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AE5ME > ARL 02.04.16 16:16l 86 Lines 8826 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : O3GMYDE6TPI1
Read: GUEST
Subj: ARRL Letter April 1 Part 3 of 4
Path: IW8PGT<IZ3LSV<I0OJJ<N6RME<N0KFQ<AE5ME
Sent: 160402/1357Z 34695@AE5ME.#NEOK.OK.USA.NOAM BPQ1.4.64
Major DXpeditions Cooperating to Minimize Conflicts
Two major DXpeditions are now attracting hordes of DX chasers and raising activity levels on HF. While both the Heard Island VK0EK and Juan de Nova FT4JA DXpeditions coordinated their operating plans in advance to avoid conflicts and confusion, the fact that both DXCC entities are quite rare will keep things hopping on bands where both DXpeditions are active at the same time. Heard Island is number 5, and Juan de Nova is number 4 on ClubLog's DXCC Most Wanted List.
VK0EK team member Eric Brown, K2ARB, and friends on Heard Island.
"Because we will be on the air at the same time as the FT4JA DXpedition -- and because we will both be operating from a very similar time zone -- it is very important that we coordinate with the French Team, and we have," says the VK0EK website. The VK0EK and FT4JA websites include the same graphical presentation of their joint operating plan.
The Juan de Nova DXpedition kicked off on March 30 and will operate until April 11. The VK0EK DXpedition began on March 23 and will continue until April 10.
As part of that plan to head off potential conflicts, the VK0EK operators are listening down from their transmit frequencies, while the FT4JA operators are listening up from their transmit frequencies (both will always operate split).
Stations attempting to work FT4JA on 20 meters on its opening day are spread over a wide swath of spectrum.
This should minimize "pileup overlap," although if both major DXpeditions end up on the same band and mode, operators not interested in working either station could find it harder to locate a clear frequency. At one point on March 30, VK0EK and FT4JA were transmitting 3 kHz apart on 80 meters.
Heard Island is in the Indian Ocean about 1000 miles north of Antarctica, and Juan de Nova is in the Indian Ocean in the Mozambique Channel between Mozambique and Madagascar, off the southeastern coast of Africa.
"We built the radio camp and antennas under extreme conditions," a March 31 report from the FT4JA team recounted. "No wind at all during those first days. At night, the temperature doesn't really decrease, and we have thousands of mosquitoes showing up, looking for fresh meat. The sea is close but very warm, with sharks coming very close to the seashore."
The VK0EK team has offered suggestions to increase a DXer's chances of getting into the log, but they apply to working any DXpedition. In short, the DXpedition operators will always work split, never simplex. Listen to the operator's instructions, and watch for the operator's calling "pattern" before you start calling. Also, get familiar with the band plan posted on the DXpeditions' websites. Read more.
ARRL Okays P5/3Z9DX North Korea Operation for DXCC
The ARRL DXCC Department has approved for DXCC credit the unexpected P5/3Z9DX "demonstration" operation from North Korea
Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, in North Korea.
last December. Well-traveled Polish DXer Dom Grzyb, 3Z9DX, has said he expects to be back in North Korea -- officially the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) -- for his "official" activation by late summer.
P5/3Z9DX showed up on the air from the most-wanted DXCC entity last December 20 and 21 to demonstrate Amateur Radio for North Korean officials. During that activation -- the first in more than a decade -- P5/3Z9DX made nearly 785 SSB contacts, most of them on 15 meters.
Some unsubstantiated claims were floated following the pre-Christmas P5/3Z9DX operation that Grzyb was not really operating from North Korea. Read more.
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Kingman Reef (KH5) Deleted from DXCC List
The ARRL Awards Committee has voted to delete Kingman Reef (KH5) from the DXCC List, effective March 29, 2016. Kingman Reef will be added to the Deleted Entities List on March 29, 2016. The total number of entities on the List will drop from 340 to 339. The deletion process is described in DXCC Rules Section II DXCC List Criteria, Part 5(a) Deletion Criteria.
Kingman Reef at low tide.
"An entity may be deleted from the List if it no longer satisfies the criteria under which it was added. However, if the entity continues to meet one or more currently existing rules, it will remain on the List."
Kingman Reef's original addition by virtue of separate administration has changed (separate administration by the US Navy has been removed), and the reef does not meet any current criteria to remain on the List. The US Fish and Wildlife Service (F&WS) administers Kingman Reef and Palmyra Island. The reef is too close to Palmyra Island to count as a separate entity and now will be considered a part of the Palmyra/Jarvis DXCC entity.
Prior to its deletion, Kingman Reef was the seventh most-wanted DXCC entity, according to ClubLog. It was last activated as K5K in 2000. Read more.
"Discover the HF Experience" Aims to Dazzle Technicians, Newcomers
Contesting clubs in Canada and New England have joined forces to invite non-hams, new hams, and even old timers to discover HF radio in the 21st century firsthand, by getting on the air and operating remote stations. Beta test "Discover the HF Experience" events will take place in April, with the debut on April 2 in Manitoba. A subsequent special event in Massachusetts will take place on April 10, using the call sign K1K. A major rollout is expected at Dayton Hamvention® in May, with four operating positions at ARRL EXPO. The "Discover the HF Experience" concept stresses that "shortwave" Amateur Radio is just as compelling now as it was 100 years ago.
"Amateur Radio is complementary to new technology, not in competition with it," said Gerry Hull, W1VE, who came up with the idea and has been working with Cary Rubenfeld, VE4EA, in Manitoba to flesh it out into a program. "Ham radio is so experiential," Hull told ARRL, "so a key part of this process is getting hams to experience HF, if they're unfamiliar with it. As part of these events, we are going to have remote HF stations on the air. We will have Elmers to help participants through a contact, so they can see how HF really works," he added.
"Our amateur population is at an all-time high, but most new hams are getting a Technician ticket, getting on VHF and UHF, and hanging out with like-minded friends," Hull said. The limitations on what Technician licensees can do often leads to boredom, Hull said, "and they drop out of the hobby. They never get the exposure to HF ham radio, and as any veteran radio amateur can tell you, that's a lifelong exploration."
Radiosport Manitoba and the Winnipeg Amateur Radio Club will sponsor the April 2 debut at the Canad Inn, Garden City, in Winnipeg (9:30 AM until 4:30 PM CDT). The April 10 beta test will take place at Keefe Technical High School in Framingham, Massachusetts (12:30 until 4 PM EDT), in place of the normal Yankee Clipper Contest Club (YCCC) open house.
"Today there are not as many HF Elmers," Hull said. "Who better to be the ambassadors of HF than contesters? We're passionate about HF!"
Contact Discover the HF Experience for more information. Read more.
ISS Expedition 47/48 Crew Increment Includes Two Radio Amateurs
After launching on March 18 in a Soyuz TMA-20M vehicle from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, the Expedition 47/48 crew increment of Astronaut Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ, and Cosmonauts Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU, and Alexey Ovchinin is settling in on board the International Space Station (ISS).
(L-R) Oleg Skripochka, RN3FU; Jeff Williams, KD5TVQ; Alexey Ovchinin; Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS; Tim Kopra, KE5UDN, and Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP. [NASA photo]
"During their 6-month mission, the expedition crew members will facilitate approximately 250 research investigations and technology demonstrations not possible on Earth," NASA said. "Science conducted also will enable future long-duration human and robotic exploration into deep space and on the agency's journey to Mars."
Williams, Skripochka, and Ovchinin joined Expedition 47 Commander Tim Kopra, KE5UDN, European Space Agency astronaut Tim Peake, KG5BVI/GB1SS, and cosmonaut Yuri Malenchenko, RK3DUP, on the ISS. Williams will take command of the station on June 4 for Expedition 48.
This mission marks the fourth spaceflight for the 58-year-old Williams, and it will be his third long-duration stay on the orbiting laboratory -- a first for an American. It's also his first time back to the ISS since its completion in 2011. When his duty tour is over, Williams will become the new American record holder for cumulative days in space -- 534 -- surpassing Expedition 46 Commander Scott Kelly, who wrapped up his 1-year mission on March 1.
Skripochka has the distinction of having flown on both the maiden and final voyages of the "old" Soyuz spacecraft. Russia's Energia is set to debut a new Soyuz model, the MS.
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