Archive - October 2014

As you know, Tim M0URX and I use a Royal Mail contract for sending our mail in bulk.

This service ensures that our Direct letters and Bureau packages are sent via Priority Air Mail. This gives us the fastest, most efficient and most secure way to get your Qsl Card requests to you. Below are are two reports, one from Italy and one from Japan that show how efficient this service really is;

”Hi Charles, I just received the DX8DX QSL. Probably the faster QSL I ever received !!! Thanks a lot”
Dan, I1-12387

”Dear OM, Thank You , we received qsl for DX8DX for JA1EY /Don and 7K3EOP/Nori, best 73/88”                    JA1EY /Don

The two qsl cards mentioned above were mailed on Friday 24th October at 1600UTC. The cards arrived in Italy on Tuesday the 28th and in Japan on Wednesday 29th October.

If you are planning a DXpedition, Holiday Style activation of an IOTA or any other event then please contact either myself (Charles M0OXO) or Tim M0URX and see how our Qsl Service could help and take the pressure away from you and provide the most efficient QSL service that your DXpedition deserves.

Well it is now the last few days of the ZM90DX event.

The event, celebrating 90 years of the first radio communication between New Zealand and the United Kingdom draws to a close at the end of October so if you this card you need to be quick to get a qso!

Qsl Cards are printed and the fastest way to receive any Qsl Card I manage is to request them via M0OXO OQRS.

G3VMW, Steve; G3XAQ, Alan; Don G3XTT; and M0PCB, Iain; have announced plans a DXpedition to Gambia” as C5X from January 15-26, 2015.  This will also include “some activity in the CQWW 160m Contest”. 

Plans include two complete stations (Elecraft K3s and KPA500s) using Spiderbeams for the HF bands, verticals on an 18 meter high Spiderpole for 160 and 80 meters and dipoles/verticals on 40 and 30 meters.  Activity will be on 1.8 through 28 MHz on CW, SSB, RTTY and some PSK.

They have had to abandon their original operating site, the well-known “Radio Syd” guesthouse, where C5A, a Czech contest group, operated successfully for several years.  The C5A group advised there were severe LF/HF noise problems, which have been confirmed by C5YK, Andre.  A nearby electric fence installed by aEuropean contractor within the last two years is causing it.  The fence is at a high security prison 200 meters to the west. 

The C5X operation will move to the Ocean Villa Heights Lodge, English run, on the coast at Brufut, southwest of Banjul.  There is a “large northwest-facing lawned garden area” just 100 meters from the beach, a good spot for antennas.  With the K1N Navassa operation likely around the same time, C5X will try to steer clear of those pileups.

Logs are expected to be uploaded daily to both Club Log and LoTW.  QSL via M0OXO (OQRS Preferred). Please DO NOT send your cards via the Bureau as they are NOT required and the team may not receive them.

Harald, DF2WO (also-D44TWO) will again be active as XT2AW from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso between November 17 to December 2, 2014.

QRV on CW & SSB.

QSL via M0OXO OQRS preferred. Please DO NOT send your cards via the bureau, they are not required and may not arrive here.

Please use OQRS for ALL bureau requests where possible.

In recent years there have been authentic reports from the scientific community that Berkner Island is an ice-rise and that no part of the land-mass under it would be above water if there were no ice. This seems to have gathered credence with map-makers as the considered view of the scientific community. Faced with information that confirms that the ice-rise does not meet IOTA’s qualification rules as a valid island IOTA Management have taken the decision to withdraw AN-014 from the IOTA list with immediate effect before any further operation takes place. The few existing credits will be withdrawn no later than 1 January 2015.

Michael G7VJR will be in Australia over the Christmas period.

Whilst there, he has arranged a short stop over on Norfolk Island IOTA OC-005. Michael will use the Callsign VK9/G7VJR.

Qsl will be via M0OXO (OQRS preferred). Your Qsl Cards are NOT required so please do not send them via the bureau.

Tonight, around 40 operators and guests crammed into the Shag Valley Station’s historic shearers quarters recreation room, transformed into a three station HF operation shack, to experience the unreal experience of the re-enactment of Frank Bell’s original contact with Cecil Goyder at Mill Hill School in London.

Among the guests were the current land-owners and hosts, Johnny Bell and his family, 5th and 6th generation Bell’s on the station.

As the operating team anxiously watched the Greyline simulator on the computer, initial contact was made on 20m with reception, once a clear frequency was found, excellent. This lead to what was the highlight of the evening –  Ian at Mill Hill School put two students on the microphone and at our end, Frank Bells great-grand children, Henry and Lucy (Photo left) took the  microphone and very quickly got “the lingo” much to the delight of the assembled audience.  Maybe Branch 30 has two  more budding members?

Meanwhile, Ken ZL4NR had tuned up the second rig on 80m while Mike ZL4OL operated and as the Grand-children finished their QSO’s, he quietly announced to the gathering – worked them! The headphone plug was then pulled and the gathering was able to listen to 2SZ working many stations.  

To see the latest photos and President Dave Mulder, ZL4DK’s report on tonights events go to  http://www.zl4aa.org.nz/tonight-at-shag-valley/

With the addition of more antenna to the already extensive aerial farm, ZL4AA  is now active on 160m, 80m, 40m, 30m, 20, 17m, 15m, 12m, 10m, 70cm (National System) and 2m IRLP Node 6507 via Dunedin 690 and 6675, local area STSP.

This is the latest message from ZL2CC on site 

Hi guys,

for technical reasons we had to run SSB on 80m last night (Wednesday) so we have changed the schedule;

Tonight Thursday we will be CW

Friday we will be SSB and

Saturday for the 90th Anniversary we will be CW

There was some discussion last night about running a split but so far, the team have been running without Tx/Rx splits.  They are now running three HF rigs so can be working up to 3 bands at the same time.

Most of the time, up to 7 or 8 operators are available at any one time so expect a range of voices on the air – the log of operators who had been on air up until last evening is,  Ken ZL4NR, Mike ZL2CC, Mike ZL4OL, Pete ZL4SA, Alan ZL4FM, Ron ZL4RMF, John ZL4RO, Adam ZL4ASC, Bill ZL2AYB, Lindsey ZL4KS, and Club President, Dave ZL4DK.  My apologies if I have missed anyone.

And of course a large group behind the scenes whose main interest has been in helping get the whole event on the air, without them nothing would ever have happened.

73

Martin  ZL4JH for the organising committee