M0OXO – Dxpedition & IOTA QSL Management

TI1RRC Costa Rica ( IOTA NA-117) & more!

17th January 2025

This callsign license has been issued by SUTEL in Costa Rica. TI1RRC is part of the RRC Central American Tour – Approx. dates February 11th-March 7th, 2025!

Other stops will include YN6RRC, H7RRC (Nicaragua), and 3F3RRC (Panama) operations (Please note that these callsigns are pending at this time).

QSL VIA: M0OXO and RW3RN (RU/EW only)

AU2V – Sacrifice Rock, India (IOTA AS-161)

14th January 2025

*Breaking News: Sacrifice Rock IOTA Activation on the Horizon!*

After the resounding success of our previous activations at Nachugunta, Kanika, and Sagar, our team has set its sights on the elusive Sacrifice Rock, one of the most coveted IOTA locations among chasers. This ambitious project has been years in the making, and we’re thrilled to finally share the news with the amateur radio community.

Sacrifice Rock, notorious for its challenging terrain, inhospitable environment, and exorbitant costs, has long been considered a “holy grail” of IOTA activations. Our team is determined to overcome these obstacles and bring this rare entity to the airwaves.

3Y0K – Bouvet (1st February 2026)

14th January 2025

3YØK DXpedition to Bouvet Island

– Where we will stay up to 3 weeks around the island

– Team of 18-24 operators

– Budget $1,675,000

We are pleased to announce the completion of a major milestone by having signed a contract with ICETUGS https://icetugs.com/ that will take us to Bouvet Island in February 2026. ICETUGS, an Iceland based company, has an excellent track record in providing services for expeditions, cargo and fuel supplies, tugging, as well as rescue and camp setup in the Arctic and Antarctic regions.

We also report the signing of the helicopter contract with the Cape Town based Ultimate Aviation. This group will supply us with a helicopter, two pilots and a mechanic for this project. Their crew have broad experience in offshore operations across Antarctica, Marion, Gough and da Cunha Islands, which includes boat to shore, sling and hoist operations associated with police force, military, and private projects. This year they celebrate 10 years of operation in Antarctica 2015-2025. We are confident the helicopter crew and the vessel will make a big difference for us in activating Bouvet Island.

GB200LB Scotland

5th January 2025

Logs have been uploaded to M0OXO OQRS on behalf of Terry (GM3WUX) who is operating a special event station for the story of Louis Braille: Inventor of the Braille Code.

Louis Braille was a French educator who invented a tactile system of reading and writing for the blind and visually impaired in 1824. The system is called Braille and it consists of raised dot codes that are used worldwide to read and write until this day.

New to QSL’in? – A guide to help

4th January 2025

How does the whole QSL Card system work?

Of course I am a little biased on this subject as I am a QSL manager for a number of Stations and therefore I am pretty passionate about the whole ‘traditional’ QSL Card system.

Part of the fun of amateur radio is collecting cards, called QSL cards, from other amateurs that you’ve msde contact with on the radio. Some people like to collect stamps form various parts of the world but hams collect QSLs. If you are also a stamp collector you will find that often a card comes from a distant country with an interesting stamp on the envelope.

Another reason for collecting QSL cards is to participate in the many certificate programs available to amateurs. Whether it’s getting your DXCC, IOTA or WAS Awards, getting cards to confirm contacts with 100 or more DX countries etc, in most instances will need the cards to support your claim for the award.

Read more on this subject by clicking here;

New to QSL’ing?

Express LOTW – Explained

4th January 2025

My inbox is clearly showing me that there are a lot of new Operators requesting QSL cards. This is great for the hobby, you are most welcome here, but you may not be familiar with Online QSL Request Systems. Many of you are uncertain how to send a QSL, what is OQRS and many other questions …. So here are some basic do’s and don’ts.

When Requesting a QSL ALWAYS:

Check on QRZ.com or DX websites for the QSL Policy.
Use Online QSL Request System when you can.
Make sure you add your address 100% correctly if prompted on OQRS.
Only use ONE QSL route.
If posting a letter use US$ or €uro notes for return postage according to the QSL Policy.

When Requesting a QSL card NEVER:

Never Use more than one QSL route.
Never use IRCs, Stamps, Coins or other currencies unless asked to do so.
Never send Bureau cards Via M0OXO – No route . USE OQRS ONLY!
Never send large, long or small or heavy envelopes for the return QSL.

Always consider searching for the answer to your questions BEFORE emailing the QSL manager. The chance is that the answer will either be on QRZ.com or the QSL managers website. In my case there is a search bar to enter your question.

Always keep an accurate log for your QSO’s and back up the log on and off site. It is not ethical to ask QSL managers for your date and time of the QSO. Don’t ever bother asking! I just laugh!

LoTW – Always check your LoTW account before accusing the QSL manager of not uploading. Logging software is notoriously unreliable with LoTW data. So only refer to data on LoTW account.

Always check the last QSO date and time of the log on OQRS. If your QSO is after that… WAIT until the log is updated. There is no need to send emails to the QSL manager.

What is Express LoTW? – Express LoTW is used by DXpeditions, it has two purposes. Firstly, for those who do not want a Paper QSL card, but who do want a LoTW upload before the long wait that DXpeditions sometimes impose on uploads.

Secondly Bespoke OQRS uses Express LoTW tool to upload all Direct (Paper) QSL requests, also to LoTW on a daily basis during a DXpedition.

Basically it means ;

“Express LoTW” – NO (Paper) QSL
“Express LoTW + Bureau QSL” = LoTW + Bureau (Paper) QSL
“Direct QSL + Express LoTW” = Direct (Paper) QSL + LoTW

Seasons Greetings de M0OXO!

21st December 2024

Happy Christmas to all from our QTH to yours! M0OXO QSL Service will continue to be available over the next few weeks (although replies may not be as swift

).

VP8G Cards are out so watch your mail over the festive period. V55LA cards have not arrived from the Printer as yet and Rotuma (3D2Y) Card design is still in progress by the Team.

Have a great few days break, enjoy the time with your families (or your Radio) and regards to your families for 2025.

Thanks for your support in 2024!

Charles & Debbie

TI1RRC Costa Rica (IOTA NA-117)

15th December 2024

”Hola Amigos,

A teaser about our planned operation to , Isla del Cano, Costa Rica, IOTA NA-117.

Thanks to Jorge, TI2JV arrangements are made with Rangers to stay overnight, so we can take advantage of 30/40m.

The general public arrives AM and leaves in the afternoon. It is a few hours boat trip from the mainland.

Limitations: only 4 persons can stay overnight, no usable electricity. Food, fuel and water is on us.

3D2Y Rotuma 2024 scroll for update

15th December 2024

As promised in the Team’s Qsl policy, QSO’s have now been uploaded to LOTW for those that made Donations and for those requesting a Direct QSL Card via OQRS.

Please check LOTW at your convenience. If you are in the above categories and no LOTW has been received in the next 24 hours, then please send me an email and i will look into the matter.

It could be that you were not on the list of Donors or, it may be the existing issue with LOTW where QSO matching fails for some reason.

**Update 0400 12/12/24 The upload has still not been processed at ARRL LOTW. Please be patient.**.

VK6GWX Australia

28th November 2024

Sands (VU2WXW, VK9WX) is currently starting a deployment at the Giles Weather Station in Western Australia and will operate as VK6GWX.

Giles Weather Station (also referred to as Giles Meteorological Station or Giles) is located in Western Australia near the Northern Territory border, about 750 kilometres (470 mi) west-south-west of Alice Springs and 330 kilometres (210 mi) west of Uluru.

It is the only staffed weather station within an area of about 2,500,000 square kilometres (970,000 sq mi) and is situated mid-continent and near the core of the subtropical jetstream.

This means it plays an important role as a weather and climate observatory for the country, particularly eastern and southeastern Australia, and particularly for rainfall predictions.

The station is on the Great Central Road and the nearest township is the Warakurna Aboriginal settlement (population 180), 5 kilometres (3 mi) North. Giles is within the Shire of Ngaanyatjarraku and is in the foothills of the Rawlinson Ranges.