Thursday, January 31, 2008

Happy Anniversary US Space Program



Today marks the 50th anniversary of the launch of the first US space satellite Explorer 1.

In 1957 an "International Geophysical Year" (IGY) was organized, later extended to 1958, and both the Soviet Union and the USA announced their intention to launch that year artificial Earth satellites. The USSR was first, sending off its first "Sputnik" ("satellite") on October 4, followed by Sputnik II on November 3. However the official US entry, the Vanguard satellite, went up in flames in a launch failure in December. The US then authorized a back-up spacecraft mission, initiated unofficially a few years earlier by Wernher Von Braun. Von Braun had built large missiles for the US Army and had all the hardware ready, but until then was given no permission to launch a satellite.

The spacecraft, named Explorer 1, was launched 31 January 1958 and was designed and built by a group of scientists from the University of Iowa, led by James Van Allen. That group had been previously credited with the first observation of auroral electrons from a rocket; incidentally, the idea of the IGY itself started in 1950 at a dinner party at Van Allen's home (at the time, near Washington).

Unlike the orbits of the Sputniks, that of Explorer 1 was quite elliptical and it rose to an altitude of about 2500 kilometers. Furthermore, since it had been decided to omit the spacecraft's tape recorder on the first flight, data could only be collected when Explorer 1 was within range of a tracking station, for at most a few minutes each time. The data were puzzling. At low points of the orbit the number of energetic particles was near the expected value, but at the high portions of the orbit none were counted at all.

Story courtesy of http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/Education/wexp13.html

Friday, January 18, 2008

HAARP - LWA Moon Bounce Experiment Jan 19-20

The HF Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) in Alaska, and the Long Wavelength Array (LWA) in New Mexico, conducted a bistatic low frequency lunar radar experiment in October 2007. A brief description of the experiment and an example of the lunar echo radio waves received may be found in this press release.

HAARP and LWA are planning an additional lunar echo experiment for 19 and 20 January 2008. Interested radio amateurs and short wave listeners are invited to participate in this experiment by listening for the lunar echoes and submitting reports. The following table shows the planned schedule, where dates and times are in Universal Time (UTC):

HAARP-LWA Experiment Schedule



Date From To Transmitted Frequency
(UTC) UTC Hr:Min) (MHz)

19 January 2008 05:00 06:00 6.7925
06:00 07:00 7.4075

20 January 2008 06:30 07:30 6.7925
07:30 08:30 7.4075



Based on the previous experiment, we believe it should be possible to hear the lunar
echoes with a standard communications receiver and an antenna as simple as a 40 meter dipole. If you have a 40 meter beam antenna, point it in the direction of the moon. Other antennas may also yield acceptable results. The format for the transmissions will follow a five second cycle as shown in the following figure.




The HAARP transmitter will transmit for the first two seconds of the five second cycle. The next three seconds will be quiet to listen for the lunar echo. Then HAARP will transmit again for two seconds, repeating the cycle for the first hour using the first HF frequency. During the second hour, this periodic five second cycle will be repeated but using a different HF frequency as shown in the table above. Transmissions from HAARP during each two-second period, will be carrier only (no modulation). Therefore, listeners should use the CW mode on their receiver to hear HAARP and the lunar echo. We hope to operate this experiment using the frequencies given in the table above. However, depending on frequency occupancy at the time of operation, it may be necessary to adjust the frequency slightly.

Depending on ionospheric conditions, it may or may not be possible to hear the HAARP transmission via skywave. If conditons allow, the HAARP transmission will always be heard during the first two seconds after the five second cycle starts, for example, between 05:00:00 and 05:00:02 and again between 05:00:05 and 05:00:07. The lunar echoes will occur during the three second "quiet" period after HAARP transmits, for example during the interval 05:00:02 until 05:00:05 and again between 05:00:07 until 05:00:10. Depending on a number of factors, you may hear HAARP, the lunar echo, both or neither.

We are interested in receiving signal reports from radio amateurs who may be able to detect, or not detect, the lunar echo or the transmitted skywave pulse from HAARP. It will be helpful if your report includes your call sign and the type and location of your receiving equipment and antennas. Reports may be sent to the following address: mbreport@haarp.alaska.edu.

Saturday, January 12, 2008

Saint Barthelemy Amateur Radio Update

After much controversy Bill Moore on the DXCC Desk has ruled on the OH2BH and OH0XX DXpedition to Saint Barthelemy. See my original story at http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/2007/12/fjoh2am-ops-may-not-count-for-new-fj.html

The final word from the ARRL website page http://www.arrl.org/blog/DXCC%20Dialog

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Announcement from the ARRL DXCC Desk
Jan 11, 2008 15:50 ET
Bill Moore, NC1L

FJ/OH2AM

This operation by OH2BH and OH0XX was conducted under CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01. This Recommendation makes it possible for radio amateurs from CEPT countries (and certain non-CEPT countries) to operate in other CEPT countries without obtaining an individual temporary license from the visited CEPT country.

Complaints were received from several individuals. The main thrust of the complaints is that the operators used a club call for which Laine is station trustee, rather than their individual callsigns.

The intention of the operators in using a single callsign was to limit the number of duplicate contacts. Many DXpeditions use club or special-issue callsigns for this reason. The Recommendation makes no mention of club callsigns but says that the visiting license holder "must use his national call sign preceded by the call sign prefix of the visited country." Other operations using club callsigns from French territory, including in the Caribbean, have taken place under provisions of the Recommendation and have been credited for DXCC.

Since the question was raised, checking with various CEPT administrations and with the European Radiocommunication Office (ERO) has revealed different views regarding the use of club callsigns under the Recommendation. The ERO observes that the use of a club callsign could prevent an administration from determining whether a particular operator is qualified and concludes, "Club members, including the holder of the club call sign, should use their national personal call signs when abroad."

In the case of FJ/OH2AM, the two operators clearly were qualified to operate in St Barthelemy under the Recommendation. They utilized a call authorized to them by their national authority. The purpose of a radio station callsign is to identify the administration and the licensee responsible for the operation of the station. The use of FJ/OH2AM rather than FJ/OH2BH and FJ/OH0XX did not thwart this purpose.

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And this update from ICPO and David Raycroft:

We are delighted to inform you that QSL cards for the FJ/OH2AM operation
will start going out early next week now that the operation is
accredited for the DXCC award program as of January 11, 2008.

Full-color cards will be arriving from the printers in Poland on the
15th of January (Tuesday) and we will start processing direct requests
immediately. The legwork is already done, all envelopes opened and
sorted.

Those 23.340 QSOs made by the duo represent 11.730 individual DXers and
obviously that many QSL requests as well. The logbook will be included
in the LoTW later this year.

Because of the close DXCC Honor Roll submission date, March 31, 2008, we
plan to make out all QSLs received during January to be released during
the month of February. By the 20th of February we will release a status
report and probably another option to bypass the queue for those who at
that time still want to have QSLs received for a late March submission.

We thank you for your kind words about the operation and support
received through the QSL mail.

Jarmo J. Jaakola, OH2BN
Kiilletie 5 C 30
FI-00710 Helsinki
FINLAND

http://www.kolumbus.fi/oh2bn/barts.htm

Islands, Castles & Portable Operations 1/10-1/18/2008

I.C.P.O. Bulletin (January 10-18, 2008) Islands, Castles & Portable Operations. Listing is by calendar date (day/month/year). Note: Listings with announced digital operations are in italics.

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10/01/2008: Gildas, TU5KG has left for a new campaign in the southern Indian Ocean area, around Kerguelen and Crozet Islands. For 2008 he will use a new callsign; now it's FT5XR and FT5WN and also maritime mobile. No particular dates for the moment. Further information to follow. QSL via F4EFI, bureau or direct. [F4EFI]

10/01/2008: John, KC4ZGQ will be active January 10-13th from Sapelo Island (NA-058, USi GA-007, WW Loc. EM91JL), Georgia. He plans to work mostly 17, 20 and 40 metres. Primary will be around 14.260 MHz (+/- QRM). Further information can be found on his web site at http://kc4zgq.com/sapelo/ [RSGB IOTA]

10/01/2008: JI5USJ and JI5RPT will be active as KH0/JI5USJ and AH0V from Saipan (OC-086), January 10-14th. They plan to operate CW, SSB and digital modes on 80-6 metres, plus satellite and 60m for the US. QSL KH0/JI5USJ via JI5USJ, QSL AH0V via JI5RPT. A web page is available at http://www.ji5rpt.com/ah0v/ [425 DX News]
10/01/2008: Jack, V51KC is currently using the special Strange Radio Team (http://www.strangeradioteam.com/) call sign V55SRT from Okahandja, Namibia, until September, 2008. QRV on all bands, using SSB, RTTY, BPSK and PSK-31. QSL via IZ8EDJ. [F5NQL]

10/01/2008: Salvatore, YA/IZ1BWB is positioned in Kabul and has been QRV since December 23, 2007. He will remain there until August, 2008. He is regularly working for about two hours starting around 0830 UTC. His equipment consists of a FT-897D with 100 watts and a folded dipole. He has been spotted in CW on 20m already. QSL via his home call, direct or bureau. [DXNL]

11/01/2008: Peter, DL9DAK will be active from Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands as follows: January 11-14th as DL9DAK/HC2 from Guayaquil, Ecuador; January 15-18th as DL9DAK/HC8 from the Galapagos Islands (SA-004); and January 19-21st as DL9DAK/HC2 from Guayaquil, Ecuador. He will operate only digital modes (PSK, Olivia, RTTY, Feldhell, etc.) on 17, 20 and from time to time 40 metres, with vertical dipoles and 50 watts. QSL via home call. Further information at: http://www.dl9dak.de/ [425 DX News]

12/01/2008: The "F6KOP Team" will be active as J5C from Bubaque Island (AF-020, WLOTA LH-1146), Guinea Bissau, January 12-21, 2008. Operators include Frank/F4AJQ (leader) Jean-Marc/F8IXZ (logistic) Pascal/F5JSD, John/F5VHQ, Franck/F5TVG, Matthieu/F5PED, BenoîtF8PDR, Romain/F8BUI, Jean-Paul/F8BJI, Gérard/F2JD, Gérard/F2VX, Bernard/F9IE, Bill/N2WB, Bob/N6OX and Dieter/OE8KDK. They plan to be QRV 160-10m, with 5 stations operating 24/24, using SSB, CW, digital modes, SSTV and FM. Equipment will be IC7000, FT480, TS857D, 4 ACOM 1010 amplifiers, 4 Spiderbeams, 2 verticals and 3 dipoles. QSL via F5TVG direct, bureau OK. Further information can be found on their web site at: http://www.j5c.eu/ [NG3K]

12/01/2008: Look for Gerhard, OE3GEA to be active as OE3GEA/J3 from the island of Grenada (NA-024, WLOTA LH-0718), January 12-24th. He will be QRV on all bands using low power CW only. QSL via home call, direct or bureau. [RSGB IOTA]

13/01/2008: Hans, DL7CM will be operating holiday style (with xyl) using the call 5H1CM from Uroa White Villa, Zanzibar Island (AF-032, Grid KI93, WLOTA LH-1080), Tanzania, January 13-24th. He plans to be QRV 160m to 6m, CW, SSB and RTTY with emphasis on the low bands. Hans will be using IC706 + 800 Watt amp, 31mtr long sloper for 160/80 and other wires. QSL via DL7CM direct preferred (Hans-Rainer Uebel, Hartmannsdorfer Chaussee 3, 15528 Spreenhagen, Germany), bureau ok. Further information can be found at http://www.qsl.net/dl7cm/5H1.htm [NG3K]

13/01/2008: Bob, I2JIN will be active January 13-27th as YS3/I2JIN from El Salvador. He plans to operate on all bands CW ony. QSL via home call. [425 DX News]

14/01/2008: Niels, OZ7FOC reports he will be active as EA8/OZ7FOC from Isla de Tenerife (DIE S-012, WLOTA LH-1276), Canary Islands (AF-004), January 14-26th. QSL via home call. [425 DX News]

15/01/2008: Peter, HA3AUI reports that he will be leaving for Africa just after the New Year, 2008. During the period of January 15th and April 15th he will be QRV from Senegal (6W/, 6W2SC) and Guinea-Bissau (J5/, J5UAP). Activity will be mainly digital modes, with some SSB, on 160-10m from 6W, 30-10m from J5. This will be a long, spare time operation. QSL via HA3AUI, direct or by the bureau. [NG3K]

18/01/2008: Chae, HL5YI will be active as HL5YI/4 from Sorok Island [Sorok To] (AS-060, WLOTA LH-1252), January 18-21st. He plans to operate CW, RTTY and SSB on 80, 40, 20 and 10 metres, and to participate in the UK DX RTTY Contest (January 19-20th). QSL via home call, direct or bureau. [425 DX News]

18/01/2008: Unni, LA6RHA plans to be QRV from Svalbard [Spitsbergen Island] (EU-026, WLOTA LH-0125) using the call sign JW6RHA between January 18th and 24th. She will try to be on 14.248 MHz or down. This will be Unni's 16th time on JW-land. QSL is via LA6RHA. [NG3K]

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LOOKING AHEAD -

20/01/2008: Carlos, CE6AMN/p will be active from the Punta Lutrin Lighthouse (ARLHS CHI-071) 0000 UTC continuous through 2359 UTC on January 20th. QRV 10-40m, using SSB/CW. QSL via home call. [ARLHS]

21/01/2008: Andrew, G7COD, will be QRV for the forth time from Embudu Island, South Male Atoll (WLOTA LH-3911), Maldive Islands (AS-013) using the call 8Q7AK from January 21st to February 2nd. Using mainly SSB with a little CW, he will be operational every day from approximately 0900 to 1100, 1400 to 1600 and 1800 to 1830 UTC. Spot frequencies to be used are 7.093, 10.123, 14.147, 18.133, 21.253 and 24.953 MHz (+/- 10kHz). For complete details of operating times, spot frequencies, QSL information etc., please check 8Q7AK on QRZ.com. IMPORTANT NOTE: "I am completely up to date with the return of QSL's for those received direct and/or eQSL's. If you have not received yours, please send your QSL again". IMPORTANT NOTE: "If you have not received a return QSL for cards sent via the bureau this is because of the slow process rate. I will return cards via the bureau as soon as possible, as and when I receive them". All QSL's should be sent via the bureau or direct to G7COD. [Pete's-DX-Newsdesk]

09/02/2008: John, KX7YT will be active from Dhaka, Bangladesh as S21YV during the CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest (February 9-10th), as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via KX7YT (John Core, 9831 NW Silver Ridge Loop, Portland, Oregon 97229, USA). [NG3K]

11/02/2008: Ulf, DK5TX will be active February 11-17th as PA/DK5TX from Goeree Overflakkee (EU-146). QRV on 2m (SSB/slow-CW), 6m (SSB/slow-CW) and 10-80m (SSB/slow-CW/RTTY). QSL via home call, bureau preferred or direct (QRZ.com). Email request for a bureau card can be made to dk5tx@gmx.net instead of sending a QSL. [RSGB IOTA]

12/02/2008: Look for Yuri, VE3DZ to be active from Belize as V31?? (call pending) between February 12-18th. He will also participate in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 16-17th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via home call, direct or bureau. [NG3K]

13/02/2008: Koya/JI5RPT (JD1BLY), Motoaki/JE1EKS (JD1BMO) and Iseki/JM1WBB (JD1BMP) will be active from Chichijima Island (AS-031, WW Loc. QL17CB, JCG#1007), Ogasawara, on 160m to 6m + Satellite CW/SSB/DIGI + 2m WSJT EME from February 13-28th. The team will have 1st time 2m EME 500Watts license during in this expedition. They plan to focus on 160m, 80m and 2m EME. They also plan to be active in the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 16-17th) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via home calls. Further information on their web site at: http://www.ji5rpt.com/ogasawara2008/jd1-2008.php [NG3K]

15/02/2008: Look for Yoshi AB2ST/KH2, Toshi KB3LTB/KH2 and Toshi KG6WTW/KH2 to be QRV from the island of Guam (OC-026, USi GU-003S, WLOTA LH-0064), February 15-17th. Activity will be on HF, all bands. QSL all calls via JF1TEU, direct or bureau. [NG3K]

16/02/2008: Members of the Rhein Ruhr DX Association Contest Team, namely Falk/DK7YY, Ulf/DL5AXX, Tom/DL5LYM and Frank/DL8WAA will be active as CT9L from Santana, Madeira Island (AF-014, MA-001 for the Portuguese Islands Award, WLOTA LH-0053) during the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 16-17th), as a Multi-2 entry. Before and after the contest
they will be QRV as CT3/homecall. QSL CT9L via DJ6QT, direct or bureau. QSL others via their home calls. [NG3K]

01/03/2008: John, KX7YT will be active from Dhaka, Bangladesh as S21YV during the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 1-2nd), as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. QSL via KX7YT (John Core, 9831 NW Silver Ridge Loop, Portland, Oregon 97229, USA). [NG3K]

14/03/2008: Operators Axel/DH8AK, Sebastian/DO6ELW, Dirk/DK4DJ and Henning/DK9LB will be active as homecall/p from Fehmarn Island (EU-128, O-01 for the German Islands Award) from March 14-21st. They will also activate two lighthouses: Marienleuchte - Old Tower (ARLHS FED-151) and Marienleuchte - New Tower (ARLHS FED-016, WLOTA LH-0637). QRV 80-10m SSB/PSK31 and 2m SSB. QSL via home calls, direct or by the bureau. [RSGB IOTA]

25/03/2008: Mike, WA2VQW reports that the W2RZS amateur radio club will be active in the CQWW WPX SSB Contest (March 29-30th) from the island of Saint Barthelemy (NA-146, DIFO FJ-001, WLOTA LH-0377). The team, consisting of Bob/WB2NVR, Mike/WA2VQW, Bob/N2DVQ and Adam/N2DHH will be on the island from March 25th to April 1st. QRV on 160m and the WARC bands before and after the contest, and on the bands 160-10m during the
WPX. They will be looking out for the weak ones and especially the mobiles. A special call sign has been requested for this event. QSL via W2RZS for direct replies, and the bureau. [NG3K]

21/05/2008: Bob, K0OK will be active May 21-28th as VP5/K0OK from Providenciales Island [aka Provo] (NA-002). He will also participate in the CQ WPX CW Contest (May 24-25th) using the call sign VP5E. Outside the contest look for activity on all bands. QSL VP5/K0OK via home call, direct (Robert D Novak, 26502 Esteban Mission, Viejo, CA 92692-3355 USA) or LoTW. QSL VP5E via K0OK either direct, bureau or LoTW. [RSGB IOTA]

23/05/2008: Mike, DF3IS will be active May 23-28th from Thasos Island (EU-174, MIA MG-124, WLOTA LH-4186 [Nisos Thasos]), Greece, using the call sign J48IS. He will also participate in the CQWW WPX CW Contest (May 24-25th) using the same call. QSL via his home call, direct or bureau - NO E-QSL !!! [NG3K]

26/07/2008: Look for Jon, M0OVL/p to be active July 26-27th from Holy Island/Lindisfarne (EU-120) for the RSGB IOTA Contest. QSL via home call, direct or by the RSGB bureau. [RSGB IOTA]

06/09/2008: Tom, DL4VM will be active as OZ/DL4VM from Rømø Island (EU-125, NS-001 for the Danish Islands Award) between September 6th and 20th. He will work only QRP 5 watts and only CW on 40m, 20m and 15m and perhaps 10m and 6m depending on conditions. QSL via home call, direct (Thomas Scheliga, Stockenbruch 12, 66119 Saarbr, Germany) or by the bureau. [RSGB IOTA]

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SPECIAL EVENTS -

01/01/2008: Nike Hercules Memorial Year - The last symbol of Cold War left the launcher of an Italian Air Force base last November 24th 2006. Nike Hercules missile system was a Silent Guardian of the European N.A.T.O. skys and some Asian States for the all the second half of the last Century. Special event station II3NIK will be aired January, 1st 2008 until June, 30th 2008 to commemorate this event. QRV on 80m, 40m, 30m and 20m bands, using SSB, CW and PSK31 modes. All the contacts made with the II3NIK special event station will be confirmed via bureau or via direct to the address manager: IZ3JJD Andrea Zecchinato, Vicolo Gorizia 1/A, 35020 Albignasego (PD), ITALY. More information and photos at: http://www.iz3jjd.eu/I%20I%203%20N%20I%20K.htm [IZ3JJD]

01/01/2008: The Belgian Air Force Amateur Radio Association (BAFARA) celebrates its 40th anniversary and will activate the special call sign ON40BAF during 2008. QSL via ON6KN, direct or via bureau. [DXNL]

01/02/2008: Special event station 8J8SSF will be aired February 1-11th to celebrate the 60th Sapporo Snow Festival. The Sapporo Snow Festival (Sapporo Yuki Matsuri) is held during one week every February in Hokkaido's capital Sapporo. The festival is best known for the ice sculpture competition attracting artists from around the world, competing to create the largest and most elaborate artworks from ice and snow. QSL via the JARL bureau. [JJ1WTL/AC6IM]

09/02/2008: The Swedish Heathkit Club, SK7XN located in Huskvarna, Sweden, will be QRV February 9th (0700z-1800z) for Heathkit Activity Day and to celebrate the birth of Howard Anthony. Look for activity on 3.540, 3.700, 14.040 and 14.287 MHz. A special QSL card will be
available by sending a direct request to: Swedish Heathkit Club, Mats Gunnarsson, Baldersgatan 6, Ljungby SE-341 33, SWEDEN. The Swedish Heathkit Club web site can be found at: http://www.heathkit.se/ [SK7XN]

18/02/2008: The Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club is celebrating its 50th birthday in January 2008. The original club was formed as the 'Blue Mountains Radio Club' in 1958, by the late Bill Moore after the disastrous bushfires that raged through the Blue Mountains in November and December of 1957. Bill held the callsign VK2HZ. By request, VK2HZ was adopted by the current Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club Inc after Bill became a silent key. It was 1974 when the club became 'The Blue Mountains Amateur Radio Club'. The current club still has 3 members who were members of the original club. A special call sign to commemorate the 50 years has also been allocated by the ACMA. The call sign is VI2BMARC50 and will only be valid for 10 days from January 18th to January 28th 2008. A special QSL card will be available for all stations contacting VI2BMARC50. Further information can be found at http://www.bmarc.org/ [Southgate ARC]

15/05/2008: On the occasion of the European soccer competition 2008, special event stations OE2008A-Z and HB2008A-Z will be QRV May 15th up to June 30th. A relevant award is also available for working these stations. For more information visit: www.uska.ch/ [UBA HF News]

U.S.A. Special event station information can be found at http://www.arrl.org/contests/spev.html

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LIGHTHOUSE CALENDAR -

10/01-21/01 J5C: Bubaque Island WLOTA LH-1146 QSL F5TVG (d/b)
12/01-24/01 OE3GEA/J3: Grenada Island WLOTA LH-0718 QSL H/C (d/b)
13/01-24/01 5H1CM: Zanzibar Island WLOTA LH-1080 QSL DL7CM (d/b)
14/01-26/01 EA8/OZ7FOC: Isla de Tenerife WLOTA LH-1276 QSL H/C (d/b)
14/01-16/01 FJ/W6IZT: Saint Barthelemy WLOTA LH-0377 QSL H/C (d/b)
17/01-20/01 VK7AAP/3: Australia (Main) WLOTA LH-1520 QSL IK1PMR (d)
17/01-20/01 VK7CLA/3: Australia (Main) WLOTA LH-1520 QSL IK1PMR (d)
18/01-21/01 HL5YI/4: Sorok To WLOTA LH-1252 QSL H/C (d/b)
18/01-24/01 JW6RHA: Spitsbergen Island WLOTA LH-0125 QSL LA6RHA (d/b)

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J5C Diary -

Dakar, today (January 10th), 1800 utc from Frank, F4AJQ via Serge, F6AML and John, F5VHQ via Pilot Bruno, F5AGB.

All is OK at the sunset landing in Dakar.

At the Dakar Airport Murielle and Daniel, 6W7RP, made a big surprise by welcoming the crew members for their first steps 2008 in Africa.

During the flight, the crew members have been divided in little teams who were each assigned their instructions for setting up the gear.

All of them know what they will have to do and to each one tomorrow.

This being the case the schedule for the first signals is maintained, late in the evening, but maybe we will have a good surprise around the Bubaque sunset.

More than ever have a look on the DX clusters

More info and pictures to follow.

Maurice, F5NQL, Internet Communications Officer for J5C.

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TI9K - COCOS ISLAND - UPDATE

We started planning with one generator and 3 radio stations. But too many hams are waiting for a contact with Cocos Island. Now we'll have 7 stations plus one EME-station on air. Now we have 4 generators. But the costs are growing, too. Experienced hams, who worked on the radio on Scarboroughreef or Heard Island join the team. Please consider to support our team." Andy EA2CRX/DH8WR, teamleader. Full details at: http://www.ti9.eu.com/

TI9K will be QRV from Coco's island (NA-012) starting from 04/02/2008 up to 16/02/2008, all bands and modes. QSL via the bureau to EA2CRX. [UBA HF News]

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CCF PileUP! - read about about OH's on Saint Barthelemy - Words and pictures of Martti and Olli on St. Barthelemy: http://www.helsinki.fi/~korpela/PU/PU4_2007.pdf [AD1C]

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On-line logs for OC6I Isla La Leona SA-098 December 29-30, 2007 and OC1I Isla Lobos de Tierra SA-076 January 2-7, 2008 activations can be found at http://dx.qsl.net/logs/index.html
On-line log search for TO5FJ, St. Barthelemy, can be found at http://www.f6exv.org/LOG_ONLINE/ [K4HB]

CLIPPERTON 2008 - The website of the next Clipperton DXpedition 2008, is now available both in English and French languages at http://www.clipperton2008.org/ [F5NQL]

From Rafik, F5CQ his QSL manager - Freddy FO5RU is finally active until January 21st 2008, and hopes to be back home on January 25th. He's preparing his QSL card project, and the first batch of QSL cards is expected as soon as possible. Allow some time for the ending of the
project designing and printing. This weekend Rafik expects a new log update, to be uploaded at
http://www.f5cq.net/dxp/2007-FO5RU/searchlog_fo5ru.php. Freddy regrets so few European stations in his log. [F5NQL]

Marquesas FO - "Fellows: 0820 UTC, Thursday! Just got a message from FO that one station is now QRV on 40M CW with R8 hoisted in the dark. More power at their day break! Martti, OH2BH, Pilote" The log will soon be put online at:
http://sm0w.com/marquesas/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=30&Itemid=3
[F5NQL]

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Antarctic Activities Week
(http://www.waponline.it/Default.aspx?tabid=113)

Between February 18-24th will happen the 5th Antartic Activity Week (AAW). A lot of special call signs have been announced. Among them -

FRANCE - Look for Jean-Claude, F5IL to be active as TM5ICE (WAP-127) from February 15-19th, from his QTH in the Eure department/27 (Normandy). Mainly on digital modes, RTTY & PSK31. Active also in CW, for the DDFM award hunters, and a little SSB. QSL via F5IL, direct (sae + postage) or via the REF-Union-bureau.


FRANCE - TM8ANT (WAP-14) by François, F8DVD in HF, CW/SSB. QSL via F8DVD, direct (sae+postage) or via the REF-Union-bureau.

Other callsigns announced today January 10th 2008:

VA2WAP WAP-109 by VE3LHP - QSL via VE3LHP
VA3WAP WAP-111 by VA3NQ - QSL via VA3NQ
IR1ANT WAP-02 by I1HYW - QSL via I1HYW
UE6ANT WAP-24 by UA6GG (UA6HPR) - QSL via UA6HPR
IU8ANT WAP-44 by I8QJU - QSL via I8QJU
IO4WAP WAP-124 by IK4QIB - QSL via IK4QIB
OE3HM/AAW WAP-125 by OE3HM - QSL via OE3HM
OE3AGA/AAW WAP-126 by OE3AGA - QSL via OE3AGA
OE3WWB/AAW WAP-85 by OE3WWB - QSL via OE3WWB
OE3RPB/AAW WAP-86 by OE3RPB - QSL via OE3RPB
OE3KTA/AAW WAP-87 by OE3KTA - QSL via OE3KTA
OE3KKA/AAW WAP-88 by OE3KKA - QSL via OE3KKA
OE3AIS/AAW WAP-89 by OE3AIS - QSL via OE3AIS
OE3SGA/AAW WAP-90 by OE3SGA - QSL via OE3SGA
HB9ICE WAP-81 by HB9BHY @ Swissair Radio Club - QSL via HB9BHY
VA7AAW WAP-70 by VE7IG - QSL via VE7IG
DA0ANT WAP-128 by DC2SF - QSL via DC2SF
IR1AAW WAP-129 by IW1CYZ - QSL via IW1CYZ
IR2WAP WAP-130 by IK2FIQ - QSL via IK2FIQ
II3ANT WAP-131 by IZ3DBA (CW only) - QSL via IZ3DBA
N5T/ANT WAP-91 by W5BOS - QSL via W5BOS
IO0ANT WAP-35 by I0YKN - QSL via I0YKN
II2EFA WAP-132 by Italian Air Force & ARI Gallarate - QSL via IW2MNO
K4A WAP-73 by K6EID - QSL via K6EID
GB0ANT WAP-72 by M0OXO - QSL via M3ZYZ
IP0ANT WAP-136 by IZ0HAM - QSL via IZ0HAM
GB4IPY WAP-98 by M0OXO - QSL via M3ZYZ
AO1WAP WAP-137 by EA1CUB, EA1WX, EC1AIJ, EC1KV, EB1BOA, EA1EEY, EA1AST,
EA1GHT, EA1AUM - QSL via EA1CS
II1ANT WAP-032 by IZ1JJE, IZ1HKE, IZ1FHF, IZ1GJK, IW1QN [F5NQL]

===========================================

73 and Good DX!
Dave Raycroft - VA3RJ
Home of ICPO: http://webhome.idirect.com/~va3rj/
Contest Calendar - DX Calendar - Lighthouse Activations
Join ICPO e-Group: http://webhome.idirect.com/~va3rj/icpo_mail.html

===========================================

This Weekend on Ham Radio 12-13 Jan 2008


The North American CW QSO Party, HuntingLions in the Air Contest, 070 Club PSKFest, NCCC CW Sprint, MI QRPJanuary CW Contest, Midwinter CW Contest, NRAU-Baltic CW Contest,Midwinter Phone Contest, NRAU-Baltic SSB Contest and the DARC10-Meter Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend.

See the ARRL Contest Branch page http://www.arrl.org/contests/, the ARRL Contester's Rate Sheet http://www.arrl.org/contests/rate-sheet/ and the WA7BNM Contest Calendar http://www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/index.html for more info.

ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA


We just saw eight days of sunspots, but now the solar disk is spot-free. The big story this week is the sighting of the first spot of sunspot Cycle 24. The sunspot has now faded away, but a new spot is emerging near the solar equator, and it has the same polarity as the Cycle 24 spot last week. This is odd, because the spots from the new cycle should emerge at high latitudes, like last week's did.

News reports this week said Cycle 24 has begun, but actually Cycle 23 hasn't ended yet. Cycle 24 spots should gradually increase in number, while Cycle 23 spots fade away. Some time around solar minimum we should see the count of Cycle 24 spots equal, and then outnumber Cycle 23 spots. I believe that is really the start of the next cycle, when we begin to see more Cycle 24 spots emerging than Cycle 23 spots.

Average sunspot numbers this week were nearly 10 points above last week's average, at 13.3. Unsettled geomagnetic conditions were observed on January 5-8. Last week the prediction for solar flux for earlier this week looked optimistic. Go to
http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/ftpmenu/forecasts/45DF.html and click on the December 30 forecast.

Note the prediction for solar flux of 85 for January 4-11. Then click back, and look at December 31. On that day it predicted a solar flux of 90 for January 5-7. The January 1 prediction is even higher at solar flux 95 for January 7-8. The next day, January 2 shows flux at 95 for January 7-9. January 3 is less optimistic, with flux peaking at 90 for January 9-11, although some of the dates are mislabeled. January 4 shows flux peaking for one day, January 6, at 85. None of those predictions came to pass, and solar flux was actually below 80 the entire week.

NOAA and the Air Force predict planetary A index values for January 11-17 at 5, 5, 15, 15, 10, 12 and 10. If you want an updated forecast after 2100z today, use the URL above and go to the January 10 forecast (if January 11 isn't shown yet). Then change a series of characters in the URL from 011045DF.txt to 011145DF.txt, and hit the Enter key. You should see an updated forecast for solar flux and planetary A index before the link appears on the main page.

Australia's IPS Radio and Space Services released a warning for a geomagnetic disturbance caused by a high speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole for January 13-14. This is reflected in the forecast in the previous paragraph, calling for a planetary A index of 15 for both those days. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions January 11-12, quiet to unsettled January 13, active conditions January 14, unsettled to active January 15, and unsettled conditions January 16-17.

For HF radio propagation, we would generally like to see sunspot numbers high, and A index geomagnetic readings low.

Last week Randy Crews, W7TJ reported excellent short path propagation to Europe on 160 and 80 meters on the night of January 3. Bob Culbertson, WA3YGQ of Cranberry, Pennsylvania said 80 meter propagation to Europe was the best he ever heard, with signals 20 db over S9. At 1230z he could hear Japan quiet strongly.

But Ken Gordon, W7EKB of Moscow, Idaho runs regional message traffic on 80 meters, and reported that the same night he experienced terrible conditions on 80 meters. Ken was net control for the RN7 net on 3560 kHz at 0330z and again at 0530z, and he could hardly hear anyone. But stations sitting at 800 miles and beyond were booming in. Lately he's had an experience earlier in the evening on a net at 0030z on 3910 kHz in which signals from Montana are readable, but 10-15 minutes later they fade away and signals from the West Coast come in quite strong. The skip seems to be going long.

Jon Jones, N0JK of Wichita, Kansas sent comments regarding 10 meter Winter E-skip. He noted a number of strong E-skip openings on Saturday night in December's 10 Meter Contest. He made many contacts running QRP into a 6-meter loop.

Jon said he agrees with Bill Van Alstyne, W5WVO of Rio Rancho, New Mexico, that "most of the winter E-skip occurs during late afternoon and early evening hours. Summer E-skip tends to occur more frequently in the mid-morning hours, with a secondary peak in the evening." He wonders why Winter and off-season E-skip is more likely in the evening, but Summer E-skip seems more frequent in the morning?

If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, k7ra@arrl.net.

For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/.

Sunspot numbers for January 3 through 9 were 13, 26, 12, 12, 14, 16 and 0 with a mean of 13.3. 10.7 cm flux was 79.3, 79, 79.7, 79.2, 77.7, 75.5, and 76.5 with a mean of 78.1. Estimated planetary A indices were 1, 2, 18, 13, 12, 13 and 6 with a mean of 9.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 1, 2, 13, 12, 10, 11 and 6, with a mean of 7.9.

Terrorist Threat Against the Eiffel Tower Monitored via Shortwave

NAT MWARA Graphic courtesy of Risto Hirvonen.

Reuters and the Associated Press are reporting on Friday that a threat against the Eiffel Tower in Paris has been intercepted by Portuguese Air Traffic Control authorities.

An unnamed source quoted by both news agencies said the vague threat was monitored on Thursday via an unidentified shortwave radio frequency. "It is true we intercepted a conversation with terrorist threats to the Eiffel Tower yesterday," the source, who asked not to be named. "Our air force informed the French air force of this matter."

The French daily Le Monde reported on Friday that the French intelligence services were tracking the authors of the threatening message.

Unfortunately, neither the AP or Reuters passed along what frequency in the shortwave spectrum this incident occurred on. Given what information we have from all sources our best guess here in the Monitoring Post is the intercept probably occurred on one of the NAT MWARA Aero frequencies from Santa Maria, Azores. Santa Maria is part of the NAT-A/E MWARA family of frequencies. You can get complete information on the NAT MWARA freqs and more on this blog on the link below.

http://mt-milcom.blogspot.com/2006/08/uk-thwarts-massive-terror-plot-north.html.

If you have any additional information on this event, please contact us at the email address in the masthead. Anonymity is guaranteed.

Solar Cycle 24 Begins

Author: Dr. Tony Phillips | Production Editor: Dr. Tony Phillips | Credit: Science@NASA

Jan. 10, 2008: Hang on to your cell phone, a new solar cycle has just begun.

"On January 4, 2008, a reversed-polarity sunspot appeared—and this signals the start of Solar Cycle 24," says David Hathaway of the Marshall Space Flight Center.

Above: Images of the first sunspot of Solar Cycle 24 taken by the NASA/ESA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO).

Solar activity waxes and wanes in 11-year cycles. Lately, we've been experiencing the low ebb, "very few flares, sunspots, or activity of any kind," says Hathaway. "Solar minimum is upon us."

The previous solar cycle, Solar Cycle 23, peaked in 2000-2002 with many furious solar storms. That cycle decayed as usual to the present quiet leaving solar physicists little to do other than wonder, when would the next cycle begin?

The answer is now.

"New solar cycles always begin with a high-latitude, reversed polarity sunspot," explains Hathaway. "Reversed polarity" means a sunspot with opposite magnetic polarity compared to sunspots from the previous solar cycle. "High-latitude" refers to the sun's grid of latitude and longitude. Old cycle spots congregate near the sun's equator. New cycle spots appear higher, around 25 or 30 degrees latitude.

The sunspot that appeared on January 4th fits both these criteria. It was high latitude (30 degrees N) and magnetically reversed. NOAA named the spot AR10981, or "sunspot 981" for short.

Sunspot 981 was small--only about as wide as Earth, which counts as small on the grand scale of the sun--and it has already faded away. But its three day appearance on Jan. 4-6 was enough to convince most solar physicists that Solar Cycle 24 is underway.

Doug Biesecker of NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center in Boulder, Colorado, likens sunspot 981 "to the first robin of spring. There's still snow on the ground, but the seasons are changing." Last year, Biesecker chaired the Solar Cycle 24 Prediction Panel, an international group of experts from many universities and government agencies. "We predicted that Solar Cycle 24 would begin around March 2008 and it looks like we weren't far off," he says.

Right: The first auroras of the new solar cycle, photographed Jan. 4, 2008, by Calvin Hall of Palmer, Alaska. [more]

The onset of a new solar cycle is significant because of our increasingly space-based technological society.

"Solar storms can disable satellites that we depend on for weather forecasts and GPS navigation," says Hathaway. Radio bursts from solar flares can directly interfere with cell phone reception while coronal mass ejections (CMEs) hitting Earth can cause electrical power outages. "The most famous example is the Quebec outage of 1989, which left some Canadians without power for as much as six days."

Air travel can be affected, too.

Every year, intercontinental flights carry thousands of passengers over Earth’s poles. It's the shortest distance between, say, New York and Tokyo or Beijing and Chicago. In 1999, United Airlines made just twelve trips over the Arctic. By 2005, the number of flights had ballooned to 1,402. Other airlines report similar growth.

Solar storms have a big effect on polar regions of our planet," says Steve Hill of the Space Weather Prediction Center. "When airplanes fly over the poles during solar storms, they can experience radio blackouts, navigation errors and computer reboots all caused by space radiation." Avoiding the poles during solar storms solves the problem, but it costs extra time, money and fuel to "take the long way around."

Now for the good news: More solar storms also means more auroras—"the greatest show on Earth." During the last solar maximum, Northern Lights were spotted as far south as Arizona, Florida and California. Not so long ago, only visitors to the Arctic regularly enjoyed auroras, but with increasing attention to space weather and constantly improving forecasts, millions of people at all latitudes will know when to go out and look.



Much of this is still years away. "Intense solar activity won't begin immediately," notes Hathaway. "Solar cycles usually take a few years to build from solar minimum (where we are now) to Solar Max, expected in 2011 or 2012."

It's a slow journey, but we're on our way.

More Information


Strange but True: While Solar Cycle 24 has begun, Solar Cycle 23 has not ended. Both cycles will coexist for a period of time, perhaps a year or more, as one dies down and the other comes to life. In the months ahead we may see old-cycle sunspots and new-cycle sunspots on the sun at the same time.

NASA is gearing up to study the active sun during Cycle 24 with the launch of a new spacecraft, the Solar Dynamics Observatory. "SDO is a very special observatory," says project scientist Dean Pesnell at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Md. "Using a technique called helioseismic imaging, the spacecraft will be able to look inside the sun where solar activity begins. SDO will join SOHO, STEREO, Hinode and other missions already in orbit to improve our understanding of solar storms and lay the groundwork for better space weather forecasts."

Saturday, January 05, 2008

Has Solar Cycle 24 started? Looks like it has!!

Space Weather News for Jan. 4, 2008
http://spaceweather.com



Solar physicists have been waiting for the appearance of a reversed-polarity sunspot to signal the start of the next solar cycle. The wait is over. A magnetically reversed, high-latitude sunspot emerged today. This marks the beginning of Solar Cycle 24 and the first step toward a new solar maximum. Intense solar activity won't begin right away. Solar cycles usually take a few years to build from solar minimum (where we are now) to Solar Max (expected in 2011 or 2012). It's a slow journey, but we're on our way!

Solar and Geophysical Activity SDF 004

Joint USAF/NOAA Report of Solar and Geophysical Activity SDF Number 004 issued at 2200Z on 04 Jan 2008.

IA. Analysis of Solar Active Regions and Activity from 03/2100Z to 04/2100Z: Solar activity was very low. Region 980 (S06E29)produced one low level B-class flare during the past 24 hours. The region continued to decay and is now classified as a simple Axx sunspot group. New Region 981 (N30E22) is classified as a Cso beta
sunspot group. This region is likely a new solar cycle sunspot group. A very faint backsided CME was observed on LASCO C2 imagery at 4/1454Z.

IB. Solar Activity Forecast: Solar activity is expected to be very low. There remains a slight chance for an isolated C-class event.

IIA. Geophysical Activity Summary 03/2100Z to 04/2100Z: The geomagnetic field was quiet.

IIB. Geophysical Activity Forecast: The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled, with isolated active periods for the forecast period (5-7 January). Isolated minor storm periods are possible at high latitudes on 7 January.

III. Event Probabilities 05 Jan-07 Jan
Class M 01/01/01
Class X 01/01/01
Proton 01/01/01
PCAF green

IV. Penticton 10.7 cm Flux
Observed 04 Jan 079
Predicted 05 Jan-07 Jan 080/080/080
90 Day Mean 04 Jan 073

V. Geomagnetic A Indices
Observed Afr/Ap 03 Jan 001/001
Estimated Afr/Ap 04 Jan 001/001
Predicted Afr/Ap 05 Jan-07 Jan 008/008-008/010-010/015

VI. Geomagnetic Activity Probabilities 05 Jan-07 Jan
A. Middle Latitudes
Active 20/20/25
Minor storm 10/10/15
Major-severe storm 01/01/05

B. High Latitudes
Active 25/25/30
Minor storm 10/15/20
Major-severe storm 01/05/10

ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA



It's a new year, and now time to review 2007 sunspot cycle progression. In 2006 there was a consensus that solar minimum would occur in early 2007, but we actually may not be there still. The latest projection in the Weekly Preliminary Report and forecast (see http://www.swpc.noaa.gov/weekly/ and page 8 in the January 2 issue) shows the bottom of the cycle between December 2007 and April 2008. Note the two predictions for the next cycle, a high estimate and a low estimate, reflecting the split consensus for the Cycle 24 prediction.

Also note the monthly (even though the URL says weekly) forecast issued on January 2 at,
http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/Predict.txt shows a cycle minimum for February 2008.

Exactly one year ago in Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP001 we wrote that 2007 would be "the year we'll likely see the end of sunspot Cycle 23, the beginning of Cycle 24, and the minima between cycles." Now a year later we might say the same about 2008.

The yearly average of the daily sunspot numbers for 1999-2007 were 136.3, 173, 170.3, 176.6, 109.2, 68.6, 48.9, 26.1 and 12.8. Average daily solar flux for the same years was 153.7, 179.6, 181.6, 179.5, 129.2, 106.6, 91.9, 79.9 and 73.1.

Compare 2006-2007 above with the last solar minimum, when in 1995-1997 the yearly averages of sunspot numbers were 28.7, 13.2 and 30.7.

In February 2007 we began calculating and tracking a 3-month moving average of daily sunspot numbers. This was done to try to spot trends. A three month period seemed like it might give us some smoothing of the often volatile daily numbers, but much shorter than the 12-month smoothed values.

Apr 06 38.5
May 06 39.7
Jun 06 28.9
Jul 06 23.3
Aug 06 23.5
Sep 06 21.2
Oct 06 24.1
Nov 06 23.1
Dec 06 27.3
Jan 07 22.7
Feb 07 18.5
Mar 07 11.2
Apr 07 12.2
May 07 15.8
Jun 07 18.7
Jul 07 15.4
Aug 07 10.2
Sep 07 5.4
Oct 07 3
Nov 07 6.9

Why is November the last month on our list? Because it is the center month for the latest 3-month average, which is for October through December. If we were instead calculating a 12-month moving average, at the end of December the latest number would center on
June 2007.

Last week's bulletin reported 10-meter openings, and said that E-skip was unexpected at this time of year. Actually there is a small peak in sporadic-E propagation centered around Winter
Solstice, about 1/5 to 1/8 the intensity of the Summer sporadic-E season. The propagation reported by K7HP occurred just hours from the precise time of solstice.

One of several who spoke up concerning Winter E season in response to last week's bulletin was Bill Van Alstyne, W5WVO of Rio Rancho, New Mexico. Bill said that Winter E-skip is, "more likely to happen during the evening hours than during the morning, while Summer Es occurs during morning and evening about equally -- though that's just percentages and probability. We just had a nice morning Es opening a couple days ago on 6 meters."

Another Winter solstice 10-meter report came from Joaquin Montoya, EA2CCG, who reported working a number of Italian and French stations with his "fishing rod antenna." If you can read Spanish, or even want to try out one of those online language translators, check out his blog at, http://ea2ccg.blogspot.com/.

A December 30 10-meter E-skip report came from Oleh Kernytskyy, KD7WPJ of Saint George, Utah. In the morning he heard a strong beacon signal from K5AB, then he called CQ on CW with no response. He moved to phone and had many contacts, including the states of UT, NM, TX, OK, AR and FL.

See http://www.amfmdx.net/propagation/Es.html for an interesting treatment of E-layer propagation.

So what's up for the next week? Sunspot 978 reappeared, and the daily sunspot numbers for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday were 11, 13 and 13, while solar flux was 79.4, 79.6 and 79.3. The US Air Force and NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center forecast rising solar flux values of 80 for January 4-5, 85 for January 6-8, and 90 for January 9-11. This is a slight move downward and outward. As recently as two days ago, they were predicting flux of 95 for
January 7-9.

They also forecast planetary A index for January 4-10 of 10, 10, 5, 8, 8, 5 and 5. The next unsettled to active period is predicted for January 13-14 with a planetary A index of 15. After 2100z today look for an updated forecast of solar flux and A index at http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/forecasts/45DF/010445DF.txt. Please note this is a hacked URL, that only works after 2100z Friday. It is updated daily, so for Saturday, January 5 after 2100z, the URL would end /010545DF.txt. This hack was explained back in October 2007, in ARLP044, found at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/2007-arlp044.html.

Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet to unsettled conditions January 4-5, unsettled January 6-7, quiet to unsettled again on January 8, and quiet conditions January 9-10.

The last few days have had very quiet with stable geomagnetic conditions. This should correlate with lower absorption of HF signals. You can see interesting very quiet numbers at,
http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt. Note the planetary A index for January 2-3 was 1 for both days, but all of the K index readings for those days were 0. Contrast that with the high latitude college (Fairbanks, Alaska) readings for January 2. There is just one K index reading of 1, but the A index reading for that day is 0.

KN4LF writes that he has decided to make his daily propagation forecasts free again, and you can see them at, http://www.kn4lf.com/kn4lf6h.htm. He also has a sign-up option there for email bulletins.

Last, today I am buying a used car from a private party found via an online ad. The seller turned out to be the grand-daughter of the original holder of VE7BR, A.J. Spilsbury, a remarkable Canadian radio pioneer who manufactured HF gear for marine and wilderness
communications in British Columbia. Spilsbury was also an accomplished painter, photographer, author of several books, and he founded a regional airline. He became a Silent Key in 2003 at age 97. I found information on him by googling his last name alone, or combined with other search terms such as "radio."

If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, k7ra@arrl.net.

For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service web page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/.

Sunspot numbers for December 27 through January 2 were 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 11 and 13 with a mean of 3.4. 10.7 cm flux was 72.1, 71.8, 72.7, 75, 76.7, 79.4, and 79.6 with a mean of 75.3. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3 and 1 with a mean of 2.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 4, 2, 2, 3, 2, 2 and 1, with a mean of 2.3.

Islands, Castles & Portable Operations 1/3-1/11/2008

I.C.P.O. Bulletin (Jan 03-11, 2008) Islands, Castles & Portable Operations. Listing is by calendar date (day/month/year). Note: Listings with announced digital operations are in italics.


03/01/2008: Mala, F4FMI is currently active from Djibouti as J20MB since January 1st and will remain there until the end of March. Look for him to be QRV on 20, 17 and 15 metre SSB. QSL via F4FMI, when he gets back home. [F5NQL]

03/01/2008: Team RK3FWW will be active January 3-5th as UE3DDX/1 and UE3DDX/3 from RDA districts NV-05 (Borovichsky), Novgorodskaya oblast (NV, 144) and TV-19 (Bologovsky), Tverskaya oblast (TV, 126). QSL via RZ3FR, direct or bureau. [RX3RC]

04/01/2008: Pavel, RA3AUM will be active January 4-8th as RA3AUM/3 from RDA districts VL-07 (Kovrov City) and VL-19 (Kovrovsky), Vladimirskaya oblast (VL, 119). QSL via home call, direct or bureau. [RX3RC]

05/01/2008: Jacques, F1HRU/p will be QRV January 5th, if time allows, and plans to reactivate the Castle of St. Alba (DFCF 33-039, WW Loc. IN94QS), Department Gironde/33, Province of Aquitaine (DPF 02), using QRP. Activity should begin around 1000 UTC on 80m then QSY to 40m. This activity will count for the QRP challenge which began January 1st (qrpfr.free.fr/challenge/). QSL via home call, direct or bureau. [F1HRU]

05/01/2008: The 4M5DX Group is organizing a DXpedition to Paramaribo, Suriname, to take place January 5-11th. A multinational team of skilled and experienced operators is being gathered and plans are to have three stations active for 10 days. They will operate, as PZ5YV, on all bands (160-6 metres) CW, SSB and RTTY. Team members will be: Olli/OH0XX, Spiros/SV8CS, Pedro/HK1X, Alex/YV5SSB, Ramon/XE1KK, José/YV5TX, Diego/LU8ATX, Pasquale/YV5KAJ and Ramon/PZ5RA. Financial assistance is requested to offset the costs, for further information please visit: http://pz5yv.4m5dx.info/ . QSL via IT9DAA, direct or bureau. Logs will be uploaded to LoTW. [IT9DAA]

05/01/2008: Special Event Station UE1QSK will be active January 5-7th from RDA district VO-25 (Ust'-kubinski), Vologodskaya oblast (VO, 120). QSL via UA1RJ, direct or bureau. [RX3RC]

05/01/2008: Special Event Station UE1RDM will be active January 5-7th from RDA district VO-02 (Velikij Ustjug City), Vologodskaya oblast (VO, 120). QSL via UA1RJ, direct or bureau. [RX3RC]

05/01/2008: Special Event Station UE1RFF will be active January 5-7th from RDA district VO-16 (Kirillovsky), Vologodskaya oblast (VO, 120) and RFFA reference RFF-139 (Russky Sever National Park). QSL via UA1RJ, direct or bureau. [RX3RC]

06/01/2008: Paul/F6EXV and Yuichi/JR2KDN, helped by Phil/FJ5DX have scheduled to stay on St. Barthelemy (NA-146, WLOTA LH-0377) from January 6th to 20th. Active from 160-10m, with 2 complete stations with PA's beams verticals and wires, using SSB, CW and RTTY. CW by Paul who says he's not primarly a CW op, so he asks for some patience. Call signs and QSL routes: FJ/F6EXV via F6EXV and FJ/JR2KDN via JR2KDN. A web site for the activity can be found at http://www.f5kbw.org/pagesperso/f6exv/index.html, where the logs will be uploaded every 2 or 3 days. [F5NQL]

06/01/2008: Gregg, W6IZT reports that he will be operating his K3 transceiver from the island of Sint Maarten (NA-105) as PJ7/W6IZT between January 6-8th and January 11-13th. He will be on the island of St. Barthelemy (NA-146, WLOTA LH-0377) from January 9-11th as FJ5KH. QRV on 80-10m (and 160m from FJ) CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via home call. [W6IZT]

06/01/2008: Team RK3IWT will be active January 6-7th as RK3IWT/1 from RDA district NV-06 (Valdajsky), Novgorodskaya oblast (NV, 144). QSL via RZ3FR, direct or bureau. [RX3RC]

07/01/2008: Steve, G0UIH plans to be active as VK2IAY/4 from South Molle Island (OC-160), January 7-11th. As with previous DXpeditions the main operation will be centered around 14.260 MHz, with the possibility of 15 and 17m also. Equipment will be the 706MK2G used previously on VK and 3D2 activations with homebrew wire dipoles. QSL route is fine either
direct or via the bureau. Check out the website for further details at: http://www.percy.me.uk/ [RSGB IOTA]

08/01/2008: Jacques, F6HMJ, will be active from Senegal as 6W/F6HMJ from January 8-29th. Activity is usually on 80-10 metre CW, SSB and RTTY. He will use an IC-706 MKIIG and HF9V. QSL via home call. [OPDX]

08/01/2008: Simone, IZ5JNQ reports he will be active from Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (NA-096, WLOTA LH-2974), January 8-26th. He plans to operate SSB and digital modes on 10, 15 and 20 metres. QSL direct to home call. [425 DX News]

09/01/2008: Jouko/OH1RX, Pertti/OH2PM, Veijo/OH6KN and Juha/OH8NC will be active from Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands (OC-027, DIFO FO-023), January 9-22nd. They plan to have up to three stations running and to concentrate on 160-30 metres. Suggested frequencies are: 1822, 3502, 3523, 7008, 7023, 10108, 14008, 14023, 18068, 21008, 21023, 24898 and 28008 kHz (CW); 1845, 3790, 7050, 19195, 18145, 21295, 24945 and 28495 kHz (SSB); 14080, 21080 and 28070 kHz (RTTY). QSL via OH2PM, direct or bureau. [425 DX News]

09/01/2008: Richard, VA7MJR/p will be QRV from Entrance Island (NA-075, CIsA BC-176) and lighthouse (ARLHS CAN-171, TWLHD WLH VE-055, WLOTA LH-1908, WW Loc. CN89CF), British Columbia, from January 9-20th. He plans to be active on 80-6 metre SSB. Times of operation uncertain, determined by work schedule. QSL via home call. [VA7MJR]

10/01/2008: JI5USJ and JI5RPT will be active as KH0/JI5USJ and AH0V from Saipan (OC-086), January 10-14th. They plan to operate CW, SSB and digital modes on 80-6 metres, plus satellite and 60m for the US. QSL KH0/JI5USJ via JI5USJ, QSL AH0V via JI5RPT. A web page is available at http://www.ji5rpt.com/ah0v/ [425 DX News]

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LOOKING AHEAD -

13/01/2008: Hans, DL7CM will be operating holiday style (with xyl) using the call 5H1CM from Uroa White Villa, Zanzibar Island (AF-032, Grid KI93, WLOTA LH-1080), Tanzania, January 13-24th. He plans to be QRV 160m to 6m, CW, SSB and RTTY with emphasis on the low bands. Hans will be using IC706 + 800 Watt amp, 31mtr long sloper for 160/80 and other wires. QSL via DL7CM direct preferred (Hans-Rainer Uebel, Hartmannsdorfer Chaussee 3, 15528 Spreenhagen, Germany), bureau ok. Further information can be found at: http://www.qsl.net/dl7cm/5H1.htm [NG3K]

26/01/2008: Siggi, TF3CW will be active from Seltjarnarnes, Iceland (EU-021, WLOTA LH-2975), during the CQ 160-Metre CW Contest (January 26-27th) as a Single-Op/Single-Band (40m) entry. QSL via LX1NO. [NG3K]

09/02/2008: This year, the team composed of the French pilot Sebastien LOEB and his co-pilot Daniel ELENA have won the World Rallies Championship (WRC), for the 4th consecutive time. To honour them, a team of hams from the French Saone et Loire area will be active on HF, VHF
and UHF, all modes between February 9th and 23rd, using the special call sign TM4WRC. QSL via F4ELU. [F5NQL]

16/02/2008: Kurt, W6PH will be QRV as VP9/W6PH from the QTH of VP9GE in Hamilton Parish, Bermuda (NA-005, WLOTA LH-0201), during the ARRL DX CW Contest (February 16-17th) as a Single-Op/All-Band/Low-Power entry. QSL via home call, direct only. [NG3K]

01/03/2008: Craig, AH8DX will be active as FJ/AH8DX from St. Barthelemy Island (NA-146, DIFO FJ-001, WLOTA LH-0377) during the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 1-2nd) as a Single-Op/All-Band entry. Also QRV RTTY and WARC before and after the contest. QSL via home call (QRZ.com). [NG3K]

01/03/2008: Look for Kurt, W6PH to be signing VP9/W6PH from the VP9GE QTH in Hamilton Parish, Bermuda (NA-005, WLOTA LH-0201), as a Single-Op/All-Band/Low-Power entry in the ARRL DX SSB Contest (March 1-2nd). QSL via home call, direct only. [NG3K]

15/05/2008: Starting on May 15th in the afternoon until May 23rd, a French team led by Tony, F8ATS, will go to St Mary's, Isles of Scilly (EU-011, WW Loc. IN69UV). During the stay, they hope to manage two hours of activity from the rare grid square IN79jx. They will use M/homecalls and will be active on 160-10m HF, 2m VHF and 70cm UHF, CW and SSB. St
Mary's also counts for the Worked Lighthouses on the Air award, under the reference: WLOTA 0408. QSL all calls via F8ATS, direct or bureau. Further information to follow. [F5NQL]

13/07/2008: Bernd, DL6IAN and his wife, DO6IAN will be QRV holiday style from Liechtenstein between July 13-18th as HB0/DL6IAN and HB0Y/DO6IAN. Activity will be mostly SSB with some CW. QSL via home calls, direct or by the DARC bureau. [NG3K]

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SPECIAL EVENTS -

01/01/2008: Special event station 8J7OZE will be aired between January 1st and September 30th to commemorate "The Birth of Oze National Park". Opened on August 30, 2007, the park is an area consisting of wetlands and mountains in Chubu, Japan. The park's area includes the marshes and the mountains in the Oze area, formerly part of the Nikko National Park, and other nearby areas including the Aizu-Komagatake and Tashiroyama mountains. The park is 37,200-hectares in area and includes parts of Fukushima, Tochigi, Gunma and Niigata prefectures. QSL via the JARL bureau. [JJ1WTL/AC6IM]

01/01/2008: Hardy, DL3KWF, has been licensed for 50 years now and thus activates the special callsign DM50KWF throughout the year 2008. QSLs via DL3KWF. Further information can be found on his web site at: http://www.mydarc.de/dl3kwf [DXNL]

01/01/2008: The special event call sign EI100SI will be aired from January 1 to December 31, 2008 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Boy Scouts in Ireland. QSL info will be available on QRZ.com. [F5NQL]

01/01/2008: Look for the following special event stations to be active during the month of January - GB1RAF, a Royal Air Force station, GB2SJA which celebrates the St John Ambulance charity, and GB5OOT for old timers. All will operate on 160 metres to 70 centimetres. QSL via the RSGB bureau. [GB2RS]

05/01/2008: Special callsign II4TRI will be aired on all bands and modes from Reggio Emilia, January 5-20th, to celebrate the 211th anniversary of the first Italian tricolour flag. QSL via IK4SWX, direct or bureau. [425 DX News]

05/01/2008: Special event station GB1JRC marks the opening of the Pontefract Junior Radio Club on Saturday, January 5th. Activity will be during the afternoon on all bands from 160 metres to 70 centimetres. QSL via the RSGB bureau. [GB2RS]

U.S.A. Special event station information can be found at: http://www.arrl.org/contests/spev.html

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LIGHTHOUSE CALENDAR -

02/01-07/01 OC1I: Isla Lobos de Tierra ARLHS:PER-053, LOTA:1521 QSL DL5WM (d/b)

06/01-20/01 FJ/F6EXV: St. Barthelemy WLOTA:0377 QSL F6EXV (d/b)

06/01-20/01 FJ/JR2KDN: St. Barthelemy WLOTA:0377 QSL JR2KDN (d/b)

07/01-13/01 ZL/IK1PMR: New Zealand (N. Island) WLOTA:0069 QSL IK1PMR (d)

07/01-13/01 ZL/IZ1GLO: New Zealand (N. Island) WLOTA:0069 QSL IK1PMR (d)

08/01-26/01 HI/IZ5JNQ: Dominican Republic WLOTA:2974 QSL IZ5JNQ (d)

09/01-22/01 FO/OH1RX: Nuku Hiva Island WLOTA:2030 QSL OH2PM (d/b)

09/01-22/01 FO/OH2PM: Nuku Hiva Island WLOTA:2030 QSL OH2PM (d/b)

09/01-22/01 FO/OH6KN: Nuku Hiva Island WLOTA:2030 QSL OH2PM (d/b)

09/01-22/01 FO/OH8NC: Nuku Hiva Island WLOTA:2030 QSL OH2PM (d/b)

09/01-20/01 VA7MJR/P: Entrance Island ARLHS:CAN-171, WLH:VE-055, WLOTA:1908 QSL H/C (d/b)

10/01-21/01 J5C: Bubaque Island WLOTA:1146 QSL F5TVG (d/b)

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QSL INFO -

Effective immediately, Phil G3SWH has taken over as QSL manager for EA8/G3XAQ. [K1XN & The Golist]

----------------------------------
From Bill Horner, VK4FW -
ALL QSLING HAS BEEN POSTPONED TILL FURTHER NOTICE FOR ALL CALLS I
MANAGE. I AM 4 HOURS AWAY FROM HOME NURSING MY WIFE BACK TO HEALTH. SHE HAS JUST COMPLETED HER 6TH SESSION OF CHEMO SO WE EXPECT TO BE HERE FOR ANOTHER COUPLE OF MONTHS AT THIS STAGE. AS SOON AS I RETURN HOME QSLING WILL BE AN IMMEDIATE PRIORITY.

REGARDS
Bill Horner
Amateur Radio License ... VK4FW
Horner Transport Services
PO Box 612
Childers, 4660
Australia
ph 0428877551 [K1XN & The Golist]

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ANOTHER NEW DXCC ENTITY ? -

According to reporting from the DXCC Desk, they are finalizing the last details to put up a new entity for DXCC - "LLivia". As we all know, this is a Spanish enclave within French territory. [K1XN & The Golist]

----------------------------

Llivia is a Spanish enclave in the French Pyrenees. It remained Spanish because of its city-rights obtained in the past. Llivia is demarcated by 45 bordermarkers. In august 2002 we photographed the first half of these bordermarkers. In 2004 and 2005 the survey was completed. Three bordermarkers couldn't be found: no.24, 26 and 27 but their absence couldn't be fully established. With special thanks to Marcel Miquel for his background information.
Llivia is situated 1 km from the Spanish border en about 20 km east from Andorra. It's size is 12 square km and the village of Llivia has 1200 inhabitants.

Some links -

Hugh Wallis' report on his bordermarker trip in Llivia: http://freepages.misc.rootsweb.com/~hughwallis/Llivia/

General webpage on Llivia (French): http://eric.hurtebis.chez-alice.fr/llivia.htm

A bicycle route around Llivia (Spanish): http://www.amigosdelciclismo.com/rutas/catalunya/girona/llivia/home.htm

In search of the bordermarkers -
The bordermarkers 01-12:
http://www.grenspalen.nl/llivia/llivia-grenspalen01-12.html

The bordermarkers 13-21:
http://www.grenspalen.nl/llivia/llivia-grenspalen13-21.html

The bordermarkers 22-33:
http://www.grenspalen.nl/llivia/llivia-grenspalen22-33.html

The bordermarkers 34-45:
http://www.grenspalen.nl/llivia/llivia-grenspalen34-45.html [4Z4DX]

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APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT -

The following operations are approved for DXCC credit:

5L2MS - Liberia 2007 Operation
D2NX - Angola 2007 Operation
S79UU and S79AB - Seychelles Islands 2007 Operation

Bill Moore NC1L, DXCC Manager
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73 and Good DX!
Dave Raycroft - VA3RJ
Home of ICPO: http://webhome.idirect.com/~va3rj/
Contest Calendar - DX Calendar - Lighthouse Activations
Join ICPO e-Group: http://webhome.idirect.com/~va3rj/icpo_mail.html

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Wednesday, January 02, 2008

New SoCal Freq Guide Available Next Month

Dan Rollman at Scannerstuff has announced that a new Southern California Frequency Directory (3rd edition) should be available sometime around the first week of February.

Scannerstuff Guides are the best I have seen available for the areas they cover and are worth picking up. So check out his website at http://www.californiascanner.com/ and tell Dan that the Btown Monitoring Post sent ya.