Author - Charles M0OXO

I had a message from Harald XT2AW yesterday.

Harald explained that current temperatures were very high in Ouagadougou around 33C. He had managed to get his homebrew G3TXQ Hexbeam in the air with the help of his local friends. He said the antenna had been erected several meters higher (see photo’s) and this was giving him a better signal which was reported as being 2 S points higher in NA. He also received a report on 10M from an operator in Cincinnati, OH, USA of a true 599.

Listen out for Harald on most modes over the next few weeks. See previous Blog entries for details.

Harald (DF2WO, D44TWO) will be QRV in a few days from Burkina Faso.

He will be active on SSB, CW, PSK, JT65 & RTTY (40 thro 6m) using a Hexbeam from around the 07th of November until the 27th of November 2015 from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

Ouagadougou is the capital of Burkina Faso and the administrative, communications, cultural and economic centre of the nation. It is also the country’s largest city, with a population of 1,475,223. The city’s name is often shortened to Ouaga.

The fastest way to receive any Qsl Card I manage is to request them via M0OXO OQRS.

New Contest Certificate received this morning from the RUS-WW-DIGI Contest back in September 2015.

Thanks to the RDRC Club for the Contest and the nice Award for 1st Place UK.

It was nice to receive another beautiful Qsl Card this morning from Cezar VE3LYC.

The card was for his latest trip to Melville Island, Nunavut, Canada (IOTA NA-248) whilst operating as VY0M.

I also enjoyed a great and interesting account about this adventure from Cezar whilst at the RSGB Convention back in October at the RSGB Convention in Milton Keynes, London.

Cezar is currently planning his next Dxpedition (details not pubic as yet) but I have no doubt it will be as rare if not more than this one and surely needed by many on the IOTA community.

If you are able please support Cezar for his trips. Not only are they expensive for a solo Dxpeditioner but they can be pretty dangerous as well.

Thanks Cezar, great job as always !

Qsl card confirmation received today for AS-094.

Thanks to Dale BA4TB for the Qsl Card that was received today for his recent activation of Hainan Island IOTA-094 (Hainan Province Group) during the 2015 IOTA Contest period.

Hainan is an Island Province of China and the nation’s most southernmost point. It is known for its tropical cimate, beach resorts and forested, mountainous interior.

Thanks for the new one Dale!

The much anticipated Coetivy Island AF-119NEW DXpedition is soon to begin. After 5 months of intense preparations, the S79C team would like to remind you that in less than 2 weeks time, Christian EA3NT, Dave EI9FBB, Col MM0NDX, Ronald PA3EWP, Jacek SP5APW and Craig VK5CE will transit through their national airports en-route to Mahe, Seychelles.

We are pleased to confirm that our requested S79C callsign has now been officially issued and all paperwork is in hand. In addition, planning and logistics are now complete.

All six operators, and in excess of 300Kg of equipment, need to fly the final 300Km to Coetivy island and land on the short 500m airstrip. This final flight is by private airplane charter and actually doubles the overall budget. Without doubt, this is a hugely expensive IOTA DXpedition and we are indebted to each and every donor / sponsor. However, we do seek additional funding support. Until November 6th, we still offer a ‘Free QSL’ for advance donors of €5 or more. Your generous contribution is most welcome and helps offset our enormous costs.

If you would like to support this unique activation, please visit: http://www.af119new.com/donate

Furthermore, the team is delighted to inform that 50Mhz will be used – a dedicated station will run 24/7 during our stay on Coetivy. Our suggested beacon frequency is 50.103.5Mhz. It should be noted that S7 is very rare on the ‘magic band’ and we are thrilled to have got this special permission!

This is our final Press Release. Next official dialogue will be whilst our team is en-route and only via our Twitter feed @af119new. Follow us for the very latest updates. (Note: some team members may also update their individual Facebook page as they journey to AF-119).

We wish all very good luck in the pile-ups and look forward to seeing you in our log!

Vy 73 de S79C team.

Thanks to Adhi YB3MM for the latest incoming cards for my IOTA chasing!

Received today were YE3B (Noko Selayar Island) IOTA OC-197, YE3B (Gunung Selayar Island) IOTA OC-197 and also YC8UTI (Karakelong Island) OC-209.

All these cards had been requested by OQRS, the safest and fastest way to receive Qsl Cards nowadays in my opinion of course.

Thanks Bimbo!

VK2015TDF Log has now been uploaded to Clublog Logsearch.

the Callsign is qrv until the 1st November 2015 and Qsl Cards are already available via M0OXO.

Please DO NOT send cards via the Bureau, they will NOT be received. Please use Direct Mail or M0OXO OQRS for all requests. Thank you.

Very pleased to get this card in the collection yesterday. VK2SSI IOTA OC-194, the very rare South Solitary Island was activated earlier this year by the group of 6 operators from VK.

South Solitary Island, an island within the Solitary Islands Marine Park, about 15 kilometres (9.3 mi) northeast of Coffs Harbour, New South Wales, Australia.

The lighthouse is located at the summit of the island. It is considered the most isolated lighthouse on the New South Wales coast. It was first in New South Wales to use kerosene over colza oil, and the last to do so before converting to electric power.

One thing we noticed they showed but didn’t say a lot about, though, is the educational opportunities. You can learn a lot, and working with kids to help them learn is often very rewarding (and you usually learn something, too). Just to forestall the comments that this post isn’t hack related, we’ll note two things: there is a Raspberry Pi shown and just past the two-minute mark, there is a very clever hacked together Morse code key.

We talk a lot about ham radio, ranging from Arduino-based digital modes to putting together portable stations (you can see a similar one in the video, too). One other thing we noticed they don’t mention: it is generally much easier to get a license today than ever before. Most countries (including the United States) have abolished the Morse code requirements, so while some hams still enjoy CW (hamspeak for operating Morse code), it isn’t a requirement.

Click image below to view the RSGB image…….