Author - Charles M0OXO

EIDXG Irish islands Tour 2018

20th May 2018
Irish islands Tour Logo

Beginning June 1st 2018, the EIDX Group will activate ALL Irish IOTA Groups. 
Using the ‘Echo Juliet’ prefix, EJ0DXG will be QRV from IOTA EU-006, EU-007, EU-103 and EU-121 this summer.
 
Starting off with ‘Little Saltee Island’ EU-103 on June 15/16/17/18th….the groups will be QRV on HF and 6m bands using CW, SSB and Digital modes. 
 
Please follow their Facebook page for information/dates for all other activations….https://www.facebook.com/groups/185038478993063/
 
Supported by dxwanted.net a beautiful plaque will be available for whoever works them on 4 different IOTA Groups. So, as a ‘Bonus’ or ‘Joker’ station, EI0DXG will also be QRV from Mainland Ireland (EU-115) throughout and until September 30th 2018.
 
As with all EIDXG activities, please QSL via M0OXO.
 
vy 73 de Dave EI9FBB

NASA Solar Probe

18th May 2018
SPACESUN

Launching this summer, our Parker #SolarProbe will swoop within 4 million miles of the Sun’s surface, facing heat and radiation like no spacecraft before it.

Learn more about this and another mission that will explore the inner workings of our nearest star: https://go.nasa.gov/2k2GVNZ.

 

 

 

 

 

Sunspots vanishing faster than expected

2nd May 2018
no spots

Sunspots are becoming scarce.

Very scarce. So far in 2018 the sun has been blank almost 60% of the time, with whole weeks going by without sunspots. Today’s sun, shown here in an image from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory, is typical of the featureless solar disk:

The fact that sunspots are vanishing comes as no surprise. Forecasters have been saying for years that this would happen as the current solar cycle (“solar cycle 24”) comes to an end.

The surprise is how fast!

See Spaceweather.com for the full report;

http://spaceweather.com/archive.php?view=1&day=02&month=05&year=2018

 

 

DF2WO African Dates…

2nd May 2018
9X2AW 2

Just a reminder that Harald DF2WO will be qrv again later this year from his regular African haunts using CW, SSB, FT8 and also RTTY on the HF Bands (with 6m) from the following places;

9X2AW Rwanda – He will operate again from Kigali but this time using a Spiderbeam antenna between the 5th and 24th June 2018.

XT2AW Burkina Faso – Harald will operate from Ouagadougou on HF using various antennas in November 2018 (dates TBC) and on this trip he will make a focused attempt on the 160M Band.

Questions and information requests to M0OXO please, do not trouble Harald directly with information and sked requests.😉

https://www.m0oxo.com/oqrs/logsearch.php

 

GB4FOC

27th April 2018
gb4foc-england

John Muzyka, G4RCG will be active as GB4FOC from Wakefield, England, for 80 year anniversary of FOC Club.He will operate on HF Bands.

 https://www.qrz.com/db/GB4FOC

QSL via G3SWH

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

H44R (OC-168) & H40D (OC-179)

23rd April 2018
h44
Cezar VE3LYC is currently qrv from OC-168. An operation from Russell Islands (OC-168, Solomon Islands DXCC) was added to the one already planned from Duff Islands (OC-179, Temotu DXCC).
 

Russell Islands were last operated from in Feb 2001 or 17 years ago, and this IOTA group is in demand by about 94% of IOTA chasers. This addition extends the duration of the original project by a week and adds new logistical challenges

 
Unlike Duff, Russell islands are pretty flat, so no steep hills to obstruct various propagation paths. However, we don’t expect AC power there. These islands have been a plantation for about a century.
 
A labour dispute between the largest employer in the country and the respective union led to a strike in 2002. Declared illegal by the Solomon Islands High Court, the dispute hasn’t been settled to date. As such, work has never re-started, but many former employees from outside Russell set in. Given this complex socio-economical situation and the relatively short distance of the islands from Honiara, Bernhard will go on a short scouting trip to identify a suitable location for our planned activity at the end of April, as well as the possibility of resourcing locally items such power generator, batteries, etc.