U1UN, 5B4AMX, 8R1/AG6UT, 9X0Y,
 9Y0T, C21WW, C56XA, D68CCC, DS3EXX, HK0RMR, HR5/F2JD, IS0GQX, KA1ERL,
 PJ4K, RU3GF, TI7W, UA4HBW, V55A, VK9NC and WH0RU

 QSLS RECEIVED VIA MAIL: 8R1/AH0G, 9H1XT, C21WW, ON7PQ, RV1CC/0 (AS-025),
 RW0IM/p (AS-059) and YE0M

 QSLS RECEIVED VIA THE BUREAU: 3W2MAE, 8J50IARU, 8Q7PE, AM870DA,
 CE3/DL5DSM, CT9/UZ5DX, DK200MARX, DL3SEM, DL65TRS, DQ1200ASP, EA5BY,
 EA8/OK2BUJ, EG25JRA, F5PRH, F8AAB, HS90IARU, IZ2DPX, J34G, J400EG,
 JD1BON, LZ117ML, LZ1809PNS, LZ391MW, LZ497OM, LZ815NI, LZ818PT, OF3077F,
 OH0V, OK7K, OY/DL1ZBO, P4/OK7MT, P4/S50M, PJ2/DL1RNT, PJ2/KF4DX, PJ4KY,
 PJ4Y, PP7DX, R27EKB, RO75NN, RW1AI, SF50CG, SP7VG, SV130PAP, SV5/DL3DRN,
 UK8AR, UN7AM, US7IID, UW7LL, V34AO, V5/DJ8VC, VK9X/PE7T, Z21LS, Z60A,
 ZP9MCE, ZR2A, ZS1SBW, ZS2/DL5DSM and ZS4AZ
 --- We would like to see more QSL Bureaus (such as AS/US/SA/AF.. etc)
 to send in their info....

T46, CUBA (Special Event). Members of the Radio Club of Caibarien will
once again activate special event station T46W from "The Heights of San
Felipe" in the northeast Province from Villa Clara on the Republic of
Cuba between December 29-31st. Activity is to to celebrate the 128th
anniversary of Manuel Antonio Álvarez Álvarez (Manolín CO6MA). Operations
will be on 80-10 meters using CW, SSB and FT8. QSL via LoTW. A certificate
is available. For more info, see QRZ.com.

TK0C 2019 CQWW DX CW CONTEST (Video Released). The "Team Charlie" (S5
Team) that was active as TK0C from Sant Ambroggio, Corsica, during the
CQWW DX CW Contest (November 23-24th) as a Multi-Single entry, has released
an interesting video of their operation. To view it, see: 
 https://vimeo.com/379807649

V3, BELIZE. Robert, W0YBS, will be active as V31CO from Caye Caulker
Island (NA-105) starting February 1st (2020), for 3 weeks. Activity will
be on various HF bands using CW, RTTY and FT8. Robert bought a condo on
the Island of Caye Caulker in October of 2019. He plans on being active
on a fairly regular basis throughout the coming years. QSL via his home
callsign, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW. He will upload LoTW logs on a
regular basis, but will not send QSL cards until returning to his home
in Colorado. For more details and updates, see: http://w0ybs.com

VO2, CANADA (Zone 2). Operators Chris/VE3FU (VO2AC), Frank/VO1HP and
Dave/VE9CB (VO2AAA) will be active as VO2AC during the 2020 CQWW 160M CW
Contest (January 24-26th) from the Point Amour Lighthouse, the tallest
lighthouse in Atlantic Canada, on the south coast of the rare Labrador
(LB) multiplier. Point Amour is located in the southeast part of CQ
Zone 2, and has a salt water path from NE clockwise through SW. The team
will be putting in a serious Multi-Op/High-Power effort as VO2AC. Expect
some pre contest activity as VO2AC, VO1HP/VO2 and VO2AAA on 160m as they
get their wire vertical array and beverage working; they will especially
be looking for JA/Asia on CW and FT8. If time permits, they may also be 
active before the contest on 80m, 60m, 40m and the FM satellites (AO-85, 
AO-91 and AO-92)from Grid GO11.

Z8, SOUTH SUDAN. Diya, YI1DZ, continues to be active as Z81D from Juba
for at least another 6 months. Activity has been on 80-10 meters (possibly
60m) using SSB, FT8 and possibly FT4. QSL via OM3JW.