[DX-NEWS] ARLP011 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP011 ARLP011 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP11 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 11 ARLP011 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA March 9, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP011 ARLP011 Propagation de K7RA On March 1 sunspot 944 was pointed straight at us. It was a small sunspot, followed a few days later by another small spot, 945. Sunspot 945 is visible in photos from March 5, just behind 944, but both spots seemed to disappear a day or two later, before they would have rotated off the visible solar disk. Now the Sun is blank, and the sunspot number is zero. The minimum non-zero sunspot number is 11, and lately sunspot numbers move from 0 to 11 to 23 or 24, and back to 11. No solar activity is expected for the next few days, so we will probably see at least several days with a zero sunspot number. Geomagnetic conditions are expected to remain quiet, at least until Monday or Tuesday, March 12-13. The USAF predicts a Planetary A index for March 9-15 of 5, 5, 7, 15, 20, 15 and 10. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions for March 9-10, quiet to unsettled March 11, active geomagnetic conditions for March 12, unsettled to active March 13, unsettled March 14 and quiet to unsettled March 15. A recurring solar wind stream is predicted for Monday, March 12, and should produce the expected geomagnetic instability. New predictions for the solar minimum are coming frequently of late. The monthly smoothed sunspot number forecast for the rest of 2007 from the NOAA Space Environment Center in the weekly Preliminary Report and Forecast has been adjusted again, the third time since the first of the year. The revised tables are on page 9 of issue 1635, and page 10 of issues 1640 and 1644 at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/index.html (the table in 1640 is mislabeled at the bottom of the page as 03 January when it is really 06 February). Currently they predict a solar minimum for right now, with a smoothed sunspot number of 6 for March and April 2007, then 7, 8, 10, 11, 13, 16, 18 and 21 for the remaining eight months of this year. As mentioned in past bulletins, these are smoothed sunspot numbers, averaged over a year. So the prediction of 6 for this month means that if the prediction is accurate, at the end of September 2007 you could take half the average of daily sunspot numbers for that month, add it to half the average of daily sunspot numbers for September 2006, add the total to the monthly averages for each month in between, divide by 12, and get 6 as the result. Currently we're seeing higher values, with an average daily sunspot number of 19 for last week, 19.6 the week before, 14.6 for the week prior to that, 6.3 for the previous week, and 28.7 for the week prior to that, which was February 1-7. You can see an explanation of the method for determining the 12 month smoothed sunspot number at, http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/IONO/sunspot.html. Jim Headrick, W3CP of Stanfield, Oregon sent in a different prediction from the Australian government. It has the solar minimum centered on September 2007, and you can see it at, http://tinyurl.com/2ymk92. Note that the NOAA version mentioned previously ends in December 2007, but the one Jim sent goes through 2008 and 2009 as well. By the way, I don't know how long Jim has been a ham, but he was born early in sunspot cycle 15, and I'm sure he hopes to see the new cycle 24 all the way through. See a page of all the 20th century sunspot cycles at, http://wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/historical.shtml. We heard from another ham enjoying low power operations at the bottom of the cycle. Bill Raiford, NI4Y of Fredericksburg, Virginia says he operates 10 watts on 20 meters from his car. Bill says, Last week I worked VK2KM and this week I worked VK2GWK from my 10 watt mobile station. No, VK isn't rare DX, but just the thought of 10 watts propagating from my vehicle in VA to VK land is quite amazing. I am at 194 countries from my mobile. Dave Green, VE5TLY of Ottawa, Ontario sent an interesting link from the BBC concerning the new STEREO (Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory) satellites which will soon be observing coronal mass ejections traveling through space in 3D. Read the article at, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6411349.stm. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for March 1 through 7 were 11, 23, 11, 24, 27, 26 and 11 with a mean of 19. 10.7 cm flux was 74.8, 75.5, 73.3, 72.5
[DX-NEWS] ARLP010 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP010 ARLP010 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP10 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 10 ARLP010 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA March 2, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP010 ARLP010 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot numbers and solar flux both increased this week, but just barely. Average daily sunspot numbers rose five points to 19.6, while average daily solar flux rose one point to 75.8. Values are expected to stay about the same over the next week. In fact, the U.S. Air Force predicts an even 75 for solar flux over the next 30 days. Geomagnetic activity should remain quiet. Geophysical Institute Prague agrees with outlook, predicting quiet to unsettled conditions for today, March 2, quiet conditions on March 3-5, and unsettled on March 6-7. The Air Force predicts 5 for the planetary A index from March 2-5, 10 for March 6, and back to 5 after that. You'll note when there is geomagnetic activity (see http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt) that often the planetary A and K index will be higher than the mid-latitude numbers. Since most of us live at middle latitudes, a quiet number for the planetary A index means quiet conditions for us as well. On the last day of February, a solar wind stream caused a rise in geomagnetic activity. You can see on the above URL that the planetary A index was 23, Alaska's College A index was 38, but the mid-latitude A index was only 12. In February we had low sunspot numbers, appropriate for the bottom of the solar cycle. The average daily sunspot number for February was just 17.3. The only months with lower average daily sunspot numbers in the past year were October (14.7) and February 2006 (5.3). Monthly averages of daily sunspot numbers for February 2006 through February 2007 were 5.3, 21.3, 55.2, 39.6, 24.4, 22.6, 22.8, 25.2, 14.7, 31.5, 22.2, 28.2 and 17.3. Monthly averages of daily solar flux for the same period were 76.5, 75.5, 88.9, 80.9, 76.5, 75.8, 79, 77.8, 74.3, 86.3, 84.4, 83.5 and 77.7. This month just might be the bottom of the cycle. View the table at http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/Predict.txt, and you'll see that the predicted smoothed sunspot number for March 2007 is 11.3, and it rises after that through the end of the year. This weekend is the ARRL International DX SSB Contest, and conditions will probably not be bad, at least no big geomagnetic storms should occur. While there isn't much sunspot activity, our local star isn't devoid of spots. Currently sunspot 944 faces us from the center of the visible solar disk. Eric Owen, KD4MZM of Sarasota, Florida sent a URL for a web page devoted to 10-meter beacons at, http://10mbeacons.com/. Here you can check loggings for 10-meter beacons, and leave your own feedback as well for any you hear. There is also a list of links to individual beacon web sites, and a beacon-chat area. Eric runs a beacon on 28.277 MHz. In case you thought HF radio is no fun at the bottom of the solar cycle, Aki, JA2UOZ, Aki, of Nagoya, Japan writes that he operates with only one-half watt transmitter power and dipole antennas. Currently he is trying for DXCC on 17 meters and higher at the bottom of the solar cycle. He outlines his personal challenge at, http://www.k4.dion.ne.jp/~jq2uoz/sub1.html, and some of his recent contest logs at, http://www.k4.dion.ne.jp/~jq2uoz/sub7.html. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for February 22 through 28 were 25, 22, 11, 12, 22, 23 and 22 with a mean of 19.6. 10.7 cm flux was 75.5, 75.1, 75.5, 76.6, 75.4, 74.8, and 75.8, with a mean of 75.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 2, 2, 1, 3, 4, 12 and 23 with a mean of 6.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 2, 2, 4, 4, 7 and 12, with a mean of 4.7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD009 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD009 ARLD009 DX news ZCZC AE09 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 9 ARLD009 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT March 1, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD009 ARLD009 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by K1CC, NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MADAGASCAR, 5R. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as 5R8VB. Activity is on all HF bands using CW and SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. SAMOA, 5W. Udo, DL9HCU is QRV as 5W1VE for a few weeks. QSL to home call. ALGERIA, 7X. Yves, F5MSR is QRV as 7X0MT from Algiers. Activity is on the HF bands using mostly CW and digital modes using QRP power. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. CHINA, BY. Zhang, BD3APX will be QRV in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Single Op/Low Power entry. QSL to home call. AZORES, CU. Pedro, CU2CR will be QRV in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Single Op/Low Power entry. QSL to home call. In addition, CU2CE, CU2DX and OH2BH will be QRV as CU2A in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Multi/Single entry. They are active before the contest generally on the low bands. QSL via OH2BH. SOUTH COOK ISLANDS, E5. Bob, G3PJT will be QRV as E51PJT from Rarotonga Island, IOTA OC-013, from March 3 to 17. Activity will be on the HF bands using mainly CW. QSL to home call. FRENCH GUIANA, FY. Oliver, F5MZN will be QRV as FY5KE in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Single Op/All Band/Low or High Power entry. QSL via FY5KE. REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HL. Operators HL1VAU, DS4NYE and DS2GOO are QRV as homecalls/4 from Sonyu Island, IOTA AS-148, until March 4. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. They will participate in the ARRL DX SSB contest as D70LW/4. QSL to home calls. QSL contest call via DS4NYE. HONDURAS, HR. Dan, HR2DMR will be a Single Op/All Band entry in the ARRL DX SSB contest. HAWAII, KH6. Bill, W8QZA will be QRV as AH7ZA as an All Band/QRP Power entry in the ARRL DX SSB contest. QSL to home call. PUERTO RICO, KP4. Alfredo, WP3C will be QRV in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Single Op/Single Band/Low Power entry on 15 meters. QSL via W3HNK. BULGARIA, LZ. In commemoration of the 129th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman empire, members of the Balkan Contest Club are QRV as LZ129LO until March 31. QSL via bureau. AUSTRIA. OE. Members of the OEVSV HQ Contest Team will be QRV as OE4A in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Multi/2 entry. QSL direct via OE1EMS. FAROE ISLANDS, OY. Ole, OY3QN has been QRV on 30 meters between 1600 and 1800z. QSL via OZ1ACB. BONAIRE, CURACAO, PJ2. Operators WE9V, KA9FOX and K9NW are QRV as PJ2/homecalls from Curacao, IOTA SA-006, until March 6. They will also participate in the ARRL DX SSB contest as PJ2T as a Multi/2 entry. QSL PJ2T via N9AG and all others via home calls. ST. MAARTEN, SABA, ST. EUSTATIUS, PJ5. W8EB and W8DVC are QRV as PJ7/homecalls until March 25 from St. Maarten. W8EB will be QRV as PJ7B in the ARRL DX SSB contest. QSL all calls via W8EB. POLAND, SP. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of club station SP6PAZ, Piastowski Klub Krotkofalowcow club members are QRV as HF40PAZ until April 30. QSL via SP6PAZ. TURKEY, TA. A group of Czech Republic operators will be QRV as TC0DX and YM0DX from Gokceada, IOTA EU-186, and Bozcaada, IOTA AS-099, from March 4 to 11. QSL via OK2GZ. MACEDONIA, Z3. Ozren, Z32XA will be QRV as Z35T in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Single Op/Single Band entry. QSL via Z35T. CAYMAN ISLANDS, ZF. Bob, K3UL is QRV as ZF2UL until March 7. Activity is on 160, 80 and 30 meters using mainly CW. QSL to home call. PARAGUAY, ZP. Tomas, ZP5AZL will be QRV as ZP0R in the ARRL DX SSB contest as a Single Op entry. QSL via W3HNK. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL International DX SSB Contest, Wake-Up! QRP CW Sprint, Open Ukraine RTTY Championship, DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest, ARS Spartan CW Sprint and the AGCW YL-CW Party will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see March QST, page 90 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP009 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP009 ARLP009 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP09 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 9 ARLP009 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA February 23, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP009 ARLP009 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot numbers picked up a bit this week from 0 daily sunspot numbers for February 11-15. Currently the sunspot number is 25 for February 22, with only a lone visible spot, small sunspot 942, looking straight at us from the center of the visible solar disk. Average daily sunspot numbers for our most recent reporting week (February 15-21) rose over eight points from the previous week to 14.6. Average daily solar flux was nearly unchanged, from 75 to 74.8. Look for sunspot numbers and solar flux to rise over the next few days. Predicted solar flux for February 23-26 is 78, 80, 85 and 85. The predicted Planetary A index over the same period is 5, 5, 25 and 15. The Australian Space Forecast Centre predicts possible minor geomagnetic storms on Sunday, February 25. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet to unsettled conditions for today, February 23, quiet conditions on February 24, active conditions February 25-26, unsettled to active on February 27, and unsettled for February 28. Billy Michaud, AA1TT in Claremont New Hampshire operates a 5 watt 10-meter beacon on 28.269 MHz in grid square FN33uj. On February 14 Billy received a report from Ned Conklin, KH7JJ in Honolulu, that Billy's beacon was received with good signals at 2100z. Ned operates exclusively on 10-meters using a mobile whip clamped to the railing of his apartment's lanai railing. Ned says this is the first 10-meter beacon from the Eastern USA that he's heard in 2 years. Billy reports that with the sunspot cycle at the bottom, he doesn't get many reception reports for his beacon lately, except for some sporadic E propagation. Billy has a web page devoted to his beacon at, http://home.comcast.net/~aa1tt/. Mike Best, WD4DUG sent an article from Toronto's Globe and Mail about five satellites recently launched to study aurora. View it at, http://snipurl.com/1ao6g. David Moore sent an interesting article from the European Space Agency about the Ulysses spacecraft observing the sun. You can read about it at, http://www.esa.int/esaSC/SEMB3KBE8YE_index_0.html. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for February 15 through 21 were 0, 12, 11, 12, 26, 27 and 14 with a mean of 14.6. 10.7 cm flux was 73.6, 74.7, 75.3, 75.8, 74.9, 74.7, and 74.8, with a mean of 74.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 11, 6, 8, 5, 3, 2 and 1 with a mean of 5.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 15, 6, 7, 3, 2, 1 and 1, with a mean of 5. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD008 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD008 ARLD008 DX news ZCZC AE08 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 8 ARLD008 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 22, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD008 ARLD008 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by CT1BNW, DK7FU, G3BIT, NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. BURUNDI, 9U. Operators DJ6SI and DJ9ZB plan to be QRV as 9U0X using CW and 9U9Z using SSB, respectively, until March 1. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters. QSL to home calls. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, A6. Ghis, A61NT has been active on 30 meters around 1400z and 17 meters around 0900z. QSL via ON5NT. CHINA, BY. BD1DRJ/7, BA4ALC/7 and BD7KLO/7 are QRV from Weizhou Island, IOTA AS-139, until February 24. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL to home calls. BAHAMAS, C6. C6AWB and C6ANM are QRV from the islands of Eleuthera and New Providence, IOTA NA-001, until March 6. Activity is mainly on 160 and 80 meters, and the newer bands. They plan to be active in the CQ WW 160-Meter contest. On February 28, they plan to be active from Berry Island, IOTA NA-054. QSL both calls via WA2IYO. In addition, look for Peter, W2IRT/C6A and Tom, N2YTF/C6A to be QRV from Nassau from February 24 to March 2. Activity is mainly on 40, 20 and 17 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, QRP power and on various satellites. QSL both calls via W2IRT. COMOROS, D6. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as D60VB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. GUADELOUPE, FG. F6GWV and F6HMQ are QRV as TO6T until March 6. QSL via F6HMQ. ENGLAND, G. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Torbay Amateur Radio Society, look for GB60TR to be QRV on February 24. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via operators' instructions. DENMARK, OZ. A German contest crew will be QRV as OZ/DK0G from Roemoe Island, IOTA EU-125, from February 26 to March 6. Activity will be on all HF, VHF and various microwave frequencies. They will also participate in the upcoming ARRL DX contest. QSL via DK0G. SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, S9. Luciano, CT1HHP will be QRV as S92FM from Rolas Island, IOTA AF-023, from February 26 to March 7. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters, and possibly 17 meters, using RTTY and PSK31. QSL to home call. SUDAN, ST. Jovica, ST2A plans to be active on 80 meters at various times from Thursday through Saturday. QSL via T93Y. DODECANESE, SV5. Willi, DJ7RJ will be QRV as SV5/DJ7RJ from Kos, IOTA EU-001, from February 26 to March 17. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. VIET NAM, XV. Rolf, SM5MX is QRV as XV9SW from Hanoi. Activity is mainly on 20 and 15 meters using CW. QSL to home call. GIBRALTAR, ZB2. EB7AEY will be QRV as ZB2/4O3AL from February 23 to 25. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. NIUE, ZK2. Yoshi, JJ8DEN is QRV as ZK2PR. His length of stay is unknown. Activity is mostly on 30, 17 and 15 meters using CW and RTTY. QSL to home call. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ World Wide 160-Meter SSB Contest, Russian PSK WW Contest, North American RTTY QSO Party, REF SSB Contest, UBA DX CW Contest, CQC Winter QSO Party, Mississippi QSO Party, High Speed Club CW Contest and the North Carolina QSO Party will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see February QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD006 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD006 ARLD006 DX news ZCZC AE06 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 6 ARLD006 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 8, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD006 ARLD006 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by KA2AEV, NC1L, VA6TNY, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. NIGERIA, 5N. Marek, SQ8JCA is QRV as 5N2/SQ8JCA from Kogi until June 2007. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using SSB. He is normally active around 1100 to 1600z. QSL to home call. MAURITANIA, 5T. Benoit, F8PDR is QRV as 5T5DY from Nouakchott until February 18. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using mainly CW. QSL to home call. BARBADOS, 8P. 8P6SH will be QRV as 8P4B in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest on 20 meters. QSL via KU9C. BAHAMAS, C6. N4BP and N8PR will be QRV as C6AKQ and C6AHR, respectively, from February 12 to 19. K4PG will be QRV as C6APG from February 15 to 19. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters. This includes an entry in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. QSL to home calls. MOROCCO, CN. Mohamed, CN8KD will be QRV as 5C5W in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest as an All Band entry. QSL via EA5XX. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. A group of operators will be QRV as EF8A from the Las Palmas section in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest as possibly a Multi/2 entry. QSL via EA8AUW. MOLDOVA, ER. UR5FEO plans to be QRV as ER0FEO in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL via UU0JM. HAITI, HH. N3BNA and KC3VW plan to be QRV as HH7/homecalls from southwestern Haiti, from February 12 to 24 while on work assignment. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW and SSB. HH7/N3BNA will try to participate in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. DOMINICA, J7. K5KG, KK9K, WI9WI, K1XX and W9IU will be QRV as J75KG, J79RV, J79WI, J79XX and J79IU, respectively, from February 10 to 20. Activity will be on all HF bands using CW and SSB. They will concentrate their activity on 160 and 80 meters. They plan to be QRV as J7OJ in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. QSL J75KG and J7OJ via KU9C. QSL all others to home calls. HAWAII, KH6. Mike, KH6ND will be QRV as KH7X in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest as a Single Band entry on 80 meters. QSL via K2PF. PUERTO RICO, KP4. Tony, VA6TNY will be QRV as VA6TNY/KP4 from February 15 to 19. Activity will be on 20 meters using SSB. QSL to home call. EGYPT, SU. Mustapha, SU0ARA has been QRV on 20 meters from around 0530 to 0730z. QSL via DL1BDF. GREECE, SV. Operators SV1CIB, SV1CDN, SV1DPI and SV3BSF will be QRV as J43BSF in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest as a Multi/Single entry. QSL via SV1CIB. TUVALU, T2. Udo, DL9HCU is QRV as T20HC from Funafuti Island, IOTA OC-015, until February 16. He is usually active on 20 meters using CW around 0500z. QSL to home call. COSTA RICA, TI. Operators K7AR, KI7Y, N7OU, WJ7R and K9JY will be QRV as TI5N in the CQ WW WPX RTTY contest and the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. Outside of the contests they will be active as TI5/homecalls. QSL to home calls. ANTIGUA, V2. N2ED will be QRV as V26G from February 10 to 21. This includes an entry in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. Activity is on all HF bands. QSL to home call. AVES ISLAND, YV0. Look for YW0DX to be QRV as a Multi/Single/Low Power entry in the CQ WW RTTY contest. QSL via IT9DAA. TOKELAU, ZK3. HA9SDA and HA9RE are QRV as ZK3RE until February 22. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY with two stations. QSL via HA8IB. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Lakshadweep Islands, VU7LD, operation from December 1 through December 30, 2006; Montenegro, YU6AO, all QSOs dated June 28, 2006 and after; Auckland and Campbell Islands, ZL9BSJ/p, operation on September 12, 2006; Libya, 5A7A, operation from November 15 to November 30, 2006. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ World Wide RTTY WPX Contest, New Hampshire QSO Party, Asia-Pacific Spring CW Sprint, KCJ Topband CW Contest, Dutch PACC Contest, YLRL YL-OM SSB Contest, Louisiana QSO Party, OMISS QSO Party, British Columbia QSO Challenge, FISTS Winter CW Sprint, RSGB 1st 1.8 MHz CW Contest, North American CW Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. The ARRL School Club Roundup is scheduled for February 12 to 16. The SKCC Sprint, AGCW Semi-Automatic Key Evening and NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint are all scheduled for February 14. Please see February QST, pages 100 and 101, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD005 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD005 ARLD005 DX news ZCZC AE05 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 5 ARLD005 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 1, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD005 ARLD005 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by JA1HGY, NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SPRATLY ISLANDS. A group of operators will be QRV as DX0JP from Pag-Asa Island, IOTA AS-051, from February 3 to 13. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, PSK and JT65 EME on 6 and 2 meters. QSL EME contacts via JA1RJU. QSL all others via JA1HGY. RODRIGUES ISLAND, 3B9. Nigel, G3TXF will be QRV as 3B9/G3TXF from February 7 to 13. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using only CW. QSL to home call. FIJI, 3D2. Jack, WB6JZY is QRV as 3D2RN near Nadi on Viti Levu, IOTA OC-016, until February 20. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters. QSL to home call. AZERBAIJAN, 4K. Boris, 4K4K is usually QRV on 160 meters using CW around 0230z. SRI LANKA, 4S. Joel, F5PAC is QRV as 4S7PAG until February 22. On February 10 and 11, he will be active from IOTA AS-171. QSL to home call. ALGERIA, 7X. Mike, DB1JAW and Michael, DK5MH are QRV as 7W0JAW and 7W0MH, respectively, from the northern part of the Sahara until February 10. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using mainly SSB, but also some PSK31 and possibly RTTY. QSL direct via DB1JAW. GHANA, 9G. Walter, DC8XL is QRV as 9G5SW from the north Accra until March. He is usually active on 20 meters SSB from around 0700 to 0800z. QSL to home call. PAKISTAN, AP. Tariq, AP2TN is usually active on 40 meters using CW just before 1400z. CHILE, CE. Hector, CE3FZL is QRV as CE2P from Panul Lighthouse, ARLHS-073, during the month of February on the weekends. Activity is on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters using only SSB. QSL via EA5KB. ENGLAND, G. In commemoration of the 60 years of the Torbay Amateur Radio Society, special callsign GB60TR is active until December 31. QSL via bureau. DJIBOUTI, J2. A group of operators are QRV as J20MM and J20RR from Moucha Island, IOTA AF-053, until February 15. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via I2YSB. BRAZIL, PY. Maia, PY5CA is QRV as ZY5100SCOUT through the rest of 2007 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of scouting. QSL to home call. SWEDEN, SM. Members of the Uppsala ARS are QRV as SC5L until June 26 to celebrate the 300th anniversary of the birth of Carl Linnaeus, the famous botanist, physician and zoologist. QSL via bureau. COTE d'IVOIRE, TU. Jean-Luc is QRV as TU2/F5LDY and is often active on 40 meters using RTTY between 2200 and 0100z. QSL via F1CGN. TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, VP5. Jim, W9VNE will be QRV as VQ5FOC during the FOC Marathon. QSL direct to home call. CAMBODIA, XU. G4JVG, G3OOK and SM5GMZ are QRV as XU7DXX, XU7XRO, and XU7ADI, respectively, until February 10. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL XU7ADI via SM5GMZ. QSL XU7XRO and XU7DXX via M5AAV. AVES ISLAND, YV0. Members of the 4M5DX group will be QRV as YW0DX from February 5 to 11. Activity will be on all bands and modes. QSL via IT9DAA. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The 10-10 International Winter SSB Contest, Vermont QSO Party, AGCW Straight Key CW Party, Minnesota QSO Party, YLRL YL-OM CW Contest, FYBO Winter QRP Sprint, Delaware QSO Party, Mexico RTTY International Contest, FOC Marathon, North American SSB Sprint and the ARCI Fireside SSB Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. The ARS Spartan CW Sprint is scheduled for February 6. Please see February QST, page 100 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD003 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD003 ARLD003 DX news ZCZC AE03 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 3 ARLD003 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 18, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD003 ARLD003 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TANZANIA, 5H. Sam, F6EML is QRV as 5H1Z from Zanzibar, IOTA AF-032, until January 29. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. Emphasis will be on the low bands. QSL to home call. MADAGASCAR, 5R. Karl, DK2WV expects to be QRV as 5R8HG from January 21 to 23. Activity will be on all HF bands. QSL to home call. MALDIVES, 8Q. Andrew, G7COD will be QRV as 8Q7AK from Embudu Island, IOTA AS-013, from January 21 to February 2. Activity will be on 30, 20, 17, 15 and 12 meters using mostly SSB with some CW. QSL to home call. CROATIA, 9A. Members of the Amateur Radio Club Koprivnica are QRV with special anniversary call 9A60K until December 31 to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the ARC Koprivnica. QSL via 9A7K. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Heijo, DJ1OJ is QRV as EA8OM from Tenerife, IOTA AF-004, until the beginning of April. QSL direct to home call. KYRGYZSTAN, EX. Sergey, EX8M is usually QRV on 160 meters CW around 0100z to 0215z. MARTINIQUE, FM. Patrick, F6CMH is QRV as FM/F6CMH until January 28. He is active on 20 and 15 meters on the usual IOTA frequencies. QSL to home call. FRENCH POLYNESIA, FO. Alain, F2HE is QRV as FO5RH from Tuamotu, IOTA OC-066. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. ANTARCTICA. Adam, KC4/K2ARB is QRV from Patriot Hills Base until January 27. QSL to home call. PERU, OA. Daniel, DL5YWM is QRV in his free time as OA4/DL5YWM until January 31. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. He may try to operate from a few IOTAs as well. QSL direct to home call. BRAZIL, PY. Bone, PP5VX is QRV from Sao Francisco do Sul, IOTA SA-027, in the Santa Catarina State North Group until December 31, 2010. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL via operator's instructions. SUDAN, ST. Slavko, S57DX is QRV as ST2R until April 30. Activity is on all bands. QSL to home call. EAST KIRIBATI, T32. Mike, KM9D and Jan, KF4TUG expect to be QRV as T32MO from Fanning Atoll, IOTA OC-084, until January 22. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via OM2SA. SOMALIA, T5. Michael, PA5M will be QRV as 6O0M until January 26 while on work assignment. Most of his activity is during his local evening hours. QSL via PA7FM. LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS, VU. VU7MY is QRV from Minicoy Island, IOTA AS-106, until January 25. Activity is on all HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY, with three stations. There are also 12 to 14 stations active as VU7RG from the islands Agatti, Bangaram and Kadmat, which are all IOTA AS-011. LAOS, XW. Alex, RK3DT is QRV as XW3DT until January 20. Activity is on 40 to 12 meters using mostly CW with some SSB. QSL via operator's instructions. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL January VHF Sweepstakes, North American SSB QSO Party, NAQCC Straight Key/Bug CW Sprint, LZ Open CW Contest, UK DX RTTY Contest, International United Teenager Contest, Hungarian DX Contest and the Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see January QST, pages 97 and 98 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP002 ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP02 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 2 ARLP002 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA January 12, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP002 ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers for the week more than doubled from the previous seven days, rising 24 points to 43.4. This is a nice number for what should be the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Gene Hastings, W1VRK of Marblehead, Massachusetts has kept a regular weekly 20 meter phone QSO with G3LMH for over 40 years. Last Friday, January 5 at 1400z, the signals were unusually strong, surprising both operators. Gene said signals of late have been running about S3, so this was a welcome change. If we compare conditions a week earlier, using a propagation forecasting program, with zero sunspots on December 29, 20 meters was likely just opening over that path at that time, and the chances of them working on the next higher band, 17 meters, would be nil. But a week later, with sunspot numbers for Thursday through Saturday of 36, 43 and 47, the band would open at least 90 minutes earlier, and 17 meters would be open as well. What if a year from today the sunspot numbers over several days were running around 80? He could expect the band to be open all day, with the opening about two hours prior to his regular schedule. Also, 17, 15 and even 12 meters would likely be open, and a good chance of working G3LMH on 10 meters as well an hour or two later. Currently sunspots 930 and 937 are disappearing off the visible solar disk. Sunspot numbers should be lower over the next few days, but geomagnetic conditions should be stable. We probably won't see unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions until January 16-17, and later a bit more active around January 30. Sunspot numbers and solar flux should run higher again from January 27 through February 7. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for January 4 through 10 were 36, 43, 47, 46, 52, 41 and 39 with a mean of 43.4. 10.7 cm flux was 89.4, 89.4, 87.3, 86.7, 88, 92.2, and 86.2, with a mean of 88.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 16, 9, 3, 2, 4, 4 and 7 with a mean of 6.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 13, 6, 2, 1, 2, 3 and 4, with a mean of 4.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD002 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD002 ARLD002 DX news ZCZC AE02 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 2 ARLD002 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 11, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD002 ARLD002 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by LZ1ZF, NC1L, WD8CRT, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MAURITIUS, 3B8. Karl, DK2WV is QRV as 3B8/DK2WV until January 20 while here on holiday. QSL to home call. ALGERIA, 7X. Mohamed, 7X4AN has been active on 40 meters CW around 2200z. QSL direct. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 9Q. Gus, SM5DIC is QRV as 9Q1D and has been active on 30 meters from around 0030 to 0140z. QSL via SM5BFJ. TAIWAN, BV. Steve, N8BJQ, George, W8UVZ, Randy, W9ZR and other local operators are QRV as BX0ZR from AS-020 until January 21. Activity is on all bands, with emphasis on 160 and 80 meters. QSL via W8UVZ. BALEARIC ISLANDS, EA6. Josep, EA6BF has been active on 160 meters starting around 2330z. TAJIKISTAN, EY. Eduard, EY7AF is usually QRV on 30 meters around 1230 to 1330z most days. SAUDI ARABIA, HZ. Manfred, HZ1IK has been active using RTTY on 40 meters around 2130 to 2250z and 20 meters around 1130z. QSL via DK7YY. JAPAN, JA. Special call 8J49JARL is active until May 20 for the 49th JARL Annual General Meeting in Okayama. QSL via bureau. SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS. Hugo is QRV as LU2ERA/Z from the Orcadas Base. He is usually active on 20 meters SSB around 2200z. QSL via LU4DXU. BULGARIA, LZ. In celebration of the 170th anniversary of Bulgarian national hero Vasil Levski, Balkan Contest Club members are QRV as LZ170VL until the end of 2007. QSL via bureau. ANTARCTICA. Wally is QRV as R1AND from the Russian Novolazarevskaya Base. Activity of late has been on 20 meters around 1700z, 40 meters around 0030z and 30 meters around 2100z. QSL via RU1ZC. FRANZ JOSEF LAND, R1FJ. Jack, R1FJT has been active on 160 meters between 1900 to 2130z, 30 meters from around 1300 to 1400z and 40 meters around 1100z. He has also be QRV using RTTY on 20 meters around 1000z. MARSHALL ISLANDS, V7. Neil, WD8CRT is QRV as V73NS from Roi-Namur on Kwajalein Atoll for the next two years. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW and possibly digital modes. QSL to home call. BRUNEI, V8. Ambran, V85SS has been active on 30 meters around 1030z. LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS, VU. Look for VU7MY to be QRV from Minicoy Island, IOTA AS-106, from January 15 to 25. Activity will be on all HF bands using CW and SSB, with three stations. There will also be 12 to 14 stations active as VU7RG from the islands Agatti, Bangaram and Kadmat, which are all IOTA AS-011. CAMBODIA, XU. Peter, NO2R is QRV as XU7ACY from Sihanoukville until January 30. Activity is mainly on the low bands using CW and SSB. He plans on being active in the upcoming CQ WW 160-Meter contest. QSL via K2NJ. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Uganda, 5X1RI, operation from May 5, 2005 to February 3, 2006. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Hunting Lions in the Air Contest, 070 Club PSKFest, MI QRP January CW Contest, SPAR Winter Field Day, Midwinter CW/Phone Contests, North American QSO CW Party, NRAU-Baltic CW/SSB Contests and the DARC 10-Meter Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see January 2007 QST, page 97 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP001 ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP01 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 1 ARLP001 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA January 5, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP001 ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA This is the first bulletin of 2007, the year we'll likely see the end of sunspot cycle 23, the beginning of cycle 24, and the minima between cycles. A few days now into this new year, we can look at sunspot and solar flux averages for 2006 compared with previous years. Average daily sunspot numbers for the years 1999 through 2006 were 136.3, 173, 170.3, 176.6, 109.2, 68.6, 48.9 and 26.1. Average daily solar flux for the same years was 153.7, 179.6, 181.6, 179.5, 129.2, 106.6, 91.9 and 79.9. The numbers above show a very clear decline, which is easier to perceive when the numbers are averaged over relatively long periods, such as a year. Looking at quarterly averages, we see a little more variability, but the same definite decline over time. Comparing those yearly numbers to a decade ago when the cycle was near the bottom, average daily sunspot numbers for 1995-1997 were 28.7, 13.2 and 30.7. From the first quarter of 2004 through the fourth quarter of 2006, the average daily sunspot number was 72.9, 71.3, 69.3, 61, 46.1, 55.7, 58, 36, 18.1, 39.7, 23.5 and 23.1. The average daily solar flux for the same period was 111.1, 99.5, 111, 104.8, 96.4, 93.1, 93.6, 84.5, 78.5, 82.1, 77.5 and 81.6. Recently this bulletin commented that the prediction for the low point between cycles had recently slipped out a couple of months, so instead of the low smoothed sunspot numbers predicted for March 2007, May looked more likely. Now a new forecast from NOAA has been released, and it shows a flat yet relatively high minimum for this year, spread out over many months. Take a look at page 9 of the Preliminary Report and Forecast for January 3, 2007 at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1635.pdf. Now compare that to just a month earlier, December 5, 2006, on page 11 at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1631.pdf. The one from last month shows the minimum centered around May 2007 with a smoothed sunspot number of 7, but the current issue shows a minimum smoothed sunspot number of 10 stretching from December 2006 through July 2007. Remember that the smoothed sunspot number for any month is the average of the monthly averages from five-and-a-half months before that month with five-and-a-half months after the month. So these are not just predicted sunspot numbers, but predicted smoothed sunspot numbers. In other words, the predicted smoothed sunspot number of 10 for December 2006 represents the average of December's daily numbers averaged with the months going back from the last half of June 2006 averaged with the predicted average monthly numbers through mid-June 2007. A similar prediction, found on the web at, http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/Predict.txt, is updated weekly. Last week's bulletin mentioned an article in Space News on diverging predictions for the upcoming solar cycle, but we reported that the whole text of the piece is not available online. But Steve Sala, K7AWB of Nine Mile Falls, Washington sent us this link, http://www.space.com/spacenews/businessmonday_061218.html, which links to the entire article. The JAPY DX Group in Brazil has a VHF/UHF expedition for the first week of 2007 to Comprida Island (IOTA SA-024) through January 7. This is a 70 km long barrier island, part of the state of Sao Paulo, and the grid locator is GG64bx. This is around 25.028 degrees south latitude, 47.875 degrees west longitude. They are hoping to work trans-equatorial propagation into the Caribbean, and will be on SSB and CW on 50.11, 144.2 and 432.1 MHz, and FM on 144.54 and 433.1 MHz after 2200z daily using calls PY2OC, PY2ENO and PY2ZX. For the next few days, expect geomagnetic conditions to be from quiet to unsettled. Solar flux should stay around 90, and sunspot numbers below 50. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts unsettled conditions for today, January 5, quiet to unsettled January 6-7, and quiet conditions January 8-11. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for December 28 through January 3 were 0, 0, 11, 28, 28, 31 and 38 with a mean of 19.4. 10.7 cm flux was 76.3, 78.4, 80, 83.3, 86.9, 90, and 87.7, with a mean of 83.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 2, 2, 2, 0, 7, 19 and 20 with a mean of 7.4. Estimated mid-latitude
[DX-NEWS] ARLD001 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD001 ARLD001 DX news ZCZC AE01 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 1 ARLD001 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 4, 2007 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD001 ARLD001 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TUNISIA, 3V. GM0DHZ will be QRV holiday style as 3V8SS from January 7 to February 11. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters, and possibly 160 meters, using CW and SSB. ANTARCTICA. Dag, LA9SDA is QRV as 3Y9SDA from Troll Station. Activity is mostly on 20 meters using SSB and PSK. QSL to home call. TANZANIA, 5Z. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as 5H3VMB/5 from the Lindi/MTWARA Region Group, IOTA AF-074. He is active on 80, 40, 30 and 20 meters using CW. He has also been active on 17 meters using SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. Gerben, PG5M is QRV as 9M2/PG5M while on holiday from Pulau Pangkor, IOTA AS-072, until January 7. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW. QSL to home call. EAST MALAYSIA, 9M6. Saty, JE1JKL is QRV as 9M6NA from Labuan Island, IOTA OC-133, until January 7. Activity is on 160 and 80 meters. QSL to home call. NEPAL, 9N. Stig, LA7JO is QRV as 9N7JO from Kathmandu. Since he is here on work assignment, he is active at various times on 160 to 12 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL direct. EASTER ISLAND, CE0. Nao, JK1FNL is QRV as CE0Y/JK1FNL until January 7. Activity is on 40, 20 and 17 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. ANGOLA, D2. Koji, JM1CAX is QRV as D2NX at various times while on work assignment. QSL via JH7FQK. SCOTLAND, GM. Ken, G0ORH plans to be QRV as GM0ORH from Arran Island, IOTA EU-123, from January 6 to 13. REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HL. Kim, DS5SWL is QRV as HL22 until June 30 to mark the city of Pyeong Chang's desire to host the 2014 Winter Olympic Games. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Sang, DS4NMJ is QRV as HL8KSJ from the King Sejong station. BANGLADESH, S2. Look for a large group of operators to be QRV as S21XA from Dhaka from January 10 to 16. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY, with three stations on the air simultaneously. QSL via EA3BT. SUDAN, ST. Slavko, S57DX is QRV as ST2R until April. QSL to home call. WEST KIRIBATI, T30. T30XX has been QRV on 20 and 17 meters using CW and SSB at various times. QSL via JA8UWT. MARSHALL ISLANDS, V7. Neil, WD8CRT is QRV as V73NS from Roi-Namur Island, IOTA OC-028, for at least two years. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using mostly CW. QSL to home call. BURKINA FASO, XT. Members from the F6KOP ARS of Provins group will be QRV as XT2C from Ouagadougou from January 6 to 20. They will also be active using their own XT-calls. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via operators' instructions. INDONESIA, YB. To mark the 71 years of Central Java's Kebumen Regency, look for YC2ZBM to be QRV from January 6 to 10. Activity will be on 40 and 15 meters. A large certificate is available for this event. QSL via YC2TJV. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL RTTY Roundup, DARC 10-Meter Contest, EUCW 160-Meter Contest and the Kid's Day Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see January 2007 QST, page 97 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD054 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD054 ARLD054 DX news ZCZC AE54 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 54 ARLD054 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 28, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD054 ARLD054 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SOVEREIGN MILITARY ORDER OF MALTA, 1A0. A group of operators will be QRV as 1A4A from January 2 to 8 from the extraterritorial zone of the Magistral Villa on the Aventine hill in Rome. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters. QSL via IZ4DPV. NIGER, 5U. Christian will be QRV as 5U5U for one month beginning January 3. Activity will be on all bands using SSB. QSL direct. SENEGAL, 6W. Bert, PA3GIO will be QRV as PA3GIO/6W from January 3 to 10 from the QTH of 6W7RV in Somone. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using only SSB. QSL to home call. WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. Rich, PA0RRS will be QRV as 9M2MRS from Penang Island, IOTA AS-015, from January 1 to February 28. QSL to home call. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 9Q. Georges, VE2EK is QRV as 9Q1EK while on work assignment. He is usually QRV on 40 and 30 meters using mostly CW around 2130z. QSL via SM5DQC. TONGA, A3. Nag, JA7GAX is QRV as A35TN/N from Niauatoputapu Island, IOTA OC-191, until January 2. He will then be QRV as A35TN/V from Vaca'u Island, IOTA OC-064, from January 2 to 4. QSL to home call. BAHAMAS, C6. Operators Rene, DL2JRM, Bodo, DL3OCH, Dan, DL5SE, Daniel, DL5YWM and Anett, DO6XX will be QRV as C6ARI from Cay Sal Bank, IOTA NA-219, from January 2 to 9. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters and V/SHF and EME, using CW and SSB with two stations. QSL via DL3OCH. PHILIPPINES, DU. Francisco, CT1EAT will be QRV as DU1/CT1EAT from Romblon Island, IOTA OC-244, from January 1 to 17. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. LIECHTENSTEIN, HB0. Tom, DL2OBO will be QRV as HB0/DL2OBO from January 1 to 9. Activity will be on 160 to 30 meters using mostly CW, with some SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL to home call. DJIBOUTI, J2. Eric, ON7SAT will be QRV as J20SA beginning January 4 for three weeks. QSL to home call. JAPAN, JA. Take, JS6RRR is QRV as JS6RRR/JS6 from Miyako Island, IOTA AS-079, until January 9. Activity is on the HF bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. BULGARIA, LZ. In commemoration of Bulgaria becoming a full member of the European Union, members of the Bulgarian Federation of Radio Amateurs will be QRV as LZ2007EU from January 1 to April 30. QSL via bureau. MOUNT ATHOS, SV/A. Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A is usually QRV early on Sunday mornings on 20 meters using SSB around 0900z. He expects to be active over the next two weeks. QSL direct. AUSTRALIA, VK. The Australian scouts will be QRV as VI3JAM from Elmore/Victoria during the 21st Scouts Jamboree from January 2 to 13. Special event station VI3SAA will be activated during several activities in 2007 in commemoration of the 100th anniversary of the world scout movement. QSL via bureau. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL Straight Key Night, Hello Centennial Operating Event, RAC Winter Contest, Feld Hell QSO Party, New Years Snowball Contest, Stew Perry Topband CW Challenge, SARTG New Year RTTY Contest, AGCW Happy New Year CW Contest, AGCW VHF/UHF Contest and the ARS Spartan CW Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this upcoming weekend. Please see December QST, page 80, January 2007 QST, page 97 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP053 ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP53 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 53 ARLP053 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 22, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP053 ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA More of the stormy space weather appeared this week, while at the same time sunspot activity was lower. Average daily sunspot numbers dropped 17 points to 10.4 for the week of December 14-20. But on December 15, the planetary A index, an indicator of global geomagnetic activity from magnetometers around the globe, rose to 104, a very high number indicating a severe geomagnetic storm. The cause was a large coronal mass ejection that happened to be earth-directed. It arrived on December 14, and caused Aurora Borealis appearing as far south as Arizona. During the hours of darkness in North America between December 14-15, the planetary K index rose to 8 for three successive three-hour periods. That is very big. For the next few weeks, you can view the numbers for that period at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt. Thanks to N7SO and N7TP for the tip on a paper presented last week in San Francisco at the Fall 2006 meeting of the American Geophysical Union. The paper was titled Geomagnetic activity indicates a large amplitude for sunspot cycle 24, and you can read the abstract at, http://tinyurl.com/yjzy3q. The longer article is at, http://tinyurl.com/yewboz. The paper proposes that the next sunspot cycle could be one of the most intense cycles ever observed. The prediction technique uses geomagnetic activity during solar minimum to predict solar activity during the peak of the next cycle. But the geomagnetic activity used for this calculation isn't the dramatic sort that we've seen this week, but constant levels of solar wind streams that frequently affect the earth's magnetosphere. NASA has an article on this at, http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/21dec_cycle24.htm. Another article concerning the upcoming cycle 24 that you shouldn't miss is The World Above 50 MHz column in the current (January 2007) issue of QST. This is the second half of the same column from the December 2006 issue. Last week's intense geomagnetic activity produced some nice auroral propagation on 6 meters. Jon Jones, N0JK was operating portable atop a parking garage in Salina, Kansas using a 2-element Yagi and running 30 watts. On December 15 at 0015z, he worked K9MU in Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin, who was quite strong on SSB, over 500 miles away. Later at 0225z he heard KL7NO in Fairbanks working stations in 9-land. Fairbanks is about 2,800 miles from Salina. By the way, I calculated those distances quickly using ZIP codes with a handy utility at, http://www.melissadata.com/Lookups/zipdistance.asp. Jeff Hartley, N8II of Shepherdstown, West Virginia sent in some interesting observations on the 10-meter contest of two weeks ago and aurora propagation from last week. First, regarding the 10-meter contest, he indicated he worked 1,400 stations using only a 5-element monoband 10-meter Yagi at 98 feet, which is three full wavelengths above ground. Jeff continues, There was stable propagation (possibly F2) to NM and El Paso, TX Sunday and a pipeline into AZ/NV. I probably worked a record number of NM, OK, KS, and IA stations during this year's event (latter 3 worked via plentiful Es). Worked EA8 (several and loud), 5H, 3X, S9SS, ZS on Sat AM and we had a very nice but only 2.25 hour long F2 West Coast opening starting around 1700z. Sunday it lasted longer, but CA was very weak and spotty and the Pacific NW was in and out, peaking at beginning and end of opening. A35RK called Sunday afternoon and biggest surprise was a Es to F2 link QSO with KH6NI at 0219z Sunday (ZL1CN was worked via same about 0120z). All states were worked except AK and ND and there certainly was prop to ND. He goes on to say, The aurora starting around z on the 15th was intense on 6M, but died out after 1 hour. It or auroral E probably returned later, but I was whipped. Signals peaked approximately NW and propagation favored that direction. Stations were heard from IA to VE2 and the beacons from MI and OH at one point were as loud as S9. There was not enough CW activity and a lot of guys just can't copy SSB sigs well with the phase distortion at 50 MHz. Currently we've seen several days of 0 sunspots. Expect little or no sunspots for the short term, and a planetary A index on December 22-27 of 15, 15, 10, 5, 5 and 15. The next predicted period of higher geomagnetic activity is around January 2, with a planetary A index of 25. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past
[DX-NEWS] ARLD053 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD053 ARLD053 DX news ZCZC AE53 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 53 ARLD053 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 21, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD053 ARLD053 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SRI LANKA, 4S. DL7UCX will be QRV as 4S7UCG from December 26 to January 5 while on holiday. He will be active on 160 to 30 meters using CW in his spare time. QSL to home call. ZAMBIA, 9J. Brian is QRV as 9J2BO and has been active on 40 meters around 0400z. QSL via G3TEV. CHINA, BY. David, BA4DW/7 is QRV from Hainan Island, IOTA AS-094, until December 24 on 20 and 15 meters in his spare time. QSL direct. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as C91VB/6 and has been active on 40 meters using CW around 2200z. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. IRAN, EP. Sadegh, EP3HF has been QRV on 20 meters using SSB from around 0800 to 1100z. NEW CALEDONIA, FK. Remi, FK8CP has been QRV on 80 meters using SSB at various times of the day. QSL direct. SARDINIA, IS0. Giancarlo, I0JU will be QRV as IS0/I0JU from December 27 to January 2. He will primarily be active using EME on 6 and 2 meters. OGASAWARA ISLANDS, JD1. Taru is QRV as JE7IZM/JD1 and has been active on 80 meters SSB around 1200z. QSL via bureau. PERU, OA. OA4/N6XQ is QRV until January 20. Most of this activity is on 6 meters. BRAZIL, PY. A group of operators will be QRV as ZY6T from Itaparica Island, IOTA SA-023, from December 26 to 30. They will be active with two stations on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL direct to PY7GK. EGYPT, SU. Hans is QRV as SU9HP and has been active on 160 meters using CW between 2100 and 2300z. QSL via SM0CFO. MOUNT ATHOS, SV/A. Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A may be QRV on various bands until January 7. WEST KIRIBATI, T30. Toshi, JA8BMK will be QRV as T30XX from December 27 to January 8. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB in his spare time. QSL direct to JA8UWT. UKRAINE, UR. The Ukrainian Amateur Radio League is celebrating its 15th anniversary until December 25. Look for many stations to be using the number 15 in their callsigns. INDIA, VU. Kumar, VU2BGS is usually QRV on 160, 80 and 40 meters using CW around z through his sunrise. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The RAEM CW Contest and DARC Christmas Contest are both scheduled for this weekend. Please see December QST, page 80 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP052 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP052 ARLP052 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP52 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 52 ARLP052 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 15, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP052 ARLP052 Propagation de K7RA Big solar and geomagnetic activity this week from sunspot 930, as it moved across the center of the visible sun as we see it from earth. On Wednesday December 13, there was a big X-class solar flare, and Thursday's mid-latitude A index rose to 30, while the planetary A index hit 63, indicating a severe geomagnetic storm. As this bulletin is written after midnight Friday morning on the West Coast, the planetary K index for the past 9 hours has been 8. A full day with nothing but a K index of 8 would produce an A index over 200. The planetary A index predicted for December 15-18 is 45, 20, 15 and 5. Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA sent a chart from 1986 showing a day during the low point between solar cycles when the A index suddenly shot to 200. Our sun doesn't always do as expected during low points of a solar cycle. There is a tremendous amount of short-term variability. You can see the graph at, http://www.dxlc.com/solar/history/hist1986.html, where it is the top chart on the page. Earlier Thursday evening the Australian Space Forecast Centre issued a warning for a major to severe geomagnetic storm for December 15. You can receive free emailed warnings of such events by subscribing at, http://www.ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo/ips-geo-warning. Geophysical Institute Prague also predicts a severe geomagnetic storm for December 15, active conditions for December 16, unsettled for December 17, and back to quiet on December 18. Geomagnetic storms aren't all bad. Other than producing pretty Aurora Borealis, there are some nice effects on VHF, too. Vince Varnas, K7ZH of Aloha, Oregon (CN85) reports, Fantastic aurora and aurora-E opening today (Thursday night). I worked most of the northern tier of states and southern Canada provinces from WA1T (New Hampshire) to KL7NO (Fairbanks) on 50 MHz with 100 watts to a popular 3 element commercial Yagi on SSB (mostly). The Aurora commenced just before UTC for me and was mixed with auroral-E skip, too. For last week's 10-meter contest, most reports talked about trans-equatorial propagation into South America, or sporadic-E skip. Bob Griffiths, NE3I of Blue Bell, Pennsylvania reported the contest operation was either with locals, or groups of stations worked in a row when one area of the country or the other seemed to pop in for a brief period. Of course it helps to be further south. Ken Lappe, W1YO of Leesburg, Florida reports that from Central Florida 10-meters was open to South America both Saturday and Sunday. But the 10-meter contest was much better last year, with more African, Canadian and U.S. stations worked. By the way, both W1YO and NE3I were using simple vertical antennas. It's time to wrap up the bulletin for this week, because in addition to the geomagnetic storm, there is a huge wind storm blowing outside here in Seattle, the lights keep flickering, and I need to turn this in before the power goes out. There is also a final exam in a Perl programming course this weekend. Perl gurus are welcome to email advice and encouragement, or to help comment my code. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for December 7 through 13 were 48, 32, 13, 23, 28, 27 and 21 with a mean of 27.4. 10.7 cm flux was 96, 96, 92.4, 90, 92.2, 102, and 93.6, with a mean of 94.6. Estimated planetary A indices were 25, 25, 7, 14, 15, 26 and 5 with a mean of 16.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 14, 17, 6, 8, 11, 15 and 5, with a mean of 10.9. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD052 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD052 ARLD052 DX news ZCZC AE52 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 52 ARLD052 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 14, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD052 ARLD052 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. FIJI, 3D2. Jack, WB6JZY is QRV as 3D2RN from Viti Levu, IOTA OC-016. QSL to home call. CYPRUS, 5B. Ben, 5B4AGM has been active on 80 meters after 1630z. MALDIVES, 8Q. 8Q7AN is QRV from AS-013 until December 22. QSL via IZ6GJO. SINGAPORE, 9V. James, 9V1YC is active on 80 meters using CW between 2230 and 2330z. SAUDI ARABIA, HZ. HZ1ZH has been QRV on 20 meters SSB between 1100 and 1600z at various times. QSL via EA7FTR. DJIBOUTI, J2. Eric is QRV as J20SA and has been active on 17 meters around 1045z and 20 and 15 meters around 1030z. QSL via ON7SAT. ST. LUCIA, J6. Oleh, KD7WPJ will be QRV as J6/KD7WPJ from IOTA NA-108 from December 21 to 27. QSL to home call. JAPAN, JA. Special event station 8J8WSC is QRV until March 4, 2007 in celebration of the FIS Nordic World Ski Championship that will be held in Sapporo on Hokkaido, February 22 to March 4, 2007. QSL via the bureau. ANTARCTICA. Adam, K2ARB is QRV as KC4/K2ARB from Patriot Hills Base, IOTA AN-016, normally after 0030z on 40, 30 or 20 meters, depending on conditions. He is here until January 27. He may also be active as VP8DKF at various times as well. QSL to home call. ARUBA, P4. Marty, W2CG is QRV as P40CG until December 18. Since he is on vacation here, his operating times vary. QSL to home call. EAST KIRIBATI, T32. Lamarr is QRV as T32Z and has been active on 20 meters around 1630Z. QSL via K3PD. ICELAND, TF. Russian Robinson Club members RA3NAN, RZ3EC, and RZ3EM are QRV as TF7RRC from the Westman Islands, EU-071, until December 16. They will then be active as TF4RRC from Flatey Island, IOTA EU-168, on December 18 and 19. QSL both calls via RZ3EC. They may also be active as homecalls/TF. QSL to home calls. COTE d'IVOIRE, TU. Jean Luc is QRV as TU2/F5LDY. QSL via F1CGN. TURKS AND CAICOS ISLAND, VP5. Olav, LA9VFA is QRV as VP5/LA9VFA from Providenciales, IOTA NA-002, until December 29. QSL to home call. CHAGOS ISLANDS, VQ9. Ash, WY8Q and Sonja, KD4DZJ are QRV as VQ9IE and VQ9BW, respectively. Activity of late has been on 20 meters SSB around 1600z. Their length of stay is unknown. QSL to home calls. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Russian 160-Meter Contest, OK DX RTTY Contest, MDXA PSK DeathMatch, Croatian CW Contest, International Naval Contest, ARCI Holiday Spirits Homebrew Sprint and The Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. The ARLHS Lighthouse Christmas Lights QSO Party runs from December 16 to January 1. Please see December QST, pages 79 and 80, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP051 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP051 ARLP051 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP51 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 51 ARLP051 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 8, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP051 ARLP051 Propagation de K7RA The past couple of days have seen robust solar activity, with flares and strong solar wind. On Wednesday and Thursday, December 6 and 7, the planetary A index rose to 28, then 25. On December 5 a large X9 class solar flare emerged from the sun's eastern side, but it wasn't earth directed. This was from a large sunspot 930, which drove the sunspot number to 59 on the same day as the solar flare, the same level as five days earlier. Wednesday, December 6 saw a smaller X6 flare, and currently early Friday morning we are seeing a strong solar wind, with the interplanetary magnetic field pointing south, making us vulnerable. There is a chance of more flares, which might be bad news for the ARRL 10 Meter Contest this weekend. Flare activity caused a 10.7 cm solar flux reading at Penticton, British Columbia to jump off the scale. The noon reading showed a solar flux of 573.4, and had to be adjusted downward to 103 for the day. Currently a forecast from NOAA and the U.S. Air Force calls for a planetary A index on December 8-12 of 30, 50, 40, 20 and 10. The predicted A index of 50 and 40 for December 9-10 does not bode well for the weekend contest. Even if the geomagnetic activity is this strong, there still should be some north-south trans-equatorial propagation on 10 meters. But here we see an average sunspot number of 52 for this week, 35 points higher than last week, and of course the downside is greater chance for solar flares. There is a new prediction for the sunspot cycle minimum. Until recently, the minimum was predicted to have a smoothed sunspot number of 6 centered on March and April 2007. The new forecast moves the minimum out a little further and not as low, with a smoothed sunspot number of 7 for May 2007. You can see the difference in the table on page 11 of the SEC Preliminary Report and Forecast for this week, compared with the issue from four weeks ago. The old forecast is at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1627.pdf on page 11, and the new one at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1631.pdf , also on page 11. This later and higher minimum makes sense, because we haven't seen weeks in a row of 0 sunspot days. Last week's Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP050 mentioned a theory about cooling in the upper ionosphere causing greater density in lower layers. It turns out that data from different locations shows different results, and the net effect doesn't look strong or conclusive. If you do a web search for terms such as long term ionosphere change you'll find abstracts for several scientific papers on the subject. The most interesting thing I ran across (thanks to K9LA) was the map on page 12 of the PDF at, http://tinyurl.com/yyn4ut. The hmF2 referred to in this document is the height of the densest portion of the F2 layer, with positive trends at some ionosonde stations and negative at others. The trend for change in height of the F2 layer is also very slight. It comes out to about two and a half miles per decade, or .41 km per year, for ionosonde stations that show any effect. Jon Jones, N0JK commented that recently in the CQ Worldwide CW Contest even with solar activity so low, HC8N on 10 meters worked 1,838 stations in 32 zones and 113 countries. Also, Dave Deatrick, WA8OLD way up in Northern Michigan next to Sault Ste Marie, Ontario, remarks that he's had great luck recently on 40 meters with a shortened dipole at 28 feet and 100 watts. He worked 5A7A, CN2R and several European stations. He is surprised at what he can work on 40 meters with a simple antenna and low power. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Monthly propagation charts between four USA regions and twelve overseas locations are at, http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Sunspot numbers for November 30 through December 6 were 59, 58, 55, 46, 43, 59 and 44 with a mean of 52. 10.7 cm flux was 84.1, 84.2, 87.3, 86.5, 92.8, 102.4, and 103, with a mean of 91.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 28, 4, 2, 3, 1, 2 and 28 with a mean of 9.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 15, 3, 1, 2, 1, 2 and 15, with a mean of 5.6. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom
[DX-NEWS] ARLD051 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD051 ARLD051 DX news ZCZC AE51 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 51 ARLD051 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 7, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD051 ARLD051 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. BARBADOS, 8P. Dean, 8P6SH will be QRV in the ARRL 10 Meter contest as a Single-Op/SSB/High-Power entry. He also expects to be active in the upcoming CQ RTTY WPX contest next February. QSL via KU9C. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 9Q. Philippe is QRV as 9Q1TB and has been active during the weekend on 40 meters from around 2030 to 2200z. QSL via F5LTB. BAHRAIN, A9. Special event station A92BND is QRV during the month of December in celebration of the country's National Day, which is December 16. QSL via A92GR. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as C91VB/4. He is active on all bands using CW and SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. CHILE, CE. CE2P is QRV from Panul Lighthouse, ARLHS CHI-073, during the weekends in December, January and February. Activity is on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters using only SSB. QSL via EA5KB. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Operators Edu, EA8AUW and Juha, OH9MM will be QRV as EF8A from the URE Las Palmas Section in the ARRL 10 Meter Contest as a Multi-Op/Mixed-Mode/High-Power entry. QSL via EA8AUW. FRANCE, F. To commemorate the 20th anniversary of the creation of the Council of Europe Radio Amateur Club, special event call TP20CE is QRV until December 10. This will be the last activity with this special callsign. QSL via F5LGF. GUINEA BISSAU, J5. Gianfranco is QRV as J59OFM and usually found on 20 meters SSB around 1630z on various days. QSL via I3LDP. ARGENTINA, LU. Oscar, LU1XS will be QRV as CE8/LU1XS from Navarino Island, IOTA SA-050, from December 8 to 10. Activity will be on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meters using only CW. QSL to home call. ARUBA, P4. P49MR is QRV until April 2007. Activity is concentrated on 12, 17 and 6 meters SSB. QSL via VE3MR. GREECE, SV. Operators Steve, G4EDG and Jeff, G4ELZ are QRV as SV8/G4EDG/p and SV8/G4ELZ/p, respectively, from Aegina Island, IOTA EU-075, until December 10. They are using only CW. QSL direct via G4ELZ. BERMUDA, VP9. Mark, AA1AC will be QRV as AA1AC/VP9 from the Hamilton Parish from December 9 to 13. QSL to home call. LAKSHADWEEP ISLANDS, VU. Members of the Amateur Radio Society of India are QRV as VU7LD (and VU7LD/homecalls) from Kavaratti Island, IOTA AS-011, until December 31. They are active on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV and PSK. QSL via W3HNK. ZIMBABWE, Z2. George is QRV as Z24S and has been active on 20 meters around 0500 and 1830z. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL 10-Meter Contest, 28 MHz SWL Contest, Great Colorado Snowshoe Run and North American High Speed Meteor Scatter Winter Rally are scheduled for this weekend. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint is scheduled for December 13. Please see December QST, page 79 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP047 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP047 ARLP047 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP47 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 47 ARLP047 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 17, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP047 ARLP047 Propagation de K7RA This week saw the odd combination of the average daily sunspot number declining while the solar flux rose. It isn't so odd for this to happen when there are very few sunspots, and one rises slightly while the other declines slightly. But this time, the solar flux rose quite a bit. The average daily sunspot number dropped nearly 19 points to 27.7, and average daily solar flux rose over 8 points to 94.3. There is a big sunspot, number 923, currently moving off center to the western limb. This sunspot is so large that it could be seen unaided at sunset, although this is not safe viewing. Perhaps this spot radiated plenty of energy at 2.8 GHz (the frequency at which solar flux is measured), but the combined area and number of spots didn't make a high sunspot number. Solar flux is measured daily near Penticton, British Columbia since 1991. Prior to 1991, measurements were made at Ottawa. You can see a photo of the 2.8 GHz antenna here, http://tinyurl.com/ycf8y3, and you can read about it at, http://tinyurl.com/yk4oym and http://tinyurl.com/yzjmxc. This week is the phone weekend of ARRL Sweepstakes. Sweepstakes is a very popular activity in which the emphasis is on working domestic stations in as many ARRL Sections as possible in the United States and Canada, rather than DX. You can only work any station one time, even if you change bands, and the multiplier is the number of ARRL Sections that you work. You can see the rules at, http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/novss.html. Conditions should be good this weekend, although today (November 17) unsettled geomagnetic activity is expected. After today geomagnetic conditions should stabilize. Predicted planetary A indices for November 17-20 are 15, 10, 5 and 5. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts unsettled to active conditions for November 17, unsettled November 18, quiet to unsettled November 19, quiet November 20-22, and quiet to unsettled on November 23. The predicted solar flux is 95 through the weekend. This is relatively high for this point in the sunspot cycle. If we had zero sunspots we would expect to see the solar flux nearly 30 points lower, around 67. 10 and 12 meters continue to produce openings over long distances, even though the Fall sporadic-E season probably peaked in October. Ray Parker, ND6S of Sutter Creek, California reports that on November 10 he worked VR2BG and VK5BC just after 0200z on 10 meters, and heard a JA and ZL station. On the same day, but 7 hours earlier Roger Edwards, K1GBS in Tampa, Florida worked Arizona and Wyoming. Mike Schatzburg, W2AJI of Tryon, North Carolina reports fantastic 20 meter conditions every evening into South Africa and the South Pacific. Mike wrote, 20 Meters has had fantastic short path propagation both into the South Pacific, and into South Africa each evening. On 11/11 and 11/12, between 0500 and 0630 UTC, the band has been fully open, with low noise conditions, and very little stateside QRM on SSB. He continues, Most 100 watt dipole stations produce S7 signal reports, with the high power DXers and Yagis producing S9 plus 10 DB signals on my calibrated Mark V S-meter. There is very little fading, and the contacts are solid. Outstanding contacts were had with ZS2EC, ZS1AU, ZS4U, and ZS1YL amongst many more strong stations on Nov. 11. On Nov. 12, the same bi-directional conditions existed, about the same 8,000 mile plus skip distances with VK3SS, VK2GWK, VK2MAD, and ZL2AIA. These stations report very little activity being heard from the US, and the pileups which ensued after calling just one CQ were very large indeed. He goes on to say, As usual I was using a five element monoband Yagi, with a 44 foot boom at 75 feet (see http://home.earthlink.net/~cherokeehillfarm/id2.html). The base of the tower is at 1002 feet on a very steep hill in the Blue Ridge. Mike ends with, I believe that conditions will be improving, but more ideal propagation could not be found this late at night when you have quiet as well. Mike sure has a wonderful 20 meter antenna. Hector Garcia, XE2K wrote in a week ago after returning from the XF4 operation on the Revillagigedo Island Group in the Pacific. He said he worked many JA stations on 10 meters, and there seemed to be several good openings on 10 and 12 meters with strong signals, but not many stations actually on the air. I received an email noting that Thomas Ashcraft, mentioned in last week's propagation forecast bulletin isn't really an astronomer. This is the fellow who recorded Sun noise on HF with 2 receivers on 18.7 and 22.2 MHz, then made stereo recordings out of them. Ashcraft is actually an artist, and if you do a web search for his name, you'll see reviews of his interesting and unusual work in the New York Times
[DX-NEWS] ARLD048 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD048 ARLD048 DX news ZCZC AE48 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 48 ARLD048 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT November 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD048 ARLD048 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by F5UJK, NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MAURITIUS, 3B8. Operators OM2TW, OM1KW, OM2RA and ON2YL are QRV as 3B8/OM0C until November 30. Activity is on the low bands, and RTTY. This includes being an entry in the upcoming CQ WW CW contest. QSL via OM2FY. TANZANIA, 5H. Giovanni, I5JHW is QRV as 5H1HW from Zanzibar, IOTA AF-032, until November 22. He is using SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. MALDIVES, 8Q. Gianluca, IK0XIH will be QRV as 8Q7GL from November 21 to 27 while on holiday. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using SSB. QSL to home call. TONGA, A3. Willy is QRV as A35AX and is usually active on 20 meters from around 0830 to 1000z and then from around 0630 to 0730z. QSL via ON5AX. ANGOLA, D2. Janne is QRV as D2DX and has been active on 20 meters between 2015 and 2145z. QSL via OH2BAD. MARTINIQUE, FM. Lee, K5UN will be QRV as TO5X from November 21 to 30. This includes being active in the upcoming CQ WW CW contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL to home call. CROZET ISLAND, FT5W. Nicolas, F4EGX is QRV as FT1WM but just on satellites such as AO-51, SO-50, the ISS repeater and PACSAT-1. SAN ANDRES AND PROVIDENCIA, HK0. Gerd, DL7VOG is QRV as HK0GU/1 from Providencia, IOTA NA-049, until December 1. QSL direct to home call. REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HL. Look for operators DS2GOO, DS2KEP, DS3HWS, 6K2CEW, 6K2CSD and others from the Pyong Taek DX Club to be QRV as homecalls/3 from Anmyon Island, IOTA AS-080, on November 18 and 19. QSL to home calls. GUINEA BISSAU, J5. Gianfranco is QRV as J59OFM and usually found on 20 meters SSB around 1630z on various days. QSL via I3LDP. JAPAN, JA. Operators JG4PYJ, JI4IPB, JJ4KME and JM4FGW will be QRV as homecalls/4 from Chburi Island, IOTA AS-041, November 18 and 19. Activity will be on 80 to 15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home calls. SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, S9. Charles, S9SS is normally QRV on 20 meters from around 2100 to 0200z. QSL via N4JR. CHAD, TT. Phil is QRV as TT8PK until November 20 and has been active on 30 meters after 2100z. QSL via F4EGS. MICRONESIA, V6. JA7HMZ is QRV as V6T1 and has been active using RTTY on 20 meters from around 0630 to 0900z. QSL via JA7AO. COCOS KEELING ISLAND, VK9C. W0YG and N0KV are QRV as VK9CGG until November 20. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters. QSL via W0YG. MONTSERRAT, VP2M. George, K2DM will be QRV as VP2MDG from November 22 to 28. This includes being active in the upcoming CQ WW CW contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL to home call. INDONESIA, YB. Hotang, YC0IEM will be QRV as YC0IEM/9 from Lombok Island, IOTA OC-150, from November 20 to December 6 while on work assignment. QSL via IZ8CCW. NEW ZEALAND, ZL. ON5AX is QRV as ZL/ON5AX until December 14. QSL to home call. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL November SSB Sweepstakes, NAQCC Straight Key/Bug CW Sprint, SARL Field Day Contest, LZ DX Contest, EUCW Fraternizing CW QSO Party, All Austrian 160-Meter CW Contest, RSGB 2nd 1.8 MHz CW Contest, North American Collegiate ARC SSB Championship and the EU PSK63 QSO Party will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. The YO International PSK31 Contest is scheduled for November 17. The Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest is scheduled for November 20. Please see November QST, page 104 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD046 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD046 ARLD046 DX news ZCZC AE46 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 46 ARLD046 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT November 2, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD046 ARLD046 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TANZANIA, 5H. Giovanni, I5JHW will be QRV as 5H1HW from Zanzibar Island, IOTA AF-032, from November 7 to 22. QSL to home call. MALDIVES, 8Q. Michele, IK5ZUI is QRV as 8Q7LM for the next year. ANDORRA, C3. Mike, K9MW will be QRV as C33IU on November 4 and 5. He will be active using 2 meters in the IARU contest, and on 40 meters as well. QSL via G0OYH. ANTARCTICA. Adam, K2ARB is QRV as CE8/K2ARB until November 8. Activity is on 40, 30 and 20 meters CW on his days off. He will also try to check into the Antarctic SSB nets when possible. NORTH COOK ISLANDS, E5. Bill, N7OU and Bob, W7YAQ will be QRV as E51NOU and E51YAQ, respectively, from Penrhyn Atoll, from November 4 to 18. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using mostly CW with some SSB and RTTY. QSL to home calls. ITALY, I. Members of the Italian Naval Old Rhythmers Club are QRV using only CW as IY1SP/500KCS from Mount Parodi until November 5. This operation marks the first hundred years since the signing of the Berlin International Wireless Telegraphy Convention agreement. QSL via I1SAF. MARIANA ISLANDS, KH0. Look for RZ3AA, UA3AB and RA3AUU to be QRV as KH0/NP2KY, KH0/KB7YHQ and KH0/K3UY from November 5 to 9. PUERTO RICO, KP4. Rich, KE3Q will be QRV as WP3R in the ARRL CW Sweepstakes. BELGIUM, ON. UBA Radio Club stations in Belgium may use the ON60 callsign prefix until February 10, 2007 to mark the 60 years of the UBA, the IARU Society for Belgium. DENMARK, OZ. Norbert, DL1HTW will be QRV as OZ/homecall from Langeland Island, IOTA EU-172, from November 4 to 11. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using SSB and SSTV. QSL to home call. BONAIRE, CURACAO, PJ2. Bob, K0NR is QRV as PJ4/K0NR from Bonaire, IOTA SA-006, until November 9. Activity is on 30 to 6 meters using SSB and PSK31. He will also be active on the various FM OSCAR satellites from grid FK52. QSL to home call. CORSICA, TK. Kazik, DL2SBY and Tomi, HA4DX are QRV as TK/homecalls from the small village of Sisco until November 11. Activity is on all HF bands using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL to home calls. NAMIBIA, V5. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as V51VV using CW and SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. MICRONESIA, V6. Operators JA1KJW, JA1JQY, JI1FOP and JA8VE will be QRV as V63JQ, V63JY, V63OP and V63VE, respectively, from Pohnpei Island, IOTA OC-010, from November 7 to 9. QSL to home calls. BERMUDA, VP9. Paul, G4BKI is QRV as VP9KF using only CW from Hamilton Parish, IOTA NA-005, until November 15. CAMBODIA, XU. John, KF0RQ is QRV as XU7ACQ until November 28 in his spare time. QSL to home call. TRISTAN da CUNHA, ZD9. Brian, ZD9BCB is QRV from Gough Island, IOTA AF-030, until September 2007. In addition, Andy, ZD9BV is QRV from Tristan da Cunha, IOTA AF-030, and is normally active starting around 1730z on 20, 17 and 15 meters. QSL direct. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Albania, ZA/IK7JWX, operation from July 10 through July 30, 2006. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL CW Sweepstakes Contest, PSK63 Sprint, IPARC Contest, Radio Club of American QSO Party, Ukrainian DX Contest, NA Collegiate ARC CW Championship, High Speed Club CW Contest and the DARC 10-Meter Digital ''Corona'' Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. The ARS Spartan Sprint is scheduled for November 7. Please see November QST, page 104 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP045 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP045 ARLP045 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP45 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 45 ARLP045 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 3, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP045 ARLP045 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot numbers rose over the past few days. Though the average sunspot number for the past reporting week (Thursday through Wednesday) was about the same as the previous week, the emergence of sunspots 921 and 922 brought the daily sunspot number over October 29 through November 2 to 0, 15, 34, 46 and 59. This number will probably rise through the weekend. The increased sunspot numbers may correlate with some activity observed for the past few days on the higher bands. A glance at http://dx.dxers.info/ on Thursday evening shows that during the day, Asian Far East stations on 10 and 12 meters were hearing and working the XF4DL expedition on Socorro Island (this is in the Pacific Ocean, roughly 300 miles south of Baja California on roughly the same latitude as Mexico City). Also apparent on 10 and 12 meters is E51QMA in the North Cook Islands heard and worked by North American stations. Helioseismology detects (see http://spaceweather.com/glossary/farside.html) a new spot emerging on the far side of our Sun which should rotate to face us in a few days, around November 7. Why this, when we might be only months away from sunspot minimum, predicted to occur some time around April 2007 (see http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/Predict.txt)? Attribute it to the many large short term variations we see in solar activity during any cycle. October is over, and we now know the average sunspot number for the month (14.7) and the average solar flux (74.3). Here are the monthly averages for the past thirteen months: The average daily sunspot numbers for the months October 2005 through October 2006 were 13, 32.2, 62.6, 26.7, 5.3, 21.3, 55.2, 39.6, 24.4 , 22.6, 22.8, 25.2 and 14.7. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 76.6, 86.3, 90.8, 83.4, 76.5, 75.5, 88.9, 80.9, 76.5, 75.8, 79, 77.8 and 74.3. We can compare the recent monthly sunspot averages to the averages during the last solar minimum in 1996. The monthly average sunspot numbers for January 1996 through April 1997 were 18, 9.1, 12.1, 8.5, 11.9, 18.8, 13.2, 20.7, 2.9, 2.3, 25.6, 15.1, 8.7, 11.4, 13.7, and 24.5. We see the lowest numbers were in September-October 1996, and six months prior to that, the numbers weren't far off from what we've seen for the past three months, 22.8, 25.2 and 14.7. Last week was the phone weekend of the CQ World Wide DX Contest. Geomagnetic conditions were a bit unsettled. This weekend is the CW weekend for ARRL Sweepstakes, and conditions should remain quiet through the weekend, with increased sunspot numbers. Many contesters would rather see those conditions on a DX contest weekend, but we can't complain. The predicted planetary A index (lower numbers indicate more stable geomagnetic conditions), for November 3-9 are 8, 8, 5, 5, 5, 5 and 20. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts unsettled conditions for November 3, quiet to unsettled November 4, quiet conditions November 5-7, quiet to unsettled November 8, and unsettled to active November 9. Larry Godel, W0OGH in Gilbert, Arizona reports that he experienced good 10 meter FM openings last weekend to California and Texas. He was able to work through the W5DFW repeater and another near Yosemite in California with full-quieting signals. He comments that on Sunday morning, on the 40 meter AM net, local stations (those within 100 miles) were strong as 20db over S9. Within 5 minutes they were gone and within half an hour they were all back, strong as ever. Conditions stayed that way for several hours thereafter. Finally, I don't know if this fellow in Quebec is a ham operator, but he should be. This illustrates a personal fantasy I had as an 11 year old. Problem was, it was 1963, and we didn't have the technology yet. Take a look at these videos at, http://tinyurl.com/n7agv and http://tinyurl.com/ms6t2. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html . An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for October 26 through November 1 were 0, 2 14, 28, 0, 15, 34 and 46 with a mean of 19.9. 10.7 cm flux was 71.9, 72, 74.7 , 73.3, 75.7, 80.1, and 86.7, with a mean of 76.3. Estimated planetary A indices were 1, 2, 14, 21, 9, 4 and 6 with a mean of 8.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 1, 3, 12, 13, 6, 2 and 5, with a mean of 6. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored
[DX-NEWS] ARLP044 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP044 ARLP044 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP44 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 44 ARLP044 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA October 27, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP044 ARLP044 Propagation de K7RA Early on Friday morning before the CQ World Wide SSB DX Contest, conditions are stable and quiet, and after the sunspot number rose to 50 this week following eight days of no sunspots, the average daily sunspot number increased from nothing to 23.3. Unfortunately, the stable quiet conditions are not expected to last through the contest. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, October 27-30, is 10, 20, 10 and 5. Geophysical Institute Prague calls for unsettled conditions today, October 27, unsettled to active on October 28, quiet to unsettled on October 29-30, and back to quiet conditions for October 31 through November 2. Also, on Thursday October 26, the sunspot number was back to 0. Don't be surprised if we see no sunspots through the weekend and beyond. With no sunspots visible, we might think of the sun as blank, but check this photograph taken by an amateur astronomer on Thursday. You'll see quite a bit of detail at, http://www.sungazer.net/102506.html. An interesting observation came in from Randy Crews, W7TJ of Spokane, Washington. He's been going through his old paper logs, and entering the data into his logging program. Randy writes, What is interesting is how productive 80 and especially 160 Meters are the year before, the year of, and especially the year following the bottom of the sunspot cycle. DXers should really take full advantage of the unique quiet portion of cycle 23's end, and the beginning of cycle 24 spending extra time on the low bands for needed countries, etc. Good timely information, as we head into the solar minimum over the next six to eight months. NASA announced the successful launch of the 3D Solar Imaging satellites on Wednesday. The mission is called STEREO, and it is expected to render exciting 3-dimensional images of coronal mass ejections. Read about it on the web at, http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/stereo/main/index.html. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for October 19 through 25 were 14, 15, 16, 18, 50, 35 and 15 with a mean of 23.3. 10.7 cm flux was 69.6, 71.1, 74.7, 75.8, 76.4, 74.8, and 74.7, with a mean of 73.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 2, 10, 15, 13, 3, 4 and 4 with a mean of 7.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 1, 9, 10, 12, 2, 3 and 4, with a mean of 5.9. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD045 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD045 ARLD045 DX news ZCZC AE45 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 45 ARLD045 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT October 26, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD045 ARLD045 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by G3VFU, KP4JRS, NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SENEGAL, 6W. Look for 6W1RY to be QRV in the CQ WW SSB contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL via F5VHJ. ALGERIA, 7X. OK1CDJ will be QRV as 7W2W in the CQ WW SSB contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL to home call. WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. Rich, G4ZFE is QRV as 9M2CNC until October 31. He will be a Single Op/All Band/High Power entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. Before and after the contest he is active using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. OMAN, A4. Alex, YO9HP will be QRV as A45WD as a Single Band/Low Power entry on 20 meters in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL to home call. MOROCCO, CN. Dick, W7ZR will be QRV as CN2ZR as a Single Op/Single Band entry on 20 meters in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL direct to home call. In addition, a group of Italian operators will be QRV as CN3A in the Contest. QSL via I2WIJ. TAJIKISTAN, EY. EY7AF will be a Single Band/High Power entry on 40 meters in the CQ WW SSB contest. MARTINIQUE, FM. Mike, K9NW is QRV as FM/K9NW until October 30 and will be a Single Op/All Band entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL to home call. FRENCH GUIANA, FY. A group of operators will be QRV as FY5KE as a Multi/Single entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via bureau. COLOMBIA, HK. Siso, HK3SGP will be QRV as a Single Band/Low Power entry on 80 meters in the CQ WW SSB contest. THAILAND, HS. Don, HS0ZEE is QRV in Chiang Mai and is QRV using SSB and digital modes on the Temporary Thailand Allocation frequency of 3525 kHz during contest weekends. He also plans to be active in the CQ WW SSB contest. In addition, a large group of operators will be QRV as HS0AC as a Multi/Single entry in the Contest. QSL via HS0ZFZ. GRENADA, J3. A large group of operators will be QRV as J3A as a Multi/Multi entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. J37T will be a Single Op entry in the contest as well. They will also be active outside the contest using various callsigns. QSL J3A via WA1S and J37T via VE3EBN. MONGOLIA, JT. Harry, WX8C will be QRV as JT1/WX8C in the CQ WW SSB contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL to home call. PUERTO RICO, KP4. Members of the Trujillo Alto Contest Club will be QRV as WP4BH as a Multi/Multi entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via WP4BH. ARGENTINA, LU. A large group of operators will be QRV as LR2F in the CQ WW SSB contest as a Multi/Single entry. QSL via LU2FA. ALAND ISLANDS, OH0. Pekka, OH2TA will be QRV as OH0X in the CQ WW SSB contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. QSL to home call. GREECE, SV. A large group of operators will be QRV as J48RT from Astris, Thassos Island, IOTA EU-174, as a Multi/Single entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via HA6NL. SAN MARINO, T7. Look for T70A to be a Multi/Single entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via bureau. NAMIBIA, V5. Klaus, DJ4SO will be QRV as V5/DJ4SO as a Single Op/Single Band/Low Power entry on 20 meters in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL to home call. MICRONESIA, V6. Operators JA1KJW, JA1JQY, JI1FOP and JA8VE will be QRV as V63JQ, V63JY, V63OP and V63VE, respectively, from Kosrae Island, IOTA OC-059, from November 1 to 7. QSL to home calls. COCOS-KEELING ISLANDS, VK9C. N0KV and W0YG will be QRV as VK9CGG from October 30 to November 20. QSL direct to W0YG. In addition, Bernd, VK2IA will be QRV as VK9AA in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via DL8YR. LAOS, XW. Larry, XW1A will be QRV as either a Single Op/All Band or Single Band entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via E21EIC. MACAO, XX9. A large group of operators will be QRV as XX9C as a Multi/Multi entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. Before the contest, XE1KK plans to be QRV as XX9TKK from Taipa Island, IOTA AS-075, as time permits. QSL XX9C via BA4EG and XX9TKK via XE1KK. INDONESIA, YB. A large group of operators will be QRV as YE0X from Jakarta as a Multi/Single entry in the CQ WW SSB contest. QSL via YB0ZZ. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ Worldwide SSB DX Contest, eXtreme CW World-Wide Challenge and the 10-10 International CW/Digital Fall Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see October QST, page 102 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP043 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP043 ARLP043 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP43 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 43 ARLP043 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA October 20, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP043 ARLP043 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot numbers this week were 0 on every day. In fact, 0 was the sunspot number for eight days in a row, from October 11 through 18. On October 19 a single sunspot appeared, sunspot 917, in the center of the solar disc as seen from Earth, and this resulted in a sunspot number of 14. Due to the way sunspot numbers are calculated, there are no sunspot numbers from 1 through 10, only 0 for the minimum and then 11 for the next number. Judging from numbers ten years ago at the last solar minimum, we should observe longer periods of no sunspots, several weeks in a row, or perhaps over a month. In late 1995 we began to see short stretches of time with no spots. Then there were 12 days in a row, February 3-14, 1996 that were spotless. We began to observe one to two week stretches with 0 spots, except for one or two days in the middle. May 18-21, 1996 had no spots, then the next two days recorded 11 and 12, then May 24-31 had no spots. In fall 1996 we saw a really long stretch, September 9 through October 24 1996, with only two days in that period with recorded sunspots. September 13 through October 20 had no spots at all. After this, the spotless days were less and less common, with some strings of 7-10 spotless days in early 1997. By the fall of 1997, things were jumping again. October 1996 had an average daily sunspot number of only 2.3, October 1997 was 33.5, October 1998 was 77, October 1999 was 167.7, October 2000 was 138.9, and the average daily sunspot number in October 2001 was 197.4. So far October 2006 has an average daily sunspot number of 13.1, so we have a bit to go before we see the typical bottom-of-the-cycle month of no sunspots. The predicted sunspot minimum is still about 6 months away. Just because there are no sunspots, does that mean HF radio is dead? No, in fact it is better for 160 and 80 meters. But even higher frequencies will have openings to somewhere, although not as frequently as during periods of higher sunspot activity. John Plenderleith, 9M6XRO of Eastern Malaysia wrote to say that last Friday October 13, the third day in a row with 0 sunspots, he worked OM3EY in the Slovak Republic on 12 meter CW, and they moved the QSO to 10 meters. Conditions weren't very good, but signals were copyable, and then, in John's own words, Suddenly - bam - the band was wide open and in the next 2-1/2 hours I worked 283 stations from all over Europe, a few in the Middle East, J28JA and a solitary JA. For much of the time I had 18db attenuation in on my FT-1000MP and signals were still S9 on the meter - a solid wall of stations! The opening ended at 8:35 PM local time - whereas local sunset was at 6pm. It brought back memories of 1957/58 when I was an SWL and 10 meters was wide open every day! 8:30 PM local time was 1235z. Local sunset was around 1000z. John continues, Just goes to show, even at this point in the cycle, it pays to go on the bands and fill up those empty frequencies - you never know what might happen! Rick Fleeter, K8VK of Reston, Virginia has been a ham since he was 9 years old, in 1963. He likes the quiet conditions that come with lower sunspot activity. He writes, I've been a ham since the mid '60s so have survived several cycles now. I find low sunspot cycles the best times for radio work in HF. I'm not just talking about the top bands. There is not much difference between sunspot activity and simple every daytime solar excitation of the ionosphere. Except that at near 0 sunspots, the progression of propagation during the day is completely rhythmic with the daily clock, and predictable. Rick continues, The longer wavelength bands are much quieter at night when the sun is quiet, and even with no sunspots, 20, 15, even 10 meter openings are quite regular during the day. Plus it seems like a less opaque ionosphere eliminates QRM from nearer stations (QRN as well does not propagate so well from nearby sources, which is most of it), so the DX which is there, is easier to hear. This weekend we could have more days with 0 sunspots, or at a maximum, sunspot numbers from 11-15. A solar wind stream is expected to cause active geomagnetic conditions today, October 20, with the October 20-23 planetary A index predicted at 20, 13, 8 and 5. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts declining geomagnetic activity, with active conditions on October 20, unsettled to active on October 21, unsettled October 22, quiet to unsettled October 23, unsettled October 24, and quiet conditions on October 25-26. Eric Hall, K9GY of Lansing, Illinois wrote to ask readers to participate in the Illinois QSO party and the Worked All Germany contest this weekend. Details are at http://www.darc.de/referate/dx/xedcgr.htm for the German activity and http://www.w9awe.org/ILQP
[DX-NEWS] ARLD044 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD044 ARLD044 DX news ZCZC AE44 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 44 ARLD044 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT October 19, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD044 ARLD044 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, OH4MDY, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. ANNOBON ISLAND, 3C0. Elmo, EA5BYP is QRV as 3C0M until November 4. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. MONTENEGRO, 4N. Toby, DD5FZ is QRV as 4N6FZ until October 27. This includes an entry in the Worked All Germany and the upcoming CQWW SSB contest. QSL to home call. MALAWI, 7Q. Harry, G0JMU is QRV as 7Q7HB until mid January 2007. He is active on 80 to 10 meters. QSL direct via G0IAS. MALTA, 9H. Jo, DL5AUA will be QRV as 9H3JC near the Giordan Lighthouse, ARLHS MLT-003, on Gozo Island, IOTA EU-023, from October 23 to November 2. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. OMAN, A4. John, A45WM has been QRV using RTTY on 17 meters around 0600z. THE GAMBIA, C5. Darren, G0TSM will be QRV as C52T from Bijilo Beach from October 24 to 31. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQWW SSB contest. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. FRENCH POLYNESIA, FO. Pierre, FO/F5JFU will be QRV from Tahiti, IOTA OC-O42, Moorea, IOTA OC-046, and Bora-Bora, IOTA OC-O67, from October 21 to November 19. Activity is on 20, 15 and 10 meters, and possibly 40 meters, using CW, SSB and possibly RTTY. QSL direct to home call. AMERICAN SAMOA, KH8. ON5AX and ON3AX will be QRV as KH8/ON5AX from October 24 to 29. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQWW SSB contest. They will be active on 40, 30 and 20 meters using CW, SSB and PSK. QSL via operators' instructions. LUXEMBOURG, LX. Look for LX1JAM will be QRV in JOTA. Activity will be mostly SSB on all bands. QSL via LX2A. In addition, Dan, LX1JU and Giles, LX3GR will be QRV as LX1JAB in JOTA. QSL via LX1JU. PERU, OA. Arno, OA7/DL1CW is QRV from Puerto Maldonado, Cuzco and Lake Titicaca until October 30 This includes an entry in the Worked All Germany contest. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using only CW. QSL to home call. TURKEY, TA. Milan, OK3AA and Josef, OK1XV are QRV as TA0/homecalls from Lale Island, IOTA AS-099, until October 25. Activity is mainly CW on the HF bands. QSL to home calls. MONTSERRAT, VP2M. W4WX and K4QD will be QRV as VP2MHX and VP2MQD, respectively, from October 23 to 31. They will be active on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. They will be QRV as Single Band entries in the upcoming CQWW SSB contest. QSL direct to home calls. Meanwhile, WA7NB will be QRV as VP2MDY from October 25 to 31. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and PSK31. He will also be active in the upcoming CQWW SSB contest. QSL to home call. REVILLA GIGEDO ISLANDS, XF4. A large group of German and Mexican operators are QRV as XF4DL from Socorro Island, IOTA NA-030, until November 3. Activity is on all bands using CW, SSB, various digital modes, EME and satellites. North American stations QSL via N6AWD. All others QSL via DL9NDS. CAMBODIA, XU. Retu, OH4MDY and Anni, OH4JGE are QRV as XU7MDY and XU7JGE, respectively, until November 5. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW. QSL both calls direct via XU7MDY. In addition, XU7AZP and JA7AGO/XU7AGO will be QRV from October 23 to 27. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home calls. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. Jamboree On The Air (JOTA), JARTS WW RTTY Contest, ARCI Fall CW QSO Party, Worked All Germany Contest, W/VE Islands QSO Party, 50 MHz Fall Sprint and the Illinois QSO Party are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see October QST, page 102 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP041 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP041 ARLP041 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP41 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 41 ARLP041 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA October 6, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP041 ARLP041 Propagation de K7RA Daily sunspot numbers and solar flux were higher this week. Average daily sunspot numbers rose nearly 22 points to 34.6. Average daily solar flux was up nearly six points to 76.7. September 30 ended the third quarter of 2006, so now is a good time to review quarterly averages of daily sunspot numbers and solar flux, to examine the current solar cycle's downward trend. From the first quarter of 2004 through the third quarter of 2006, the average daily sunspot number was 72.9, 71.3, 69.3, 61, 46.1, 55.7, 58, 36, 18.1, 39.7 and 23.5. The average daily solar flux for the same period was 111.1, 99.5, 111, 104.8, 96.4, 93.1, 93.6, 84.5, 78.5, 82.1 and 77.5. That still looks like a steady downward slope. The Space Environment Center forecast still predicts a low point for sunspot numbers during March and April of next year. This is based on a smoothed sunspot number, so those daily values are averaged over six months to produce a smoothed value centered in the middle of the period. So when we are in the middle of it, because of daily variation, it may not be immediately apparent that we have reached minimum. But if it is anything like the last minimum--ten years ago this month--we should observe at least several weeks of no sunspots at all. We are nearing the end of sunspot cycle 23, and earlier this year we read about the predictions of Mausumi Dikpata, who said that cycle 24 may be a big one. She used observations of the Great Conveyor Belt, a huge circulating current of hot plasma inside the sun, which takes about 40 years to complete a full rotation. The speed of this belt seems to correlate well with solar activity 20 about years in the future. The movement has slowed considerably, leading NASA solar physicist David Hathaway to predict weak activity for cycle 25, peaking around the year 2022. You can read about it at, http://www.physorg.com/news66581392.html. Eric Hall, K9GY mentioned the California QSO Party this weekend in a recent email. You can find the at rules on the web at, http://www.cqp.org/. Here are some projections using W6ELprop (free at http://www.qsl.net/w6elprop/) to see what propagation to California from various locations may be like this weekend. From Boston, 15-meter propagation may be possible, especially if sunspot numbers stay steady or increase. The best times would be 1600-2100z. Check 20 meters 1430-0030z, with stronger signals late in the period. 40 meters looks strongest from 0030-1130z, and 80 meters over about the same period. From Atlanta, 10 meter chances look slim, but most likely openings are around 1600-2300z, and 15 meter chances look very good over the same period. Check 20 meters 1300-1400z and 1545-0300z, with strongest signals in the last four hours of that period. 40 meters looks good 2200-0130z, and excellent 0200-1200z, and still good around 1230-1600z. 80 meters should be good after dark, but best 0330-1100z. From the center of the 48 contiguous United States, check 20 meters 1500-0200z, and 40 meters should be open around the clock, with strongest signals 0130-1300z, and weakest around 1630-2130z. 80 meters looks best 0230-1230z. From Chicago, 10 meters has a small chance of openings in the 1730-2130z time slot. 15 meters looks very good 1630-2230z and possibly later. 20 meters looks best 1330-1530z, and 2230-0230z. 40 meters may be open all day and night, with the best signals 0130-1200z and weakest 1700-2030z. 80 meters looks best 0330-1130z. From Dallas, check 15 meters 1730-2200z, 20 meters 1400-0230z. 40 meters should be good over a 24 hour period, with best chances 0100-1300z and weakest around 1730-2030z. 80 meters looks strongest 0300-1200z. From Salt Lake City, 80 meters should be open all day and night. Best 80-meter signals 0130-1330z and weakest 1700-2200z. 40-meter best bet is 1430-0300z. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for September 28 through October 4 were 36, 51, 38, 35, 36, 23 and 23 with a mean of 34.6. 10.7 cm flux was 73, 76.5, 77.7, 78.4, 77.9, 76.6, and 76.7, with a mean of 76.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 2, 3, 12, 25, 7, 5 and 3 with a mean of 8.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 3, 9, 14, 6, 6 and 2, with a mean of 6. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org
[DX-NEWS] ARLD042 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD042 ARLD042 DX news ZCZC AE42 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 42 ARLD042 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT October 5, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD042 ARLD042 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by KE6GFI, NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. CYPRUS, 5B. Sigi, DL7DF is QRV as 5B4/DL7DF until October 12. This is a holiday style operation, but with activity on the HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and SSTV. QSL to home call. MADAGASCAR, 5R. Willi, DJ7RJ is QRV as 5R8RJ from Nosy Be, IOTA AF-057, until October 27. QSL to home call. MALDIVES, 8Q. Andy, G7COD is QRV as 8Q7AK from Embudu Island, IOTA AS-013, until October 15. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using mostly SSB with some CW. QSL direct to home call. TAIWAN, BV. In commemoration of the 20th anniversary of Radio Taipei International, special event station BV0RTI will be QRV October 8 and 9. Activity will be on 80, 40, 20 and 15 meters. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Marq, CT1BWW will be QRV as C98BWW from Bazaruto Island, IOTA AF-072, from October 7 to 14. Activity will be on the HF bands. QSL to home call. NORWAY, LA. Operators Tom, DL1DVE and Mike, DL3VTA will be QRV as LA/homecalls from Sotra Island, IOTA EU-055, from October 9 to 14. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31, and maybe also SSTV. LA/DL1DVE will also be active from grid square JP20 using WSJT on 2 meters. QSL to home calls. BULGARIA, LZ. The Balkan Contest Club is QRV as with special event callsign LZ26ZA until October 31. QSL via bureau. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Operators Derek, G3KHZ, Vincent, G0LMX and Hans, SM6CVX are QRV as P29NI from Trobriand Islands, IOTA OC-115, until October 10. They will also be QRV as P29CVX from the Coastal Islands South Island Group, IOTA OC-153, from October 11 to 14. They are active on all HF bands on the IOTA frequencies. QSL P29NI and P29CVX via G3KHZ and SM6CVX, respectively. SURINAME, PZ. Bob, N3CXM plans to be QRV as PZ5JR until October 19 during his spare time while on business here. QSL via K3BYV. EAST KIRIBATI, T32. LeMarr, T32Z plans to be QRV from Christmas Island from October 10 to 20. Activity will be on the HF bands using CW and SSB, with a special emphasis on 30, 17 and 12 meters. QSL via K3PD. BELIZE, V3. Larry, WO0Z will be QRV as V31LL from October 7 to 21. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and possibly RTTY. QSL to home call. CHRISTMAS ISLAND, VK9X. Chris, VK3FY is QRV as VK3FY/VK9X until October 9 while on work assignment. Activity is on all HF bands, including 6 meters. CAMBODIA, XU. Shim, XV3AA/3W3A will be QRV beginning October 11 for a two week period. Activity will be on 20 meters between 2330 and 0030z. QSL via JA6UHG. AFGHANISTAN, YA. John, KE6GFF is QRV as T6EE from Kabul until October 30. Activity is on 20 meters SSB. QSL to home call. NIUE, ZK2. Rick, AI5P is QRV as ZK2PX until October 20. Activity is on 40 to 17 meters using mostly CW. QSL to home call. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Chad, TT8LN, operation from February 12 through June 5, 2006. QSL MANAGER CORRECTION. As reported in DX Bulletin ARLD041, the correct QSL route for 9Q1D is direct via SM5BFJ. Also, QSL 9Q1NT via ON5NT. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The TARA PSK Rumble Contest, Oceania DX Phone Contest, International HELL-Contest, EU Autumn SSB Sprint, California QSO Party, PRO CW Contest and the UBA ON SSB Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. The 10-10 International 10-10 Day Sprint is scheduled for October 10. The YLRL Anniversary SSB Party is scheduled for October 10 to 12. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug CW Sprint is scheduled for October 11. Please see October QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP040 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP040 ARLP040 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP40 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 40 ARLP040 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 29, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP040 ARLP040 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers were down again this week, but only by less than one point, to 12.7. Average daily solar flux was down five points from the previous week to 72. Geomagnetic indices were down, also by a small amount. The Air Force projects that today, September 29, geomagnetic conditions will be quiet, with a planetary A index of 8, rising to 15, then 20 on Sunday, and dropping back to 8 on Monday, October 2. Currently the interplanetary magnetic field is pointed south, which signals that Earth is vulnerable to solar flares or solar wind from coronal holes. Sunspots 913 and 914 are rotating into view, and sunspot number and solar flux should rise slightly by Monday. Geophysical Institute Prague projects unsettled conditions for September 29, quiet conditions on September 30, unsettled to active conditions on October 1, unsettled October 2, quiet to unsettled for October 3, then quiet conditions on October 4-5. Bill Huntimer, KI0CW in Dell Rapids, South Dakota wrote to ask, Would you explain what sunspots do to radio interference? Sunspots can be great for HF radio propagation. The more sunspots we see, the greater the density of charged particles in the ionosphere, which reflect or refract radio waves. Higher densities mean higher frequencies can propagate worldwide, instead of just passing through the ionosphere and off into space. When there are sunspots, there is also the possibility of other solar activity, such as solar flares, and holes in the Sun's corona, which can spew out a solar wind of charged particles. These particles, as well as x-rays from flares, may disturb the Earth's magnetic field, and cause charged particles in the ionosphere to re-combine, canceling the charge. Lower density of charged particles means that the Maximum Usable Frequency is lower. In addition, polar cap absorption occurs, so propagation over the poles becomes poor. Sometimes in the media, we may hear of interference to broadcast TV or FM radio signals related to sunspots. The interference can be from distant stations, when listeners are accustomed to hearing only local stations. The interference is actually due to improved propagation. For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sunspot numbers for September 21 through 27 were 11, 17, 13, 13, 11, 13 and 11 with a mean of 12.7. 10.7 cm flux was 71.4, 72.3, 70.4, 69.8, 70.2, 70.7, and 72, with a mean of 71. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 3, 9, 23, 6, 6 and 4 with a mean of 7.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 1, 7, 15, 6, 5 and 2, with a mean of 5.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD041 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD041 ARLD041 DX news ZCZC AE41 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 41 ARLD041 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT September 28, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD041 ARLD041 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO, 9Q. SM5DIC, F5LTB and VE2EK are QRV as 9Q1D, 9Q1TB and 9Q1EK, respectively. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and SSB when conditions permit. QSL to home calls. BOTSWANA, A2. Hardy is QRV as A25/DF3GY and has been active on 20, 17 and 15 meters using RTTY at various times. QSL to home call. TAIWAN, BV. Juergen, DJ3KR will be QRV as BX3/homecall from September 30 to October 18. QSL to home call. CAPE VERDE, D4. Angelo, D44BS has been active on 17 meters around 1700z. He will soon be active on 6 meters as well. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Station DT8A has been active on 20 meters using RTTY around 2300z. ISLAND OF MAN, GD. Operators GD0BPS, MD/K8DD, MD/AC8W and MD/W4DU are QRV until October 4. Activity is on 80 to 12 meters using CW, SSB and digital modes using mostly QRP power. QSL to home calls. HUNGARY, HA. Special event stations HA506NF and HA501DAE will be QRV from October 1 to December 31 to commemorate the Hungarian uprising of 50 years ago. QSL via HA6NF and HA1DAE, respectively. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HI. Antonio, IW2OAZ will QRV as HI8/IW2AOZ from October 2 to 28. He will be active 20 and 17 meters using SSB and RTTY. He plans to operate from Catalina Island on October 26 and 27. QSL via the bureau. JAPAN, JA. JJ4UEL/4 is QRV from Nino Island, IOTA AS-117. Activity is on all HF bands using SSB. QSL to home call. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Oleg is QRV as LU/R1ANF from the Argentine Jubany Base and has been active on 40, 30 and 20 meters using CW. QSL via RK1PWA. ARUBA, P4. Larry, WO0Z will be QRV as P40LL from September 30 to October 6. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and possibly RTTY. QSL to home call. BONAIRE, CURACAO, PJ2. Peter, PA3CNX will be QRV as PJ4/PA3CNX from Bonaire, IOTA SA-006, from October 1 to November 3. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters using CW and SSB, mostly between 2000 to 0200z. QSL to home call. ANTARCTICA. Alex, UA1ZCK is QRV as R1ANC Vostok Base, IOTA AN-016. He is usually QRV on 20 meters around 0600 to 1000z. QSL via RU1ZC. FRANZ JOSEF LAND, R1FJ. Station R1FJT has been QRV on 20 meters from around 1200 to 1500z. QSL via UA4RC. SUDAN, ST. Jovica is QRV as ST2A and has been QRV on 30 meters between 1800 and 1930z. QSL via T93Y. CORSICA, TK. Members of the Equipo de DX4DX are QRV as TK9Z until October 5. Activity is 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via EA4BT. NAMIBIA, V5. Operators V5/DJ8VC, V5/DF6QP and V5/DL8JS are QRV until October 13. Activity is on all bands, especially on 20 meters. QSL to home calls. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, VP2V. Dave, AH6HY is QRV as VP2V/AH6HY until October 3 from Tortola, IOTA NA-023. Activity is on 20, 17 and 15 meters using SSB. QSL direct to home call. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CIS DX Contest, TOEC WW Grid CW Contest, Arkansas QSO Party, FISTS Coast to Coast CW Contest, the UBA ON 6-Meter Contest and the RSGB 21/28 MHz Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. The ARS Spartan CW Sprint and German Telegraphy Contest are scheduled for October 3. The YLRL Anniversary CW Party is scheduled for October 3 to 5. The 432 MHz Fall Sprint is scheduled for October 4. Please see October QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP039 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP039 ARLP039 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP39 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 39 ARLP039 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 22, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP039 ARLP039 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers this week were down nearly 31 points to 13.4, and average daily solar flux declined over 8 points to 77. Sunday through Thursday of this week, the sunspot number was 11 on all five days. Sunspot activity should remain low. This week a coronal wind stream caused a geomagnetic disturbance centered on September 18. A week ago, on Friday, September 15, geomagnetic conditions were very stable. The mid-latitude K index throughout the day was zero on all eight readings, and so the mid-latitude A index was also zero. Even the high latitude college A index near Fairbanks, Alaska was zero that day. Due to a recurring coronal hole, we may see a rise in geomagnetic activity this weekend, with the planetary A index predicted at a low of 5 on Friday, then rising to 20 on Saturday, September 23. Today a group of satellites should be launched that will give 3-dimensional views of solar flares. The plan is to view flares from two satellites, spaced far enough apart to give stereo vision. Jerry Reimer sent a link to an article about this in Britain's Sunday Times. Read it at http://tinyurl.com/rejj8. Yvone Dubois, KE7HTQ of Phoenix asks, ''Where can I find propagation charts old style, like they used to be published in QST for decades?'' The charts have moved from the magazine to the web. Find them at http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/ If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for September 14 through 20 were 25, 12, 13, 11, 11, 11 and 11 with a mean of 13.4. 10.7 cm flux was 82.8, 80.1, 79.2, 78, 74.4, 73.4, and 70.9, with a mean of 77. Estimated planetary A indices were 6, 3, 3, 16, 24, 12 and 5 with a mean of 9.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 4, 0, 1, 9, 16, 8 and 3, with a mean of 5.9. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD040 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD040 ARLD040 DX news ZCZC AE40 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 40 ARLD040 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT September 21, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD040 ARLD040 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by IT9DAA, IT9MRM, TA3YJ, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. GEORGIA, 4L. Look for 4L1DA to be a Single Band 20 meter entry in the CQ WW RTTY contest. QSL via W7LPF. MONTENEGRO, 4O. A group of operators will be QRV as YT6A as a Multi/Multi entry in the CQ WW RTTY contest. There is also activity before and after the contest. BARBADOS, 8P. Dean, 8P6SH will be QRV as 8P2K as a Single Band 20 meter entry in the CQ WW RTTY contest. URUGUAY, CX. Pedro, CX5BW and others will be QRV as CX0TTY during the CQ WW RTTY contest. QSL via CX5BW. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Edu, EA8AUW will be QRV as EF8A in the CQ WW RTTY contest as a Single Op/Single Band/High Power entry on 20 meters. QSL to home call. TAJIKISTAN, EY. Nodir, EY8MM will be QRV in the CQ WW RTTY contest as a Single Op/Single Band/High Power entry on 20 meters. QSL via K1BV. ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON, FP. Roger, G3SXW and Nigel, G3TXF are QRV as FP/G3SXW and FP/G3TXF, respectively, from Miquelon until September 25. They are using only CW. QSL to home calls. ITALY, I. A team of operators will be QRV as II1ARU and II1ARD from September 28 to October 1 in commemoration of the last ''haul down'' of the combat flag of two naval destroyers in the port of La Spezia. Activity will be on all HF and V/UHF bands using CW, SSB and PSK. QSL II1ARD and II1ARU via IS0SDX and IS0PGF, respectively. DOMINICA, J7. Karl, N1DL and George, W4LFK are QRV as J79DL and J79MD, respectively, until September 27. They will also be active as J7R in the CQ WW RTTY contest. QSL via N1DL. SVALBARD, JW. LA8DW and LA8XU will be QRV as JW8DW and JW8XU, respectively, from Longyearbyen, IOTA EU-026, from September 25 to October 1. Activity is on all bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL to home calls. FINLAND, OH. A group of Finnish operators will be QRV as OH2ET during the CQ WW RTTY contest. ARUBA, P4. Nick, W4GKM plans to be QRV as P40KM. This includes an entry in the CQ WW RTTY contest. SLOVENIA, S5. Special event station S50FIRAC is QRV until September 30 in commemoration of the 45th International Federation of Railway Radio Amateurs Congress. Activity is on 40, 20 and 17 meters. QSL via S59DZL. SWEDEN, SM. A group of Swedish operators are QRV as SG3U from Grimskar Island, IOTA EU-176, until September 24. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via bureau. TURKEY, TA. Berkin, TA3J/4 will be QRV from Antalya-Baburnu Lighthouse, ARLHS TUR-065, for the CQ WW RTTY contest as a Single Op/Low Power/Single Band on 40 meters entry. QSL via TA3YJ. ICELAND, TF. A group of operators will be QRV as TF4M in the CQ WW RTTY contest as a Multi/Single entry. CHAD, TT. Philippe, F4EGS is QRV as TT8PK until November 20. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using SSB and various digital modes. QSL to home call. VENEZUELA, YV. A large group of operators will be QRV as YX5IOTA from La Tortuga Island, IOTA SA-044, from September 24 to 30. Activity will be on all bands and modes. QSL via IT9DAA. MACEDONIA, Z3. A group of Macedonian operators will be QRV as Z37M in the CQ WW RTTY contest as a Multi Op entry. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ Worldwide RTTY DX Contest, Scandinavian Activity SSB Contest, Texas QSO Party, AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, UBA ON CW Contest and the Fall QRP Homebrewer Sprint are all scheduled for this weekend. The Classic Exchange is scheduled for September 24 and 25. The 222 MHz Fall Sprint is scheduled for September 26. Please see September QST, page 95 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD039 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD039 ARLD039 DX news ZCZC AE39 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 39 ARLD039 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT September 14, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD039 ARLD039 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by DL1FX, IN3VZE, JF1OCQ, NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MONTENEGRO, 4O. Martti, OH2BH may be QRV as 4O3B in the Scandinavian Activity contest on a variety of bands. QSL to home call. MALAWI, 7Q. Ely, IN3VZE will be QRV as 7Q7CE from the west shore of Lake Malawi from September 18 to October 6. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using SSB. QSL to home call. SOUTH COOK ISLANDS, E5. Ken, ZL4HU is QRV as E51KH from Rarotonga, IOTA OC-013, until September 22. He is generally active on 20 meters using SSB. QSL direct to home call. KYRGYZSTAN, EX. Bek, EX8AB is usually QRV using RTTY on 30 meters around 1700z. KERGUELEN ISLAND, FT5X. Gildas, TU5KG is QRV as FT5XP for the next two months. Of late he's been active on 15 meters at various times. QSL via F4EFI. LIECHTENSTEIN, HB0. Operators DF4OQ, DJ5BX, DL1ZBO, DK9FEC and DL1FX will be QRV as HB0/homecalls from September 21 to 25. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. They plan to be QRV as HB0/DL1ZBO in the upcoming CW WW RTTY contest. QSL via operators' instructions. OGASAWARA, JD1. Operator JA1NAL/JD1 has been active on 15 meters from around to 0700z. MONGOLIA, JT. Operators OK1CCK, OK1ES, OK1FM and OK1XC are QRV as JT800OK from Ulaan Baatar until October 8. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV and PSK31. QSL via OK1XC. DENMARK, OZ. Bernd, DL8AAV, will be QRV as OZ/DL8AAV/p from Laeso Island, IOTA EU-088, from September 17 to 30. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. EGYPT, SU. Dave, KJ9I is QRV as SU/KJ9I until September 18. QSL to home call. DODECANESE, SV5. Drew, GM3YOR will be QRV as SV5/homecall from IOTA EU-001 from September 21 to October 4 while on holiday. He will be active on the HF bands using only CW and when time and conditions permit. QSL to home call. PALAU, T8. JE1SYN and JP1IOF will be QRV as T88YN and T88AS, respectively, from Koror, IOTA OC-009, from September 21 to 24. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY and FM, with two stations. QSL to home calls. UZBEKISTAN, UK. Mike, UK8AR is usually QRV on 20 meters using CW between 0100 and 0200z. BELIZE, V3. Operators K9DUR, KC9JMA, NT9T and KC9AOR will be QRV from Placencia as V31DU, V31PW, V31TN and V31OR, respectively, from September 16 to 23. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using SSB. NAMIBIA, V5. Pierre, HB9QQ is QRV as V5/HB9QQ until September 30 and is active mainly on 30, 17 and 12 meters. QSL via HB9QQ. CANADA, VE. Steve, VE2TKH is QRV as VY0ICE from Iqauluit, Baffin Island, IOTA NA-047, until May 30, 2007. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using CW and SSB. QSL direct via VE2AWR. CHAGOS ISLAND, VQ9. Jim, ND9M is QRV as VQ9JC from Diego Garcia, IOTA AF-006, for the next four months. QSL to home call. INDIA, VU. Kumar, VU2BGS is normally QRV on 160 meters around 2100z on Saturdays. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL 10 GHz and Up Contest, ARRL EME Contest, FISTS Get Your Feet Wet CW Weekend, SARL VHF/UHF Contest, Scandinavian Activity CW Contest, South Carolina QSO Party, QRP Afield, Washington State Salmon Run, QCWA Fall QSO Party, North American SSB Sprint, Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest and the 144 MHz Fall Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see September QST, page 95 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP037 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP037 ARLP037 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP37 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 37 ARLP037 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 8, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP037 ARLP037 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers were down only slightly this week, from 27 to 25.3. There were two days this week when the sunspot number was 0, and we should see more zero sunspot days than we're currently experiencing as we move closer to the bottom of the sunspot cycle. The last solar minimum was centered near October 1996, according to the NOAA SEC graphs on page 11 of their weekly report at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1618.pdf. If you look at the average sunspot numbers reported in our propagation forecast bulletins from September 13, 1996 to October 25, 1996 (located on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/1996-index.html) you'll see week after week of no sunspots. Currently we're observing average daily sunspot numbers near 25 for this week, 27 for last, 22 the previous week, and 34 prior to that. According to weekly NOAA SEC sunspot predictions, on the web at, http://sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/weekly/Predict.txt, these averages are above the high end for this month and last, and the minimum is about six months away. But look back on that 1996 index mentioned above, at the numbers reported in this bulletin six months prior to the last minimum. Weekly averages reported here during April 1996 were near 12, 2, 7, and 20. Does this suggest the sunspot minimum is further away, rather than next spring? Also note on page 11 in that first reference in the second paragraph, the spacing of the sunspot cycle minimums. From the end of cycles 17 to 19 they are a little over ten years apart, from 1944 to 1954 and 1964. Then it jumps less than 12 years (from October 1964 to June 1976), and it goes back to a little over ten years from 1976 to 1986, and then 1996. Next spring will be a bit less than 11 years since the last minimum. Right now is a fairly good time for long-distance HF communications, because the geomagnetic field is mostly stable, sunspots haven't disappeared, and we are close to the Autumnal Equinox. Running intercontinental paths with ACE-HF propagation software shows very little in the way of openings on the upper bands above 20 meters, with the best bets on 40, 30 and 20 meters. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for August 31 through September 6 were 39, 32, 27, 0, 0, 26 and 53 with a mean of 25.3. 10.7 cm flux was 83.2, 76.9, 75.6, 76.5, 79, 80.4, and 84, with a mean of 79.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 8, 13, 7, 6, 23, 8 and 7 with a mean of 10.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 6, 8, 6, 6, 15, 7 and 6, with a mean of 7.7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD038 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD038 ARLD038 DX news ZCZC AE38 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 38 ARLD038 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT September 7, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD038 ARLD038 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by 5B8AD, NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MALTA, 9H. A group of operators will be QRV as 9H0VRZ from Qawra from September 9 to October 3. They will also be active using their own 9H3 callsigns. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via PB9ZR. In addition, they will also try to be active as 9H9PA on 20 meters during the WAE DX SSB contest. QSL via PH2M. KUWAIT, 9K. Operators 9K2HN, 9K2RR, 9K2RR, 9K2YM, 9K2CQ and 9K2ID will be QRV in the WAE DX SSB contest as 9K2HN as a Multi-Op entry. QSL via 9K2HN. BOTSWANA, A2. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as A25VB. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. OMAN, A4. Operators A41MX, A61Q, A6/RV6LNA and 5B8AD are QRV until September 10 while operating a VHF EME DXpedition. Activity is on 144.133 and 144.083 MHz spilt. GERMANY, DA. Frank, DL2SWW and Gabi, DF9TM are QRV as homecalls/p from Laesoe Island, IOTA EU-088, until September 15. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. They may also try to be active on 160 and 6 meters. QSL to home calls. Meanwhile, Helmut, DL7VOX is QRV as DL7VOX/p from Usedom Island, IOTA EU-129, also until September 15. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW. QSL to home call. SPAIN, EA. A large group of operators will be QRV as EF3IB from Buda Island from the Cabo Tortosa Lighthouse, ARLHS SPA-050, on September 9 and 10. Activity is on all bands using SSB and some RTTY. QSL via EC3AKY. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Frank, DH5JG is QRV as EA8/homecall from Lanzarote, IOTA AF-004, until September 12. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. He plans to also be active in the WAE DX SSB contest. QSL to home call. FRENCH GUIANA, FY. Gregg, W6IZT will be QRV as FY/W6IZT from September 12 to 20. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. ISLE OF MAN, GD. Lars, DF1LON and Georg, DL1ECG are QRV as MD0LON and MD0ECG, respectively, until September 11. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL to home calls. DJIBOUTI, J2. Jean-Claude is QRV as J28JA for the next two years. He is usually active on 20 and 17 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via F5JFU. LEBANON, OD. Gabi, OD5NJ has been active on 30 meters around 2200z. Meanwhile, Maria, OD5QT has been active on 20 meters around 1830z. MARKET REEF, OJ0. Members of the QLF DX-Team are QRV as OJ0LA until September 14. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via LA9VDA. SEYCHELLES, S7. Claudio, IZ0KRC is QRV as S79RC until September 16 and plans to be active from islands Mahe, Praslin and La Digue, all IOTA AF-024. QSL via IK0PRP. POLAND, SP. Special event station SN100SZ is active during the month of September to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Babiogorski Park Narodowy. QSL via SP9PGB. TURKEY, TA. Sei, JF1SQC will be QRV as TA4/KH0DQ from September 9 to 15. Activity will be on all HF bands using CW, SSB and possibly RTTY. He will also participate in the WAE DX SSB contest. QSL to home call. COTE d'IVOIRE, TU. Jean, F5LDY is QRV as TU2/F5LDY until September 2007. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and possibly RTTY. QSL via F1CGN. UZBEKISTAN, UJ. Station UM15UZ has been active on 40 to 15 meters using CW. QSL via UK8AR. GIBRALTAR, ZB. Martyn, G3RFX is QRV as ZB2FX until September 18. He will be active as ZG2FX during the national holiday. QSL to home call. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL September VHF QSO Party, the International G3ZQS Memorial Straight Key Contest, Worked All Europe DX SSB Contest, Swiss HTC QRP CW Sprint, SOC Marathon CW Sprint, North American CW Sprint, the Tennessee QSO Party and the ARCI End of Summer Digital Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. The YLRL Howdy Days is scheduled for September 12 to 14. Please see September QST, page 94 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP036 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP036 ARLP036 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP36 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 36 ARLP036 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA September 1, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP036 ARLP036 Propagation de K7RA The second magnetically reversed sunspot appeared this week, and this time it remained longer. This is the second sunspot from the new solar cycle 24. Eventually there will be more of the new reversed sunspots than the old ones from cycle 23, and that would be one way to mark the beginning of the next sunspot cycle. August has passed, so let's look at some monthly averages of sunspot numbers and solar flux. The average daily sunspot numbers for the months August 2005 through August 2006 were 65.6, 39.2, 13, 32.2, 62.6, 26.7, 5.3, 21.3, 55.2, 39.6, 24.4, 22.6 and 22.8. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 92.4 , 91.9, 76.6, 86.3, 90.8, 83.4, 76.5, 75.5, 88.9, 80.9, 76.5, 75.8 and 79. We can use these averages to spot trends, but the sunspot numbers jump around quite a bit. To get a smoother view of the sunspot numbers, you can do a moving average, for instance, over 3 months. This would mean averaging any month's average daily sunspot numbers with the month before and the month after data. To the data above, we can add sunspot numbers for the months April through July 2005. That allows us to look at a 3-month moving average centered on May 2005 through July 2006. We cannot yet figure a 3-month moving average centered on August 2006, because we don't know what the sunspot numbers for September will be. So the 3-month moving average from May 2005 through July 2006 is 55.6, 64.6, 64.7, 57.8, 39.3, 28.1, 35.9, 40.5, 31.5, 17.8, 27.3, 38.7, 39.7, 28.9 and 23.3 That is pretty smooth, but we see numbers decline, then rise, and then decline again. An even smoother set of numbers would be 7-month moving averages from July 2005 through May 2006. Those numbers are 50.5, 49.1, 48.7 , 44, 34.9, 28.6, 30.9, 34.7, 33.6, 27.9 and 27.3. Although the numbers rise for January and February 2006, the decline of the cycle is more obvious. Despite the decline in the sunspot cycle, we will see improved HF propagation over long distances in September. The Autumnal Equinox later this month is a time when sunlight is equally distributed over the northern and southern hemispheres. Expect rising sunspot numbers and solar flux over the next few days, with mostly quiet geomagnetic conditions. The predicted planetary A index for September 1-7 is predicted to be 10, 10, 20, 12, 10, 5 and 5. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for August 24 through 30 were 22, 23, 21, 26, 48, 30 and 19 with a mean of 27. 10.7 cm flux was 78.2, 77.2, 75.7, 78.6, 76.4, 73, and 74.2, with a mean of 76.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 5, 2, 3, 18, 11, 9 and 6 with a mean of 7.7. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 4, 0, 2, 12, 9, 9 and 5, with a mean of 5.9. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD037 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD037 ARLD037 DX news ZCZC AE37 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 37 ARLD037 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT August 31, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD037 ARLD037 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calender and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MONACO, 3A. Patrice, F5RBB, will be active as 3A/F5RBB from September 2 to 10. Activity will be on 40, 20, 15 and 10 meter SSB. QSL via his home callsign. CYPRUS, 5B. Possibly ZC4. Colin, G3VCQ, will be active as 5B/G3VCQ until September 6. Activity will be on all HF bands. Colin may also be active from the U.K. Sov. Base Areas on Cyprus (ZC4) from time to time if a call sign is allocated. QSL via G3VCQ. CROATIA, 9A. Gery, HB9TQF, will be active as 9A8TQF until September 6. Activity will be from Grid Square JN83. Bands of activity were not provided, but he will be using CW, SSB and FSK. ISLE OF MAN, MD0. Operators DF1LON and DL1ECG will be active as MD0LON and MD0ECG, respectively, from September 7 to 11. Activity will be on all HF bands, CW and SSB. QSL via their home callsigns. TANZANIA, 5H. K1JD will begin an African Safari on September 9 and hopes to be QRV as 5H2JD in his spare time. Most likely this will be in the late afternoons his time, mostly around 14025, 10120 and 7025 kHz. GUINEA, 3X. 3XD2Z was heard on 7030 kHz on CW listening up. Meanwhile, 3XM6JR was working RTTY first on 14083 kHz at 1000Z and then on 18103 kHz at 1130Z. QSL both via UA6JR. DENMARK, OZ. NX1S will sign /OZ from Roemoe Island from September 9 to 16, primarily on 20 and 40 meters. QSL via DL4OK, bureau is ok. BOTSWANA, A2. A22VB continues to show up on 3503 kHz between 0100 and 0330Z. QSL via UA4WHX. KYRGYZSTAN, EX. EX15ID delighted prefix hunters on RTTY on 14085 kHz around 1630Z. QSL via EX8AB. DJIBOUTI, J2. Jean-Claude, J28JA was QRV on 18080 kHz around 1300Z. QSL via F5JFU. SVALBARD, JW. JW5E was in search of Japan on 14203 kHz at 1300Z. QSL via LA5NM. LEBANON, OD. Look for Hani, OD5TE on 14290 kHz between 1600 and 1700Z. QSL via K3IRV. NAMIBIA, V5. V55O was logged on 75 meter SSB around 2200Z. QSL via DJ4LK. HONG KONG, VR2. Look for VR2VAC and VR2XMT on 20 meter SSB between 1130 and 1300Z. Also, watch for VR2AJ, VR2MX and VR2UW on 20 meter CW. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The All-Asian DX Contest, IARU Region 1 Field Day, DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest, MI QRP Labor Day CW Sprint and the Russian RTTY WW Contest will keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see September QST, page 94 for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP032 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP032 ARLP032 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP32 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 32 ARLP032 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA August 11, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP032 ARLP032 Propagation de K7RA On four days this week the sun was spotless, so the average daily sunspot number for the week dropped over 11 points to 8.6. Sunspot numbers are now recovering and climbing, from zero on Monday to 12, 25 and 37 on Tuesday through Thursday. Sunspot numbers and solar flux should continue a modest recovery through next week. When the sunspots were zero, the solar flux (a measurement of 10.7 GHz energy from the sun, observed at a station in British Columbia) was below 70. Now solar flux is expected to rise in the short term to 85 or more. Rising sunspot numbers and solar flux mean higher MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency), although not a lot higher. For instance, using propagation prediction software, for today with zero sunspots, the MUF over the path from Philadelphia to Germany would go above 17 MHz from 1430-2230z, to a maximum of 17.6 MHz. But with an average sunspot number of 40, the MUF over the same path rises above 19 MHz from 1400-2230z, peaking at 19.8 MHz. If the sunspot number were 120 instead, a figure we won't observe for a few years, the MUF would rise above 23 MHz from 1430-2130z, peaking at 23.8 MHz. The difference on those three scenarios would be whether 20 meters, 17 meters, or 15 meters is the highest practical band to use. With existing conditions as they are, that path to Germany would be best on 17 meters from 1230-z, with stronger signals toward the end of that period, but the best chances for an opening around 1730-2100z. 20 meters should have slightly stronger signals, with openings beginning weakly around 1130z and signals gradually increasing to 0200z, and the signals falling off afterward. Best bet would be 2130-0100z on 20 meters. Compared to a month ago, operators at each end of that path would notice a much stronger chance of a 17-meter opening, and a much earlier closing of 20 meters, with the days getting shorter as we move toward the fall equinox. Similarly, a month's difference on the West Coast to Japan path would see the rise of 15 meters as a viable choice from 2130-0200z. Moving toward fall, 20 and 17 meters would close a little earlier, while 30 and 40 meters would each open about an hour or more earlier. Steve Rasmussen, N0WY of Plattsmouth, Nebraska is the contest manager for 10-10 International (see http://www.ten-ten.org/) and he says ten meters had great openings after sunrise and after dusk during the 10-10 contest last weekend. He worked 151 stations, mostly to the east and southeast. N2EOC (with an exceptional 10 meter antenna, says Steve, although he didn't say what N2EOC is using) in New Jersey worked 255 stations. Steve says, ''WN4AMO in Florida did 259 and AH6RF in Hawaii made 184. KK7UU in Oregon ended up with 146. The band is NOT dead. You just have to be there when it is open.'' W4HLR, Howard Runions of Newbern, Tennessee says he got cards from F8DBF and HI3TEJ for his 3 watt 50.115 MHz SSB contacts on July 17. He is thrilled with the cards, naturally. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for August 3 through 9 were 23, 0, 0, 0, 0, 12 and 25 with a mean of 8.6. 10.7 cm flux was 71.3, 69.6, 69.5, 69.5, 69.8, 71.4, and 74.1, with a mean of 70.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 6, 3, 4, 4, 32, 12 and 9 with a mean of 10. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 5, 2, 2, 2, 19, 10 and 9, with a mean of 7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD034 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD034 ARLD034 DX news ZCZC AE34 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 34 ARLD034 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT August 10, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD034 ARLD034 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calender and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MONTENEGRO, 4O6. Joe, W8GEX, and four other members from the SouthWest Ohio DX Association plan to activate Montenegro starting August 13 for a 7 day operation. Their callsign will be 4O6DX. Other team members are Wayne, K8LEE, Janet, W8CAA, John, KP2A and Jim, W9VNE. They will be on 160 through 6 meters, using CW, SSB and PSK. QSL to K8LEE, with sase. GHANA, 9G. Scott, AC3A, will be active as 9G5SE from Accra, until August 12. Look for him on 40 through 6 meters. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Ken, G3OCA and Rei, DL6DQW will be QRV until August 14. Look for them from the mainland using the call sign C94RF or C93RF. Activity will be on 40 through 10 meters, using CW and SSB. During their stay, they plan to activate the Island of Inhacamba (AF-103) the last unactivated IOTA group in Mozambique. The callsign may be C94KF. QSL via G3OCA. GREECE, SV. Ops Nicos, SV2AYT, Bill, SV2AOB, Bill, SV2BET, Alex, SV0EG and Kostas, SW2IPK will use the special callsign SX8AYT to activate the following Greek islands, in the EU-049 IOTA group, between August 16 and 30: Lemnos Island (MIA MG-065, WLOTA LH-1740), Agios Efstratios Island (MIA MG-002), Sergitsi Island (MIA MG-106, uninhabitable) and Kompi Rockisland. Activity will be on 80 through 2 meters, mainly SSB. QSL via SV2AYT, direct (QRZ.com) or via the bureau. FRANCE, F. Operators Michele, F5MKX (YL), Alain, F6ENO and Jean-Jacques, F5NKX will be active as F8UFT/p from the French Alps beginning August 17, weather permitting, using 40 meter CW and 3 watts. QSL via F6ICG. CHAGOS ISLANDS, VQ9. Jim, ND9M (VQ9JC and KG4JC), will be returning to Diego Garcia (AF-006) this week for another four month tour. QSL either direct or via the bureau to ND9M. MACAO, XX9. Look for Hide, JM1LJS, to be here until August 15. He is trying to renew his XX9TJS license. Check 30, 17, 12, 6 and 2 meters, using SSB, CW and FM. Satellite operations will be 2 meter uplink / 430 MHz downlink only. QSL XX9TJS via JM1LJS. INDONESIA, YC0. Hotang, YC0IEM, will be active as YC0IEM/7 from Borneo Island (OC-088), until August 24. QSL via IZ8CCW, via the bureau or direct. IRAQ, YI. Richard, SP8HKT, plans to be active again as YI9KT. He will be in Diwaniyah until January 2007. Look for him on 80 through 10 meters. Richard will be active during his free time: 0800-1000z, 1300-1430z, 1700-2000z, sometimes on low bands only with North America between 0200-0330z. QSL via SP8HKT, direct only. EAST TIMOR, 4W6. Mike, 4W6AAB has been reported on 20 and 30 meters between 0730 and 0930Z using RTTY. QSL via PA7FM. APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operations from Swains Island, between July 28 and August 2, 2006, have been approved for DXCC credit: KH8SI, K1ER/KH8, KS6FO/KH8, WH7S/KH8, K8YSE/KH8, AH7C/KH8 and KH6BK/KH8. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Worked All Europe, CW contest, Maryland-DC QSO Party and SWOT Hot-Rock Shootout are on tap for this weekend. Please see August QST, page 88 for more details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP031 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP031 ARLP031 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP31 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 31 ARLP031 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA August 4, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP031 ARLP031 Propagation de K7RA Last Friday, July 28, a high speed solar wind stream hit earth, and created a geomagnetic disturbance that drove the planetary and mid-latitude A index up to 29 and 26, respectively. This actually began in the early hours of Friday UTC, which was Thursday afternoon and early evening in North America. Both mid-latitude and planetary K index rose to six. If you noticed some periods of high absorption, or when the only propagation seemed to occur north to south, that would be why. Now we are moving slowly toward the fall equinox, and HF radio conditions tend to get better when the hours of light and darkness are equal between the northern and southern hemispheres. This week we saw the average daily sunspot number rise over five points to 20. We will see little variations like this as the solar cycle declines toward its minimum next year. Solar activity still seems too high to be at the bottom though. A glance at graphs of smoothed sunspot numbers shows we are still experiencing more sunspots than the minimum back in 1996. Check the graph at http://wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/historical.shtml on the very bottom of the page, and http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1613.pdf on page 9. Further down on page 9, you can see that the prediction for the smoothed sunspot number for August 2006 is the same as for August of next year, and the minimum is somewhere in between. That means according to this graph, a year from now the new solar cycle will be bouncing back from the minimum, and rising past the point where we are now. The smoothed numbers are averaged over many months (I think this graph uses a moving six-month average) to help us see past the ''noise'' of daily variations. This graph shows a minimum in January 2007, only five months from now, with a smoothed sunspot number of five. July is over, so we can look at some monthly averages of sunspot numbers and solar flux. The average daily sunspot numbers for the months July 2005 through July 2006 were 68.7, 65.6, 39.2, 13, 32.2, 62.6, 26.7, 5.3, 21.3, 55.2, 39.6, 24.4 and 22.6. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 96.5, 92.4 , 91.9, 76.6, 86.3, 90.8, 83.4, 76.5, 75.5, 88.9, 80.9, 76.5 and 75.8. Over the past week I've been playing with the excellent HF radio propagation software, ACE-HF Pro, written by Richard Buckner. ACE is an acronym: Animated Communications Effectiveness, and it was originally written for VLF communication with submarines. This program is really a treat. ACE-HF Pro is based on software that Buckner wrote for military and commercial clients while at Collins Radio, and it uses the VOACAP engine. He has a new version 2.05 out, which is much more Windows-friendly than earlier versions. With it, you can produce colorful graphs that make it easy to visualize propagation over time and space, and users can even animate the results to produce a movie of signal coverage over time. Unlike other propagation programs I've used, it also makes 160-meter predictions, and attempts to predict sporadic-E skip. Tomas Hood, NW7US, who writes the monthly Propagation column for CQ Magazine, did some detailed reviews of ACE-HF in the May and July issues. He also has reviews online at http://hfradio.org/ace-hf/ . Among the interesting and unusual features is the ability to factor antenna radiation patterns into the calculations of propagation paths. David Mays, W8UI of St. Marys, West Virginia sent some big beacon lists for HF and six meters, put together by G3USF. See them at http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/por/28.htm and http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/por/50.htm. Also, Bruce Brackin, N5SIX of Brandon, Mississippi commented on Larry Godek, W0OGH and his wish for a database of 10-meter repeaters searchable by frequency, all across North America, rather than lists sorted by state. This would help him identify the location of 10 meter repeaters when they appear. David recommends getting the ARRL TravelPlus CD, then exporting the data to a CVS file and sorting it in a spreadsheet program. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, k7raarrl.net. For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for July 27 through August 2 were 23, 17, 19, 23, 25, 11 and 22 with a mean of 20. 10.7 cm flux was 74.4, 72.6, 73, 73.9, 72.4, 72.8, and 72.1, with a mean of 73. Estimated planetary A indices were 9, 29, 5, 5, 12, 12 and 10 with a mean of 11.7. Estimated mid
[DX-NEWS] ARLD033 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD033 ARLD033 DX news ZCZC AE33 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 33 ARLD033 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT August 3, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD033 ARLD033 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by HC2GF, WD0AVV, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. GHANA, 9G. Scott, AC3A will be QRV as 9G5SE from Accra from August 5 to 12. Activity will be on 40 to 6 meters. CROATIA, 9A. Peter, HA9MDP and Tamas, HG9MET are QRV as 9A/homecalls from Pasman Island, IOTA EU-170, and possibly others, depending on the weather, until August 13. Activity is on 80 to 2 meters. They will also participate in the Alps Adriatic VHF contest as 9A/HG9VHF from JN73qw. QSL to home calls. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. A group of German and British operators will be QRV as C94KF from Inhacamba Island, IOTA AF-103, from August 5 to 14. They will operate two stations on 40 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. They will be active as either C94RF or C93RF while on the mainland. QSL via G3OCA. ECUADOR, HC. A group of Ecuadorian operators will be QRV as HD4DX from Puerto Lopez on the Manabi coast from August 5 to 13 during the Whale's Festival. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV, PSK and Satellite. QSL direct via EA5KB. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HI. Mark, KB2MS is QRV as HI3/KB2MS from Puerto Plata, IOTA NA-096, until August 23. Activity is on all bands except 160 meters. QSL direct to home call. REPUBLIC OF KOREA, HL. Kang, DS4DRE/4 is QRV from Hong Island, IOTA AS-093, until the end of 2006. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. ITALY, I. Members of ARI Ancona will be QRV as IY6GM from Monte Cappuccini from August 5 to 20 in celebration of the 102nd anniversary of Guglielmo Marconi's radio experiments on that site. QSL via I6GFX. Meanwhile, look for special event station II5RW to be QRV August 6 to 14 during Roverway Italia 2006. QSL via I3GJJ. BELGIUM, ON. Special event station ON6BDC will be QRV from August 5 to 8 to commemorate the August 8, 1956 mine disaster at Bois du Cazier in Marcinelle. Activity will be on 40 and 20 meters using SSB from 0700 to 1200z. QSL via bureau. DENMARK, OZ. Jens, DL8WOW will be QRV as OZ/DL8WOW from Bornholm Island, IOTA EU-030, from August 7 to 17. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using mainly CW and QRP power at 5 watts. QSL to home call. Meanwhile, Michael, DL3FCG will be QRV as OZ/DL3FCG from Romo Island, IOTA EU-125, from August 5 to 19 using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. DODECANESE, SV5. Giannis, SV5FRI will be QRV from Symi Island from August 6 to 19. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call. CANADA, VE. Kevin, WD0AAV will be QRV as WD0AVV/VYO from Iqaluit, Nunavut from August 14 to 18. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using primarily CW. QSL to home call. CHAGOS ISLAND, VQ9. Jim, ND9M is QRV as VQ9JC from Diego Garcia for about four months. QSL to home call. ROMANIA, YO. Operators YO3JW, YO8RIJ, YO9GJX, YO9WF and YO9XC are QRV as YP1W from Sacalinu Mare, IOTA EU-183, until August 6. They will also try to be active from a couple of lighthouses signing homecalls/portable. QSL via YO3JW. MONTENEGRO, YU. Toma, YU1AB and Emin, T91S are QRV as YU6/YU1AB and YU6/DK4ES, respectively, until August 10. QSL via YU1AB. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL UHF Contest, TARA ''Grid Dip'' Shindig, 10-10 International Summer SSB Contest, European HF Championship, North American CW QSO Party, National Lighthouse-Lightship Weekend, RSGB RoPoCo 2, SARL HF Phone Contest, ARS Spartan CW Sprint and the NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see August QST, page 88 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD032 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD032 ARLD032 DX news ZCZC AE32 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 32 ARLD032 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT July 27, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD032 ARLD032 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by 4Z4DX, DK8KW, KB9LIE, UX0FF, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SAMOA, 5W. Operators KT8X, K8AQM, N8CC and JF3MYU are QRV as 5W0DW, 5W0TR, 5W0JB and 5W0KI, respectively, until August 10. They may be active as 5W0XX in the IOTA contest. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL 5W0KI and 5W0XX via JF3MYU and all others via KT8X. PHILIPPINES, DU. Peter, DK2PR is QRV holiday style as DU9/DK2PR from Mindanao Island, IOTA OC-130, until August 15. He may also try a side trip to islands in the IOTA OC-235 group. SPAIN, EA. A group of operators are QRV as ED7SPI from Sancti-Petri's Island, IOTA EU-143, until July 30. They may also participate in the IOTA contest. They may also try to activate other locations within the IOTA group as well. QSL via bureau. ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON, FP. Paul, K9OT and Peg, KB9LIE are QRV as FP/homecalls until August 6 from Miquelon Island, IOTA NA-032. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using CW and SSB. This includes an entry in the IOTA contest and the upcoming NA CW QSO Party. QSL to home calls. ENGLAND, G. Operators G4BUO, G4TSH, G0FDZ, G0VJG, G7GLW and M3CVN are QRV until August 2 from St. Mary Island, IOTA EU-011, as G3RCV/p or homecalls/p between Jul 26 and Aug 2. During the IOTA contest they will be active as M8C. QSL both calls via G4DFI. SCOTLAND, GM. Steve, MM1ERS and Colin, GM3VCQ are QRV from Arran Island, IOTA EU-123, until August 1. The will be active as MM3M in the IOTA contest. QSL via G4FAL. WALES, GW. Several members of the North Wakefield ARC are QRV as GB4CI from Caldey Island, IOTA EU-124, until July 31. They will be active as GW5X in the IOTA contest. QSL both calls via M3ZYZ. THAILAND, HS. Dej, E21YDP and Champ, E21EIC will be QRV from Si Chang Island, IOTA AS-107, during IOTA Contest. They are active as E21YDP/p on RTTY and E21EIC/p on CW and SSB. QSL E21YDP to his home call. Japanese stations QSL E21EIC via JR5XPG. All others via E21EIC. DENMARK, OZ. Ole, OZ2TF, Jan, OZ5JR, Klaus, OZ7KDJ and Erik, OZ9V are QRV as OZ8MW/p from Anholt Island, IOTA EU-088, until August 1. This includes an entry in the IOTA contest. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via operators' instructions. SWEDEN, SM. Holger, KD8KW is QRV as 7S7S/6 from Kopmannebro and 7S7S from Gunnebo during the fist part of August. QSL via operator's instructions. GREECE, SV. George, SV8GXC and Marcel, PA9M will be QRV as SV8GXC and SV8/PA9M/p, respectively, from Chios Island, IOTA EU-049, from July 29 to August 10. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via SV8GXC. DODECANESE, SV5. Dov, 4Z4DX will be QRV as SX5P during the IOTA contest. QSL to home call. TURKEY, TA. Berkin, TA3J will be QRV as TA3J/0 from Antalya-Sican Adasi, IOTA AS-115, during the IOTA contest. QSL direct via TA3YJ. UKRAINE, UR. A number of Ukraine operators will be QRV as EM5F from Ankudinov Island, IOTA EU-182, in the IOTA contest. INDONESIA, YB. John, YB5NOF, Anton, YB5QZ and the team from ORARI of Riau are QRV as YE5R from Rupat Island, IOTA OC-245, until July 30. They will also be QRV in the IOTA contest. QSL via YB5NOF. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The RSGB IOTA Contest and the ARS Flight of the Bumblebees are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see July QST, page 92 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD031 Swain's Island, KH8, added to ARRL DXCC List
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD031 ARLD031 Swain's Island, KH8, added to ARRL DXCC List ZCZC AE31 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 31 ARLD031 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT July 24, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD031 ARLD031 Swain's Island, KH8, added to ARRL DXCC List With the addition of Section II, Criteria Rule 1c) to the Political Entity criteria, certain former separation entities may now qualify as Political Entities. One such entity has been determined to be American Samoa. American Samoa is now a Political Entity for DXCC purposes. As a result of the reclassification of American Samoa, and upon the filing of a request and substantiating evidence, and with the concurrence of the DXAC and the Awards Committee, Swain's Island has been added to the DXCC List. Swain's Island, entity number 337, qualifies as the first separation entity from American Samoa, now a Political Entity. The distance between American Samoa and Swain's Island has been determined to be in excess of 350 km as required by DXCC Rules Section II, Paragraph 2, Section b). QSOs made with Swain's Island on or after 0001z, July 22, 2006 will count for DXCC credit. The prefix is KH8. For additional information, including the DXCC Reference Number for Swain's Island, contact Bill Moore at the DXCC Desk at [EMAIL PROTECTED] /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP029 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP029 ARLP029 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP29 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 29 ARLP029 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA July 21, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP029 ARLP029 Propagation de K7RA Solar activity remains low, and was lower this week than the week before. Average daily sunspot numbers dropped over six points to 19.4, and solar flux was down over five points to 70.7. July 13 saw the solar flux dip just barely below 70 to 69.9. During extended periods with zero sunspots, we will see solar flux around 67 or 68. I believe the solar flux hasn't been below 70 in almost exactly nine years, back to July 17, 1997 when it was also 69.9. Today the sun appears spotless, although the sunspot number is above zero. Expect continued low levels of solar activity. For the next few days expect solar flux around 70, rising to 75 after Sunday, July 23. This is not a big change. It is roughly equivalent to the sunspot number rising from 11 to 18. This doesn't mean that solar flux and sunspot numbers are completely independent. This week we saw average solar flux around 71 and average sunspot number around 19. Five years ago with an average solar flux around 141, average daily sunspot numbers were around 162. Geomagnetic indices should be quiet, with a planetary A index of five. The next period of higher geomagnetic activity due to recurring coronal holes rotating into view is some moderate activity expected around Tuesday, July 25, and then some higher activity centered on August 1. This is a prediction from the U.S. Air Force Space Weather Operations. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions for July 21-24, unsettled conditions July 25-26, and quiet to unsettled July 27. Check this article on Space Weather from The Industrial Physicist: http://www.aip.org/tip/INPHFA/vol-9/iss-6/p18.html. Note the nice illustration of magnetic and solar convection patterns about half way down the page. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for July 13 through 19 were 11, 15, 17, 20, 23, 26 and 24 with a mean of 19.4. 10.7 cm flux was 69.9, 70.9, 70.2, 70.8, 71, 71.2, and 71.1, with a mean of 70.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 5, 14, 6, 4, 4, 3 and 2 with a mean of 5.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 3, 10, 5, 2, 2, 2 and 2, with a mean of 3.7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD030 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD030 ARLD030 DX news ZCZC AE30 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 30 ARLD030 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT July 20, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD030 ARLD030 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SAMOA, 5W. K8AQM, N8CC, KT8X and JF3MYU will be QRV as 5W0TR, 5W0JB, 5W0DW and 5W0KI, respectively, from Upolu Island, IOTA OC-097, from July 27 to August 10. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY with three stations. They may also participate in the upcoming IOTA contest as 5W0XX. QSL 5W0DW, 5W0JB and 5W0TR via KT8X. QSL 5W0KI and 5W0XX via JF3MYU. CROATIA, 9A. Norbi, HA3FIN will be active as 9A/HA3FIN from Pasman Island, IOTA EU-170, from July 25 to 31. Activity will be on all HF bands. He will also be active as 9A/HG3X in the upcoming IOTA contest. QSL both calls to home call. BAHAMAS, C6. Peter, W2GJ and Jim, K4QO will be QRV as C6APR from Crooked Island, IOTA NA-113, from July 26 to 31. This includes an entry in the upcoming IOTA contest. QSL via K3IXD. ESTONIA, ES. Rolf, DK2ZF is QRV as ES/DK2ZF from the Saaremaa Island, IOTA EU-034, until August 3. Activity is mostly CW on HF, 6 and 2 meters and 70 cm. QSL to home call. FRANCE, F. Members of the Club Radio Amateurs de Lanester will be QRV with special callsign TM0FIL from July 24 to August 6 during the Inter Celtic Festival of Lorient. Activity will be on all bands and modes. QSL via F6KPQ. WALLIS AND FUTUNA ISLANDS, FW. Toshi, JA8BMK is QRV as FW8AA until July 24 with activity on 80 to 15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via JA8UWT. MARIANA ISLANDS, KH0. Skip, JE2HCJ plans to QRV as KH0/JE2HCJ from July 27 to 31. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. LUXEMBOURG, LX. A group of operators are QRV using special call LX8LGX from a scout camp until July 29. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters. QSL via KX2AJ. FAROE ISLANDS, OY. Operators G3ZAY, G7VJR, M0BLF, M0DEG, M0SCH and M0TJH are QRV as OY/homecalls until July 24. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using mostly SSB, with some CW and digital. QSL to home calls. BANGLADESH, S2. Pollen is QRV as S21P and has been active on 20 meters from around 1500 to 1530z. GREECE, SV. Massimiliano, IK2XYG will be QRV as SV8/IK2XYG from Corfu Island, IOTA EU-052, from July 24 to August 12. This includes an entry in the upcoming IOTA contest. QSL to home call. CORSICA, TK. Paolo, F8ENY is QRV as TK/F8ENY/p until August 6. Activity is mostly on HF using CW. QSL to home call. ASIATIC RUSSIA, UA0. Station UE0CBP is QRV from Chkalova Island, IOTA AS-114, until July 23. QSL via RV0CD. ST. KITTS AND NEVIS, V4. Reiner, DL2AAZ is QRV as V47/DL2AAZ from Nevis Island, IOTA NA-104, until August 10. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. CANADA, VE. Mike, K9AJ and Bruce, KD6WW are QRV as K9AJ/VY0 and KD6WW/VY0, respectively, from Nunavut, IOTA NA-195, until July 23. QSL to home calls. MONTENEGRO, YU. A large group of amateurs are QRV as YU6AO from Podgorica until August 18. Activity is on 160 to 2 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV, FM and PSK. QSL direct. Meanwhile, 4O4NT is QRV during the Montenegro DX Festival. QSL via YT6A. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Thursday NCCC CW Sprint Ladder and VK/Trans-Tasman 160-Meter CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see July QST, page 92 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP028 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP028 ARLP028 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP28 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 28 ARLP028 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA July 14, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP028 ARLP028 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot numbers and solar flux declined this week. Average daily sunspot numbers dropped 10 points to 25.6, and average solar flux was down nearly 11 points. There were no remarkable geomagnetic disturbances. July 9 saw a weak solar wind from a coronal mass ejection, followed by another period two days later, but every day the IMF pointed north, protecting Earth's geomagnetic field. The latest forecast calls for solar flux around 70 over the next week, lower than it has been lately. Sunspot numbers should also be low. Predicted planetary A index for July 14 is 8, and then 5 for the next week. Eric Hall, K9GY of Lansing, Illinois reminds 6-meter operators (or anyone with a 6-meter radio for that matter) to operate the CQ World Wide VHF Contest this weekend. Six meters continues to amaze. July 12 saw great openings, with European stations working North America. A check of 6-meter DX spots for the previous 36 hours on July 13 at http://www.dxers.info/ showed several thousand entries over a 24-hour period. EH8BPX in Canary Islands showed up 35 times in 36 hours, entries either from or about him. He seemed to work many stations on the East Coast and in the Midwest. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, k7raarrl.net. For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for July 6 through 12 were 34, 35, 34, 33, 18, 13 and 12 with a mean of 25.6. 10.7 cm flux was 85, 79.9, 77.4, 74.6, 72.8, 71.2, and 70.6, with a mean of 75.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 11, 6, 3, 5, 11, 7 and 12 with a mean of 7.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 7, 5, 2, 5, 12, 5 and 9, with a mean of 6.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD029 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD029 ARLD029 DX news ZCZC AE29 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 29 ARLD029 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT July 13, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD029 ARLD029 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by N1RL, NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TIMOR-LESTE, 4W. Michael, PA5M is QRV as 4W6AAB from Dili, and will be here for about one month while working for the UN World Food Programme. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters using CW and SSB during his free time. QSL via PA7FM. KENYA, 5Z. Alex is QRV as 5Z4DZ and has been active on 20 meters using RTTY around 1300 to 1500z. QSL via PA1AW. ZAMBIA, 9J. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as 9J2VB. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL direct to home call. EAST MALAYSIA, 9M6. Some members of the Borneo ARC will be QRV as 9M4SEB from Pulau Sebatik, new IOTA OC-295, from July 14 to 17. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via M5AAV. QATAR, A7. Bill, NM7H is QRV as A7/G0MKT until early September. Activity is on 40, 30 and 20 meters, and possibly 15 and 10 meters, using CW and PSK. He may also be active as A72006 using PSK. QSL both calls via EA7FTR. CHINA, BY. Vange, BD7KLO will be QRV as BD7KLO/7 from Hainan Island, IOTA AS-094, from July 15 to 20. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using SSB and RTTY. QSL direct to home call. ANGOLA, D2. Janne is QRV as D2DX and has been active on 20 meters using SSB around 2000z. QSL via OH2BAD. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Several members of Las Palmas Section of the URE will be QRV as ED8URL from July 19 to 21 to commemorate the 44th Anniversary of the URE Las Palmas Section. Activity will be on all bands and modes. QSL via bureau. IRELAND, EI. Some members of the City of Belfast Radio Society will be QRV as EJ3GKB/p and EJ3GJB/p from Great Blasket Island, IOTA EU-007, from July 15 to 17. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters. JAPAN, JA. Special event station 8J3SEA will be QRV from July 15 to September 15 for the 34th SEANET Convention in Osaka in September. QSL via bureau. PERU, OA. Ulli, DL2AH is QRV as OA3/homecall from Caraz/Huaraz until July 17, and then as OA2/homecall from Trujillo from July 19 to 21. Activity is holiday style on 40 to 10 meters using SSB. QSL direct to home call. DODECANESE, SV5. Dov, 4Z4DX will be QRV as SV5/M0DOV and J45DOV from Rhodes Island, IOTA EU-001, from July 15 to 20. Activity will be on all bands and modes. QSL to home call. PALAU, T8. JM1LJS, JO2JDJ and JG3DOR are QRV as T80W, T88DJ and T88OR, respectively, until July 18. Activity is on 40 to 6 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home calls. MARSHALL ISLANDS, V7. Bill, V73WJ is QRV from Majuro Island, IOTA OC-029, for at least a year. Activity is on 20, 17 and 15 meters, depending on conditions. QSL direct via G4OHX. INDIA, VU. Rene, DL2JRM is QRV as VU3RYO from New Delhi until July 24. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW. QSL to home call. VANUATU, YJ. Tommy, YJ0IR has been active on 40 meters around 0800z. QSL via W3HNK. MONTENEGRO, YU. YU6AM is generally QRV on 17 meters CW around 1300z. Rajko, YU6DZ has been active on 20 meters around 0300z to 0500z. TRISTAN DA CUNHA AND GOUGH ISLAND, ZD9. Andy, ZD9BV has been active on 20 meters around 1730z. QSL direct. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Montenegro, YU6AO, HF QSOs July 4, 2006 and later. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ Worldwide VHF Contest, Thursday NCCC Sprint CW Ladder, International DominoEx Prefix Contest, North American RTTY QSO Party, RSGB Low Power CW Field Day, CQC Great Colorado CW Gold Rush and the Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see July QST, page 92 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP027 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP027 ARLP027 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP27 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 27 ARLP027 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA July 7, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP027 ARLP027 Propagation de K7RA Solar activity was up this week. Average daily sunspot numbers rose nearly 22 points from last week's average to 35.6. Average solar flux rose as well, 11 points from 75.7 to 86.7. The (moderately) active geomagnetic day this week was July 5, with a planetary A index of 19, and the college A index from the magnetometer near Fairbanks at 28. The increased geomagnetic activity was due to a high-speed solar wind stream from a coronal hole on the sun beginning July 4. Earth was vulnerable due to a south-pointing interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). When the IMF points north, Earth is less vulnerable. The IMF is again pointing south on July 7. The next increase in geomagnetic activity is predicted for July 9. The current prediction for the planetary A index for July 7-10 is 8, 10, 25 and 18. Solar flux for those days is predicted at about 85. When the solar wind stream hit earlier this week, a radio burst from giant sunspot 898 was recorded by Thomas Ashcraft of Lamy, New Mexico at 1743z on July 5. He used receivers tuned to just above 17 meters and just above 15 meters to produce a binaural audio recording best appreciated with stereo headphones. Listen to it at http://www.heliotown.com/Radio_Sun_Introduction.html. Thanks to Don Mayhall, N5DM for the tip. We received more notes on 6 meters and Field Day. Bill Baker, W5GT reports that his club entry from W5NOR in Oklahoma used a rotatable dipole on six and made 109 contacts over June 24-25. Bill Van Alstyne, W5WVO of Rio Rancho, New Mexico writes of six meters on Field Day, ''Saturday evening saw some really nice double-hop into the east (NY, PA, MD, VA mostly), plus the usual single-hop path to the mid-way point (MO, IA, IL). Signal strength on the east coast stations was very good, in some cases as good as the Midwest stations. Worked a new grid square (FM09) in the WV panhandle, a club FD effort that decided to activate this somewhat rare grid as well as work the contest. Sunday morning featured a long, strong, and fairly broad opening into the Midwest -- MO, IA, IL, IN. WI, MN, and others. Only sporadic east coast contacts, mostly in FL''. Bill is looking forward to the CQ World Wide VHF Contest, July 15-16. Eric Hall, K9GY of Lansing, Illinois reminds us to operate the IARU contest this weekend and specifically work operators in the World Radiosport Team Championship 2006, which this time around is held in Florianopolis, Brazil. You can follow the progress of the teams via an online scoreboard. Check http://www.wrtc2006.com/release55.html. If you want to work the teams in Brazil, propagation to South America from the Northern Hemisphere should be good this weekend. From California, best times should be 80 meters around 0330z and 0530-0900z, 40 meters 0330-1000z, 20 meters 0100-0700z, and 15 meters 1700z-0530z, with the best bet around 2330-0430z. Although not a sure bet, check for 10-meter openings 2000-0500z. From Chicago, 80 meters looks best 0330-0900z, 40 meters 0130-0930z, and 20 meters 2230-0530z. 15 meters does not look promising, but your best bet is 2100-0400z. From Dallas, 80 meters looks good 0230-0930z, 40 meters 0100-1000z, 20 meters 2230-0530z, 15 meters 1700-0200z, and perhaps 10 meters, best chances 1800-0400z, with stronger signals toward the end of that period. From Philadelphia, 80 meters looks good 0200-0830z, 40 meters -0730z, 20 meters 2200-0530z, and perhaps 15 meters from 2100-0300z. You can work out paths from your own location using the method outlined in earlier bulletin ARLP014. Read it at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/2006-arlp014.html. Of course, for the IARU contest, you work stations all over the world, not just in Brazil. See the IARU HF World Championship rules on the ARRL web site at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/iaru.html. The end of June brings to a close the second quarter of 2006. This is a good time to review average quarterly and monthly sunspot and solar flux numbers. It's a good way to spot trends. From the first quarter of 2003 through the second quarter of 2006, the average daily sunspot number was 120.3, 107.3, 110.2, 99.2, 72.9, 71.3, 69.3, 61, 46.1, 55.7, 58, 36, 18.1 and 39.7. The average daily solar flux for the same period was 134.3, 124.2, 120.8, 137.4, 111.1, 99.5, 111, 104.8, 96.4, 93.1, 93.6, 84.5, 78.5 and 82.1. Three-month averages should be a bit smoother than one-month averages, and from the numbers above you might think we already hit bottom on the solar cycle and began a rebound. Although activity is low, we haven't seen the weeks of zero sunspots that we experienced about a decade ago during the last solar minimum. Also, look at the monthly numbers below. Although there was a slight uptick in sunspot
[DX-NEWS] ARLD028 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD028 ARLD028 DX news ZCZC AE28 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 28 ARLD028 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT July 6, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD028 ARLD028 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, DXNL, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calender and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MONTENEGRO, YT. YT6ML, Doc, was on 14197 kHz at 0600Z and then on 18138 kHz at 1030Z. YU6DZ, Rajko, showed up on 14018 kHz around 1600Z and then on 7012 kHz after 0230Z. YU6AO continues to show up on the HF bands. ANGOLA, D2. Janne, D2DX, plans to return to Angola by the end of June. Look for him using CW, SSB and PSK31 on 80 through 10 meters. QSL via OH2BAD. MONTSERRAT, VP2M. Graham, M0AEP, will be QRV as VP2MDD using SSB and CW on 80 through 6 meters until July 14. QSL via M0ARP. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. The team of Frosty, K5LBU/C91CF, Tom, WW5L/C91TA, Art, N4PJ/C91JR, and Tom, NQ7R/C91TK will be active using CW, SSB and RTTY/PSK on 160 through 6 meters until July 13. SCOTLAND, GM. The Five Bells Group with G1JZP, G0VTL, G1GSN and G4ODA will be QRV as GM4SIV from St. Kilda (EU-059) until July 8. QSL via G4SIV, bureau ok. TANZANIA, 5H. Ralph, SM0LRK, has returned to Dar-es-Salaam. He will be QRV again as 5H3RK but the length of his stay is not known yet. VANUATU, YJ. Tommy, VK2IR, will be QRV using SSB on 80 through 10 meters, signing YJ0IR until July 15. QSL via W3HNK. AFGHANISTAN, T6. T66T has been worked on 14020 and 10120 kHz. QSL via OH6MKL. IRAQ, YI. Carlos, N4THW, is in Iraq for the next four months on a military air base. He states that he has already applied for a YI license and is expected to be on the air soon. Carlos plans to be on 80 through 10 meters, including the newer bands. MACAU, XX. During the IARU HF World Championship look for the Associacao dos Radioamadores de Macau (ARM) headquarters XX9A station from Macao SAR, China to be QRV. The team will operate four stations from Taipa Island (AS-075). QSL via XX9BB, KAM PO (SAVIO) LEONG, P.O. Box 6018, MACAU, MACAU SOUTH KOREA, HL. Members of the Korean Amateur Radio League (KARL) will be operating their headquarters station HL0HQ this weekend in the IARU HF World Championship. Eight to ten stations will be QRV simultaneously on 160 through 10 meters on CW and SSB. SPAIN, EA. Several members of URE, Las Palmas Section will be active from July 19 to 21 as ED8URL in commemoration of the 44th Anniversary of URE, Las Palmas Section, on all bands and modes. QSL via Bureau to EA8URL. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The IARU HF World Championship, World Radiosport Team Championship, World Wide Major Six Club Contest, FISTS Summer Sprint and the QRP ARCI Summer Homebrew Sprint are on to for your contesting pleasure. Please see July QST, page 92 for more details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP026 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP026 ARLP026 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP26 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 26 ARLP026 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA June 30, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP026 ARLP026 Propagation de K7RA It was a fun Field Day weekend all over last week, judging from the Soapbox comments and photos on the ARRL web site at http://www.arrl.org/contests/soapbox/. There are many great stories on the site, but I enjoyed reading the N4SL report on the W7MRG operation over 500 miles down the road to Montana from home in Washington State. Go to page 10 (click on 10 at the bottom of the page on the above link) to find it. Even with zero sunspots, the homebrew wire antenna arrays and Montana hilltop sounded fabulous. If you check the N4SL listing on www.qrz.com, you'll see his wire antennas at home sound quite similar to his Field Day setup. Apparently there was some 6, 10 and 15 meter fun, although your author didn't hear it here. We put in a short casual mobile operation on 20 and 40 meters, both CW and SSB, and were impressed with how well the 7 foot monoband whip on the car worked on 40 meters. Changing bands meant unscrewing an antenna from the trunk mount and substituting another. No sunspots last weekend, but a big new spot (897) rotated into view this week. Followed by spot 898, it looks like a moderately rising solar flux and sunspot number will be with us through July 6. A solar wind stream caused elevated geomagnetic numbers on June 28 and 29, and this may happen again around July 3-5. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions over June 30 to July 3, quiet to unsettled on July 4, unsettled to active on July 5, and unsettled on July 6. Last week's bulletin mentioned Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA and his article ''When Will the Bands Improve?'' in the current July 2006 QST. Carl would like to correct his definition of the length of a sunspot cycle. The sentence in question should read ''The average length of a sunspot cycle, from solar minimum with a minimum number of sunspots (low electron density) to solar maximum with a maximum number of sunspots (high electron density) and then back down to the next solar minimum, is approximately eleven years.'' Roger Lapthorn, G3XBM wrote: ''I echo the comments last week about 6m being a bundle of fun. I only have 5-10W QRP to a small vertical on the side of the house but this has allowed me to work all across Europe as far as Ukraine on SSB with 59 reports being the norm. Last summer I managed a few north Africans but not yet this summer''. ''Not within my reach has been the amazing DX worked from Europe by the 'big guns' running high power to large beams: Central America, North America and, most amazing of all, a number of openings to JA and even one to KL7. JAs seem to have been worked on several mornings of late around our late breakfast time. This is over the pole and a very long way for simply sporadic-E. I wonder what mode this really is?'' Roger has a very nice web page at http://homepage.ntlworld.com/lapthorn/index.htm. Don't miss the interesting links he has under Homebrew rigs for the remarkable little QRP radios he constructed. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for June 22 through 28 were 0, 0, 0, 13, 14, 33 and 38 with a mean of 14. 10.7 cm flux was 72.1, 71.8, 73.6, 74, 76.4, 78.5, and 83.5, with a mean of 75.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 6, 2, 4, 5, 3, 6 and 18 with a mean of 6.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 6, 1, 2, 3, 1, 7 and 12, with a mean of 4.6. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP025 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP025 ARLP025 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP25 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 25 ARLP025 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA June 23, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP025 ARLP025 Propagation de K7RA This weekend is the annual ARRL Field Day, so this bulletin will have a Field Day focus. See http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/rules-fd-2006.html for rules. One thing nice about the bottom of the solar cycle is disruptive radio blackouts or sudden ionospheric events are very unlikely, compared to times when the solar cycle is active. A couple of decades back I was at a club Field Day site when mid-day Saturday a solar flare made the bands suddenly so dead that we really thought our radios were broken. W7RM had just placed a 40 meter bobtail curtain aimed toward the East Coast over a saltwater path, and I was convinced it was all for naught. But shortly after, again we heard signals, and toward the evening K7HBN hooked up to the bobtail and worked an amazing number of CW stations all night long. Very low geomagnetic activity is predicted this time around, with the planetary A index forecast around 5. Sunspot counts for the past five days have been 23, 21, 20, 19 and 0. No substantial increase is predicted. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts quiet conditions June 23, 24 and 27, quiet to unsettled June 25 and 29, and unsettled June 26 and 28. I've received many messages asking for advice on which HF bands to concentrate on. In Field Day, there are no multipliers for states or sections or countries. What counts for scoring is satisfying rules for various bonus points and multipliers and working as many stations as possible on each band and mode. Your best bet is going to be 40 and 20 meters, and be alert for sporadic-E openings on 15 and 10 meters. 40 meters will be open to many areas of North America throughout the day and night, and 80 meters should give good results from a couple of hours before local sunset on Saturday night until a couple of hours past local sunrise on Sunday morning. If you are in either California or Georgia, for example, and trying to work the other end of this path, the best bet for 20 meters is from 5:30 PM PDT (8:30 PM EDT) until around 6:00 AM PDT (9:00 AM EDT), then again with moderate signal strength 8:30 AM PDT (11:30 AM EDT) to 3:30 PM PDT (6:30 PM EDT). In other words, the unlikely times of making contact from California to Georgia is around 2300-z and 1330-1500z. Rich Klinman, W3RJ in Pennsylvania asks us to remember that with all the sporadic-E openings on 6 meters, 10 meters has been good as well. In the morning on 10 meter SSB he has been working Europe, and he worked the Middle East recently. Hector Garcia, XE2K mentions that Armando, XE3ARV, around 1530z on June 16 worked Johan, ON4IQ, running 5 watts to two stacked 4 element Yagis. From the XE3ARV QTH in Felipe Carillo Puerto, Quintana Roo on the Yucatan Peninsula to Gooik in the Belgian Flemish Region is about 5,270 miles. Don't miss the July 2006 QST for an article by Paul Graziani, W5ZK on using beacon stations to observe band openings and propagation, followed by some sage advice from Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, on when the bands will improve. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for June 15 through 21 were 11, 0, 42, 23, 21, 20 and 19 with a mean of 19.4. 10.7 cm flux was 76.4, 75.3, 73.2, 73.3, 73.3, 72.9, and 72.7, with a mean of 73.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 28, 10, 10, 8, 5, 4 and 4 with a mean of 9.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 17, 7, 7, 6, 4, 2 and 2, with a mean of 6.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD025 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD025 ARLD025 DX news ZCZC AE25 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 25 ARLD025 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT June 22, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD025 ARLD025 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by SV1CER, YV5AJ, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MALDIVES, 8Q. Vangelis, SV2BFN is QRV as 8Q7GE from Lankanfinolhu Island, IOTA AS-013, until July 4. Activity is on 40 to 6 meters, using mostly SSB and RTTY and some CW. QSL direct to home call. CROATIA, 9A. Zik is QRV as 9A/VE3ZIK from Bilice until July 10. This includes an entry in the upcoming IARU contest. He may try a side trip to Kaprije Island, IOTA EU-170, one day during his trip. QSL via DL3PS. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Steve, G0UIH is QRV as EA8/G0UIH/p from Fuerteventura Island, IOTA AF-004, until July 1. Activity is mainly on 20, 17 and 15 meters using SSB. QSL direct to home call. PHILIPPINES, DU. Chris, VK3FY and Nik, VK3FNIK are QRV as VK3FY/DU8 until July 5 from a variety of islands. Activity is on all bands using CW and SSB. QSL via VK3FY. MARQUESAS ISLANDS, FO. Yves is QRV as FO/F6CTL and has been active on 20 meters using SSB between and 070z. QSL via F6CTL. SCOTLAND, GM. Gordon, G3USR will be QRV as GM3USR/p from the islands Hirta and St. Kilda, IOTA EU-059, from June 24 to July 6. Activity is on 40 and 20 meters. QSL to home call. HONDURAS, HR. Members of the Radio Club de Honduras are QRV as HQ3C from Chachahuate Island, IOTA NA-160, until June 25. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY, if conditions allow it. QSL via HR2RCH. ITALY, I. Members of Mediterraneo DX Club will be QRV as IG9Z from Lampedusa Island, IOTA AF-019, from June 26 to July 2. QSL via IZ8GBH. ST. LUCIA, J6. Dave, KC2HO and Lauren, KC2LR will be QRV as J6/homecalls from June 25 to July 4. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY, mostly during their evening hours. QSL to home calls. ANTARCTICA. A team of ten operators will be QRV as KC4AAA from the Amundsen-Scott station at the South Pole, IOTA AN-016, during ARRL Field Day. They will primarily be active on 20 meters SSB, but might monitor other bands for openings as well. POLAND, SP. Special event station HF80GD is QRV until June 30 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the city of Gdynia. Activity is on all band and modes. QSL via SP2AVE. GREECE, SV. A group of Greek operators are QRV as J48WT from Samothraki Island, IOTA EU-174, until June 27. QSL via SV2HPP. ANTIGUA, V2. Nobby, G0VJG is QRV as V25V until July 6. Activity is on all HF bands, using mainly SSB, but he will also try to work Europe on 6 meters and some digital modes. QSL via G4DFI. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, VP2V. A group of operators are QRV as VP2V/W7XU until July 2. They have CW and SSB beacons on 50106 and 50118 kHz, respectively. QSL via W7XU. VENEZUELA, YV. Radio Club Venezolano will be QRV as YW9AJ from Apure State from June 29 to July 5. This includes Venezuela's Independence Day contest. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using all modes. They will also be active as YV5SAT/9 on various satellites. QSL YW9AJ via YV5AJ and YV5SAT direct. ZIMBABWE, Z2. Vlad, UA4WHX is now QRV as Z2/UA4WHX. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. MACEDONIA, Z3. Laci, HA1RS and Zoli, HA1CA, will be QRV as Z38R and Z38C, respectively, from Skopje from June 24 to July 14. Activity will be on the HF bands, including 6 meters, and the V/UHF bands as well. QSL both calls via HA1RS. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. ARRL Field Day, Thursday NCCC Sprint Ladder, His Majesty King of Spain SSB Contest, Ukrainian DX DIGI Contest and the QRP ARCI Milliwatt Field Day will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see June QST, page 99, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP023 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP023 ARLP023 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP23 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 23 ARLP023 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA June 9, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP023 ARLP023 Propagation de K7RA Sunspot counts were lower this week, but it is surprising what has happened on the ham bands. Operators are still having fun, and still working long distances, even on VHF, during this low part of the sunspot cycle. Most of this is due to seasonal sporadic-E propagation. Average sunspot numbers dropped 35 points to 19.3 between the last week in May and the first week of June. Geomagnetic indexes were a little higher. In 6-meter news, Scott Avery, WA6LIE in Salinas, California (CM96) says that on June 1 he worked four stations in Florida from -0100z. Jim Henderson, KF7E near Phoenix, Arizona said on June 2 that 6-meter conditions on the previous weekend were exceptional, with propagation to the Carolinas on May 27 and New England on May 28. May 29 saw openings to Vermont, Connecticut, Maine and New York, and then a huge opening to the Pacific Northwest. Jim also sent along an interesting link to a map of electron densities, along with plots of reported 6-meter propagation. You can see it at, http://69.15.204.66/ionosphere/DesktopDefault.aspx?tabindex=3tabid=34. Shelby Ennis, W8WN of Elizabethtown, Kentucky sent a link to, http://www.vhfdx.net/spots/map.php, that shows real-time maps of VHF propagation. You can select maps for different bands and various regions. There were also reports of great HF conditions during the CQ WPX contest over the Memorial Day weekend. Sig, N3RS of Glenmoore, Pennsylvania said he could work Europe until the wee hours on 20 meters, and he had 15 and 20-meter propagation to Japan as well. Gordon Fogg, N5AU of Rockwall, Texas said that on Sunday night and Monday, June 4-5, he experienced an amazing 6-meter opening to Japan. He worked 17 JA stations on CW, and heard many other stations working them also. Jon Jones, N0JK of Wichita, Kansas characterized the 6-meter opening to Japan on Sunday night, June 4 as massive sporadic-E. Jon said the Sunday Japan opening favored Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Colorado. On Monday stations as far east as Florida, Ohio and Alabama worked Japan on 6-meters. On Sunday evening, Jon used 100 watts and a 2 element Yagi atop the parking garage at the hospital where he works and he contacted JA7QVI around 2345z on 50.101 MHz. Chip Margelli, K7JA of Garden Grove, California wrote to urge contact with WQ5W, who worked at least 34 JAs on 6-meters on Sunday. Chip worked JH0RNN and JA7QVI on CW. Alan Benoit, WQ5W wrote, Yes, we had an amazing opening into JA on Sunday evening from here in EM12 (near Fort Worth). I worked NL7Z at 2218z on SSB and then noticed in the 6M chat room that JH2COZ was going to call CQ on 50.096 MHz CW. Not expecting anything, I listened for his CQ and to my amazement, I heard him 559. He came back immediately to my call and I worked my first JA ever on 6M! Alan continues, I then proceeded to call CQ on CW further up the band and had many JAs call me! Between 2227z and 0151z I made 42 QSOs into JA along with 2 KL7s and a few VE7s (all on CW). It was the most amazing thing I've ever experienced on 6M. I believe all of this was via Es which makes it even more amazing. This weekend is the ARRL June VHF QSO Party, a nice excuse for searching for more 6-meter excitement. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for June 1 through 7 were 11, 0, 0, 17, 23, 36 and 48 with a mean of 19.3. 10.7 cm flux was 77.2, 75.3, 75.9, 75.6, 77.9, 78, and 82.7, with a mean of 77.5. Estimated planetary A indices were 13, 8, 4, 2, 4, 23 and 24 with a mean of 11.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 10, 5, 2, 1, 2, 15 and 18, with a mean of 7.6. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD023 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD023 ARLD023 DX news ZCZC AE23 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 23 ARLD023 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT June 8, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD023 ARLD023 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, S56A, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SPRATLY ISLANDS. Tex, 9M2TO will be QRV as 9M0/9M2TO from Layang Layang Island, IOTA AS-051, beginning 1200z on June 9 until 2200z on June 12. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters using CW. QSL via JA0DMV. SENEGAL, 6W. Didier, F6ELE is QRV as 6W2/F6ELE from Carabane Island, IOTA AF-078, until June 15. Activity is on 40, 20 and 15 meters. QSL to home call. MALAWI, 7Q. Bill, KC4D is QRV as 7Q7WW while on a missionary trip to Embangweni until June 23. Activity is on the low bands using mostly CW during his morning and evening hours. QSL to home call. NEPAL, 9N. Toshi, JA8BMK will be QRV as 9N7WW and 9N7BMK from Kathmandu from June 11 to 19. Activity will be mainly on 40, 20 and 15 meters, and possibly 17 and 10 meters, using CW and SSB. QSL direct via JA8UWT. MARTINIQUE, FM. Tom, KC0W is QRV as TO0O until June 24. Activity is on all HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call. FRENCH POLYNESIA, FO. Alain, FO5RH is QRV from Tatakoto Island, IOTA OC-066, until July 25. ITALY, I. Operators from ARMI and ARI Formia will be QRV as IQ0FM/p from Terracina on June 11 in conjunction with Italian Navy Day. Meanwhile, II5MD will also be QRV from June 11 to 13 in celebration of Antonio Meucci Day. QSL via IK5DND. JAPAN, JA. Special event station 8J5TOSA is QRV until August 31 to celebrate the Tosa Expo. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL via bureau. SVALBARD, JW. Juergen, DJ3KR is QRV as JW/DJ3KR until June 18. Activity is on all HF bands and 6 meters using CW. QSL to home call. SEYCHELLES, S7. S79RS has been active on 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters at various times during the day. QSL via IZ8CLM. MOUNT ATHOS, SV/A. Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A has been active on 20 meters between and 0100z and then from 1130 to 1245z. He has also been active on 12 meters around 1800z. WEST KIRIBATI, T30. Yoon, 6K2AVL will be QRV as T30AV for about one week. QSL to home call. BERMUDA, VP9. Jon, N0JK is QRV as VP9/N0JK until June 12. He plans to be a serious entry in the ARRL June VHF QSO Party on 6 and 2 meters and 70 cm. QSL to home call. SOUTH COOK ISLANDS, ZK1. Hector, EA3EKS is QRV as ZK1EKS until June 13. Activity is on 20, 15 and 10 meters. QSL to home call. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Afghanistan, T61AA, current operation effective May 23, 2006. BULLETIN CORRECTION. As reported in DX Bulletin ARLD022, the Flatholm Island, IOTA EU-124, operation was from Wales, NOT Scotland. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL June VHF QSO Party, Thursday NCCC Sprint Ladder, ANARTS World Wide RTTY Contest, Portugal Day Contest, Asia-Pacific SSB Sprint, GACW WWSA CW DX Contest and the REF DDFM 6-meter Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. The NAQCC Straight Key/Bug Sprint is scheduled for June 14. Please see June QST, page 98 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP022 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP022 ARLP022 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP22 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 22 ARLP022 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA June 2, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP022 ARLP022 Propagation de K7RA Thanks to Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA for writing an excellent propagation bulletin last week while your regular reporter was traveling. Solar activity continues to be low as we head toward the bottom of the sunspot cycle. Still, we haven't seen weeks on end with no sunspots, so I suspect the minimum is not quite here. Let's take a look at the monthly averages of sunspot numbers and solar flux for May, compared with the past year. The average daily sunspot numbers for the months May 2005 through May 2006 were 65.4, 59.8, 68.7, 65.6, 39.2, 13, 32.2, 62.6, 26.7, 5.3, 21.3, 55.2 and 39.6. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 99.5, 93.7, 96.5, 92.4, 91.9, 76.6, 86.3, 90.8, 83.4, 76.5, 75.5, 88.9 and 80.9. With fewer sunspots, the higher frequencies aren't as useful. There is a direct correlation between MUF (Maximum Usable Frequency) and the number of sunspots. That's why at the peak of a solar cycle 10 meters is much more usable than at the bottom of the cycle. We received several emails this week about sporadic-E propagation. This is when unpredictable ionized clouds form in the lower E-layer of the ionosphere and provide interesting and exciting long range propagation. June is a very good month for this in the Northern Hemisphere. Broadcast television DXers such as Mike Shaffer, KA3JAW in Tampa report regularly receiving TV broadcasts from stations in Mexico and Central America. Paul Gray, N0JAA in east-central Florida reports working 12 meter sporadic-E from time to time into Virginia and New York 6 meters also can be exciting. Bill Van Alstyne, W5WVO of Rio Rancho, New Mexico writes, Sporadic-E season is upon us, and yesterday (Sunday, May 28) saw one of the best 6-meter North American sporadic-E openings of the past few years. At one point late Sunday morning, 6 meters was open coast-to-coast, with QSOs between CA and the east coast via long double-hop propagation (or maybe triple-hop in some cases) taking place frequently. Here in New Mexico, I was hearing and working both coasts and pretty much everything in between with S9+ signals. Bill continues, Many stations in the eastern part of the country, and even out west here, worked a lot of DX in the Caribbean and Central America, but my path in that direction is poor, and I didn't hear any of it. He goes on to say, I did pick up a number of new grid squares, though, including EL94 (Florida Keys) on a double-hop path and a cool backscatter contact with DM34 in central Arizona. Backscatter is unusual on 6 meter sporadic-E (in my experience). My theory is that a typical sporadic-E cloud is much more planar a refractive medium than the F2 layer, and doesn't scatter energy as much in off-beam directions. Thanks to W7MHW for hearing my weak signal through the pile-up of S9+20 signals from the southeast states. Bill continues with, Heard several guys talking about sporadic-E on 2 meters, but I think it was pretty limited. I didn't hear any really super-short skip on 6 meters; my guess, from the minimum skip distances I was hearing, is that the Es MUF was somewhere around 100-120 MHz--at least in these parts. For the next few days, it looks like solar wind from coronal holes could be mildly disruptive. The planetary A index forecast for June 2-3 is 20, then settling down to quiet conditions a couple of days later. Average daily sunspot numbers were up this week over last, and are expected to rise slightly over the next few days. Higher sunspot numbers mean higher MUFs, but 20 meters should still be your best band for reliable worldwide propagation. For instance, California stations can work Japan on 20 meters currently around 0600-1600z, while the best 20 meter opening to Australia should be 0630-1300z. If you are in Georgia, the best 20 meter opening to Europe should be around 2230-0200z and 0430-0830z. But you can work out your own paths to any location. Just use the suggestions in an earlier Propagation Forecast Bulletin, ARLP014, seen on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/2006-arlp014.html. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation, see the ARRL Technical Information Service at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. For a detailed explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/k9la-prop.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/ . Sunspot numbers for May 25 through 31 were 33, 51, 69, 78, 54, 51 and 44 with a mean of 54.3. 10.7 cm flux was 83.7, 81.6, 83, 84.7, 81.1, 80, and 78.4, with a mean of 81.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 5, 5, 3, 7, 3, 9 and 6 with a mean of 5.4. Estimated mid
[DX-NEWS] ARLD022 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD022 ARLD022 DX news ZCZC AE22 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 22 ARLD022 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT June 1, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD022 ARLD022 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by JI6KVR, N4LS, SV1HER, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TUNISIA, 3V. Hrane is QRV as 3V7A and has been active on 20 meters around 1600z and then on 17 meters around 1700z. QSL via YT1AD. SENEGAL, 6W. Jan-Francois is QRV as 6W7RV and has been active on 20 meters using PSK around 1900z. QSL via F8CMT. QATAR, A7. A71EM, A71BX and others are QRV as A72OO6 until July 31 for the 15th Asian Games to be held in Doha. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL via EA7FTR. TAIWAN, BV. In celebration of the 50th anniversary of the CRA, look for special event stations BV2B and BV50CRA to be active on June 3 and 4. QSL via BV2KI. SOUTH COOK ISLANDS, E5. Victor expects to be QRV with his new call E51CG on 20 meters around 1400z. FRANCE, F. Members of the SFDXAG group are QRV using special event call F/ON6JUN/p from Ranville to mark the 62nd anniversary of D-Day. Activity is on all bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via ON5SD. Meanwhile, special event station TM6SME will be QRV on June 3 to 13 from Emondeville to also mark the occasion. QSL via F6IPS. SCOTLAND, GW. As part of the filming of a television documentary on Guillermo Marconi, Glyn, GW0ANA will be QRV as GW4BRS/p from Flatholm Island, IOTA EU-124, on June 3 and 4. QSL to home call. HAITI, HH. Ned, N4LS is QRV as HH4/N4LS until June 8. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call. SOUTH KOREA, HL. Members of the Gwangju DX Club will be QRV as 6L0NJ/4 from Ch'uja Island, IOTA AS-084, from June 4 to 6. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via HL4XM. ITALY, I. Members of ARI Perugia will be QRV as IQ0PG in the IARU Region 1 CW Field Day. SARDINIA, IS0. Gaetano, IZ8GCB will be QRV as IS0/IZ8GCB from June 3 to 21. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. JAPAN, JA. JM1VQJ/1, JO1IRO/1 and JF1IZM/1 are QRV from To Island, IOTA AS-008, until June 5. QSL to home calls. LUXEMBOURG, LX. Look for special event station LX7HAM to be QRV from June 3 to 17 to mark the HamEuro meeting begin held in Longlaville, France on June 11. QSL via F6KWP. FAROE ISLANDS, OY. Operators PA0VHA, PA2VMA, PA2A and PA2AM are QRV as OY/homecalls from Eysturoy Island, IOTA EU-018, until June 8. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via PA0VHA. GREECE, SV. Operators SV1HER, SV1GRM and SW1GZL are QRV as SY8V from Antikythira Island, IOTA EU-113, from the Apolytares Lighthouse, ARLHS GRE-040, until June 3. QSL via SV1HER. DODECANESE, SV5. Ermanno, IK2WZD is QRV as SV0XAN/5 until July 31. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL to home call. TURKEY, TA. Bekir, TA2RX is QRV with special callsign TC150HP until June 30 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of Turkish railways and the 100th anniversary of the Haydar Pasha train station. Activity is mainly on 40 and 20 meters after 1400z, but he will try other bands as well. BRUNEI, V8. Ambram, V85SS is usually QRV on 80 through 15 meters using CW from around 1100 to 1700z daily. NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. A group of operators are QRV as VI9NI until June 21 to celebrate of the 150th anniversary of the HMS Bounty Mutineers. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL direct to VK4FW. Meanwhile, VI9NS is also QRV for the whole month of June for the celebration. CAMBODIA, XU. Vincent is QRV as XU7BKV and has been active on 20 meters using SSB between 1230 and 1400z. QSL via F4BKV. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Thursday NCCC CW Sprint Ladder, Look Around in the Field CW Contest, SEANET Contest, RSGB National CW Field Day, IARU Region 1 CW Field Day and the QRP TAC CW Sprint are all scheduled for this weekend. The ARS Spartan CW Sprint is scheduled for June 6. Please see June QST, page 98 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP021 Propagation de K9LA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP021 ARLP021 Propagation de K9LA ZCZC AP21 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 21 ARLP021 From Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA Fort Wayne, IN May 26, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP021 ARLP021 Propagation de K9LA Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA, is filling in this week for regular reporter Tad Cook, K7RA. With respect to space weather, the past week has been relatively quiet. Solar activity was very low (the largest flares were several Class B events) and geomagnetic field activity was quiet to unsettled (the planetary A index stayed below 10). The Sun did have some sunspots this week -- Regions 884, 885, and 886 dotted the solar disk, but they weren't very active. There are also indications that old Region 882 may be coming around again. The forecast for the next several days, Memorial Day weekend, is for continued low solar activity and quiet to unsettled geomagnetic field conditions. The probability of major flares or significantly elevated K indices is low. As a result, there shouldn't be any major propagation surprises. The 40, 30, 20, and 17 meter bands should provide the bulk of domestic and DX contacts, but keep an eye out for sporadic E activity. This weekend is the CQ World-Wide WPX CW contest. The format for this contest is everyone works everyone, with prefixes as multipliers. Although the QSO point structure favors DX contacts, the fact that prefixes are multipliers means domestic contacts can play an important role -- which in turn means domestic propagation can play an important role. Being at the end of May says the probability of sporadic E helping out on 10 meters, and maybe even on 15, for domestic contacts is quite high. We've already had some good sporadic E propagation on 10 and 6 meters in the past week or two -- hopefully it will continue. Look for sporadic E openings around the late morning hours and then again in the early evening hours. For true DX contacts, though, 40 and 20 meters will likely be the 'bread and butter' bands for this contest at solar minimum. Propagation Tidbit -- As we move into summer, we'll see a decrease in daytime F2 region MUFs. This is in large part due to a change in the composition of the atmosphere at F2 region altitudes. Summer brings decreased ratios of O (atomic oxygen) to O2 (molecular oxygen) and of O to N2 (molecular nitrogen). Since the electron production rate at F2 region altitudes depends on the concentration of O, whereas the electron loss rate is controlled by O2 and N2, a decrease in O to O2 and O to N2 ratios leads to lower daytime MUFs in the summer. For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for May 18 through 24 were 0, 15, 29, 30, 32, 48 and 44 with a mean of 28.3. 10.7 cm flux was 73.3, 75.3, 76.2, 77.5, 83.1, 84.2, and 83.7, with a mean of 79. Estimated planetary A indices were 16, 8, 7, 7, 8, 7 and 4 with a mean of 8.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 11, 7, 5, 4, 6, 4 and 3, with a mean of 5.7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD021 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD021 ARLD021 DX news ZCZC AE21 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 21 ARLD021 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT May 25, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD021 ARLD021 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by N1RL, NC1L, SV1HER, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TIMOR-LESTE, 4W. Michael, PA5M is QRV as 4W6AAB in his spare time until June 2. QSL via PA7FM. CYPRUS, 5B. ON5SY and ON4ON are QRV as 5B/OO5S and 5B/OQ1C, respectively, until May 30. They are active holiday style on 40 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL both calls via ON4ON. EAST MALAYSIA, 9M6. Members of the Borneo ARC will be QRV as 9M4SSB from May 29 to 31. Activity will be on 40, 20, 15, 10 and 6 meters using SSB. QSL via 9M6BRC. AZORES, CU. Pertti, OH2PM will be QRV as CU2A in the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL via OH2BH. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. In commemoration of Canary Islands Day on May 30, several operators are QRV as ED8CID and EF8CID until May 30. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via EA8AUW. Meanwhile, look for RD3AF to be QRV as AM8EW in the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL to home call. GUADELOUPE, FG. Members of the ACRA Club will be QRV as TO7AES on May 27. Activity will be on HF and VHF bands using CW, SSB and PSK31. QSL via bureau. THAILAND, HS. Champ, E21EIC will be QRV as a Single Op/All Band/Low Power entry in the CQ WPX CW contest. Japanese hams QSL via JR5XPG. All others direct via home call. MARIANA ISLAND, KH0. JP1JFG and others will be QRV as WH0W in the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL via JP1JFG. PALMYRA AND JARVIS ISLANDS, KH5. Mike, KH6ND is QRV as KH5/KH6ND from Palmyra until May 28. Of late he has been active on 40 and 17 meters. He may be a Single Band entry on 40 meters for the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL via K2PF. ALAND ISLANDS, OH0. Phil, N6ZZ will be QRV as OH0ZZ in the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL to home call. Meanwhile, OH2BH and OH0MM will be QRV as OH0B and OH0E, respectively, and will be active on 30, 17 and 12 meters. BONAIRE, CURACAO, PJ2. Jim, WI9WI is QRV as PJ2T until May 29 from Signal Point, Curacao, IOTA SA-006. He will be a Single Op/All Band/High Power entry in the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL via N9AG. SEYCHELLES, S7. Sal, IZ8CLM is QRV as S79RS until June 5. He is active daily after 1400z in his spare time using SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. GREECE, SV. Operators SV1HER, SV1GRM and SW1GZL are QRV as SY8V from Kythira Island, IOTA EU-113, from the Moudari lighthouse, ARLHS GRE-120, until May 28. QSL via SV1HER. Meanwhile, HA0HW, HA4DX and LZ1PJ will be QRV as J48HW, J48DX and J48PJ, respectively, as well as SV8/homecalls, from May 27 to June 5. Activity will be on all HF bands, including 6 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via home calls. AUSTRALIA, VK. Csaba, HA3LN will be QRV as VK4ADF in the CQ WPX CW contest. QSL to home call. CAMBODIA, XU. Vincent, F4BKV will be QRV as XU7BKV from the DX Shack in Sihanoukville from May 29 to June 2. Activity will be on the HF bands using SSB and PSK31. UK SOVEREIGN BASE AREAS ON CYPRUS, ZC. Grigg, G0OAB will be QRV as ZC4DG from May 27 to 31. QSL to home call. CAYMAN ISLANDS, ZF. Jim, W4JO and Mike, K4MBO are QRV as ZF2JO and ZF2MO, respectively, until June 2. QSL ZF2MO via K4MBO and ZF2JO via W4YCH. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Timor-Leste, 4W6AAB, current operation effective May 22, 2006; United Arab Emirates, A6/OD5TX, operation from October 5 through November 5, 2005; Guinea-Bissau, J5DOT, operation from April 25 through May 5, 2006; Fernando de Noronha, ZV0F, operation from March 30 through April 4, 2006; Western Sahara, S01R, operation from April 11 through April 21, 2006; Somalia, 6O0M, operation from April 7 through April 24, 2006; Chad, TT8WL, November 19, 1996 through March 8, 1997; Iraq, HN0Z, operation March 27 and 28, 2004, and operation May 29 and 30, 2004; Iraq, YI9HU, operation from May 18 through June 5, 2005; and Iraq, YI9NS, operation from January 5 through March 28, 2006. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ WW CW WPX Contest, VK/Trans-Tasman 80-Meter CW Contest, QRP ARCI Hootowl CW Sprint and the MI QRP Memorial Day CW Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see May QST, page 100 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP020 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP020 ARLP020 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP20 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 20 ARLP020 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA May 19, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP020 ARLP020 Propagation de K7RA Our Sun is in another period of spotless days. Since Monday, May 15, no spots are visible, through Thursday so far. We don't have access to an actual sunspot prediction model for the next week, but the U.S. Air Force does issue a daily 45 day outlook for solar flux and planetary A index. The forecast shows a steady solar flux of 75 until May 26, when it jumps 10 points to 85. The solar flux on these four spotless days ranged from 71.5 to 73.5, and rises slightly over the period. With a prediction of solar flux at 75 over the next week, that suggests low sunspot numbers or perhaps even more days with no sunspots. Currently sunspot 884 (a small one) is just beginning to peek around our Sun's eastern limb. We should see some daily sunspot number until it either fades away or completes a transit of the Earth-facing side of our sun. As the sunspot cycle continues its descent, we will see long stretches with no visible spots. Nearly a decade ago, 38 consecutive days, from September 13, 1996 through October 20, 1996 had no sunspots. You can look at projected smoothed sunspot numbers for the next year on page 11 at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1602.pdf. This prediction hasn't changed for several years. It shows a smoothed sunspot number of 11 for May 2006, so according to this chart, in September 2007 we should see more sunspots than we do now. Next month we can observe that in July 2007 we should have more sunspots than June 2006. Earth has been within a solar wind stream from a coronal hole. As a result, late on May 18 both the planetary and mid-latitude K index reached 4, and the high-latitude college A index went to 5. For May 19 the planetary A index is predicted to be 20. Conditions quiet down in the following days, and the A index is not predicted to rise again to that level until early June. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts unsettled to active conditions for May 19, unsettled on May 20-21, quiet to unsettled on May 22, quiet on May 23-24, and quiet to unsettled on May 25. With no sunspots, MUF for most long-range propagation paths is lower, so 10, 12 and 15 meters are not yielding results as they were when there was at least some sunspot activity. Ever wonder exactly where these geomagnetic observatories used for the various A and K indexes are located? Here is a table of recent observations: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt . Jim Henderson, KF7E of Queen Creek, Arizona (southeast of Phoenix) sent a page from USGS devoted to magnetic observatories: http://geomag.usgs.gov/observatories/. Click on the link for Newport, and you can see photos of the observatory buildings, this one near the Idaho border in Eastern Washington. Note the arcane latitude/longitude numbers. To convert those to the normal coordinates we are used to, subtract the co-latitude number from 90, and the longitude from 360. You can then enter these numbers (40.27 N, 117.12 W) in an online map, such as Google Maps at http://maps.google.com/. Note if you zoom in far enough you will see that the buildings are just off Geophysical Observatory Road, near the town of Newport, Washington. On the Daily Geomagnetic Data page (the table mentioned in the previous paragraph), you'll see that our middle-latitude K and A index come from Fredericksburg. Click on the FRD link on the USGS page mentioned above, and you can do the same location calculations, which yield 38.2 N, 77.37 W. The map shows this is near another Observatory Road, this time near the western perimeter of Fort A.P. Hill Military Reservation (not named on this map), southeast of Fredericksburg, Virginia. There is another link from the USGS page (CMO), which shows the home of the college A and K index in Fairbanks, Alaska, and another for the Boulder observatory, source of the numbers heard on WWV. Recent indices from Boulder are at http://www.sec.noaa.gov/alerts/k-index.html. Don Eiler, WA4PLD of Knoxville, Tennessee sent in a couple of links with information on the IMF (Interplanetary Magnetic Field). The first is one this bulletin has mentioned before: http://www.spaceweather.com/glossary/imf.html. The second, http://pluto.space.swri.edu/image/glossary/IMF.html, is new to me. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin, see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for May 11 through 17 were 36, 38, 24, 11, 0, 0 and 0 with a mean of 15.6. 10.7 cm flux was 76.4, 75.7, 73.5, 72, 71.7, 71.5
[DX-NEWS] ARLD020 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD020 ARLD020 DX news ZCZC AE20 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 20 ARLD020 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT May 18, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD020 ARLD020 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by MM0BQI, NC1L, YB0ECT, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. ALGERIA, 7X. John, G1NZO is QRV as 7X0JL from Phydra and will be here for about four months. He is active primarily on 6 meters using SSB, PSK31 and JT6M during his evenings and weekends. QATAR, A7. Ali, A71BZ is usually QRV on 17 meters using SSB between 1630 and 1730z. MADEIRA ISLANDS, CT3. Karl, OE3JAG is QRV as CT3/OE3JAG until May 22. Activity is mostly on 30 and 20 meters using CW, RTTY and PSK. QSL to home call. BALEARIC ISLANDS, EA6. Hellmuth, DF7XE is QRV as EA6/DF7XE from Formentera, IOTA EU-004, until May 26. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL to home call. SCOTLAND, GM. Jim, MM0BQI will be QRV as MM0BQI/p from Tanera Mor, IOTA EU-092, in the Summer Isles from May 20 to 29. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. Time permitting, he may also be active as MM0Q in the upcoming CQ WPX CW contest. QSL direct to home call. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HI. Antonio, IW2OAZ is QRV as HI8/IW2OAZ until May 30. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters. On May 20, he will be active from Catalina Island, IOTA NA-122, for 24 hours. QSL to home call. GUINEA-BISSAU, J5. Tibi, HA7TM is QRV as J5UTM and may be here until May 25. Lately he has been active at various times on 40 through 10 meters using CW. QSL to home call. JAPAN, JA. In celebration of International QRP Day on June 17, stations 8J1P, 8J3P, 8J4P, 8J5P and 8J6P are all QRV until June 30. QSL via operators' instructions. AMERICAN SAMOA, KH8. Gavin, W9EYE is QRV as AH8/W9EYE from Pago Pago, Tutuila Island, IOTA OC-045, until May 21 while here working as a medical missionary. Activity is on all HF bands using SSB. QSL to home call. US VIRGIN ISLANDS, KP2. Steve, N2IFA, Steve, KB2ENF and Steve, KF2TI are QRV as KP2/homecalls from St. Croix until May 22. Work all three for the Worked All Steves certificate. QSL all calls via KF2TI. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Scot, P29SS has been active on 80 meters around 1200z. QSL via N5FTR. SWEDEN, SM. Bernd, DL8AAV will be QRV as SD1B from Gotland Island, IOTA EU-020, from May 24 to June 5. QSL to home call. CORSICA, TK. Vasek, DL4FF is QRV as TK/DL4FF until June 9. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. He will also be active in the upcoming CQ WPX CW contest. QSL to home call. NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. Look for a large group of operators to be QRV as VI9NI beginning May 24 in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the HMS Bounty Mutineers. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL direct to VK4FW. Meanwhile, look for stations VI9NL and VI9NS to also be QRV for the whole month of June for the celebration. INDONESIA, YB. Look for a group of operators to be QRV as YE6P from Simeulue Island, IOTA OC-270, from May 24 to 29. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via operators' instructions. LATVIA, YL. Special event station YL775TALSI is QRV until July 2 to commemorate the anniversary of Talsi Town. QSL via YL2CF. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Iraq, YI9LZ, current operation effective May 8, 2005. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Thursday NCCC CW Sprint Ladder, US Counties SSB QSO Party, His Majesty King of Spain CW Contest, the 3rd Annual European PSK DX Contest, Portuguese Navy Day Contest, Manchester Mineira All America Contest and the 40th Annual Baltic Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. The Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest is scheduled for May 22. Please see May QST, page 100 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD019 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD019 ARLD019 DX news ZCZC AE19 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 19 ARLD019 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT May 11, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD019 ARLD019 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by JI6KVR, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. TUNISIA, 3V. 3V8BB is usually QRV on 20 or 17 meters using SSB around 1000z. CHINA, BY. Yasuo, JA6UBY is QRV as BY4CSS from Shanghai. Activity is mostly on 20 and 15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call. THE GAMBIA, C5. Noz, C5DXC is usually QRV on 15 meters using SSB between 1900 and 2100z. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. IZ0BTV, IZ7FLP, EC8ADS, EC8ADW and EC8AUA are QRV as ED8OTA from Gran Canaria, IOTA AF-004, until May 14. QSL via IZ7FLP. MARTINIQUE, FM. Jacky, F5OIU will be QRV as FM/F5OIU from May 13 to July 1 while here on holiday. He will use mostly CW, but maybe some SSB and digital modes as well. QSL to home call. WALES, GW. G3KHZ and G4EDG are QRV as GW3KHZ/p from the St. Tudwal's Islands, IOTA EU-106, until May 15, weather-permitting. They are active only on CW. QSL direct via G4EDG. SOUTH KOREA, HL (DS). Han, DS2GOO plans to be QRV as DS2GOO/3 from Nok Island, IOTA AS-080, from May 18 to 21. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters using SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL to home call. THAILAND, HS. Fred, K3ZO is QRV as HS0ZAR and has been active on 20 meters using CW before 1500z and then before 1900z. QSL to home call. SVALBARD, JW. Roger, JW4GHA is QRV from Bear Island, IOTA EU-027, until July. He will place an emphasis on 6 meters during the last month of his stay. ARGENTINA, LU. LU4DXU and LW1DRH are QRV as LU1DMG from Martin Garcia Island, IOTA SA-055. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via LU4DXU. DENMARK, OZ. Tom, DL7UZO will be QRV as OZ/DL7UZO from the Jylland North Group, IOTA EU-171, from May 13 to 20. Activity is on 80 to 2 meters using CW, SSB, PSK31, RTTY and WSJT. QSL to home call. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Jerry, P29ZAD is usually QRV using digital modes on 20 or 15 meters around 1000 to 1400z. SWEDEN, SM. Special callsign SK60CG is active during the month of May to celebrate King Carl Gustaf's 60th birthday. QSL via SM6JSM. ST. KITTS AND NEVIS, V4. Ken, V44KJ has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters from around 2100 to 2300z. CANADA, VE. Operators VE1AI, VE1AST, VE1DHD, VE1FHW, VE1PEI, VE1QD, VE1RGB and VY2RU are QRV from Janvrin Island, IOTA NA-010, until May 15. QSL via operators' instructions. Meanwhile, Linda, VE9GLF and Len, VE9MY will be QRV from Newfoundland Island, IOTA NA-027, and Newfoundland's Coastal Islands, IOTA NA-198, beginning May 16 for a 2-week period. QSL to home calls. MICRONESIA, V6. V63SC is generally QRV on 15 meters after 0500z. QSL via JM1LBO. NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. Jim, VK9NS has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters around 0430z. QSL direct. MACAO, XX9. Savio is QRV as XX9BB and has been active on 20 and 15 meters using RTTY. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ-M International DX Contest, Thursday NCCC Sprint CW Ladder, VK/Trans-Tasman 80-Meter Phone Contest, Feld-Hell Spring Sprint 2006, Mid-Atlantic QSO Party, Alessandro Volta World Wide RTTY Contest, FISTS Spring CW Sprint, EACW International Contest and the 50 MHz Spring Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. The Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest is scheduled for May 15. Please see May QST, pages 99 and 100, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD017 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD017 ARLD017 DX news ZCZC AE17 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 17 ARLD017 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT April 27, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD017 ARLD017 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by MM0BQI, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. CYPRUS, 5B. George, 5B4AGC has been active on 17 and 15 meters around 1440z most days. QSL via G3LNS. NEPAL, 9N. Toshi, JA8BMK and Kazu, JA8MWU are in Kathmandu until May 2. They plan to be active as 9N1BMK and 9N7WU, respectively, on 40 to 10 meters using SSB. Given the current political situation in Nepal, their operating times may be limited. QSL to home calls. CHINA, BY. Several Jiangsu DX Club members will be QRV as BY4RSA/4 from Tianheng Island, IOTA AS-150, from May 1 to 5. They will be active on 160 to 10 meters, including the V/UHF bands, using CW, SSB and satellite. QSL via BA4TB. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Michael, EA8/DL3FCG, Lars, EA8/DL6FCB, Reiner, EA8/DL4ZF and Fred, EA8/DL8MG are QRV from Tenerife, IOTA AF-004, with two stations until May 5. QSL to home calls. JERSEY, GJ. Chris, M0DOL is QRV as MJ0DOL until May 4. QSL to home call. SCOTLAND, GM. Jim, MM0BQI is QRV from Lunga Island, IOTA EU-108, until April 30. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via bureau. SOUTH KOREA, HL. Look for a large group of South Korean amateurs, and possibly others, to be QRV as homecalls/5 from Koje island, IOTA AS-081, from May 4 to 7. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL to home calls. OGASAWARA, JD1. Hide, JM1LJS plans to be QRV as either JD1BLK or JM1LJS/JD1 from April 30 to May 6. QSL to home call. US VIRGIN ISLANDS, KP2. Randy, ND0C will be QRV in his spare time as NP2/ND0C from St. Thomas, IOTA NA-106, from May 3 to 7. Activity will be on 20 and 15 meters using SSB. QSL direct to home call. GUAM, KH2. Dave, N4ELM is QRV as KH2/N4ELM in his spare time until May 12. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and PSK. QSL direct to home call. LITHUANIA, LY. Special event station LY15A is active during the month of May to celebrate the independence of Lithuania. QSL via LY2ZZ. BULGARIA, LZ. Several members of the Bulgarian Federation of Radio Amateurs will be QRV with special event station LZ06KM from May 1 to 31 to commemorate both the brothers St. Cyril and St. Methodius, founders of the Cyrillic alphabet, and Bulgarian's Culture and Literature Day. QSL via LZ1PJ. SUDAN, ST. ST0RM has been QRV on 17 meters around 1500 and 1900z and 20 meters around z. QSL via T93Y. DODECANESE, SV5. Mort, G2JL is QRV as SV5/G2JL from Lipsi, IOTA EU-001, until May 23 using only CW. TURKEY, TA. Berkin, TA3J is QRV using special callsign YM125ATA until November 10 to mark the 125th birthday of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters. QSL via TA3YJ. RUSSIA, UA. Special event station RK50SAB will be QRV during the month of May to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the radio club at the Ryazan Radioengineering Academy. QSL via RK3SWB. UKRAINE, UR. Special event station EM20U is QRV to commemorate the Chernobyl nuclear disaster 20 years ago. Activity is on 40, 30 and 20 meters at various times. QSL via UT3UZ. SYRIA, YK. Saad, N5FF plans to be QRV as YK1BA from May 1 to 18 during his stay in Damascus. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using mainly RTTY, but also with some CW and SSB. QSL to home call. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Thursday NCCC CW Sprint Ladder, North American High Speed Meteor Scatter Spring Rally, SBMS 2 GHz and Up World Wide Club Contest, Helvetia Contest, Alabama QSO Party, AGCW QRP/QRP CW Party and the ARS Spartan CW Sprint are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see April QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD016 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD016 ARLD016 DX news ZCZC AE16 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 16 ARLD016 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT April 20, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD016 ARLD016 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by IZ1DSH, N1ND, NC1L, OK1UU, VK2YJS, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SENEGAL, 6W. Dani, EA4ATI will be QRV as 6W/EA4ATI from Goore Island, IOTA AF-045, on April 22 and 23. QSL direct to home call. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, A6. Abdullah, A61Q has been active on 17 meters around 1730z and 15 meters around 1430z. QSL via EA7FTR. PAKISTAN, AP. Hassan, AP2HAH has been active using PSK31 most days on 20 meters around 1300 and 1500z. GERMANY, DA. Operators DJ9MD, DK8MIL, DK7JAN, DK9BTX and DO9BS are QRV from Neuwerk Island, IOTA EU-127, until April 24. Activity is on 160 to 2 meters. QSL to home calls. IRELAND, EI. Members of the Limerick ARC are QRV as EI60LRC until the end of the year to mark 60 years of the club. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters. QSL via EI8EM. FRANCE, F. Jean-Yves, F8LDX will be QRV as TM1IMD on April 22 to celebrate International Marconi Day. QSL to home call. ENGLAND, G. In celebration of its 60th anniversary, the International Shortwave League will be QRV as GB6SWL on April 22 and 23 from Walton on the Naze in Essex. ISWL club stations GX4BJC/p and MX1SWL/p are active until the end of April. LIECHTENSTEIN, HB0. Gherardo, IZ1DSH and Giovanni, IK1WEG will be QRV as HB0/homecalls from Gaflei from April 22 to 25. Activity will be on 80 to 20 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home calls. HONDURAS, HR. A group of amateurs from Portugal and Honduras are QRV as HR4T/HQ4T from Tiger Island, IOTA NA-060, on the Pacific coast, until April 25. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL direct via HR2J. GUINEA-BISSAU, J5. Hisato, JA1DOT and Hiroyuki, JP1TRJ will be QRV as J5DOT and J5TRJ, respectively, from April 25 to May 4. Activity will be on all bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL both calls via JA1DOT. JAPAN, JA. JR3TVH/JS6 will be QRV from Tarama Island, IOTA AS-079, in the Miyako Island group from April 22 to May 2. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters, using CW, SSB, AM, FM and various digitals modes. QSL via bureau. MONGOLIA, JT. Operators I0SNY, I2FUG, IK2AQZ and IK2JYT are QRV as JT1Y from Ulaanbaatar and JT0Y from Oigij until May 8. Activity is mainly on 17, 12 and 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via I0SNY. LUXEMBOURG, LX. Operators PA1TO, PA2CW, PA2W and PE1OOM will be QRV from Wiltz as LX/homecalls from April 23 to 29. Activity will be on all HF bands with special attention paid to 160-meters and 30, 17 and 12 meters. QSL to home calls. CZECH REPUBLIC, OK. Special event station OL7CAV will be QRV April 23 to commemorate the 74th anniversary of the CAV founding assembly. Activity will be on all bands using CW and SSB, with RTTY and PSK time-permitting. QSL via OK1UU. FRANZ JOSEF ISLAND, R1FJ. Alex is QRV as UA1PBN/1 until May 1 and has been active on 20 meters around 0945z. He may also be using some digital modes as well. QSL via RK1PWA. AUSTRALIA, VK. In celebration of International Marconi Day, members of the Hornsby and District ARC will be QRV as VK2IMD on April 22. Activity will be on all HF bands. FALKLAND ISLANDS, VP8. Richard is QRV as VP8DIZ and has been active on 15 meters between 1500 and 1630z. QSL via G7KMZ. ANDAMAN AND NICOBAR ISLANDS, VU4. A large number of amateurs from a variety of countries are active as VU4AN/homecalls until around April 25. QSL via operators' instructions. INDONESIA, YB. The Toba DX Group is QRV as YE6N from Nias Island, IOTA OC-161, until April 27. They are active with two stations on 160 to 10 meters, using CW and SSB. QSL via YB9BU. AVES ISLANDS, YV0. A large group of operators are QRV as YX0A for about two weeks. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via KU9C. MACEDONIA, Z3. Zoran, Z36A has been QRV on 30 meters around 1000 and 1500z. QSL via DJ0LZ. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC CREDIT. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Iraq, YI9AQ, current operation effective September 21, 2004; Comoros, D6/WB4MBU, operation from May 24, 2001 to October 27, 2001; Comoros, D68JC, operation from October 23, 2001 to November 8, 2001; and Timor-Leste, 4W2AQ, operation from June 18, 2003 to December 17, 2003. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The SP DX RTTY Contest, DX Colombia International Contest and the Florida and Nebraska QSO Parties are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see April QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX
[DX-NEWS] ARLP015 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP015 ARLP015 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP15 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 15 ARLP015 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA April 13, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP015 ARLP015 Propagation de K7RA League headquarters is closed on April 14 for the Good Friday holiday, so the propagation bulletin arrives a day early. Average daily sunspot numbers for the week were up over 12 points to 70.7. What really happened was that for the 7 days of March 30 through April 5, the daily sunspot number at the start of the period was 35, and it rose to 88 by the seventh day. The next day, April 6, was the first day of the reporting period for this bulletin, and on that day the sunspot number rose to 105. The next day it had dropped way down to 65, then 57, then 46 last Sunday, and by Wednesday, April 12 it had risen again to 79. Geomagnetic disturbances accompanied the rising solar activity. A solar wind stream from a coronal hole met the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), which was pointing south, and this leaves Earth vulnerable. On April 9 the mid-latitude A index was 27 and the K index rose to 4 and 5. The planetary A index was 39, with the planetary K index reaching 5 and 6. At 2:30 AM Seattle time on that day my cell phone received an automated call from Spaceweather Phone (see http://spaceweatherphone.com/), alerting me that The Planetary K-index has reached a level of 6. This means that a moderate geomagnetic storm is in progress. High-latitude sky watchers should be alert for auroras. With this service, users can set it on a web interface for certain hours that it won't call (for those who are interested in a sound sleep). But I just have it set for 24-hour alerts to my wireless phone, and when the cell phone is off at night the alert goes to voicemail. A similar condition to April 9 occurred four days earlier on April 5. But at that time sunspot 865 was still visible. This is the biggest sunspot seen the year, and it has since rotated out of view. Byron Stoeser, W7SWC on April 7 wrote, I am out on 17-meter bicycle mobile almost every day from my Winter QTH in Southern California. It has been so unexpected to go out with the high sun spot numbers the past two days and call CQ for 1/2 an hour with no response and hear very little activity on the band, while a couple of weeks ago I had calls from Japan, and worked the Caribbean and Europe with 0 sun spots. Seems to me there is a lot more to this bottom of the sun spot cycle than just sun spot count. Yes, Byron is correct. Around that time he was experiencing rough conditions from the solar wind. Sunspot numbers were up, but so was geomagnetic activity on April 5. There is a nice peppering of sunspots on the side of the Sun facing us, but they are small. We could see another period of geomagnetic disturbance this Saturday. Planetary A index predicted for the next few days, Thursday, April 13 through Sunday, April 16, is 10, 25, 40 and 25. The Australian Space Weather Agency (see http://www.ips.gov.au/) sent an alert on Tuesday advising of a high speed solar wind from a coronal hole and increased geomagnetic activity on April 15-16. Sunspot numbers may rise again later in the month, perhaps over 100 again. This is most likely around April 24 through May 4. You may sign up for their geophysical warning email alerts at, http://www.ips.gov.au/mailman/listinfo/ips-geo-warning. You can check an archive of their previous warnings at, http://www.ips.gov.au/pipermail/ips-geo-warning/. Michael Mardit, WA2VQW wrote I was in Dominica for the week sandwiched around the SSB-WPX and I operated mostly 30 and 17 meters CW (as J79VQ), while the rest of my team worked the contest. There is absolutely no question that operating the Grayline is the place to be if you want to know if anybody is out there. Sunspots or not, lots of DX shows up during that 'magical' 20 minutes. At other times, just calling CQ for a while will shake the bushes! Michael continues, It seems that many Hams wait for someone else to initiate the call, and as such, nobody is transmitting, hence, a seemingly dead band. The blame is then put on the low sunspot activity for an empty band. Call CQ and be patient, you will be rewarded! VKs were calling me long path in the evening on 30 meters, and the JAs and UA0s were knocking on my door on 17 meters at about the same time. I was running 100 Watts to a vertical wire with 4 radials on the ground. YES being DX on an island certainly helps, but you would never know that I was there if I didn't call CQ. Ron Zond, K3MIY was one of several who wrote to praise the N0HR Propfire plug-in for the Firefox browser, which monitors solar flux and the A and K index when you are on the internet. WA1LOU gave details in his recent Surfin' column on the ARRL web site at, http://www.arrl.org/news/features/2006/03/31/1/. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED
[DX-NEWS] ARLP014 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP014 ARLP014 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP14 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 14 ARLP014 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA April 7, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP014 ARLP014 Propagation de K7RA Some renewed activity this week with the appearance of a crowd of sunspots, 865, 866, 867, 868 and 869. On March 25-27 there were 0 sunspots, then these new spots appeared on March 28, 29, April 2, 5 and 6. The big one, sunspot 865, is about to rotate out of view. The daily sunspot number reached a peak of 105 on April 6. To find a daily sunspot number this high, one must look back to last summer, when the sunspot number on August 2 was 112, over seven months ago. But this is just another one of those little up-ticks as this solar cycle gradually declines, probably reaching a minimum in less than a year. You can see the projection for the next year and a half in the current April 4 issue of the NOAA Preliminary Report and Forecast of Geophysical Data, in PDF format. Look on page 9 of this issue at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/weekly/pdf/prf1596.pdf. You'll see that the predicted smoothed sunspot number for April 2006 is 12, and that this chart predicts a decline that won't rise again to the current level until some time around August or September 2007. But after that, the next solar cycle (based on past cycle behavior) should rise faster than the current one declined. With the first quarter of the calendar year ended, we should examine the decline of quarterly averages for daily sunspot numbers. Three months gives us slightly less than three and a third rotations of the sun, and is enough time to smooth out daily or weekly variations so we can see a more general trend. From the first quarter of 2003 through the first quarter of 2006, the average daily sunspot number was 120.3, 107.3, 110.2, 99.2, 72.9, 71.3, 69.3, 61, 46.1, 55.7, 58, 36 and 18.1. The average daily solar flux for the same period was 134.3, 124.2, 120.8, 137.4, 111.1, 99.5, 111, 104.8, 96.4, 93.1, 93.6, 84.5 and 78.5. I think you'll agree the general trend is down. An average daily sunspot number of 18.1 for the first quarter of the year can be easily compared to the minimum between cycles 22 and 23. From the fourth quarter of 1995 to the second quarter of 1997, the average daily sunspot numbers for each quarter were 21.3, 13.1, 13, 12.4, 14.2, 11.3 and 25.4. You can see that our recent quarterly average of 18.1 fits right in toward the bottom of the last cycle. For the near term, expect sunspot numbers and solar flux to decline gradually. Over the next week, U.S. Air Force Space Weather Operations predict a planetary A index for April 7-13 of 10, 8, 20, 15, 12, 7 and 5. Over those same days they show a decline of solar flux values from 100 to 80. Geophysical Institute Prague shows quiet to unsettled conditions for April 7, April 8 with quiet conditions, unsettled conditions on April 9, active conditions April 10, unsettled to active on April 11, April 12 unsettled, and quiet to unsettled on April 13. So Prague thinks the peak in geomagnetic instability should occur around April 10, but US Air Force predicts April 9. Michael Shelly, WB2KKI of Pocono Summit, Pennsylvania wrote in to ask about MUF charts. These used to appear in QST, and they showed the predicted change in Maximum Usable Frequency over a variety of paths (for instance, West Coast USA to Japan) for a typical 24 hour period, based on the month, and the predicted smoothed sunspot number for the period. These moved to the web some time ago, and you can find links to them on the ARRL web site at http://www.arrl.org/qst/propcharts/. Note that this page also has a link to QST articles by Jerry Hall, K1TD, on how to use this tool. We get mail asking us for more useful information about predicted propagation. For instance, when is a good time to work Europe, and on what band? This is a good general question, but the readers of this bulletin are all over the world, so it is difficult to make these generalizations. It is even difficult to make good general statements if we just limit our area of interest to North America, because it covers such a large area. What is true for the southern part of the East Coast may not be true for the north, or Midwest, or either end of the West Coast. But given data from public sources, you can get some good general custom projections of propagation from your location to most other locations on just about any HF band. First, get some propagation prediction software. A great one is ACE-HF Pro, which you can find at http://www.acehf.com. If you want to try a piece of free software, the one we've mentioned numerous times in the past is W6ELprop, which you can download at http://www.qsl.net/w6elprop/. This program works with either solar flux or sunspot numbers, but your best bet is probably to use the average sunspot number for the past few days, rather than the latest number. You can find them listed at, http
[DX-NEWS] ARLD014 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD014 ARLD014 DX news ZCZC AE14 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 14 ARLD014 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT April 6, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD014 ARLD014 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. SWAZILAND, 3DA. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as 3DA0VB. He is active mainly on 80 to 15 meters using mostly CW. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. MAURITANIA, 5T. Fernando, EA1BT is QRV as 5T6BT until April 16. Activity is on all bands. QSL via EA4URE. MALDIVES, 8Q. Simon, M0BOX is QRV as 8Q7BO from the Kuredu Island Resort, IOTA AS-018, until April 20. He is active during his spare time on 40 to 10 meters using mostly digital modes, and possibly SSB and SSTV. QSL to home call. CHILE, CE. Marco, CE6TBN and Zoli, HA1AG plan to be QRV as XR4PI from Pupuya Island, a new IOTA, until April 9. Their operating times may vary. QSL via HA1AG. PHILIPPINES, DU. Rag, LA6FJA is QRV as DU1/KI4KJP from Luzon Island, IOTA OC-042, until May 1. Activity is on 80, 40, 30, 20 and 17 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via WY4N. LIBERIA, EL. Pat, EI5IF is QRV as EL2PM for about six weeks while here with the Irish Army Peacekeepers. Of late he has been active on 20 meters using SSB around 0900z. QSL to home call. ARMENIA, EK. Antoni, EK8WA has been active using RTTY on 20 meters around 1300z. QSL via SP9ERV. ENGLAND, G. Geoff, G0PFH is QRV as GX2UG from Holy Island, IOTA EU-120, until April 8. Activity is on 40 and 20 meters SSB. QSL via G2UG. WALES, GW. Special event call GB0MPA is active until early May in commemoration of the RMS Carpathia, the ship that rescued 705 survivors from the RMS Titanic in April 1912. MPA was the callsign of the RMS Carpathia. QSL via GW0ANA. GUINEA BISSAU, J5. IK2ILH and IV3DHD will be QRV as J5UCW and J5UAF, respectively, from Caboxangue from April 9 to 12 in their spare time. Activity will be on 40 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home calls. US VIRGIN ISLANDS, KP2. Joe, W8GEX is QRV as W8GEX/KP2 until April 23 on all bands. He may also be QRV on the 60-meter channel 5 frequency of 5403.5 kHz. QSL to home call. PERU, OA. Daniel, DL5YWM is QRV from Lima as OA4/DL5YWM until April 30. He is active during his free time and will try 160 and 80 meters. QSL to home call. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Jerry, P29ZAD has been active using RTTY on 20 meters from around 0940 to 1330z. WESTERN SAHARA, S0. A large group of operators will be QRV as S01R from Tifariti from April 11 to 16. They will be active with four stations on 160 to 10 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL via EA5RM. TURKEY, TA. Eric, SM1TDE is QRV as TA4/SM1TDE from Kemer until April 16. He also plans to be active as TA0/SA1A from IOTA groups AS-099 and AS-115. GUATEMALA, TG. Marcos, EA1APV is QRV as HR6/EA1APV from Roatan Island, IOTA NA-057, until April 14. QSL to home call. HONG KONG, VR2. Walter, VR2IG and Charlie, VR2XMT can usually be found active on 20 meters SSB after 1200z. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Somalia, 6O0N, operation from January 18 through February 18, 2006; and Iraq, YI3SRA, operation commencing October 3, 2003. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Japan International DX CW Contest, ARCI Spring CW QSO Party, EU CW Spring Sprint, Georgia QSO Party, Yuri Gagarin International DX CW Contest, Montana QSO Party, UBA Spring SSB Contest, SARL Hamnet 40-Meter Simulated Emergency SSB Contest and the NAQCC 80-Meter Straight Key/Bug CW Sprint will certainly keep contester busy this weekend. The YLRL DX-YL to NA-YL SSB Contest and the 222 MHz Spring Sprint are scheduled for April 11 to 13, and April 12, respectively. Please see April QST, pages 100 and 101, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP013 ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP13 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 13 ARLP013 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA March 31, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP013 ARLP013 Propagation de K7RA Sunspots continue to be scarce, although numbers have risen the past couple of days. Several days this week had 0 spots (March 25-27), but then they rose over the next few days to 11, 31 and 35. Geomagnetic conditions have been nice and stable, and should continue until April 6. Even last weekend when there were no sunspots, 10 meters was active during the WPX contest. Bill Hohnstein, K0HA of Seward, Nebraska said that A35RK in Tonga worked EA8TX in the Canary Islands, a path of nearly 11,000 miles. This was on March 26 around 2153z. Around that time Bill also worked both of these stations. He worked many strong Central and South American stations on 10 meters, as well as ZD8Z on Ascension Island and AH6RF in Hawaii. Bill also copied the ZL2MHF beacon, which runs 10 watts to a vertical antenna, and his longest path was his QSO with ZL1ANJ, 7,709 miles, at 1957z on March 26. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for March 23 through 29 were 36, 44, 0, 0, 0, 11 and 31 with a mean of 17.4. 10.7 cm flux was 76.6, 75.8, 75.6, 73.6, 74.3, 79.3, and 81.7, with a mean of 76.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 5, 4, 7, 7, 9, 6 and 6 with a mean of 6.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 2, 4, 5, 8, 4 and 4, with a mean of 4.1. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP011 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP011 ARLP011 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP11 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 11 ARLP011 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA March 17, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP011 ARLP011 Propagation de K7RA The recent big news regarding projections for a huge solar cycle number 24 brings in more mail daily. All of us want to see lots of exciting space weather over the next decade, but not everyone is convinced. While I wouldn't count him among dissenters, Jon Jones, N0JK sent in this article from a year ago (several readers mentioned this) which predicts a very small cycle 24, and also claims to use a successful prediction method. Read it and weep (or not) at http://www.spacew.com/news/05Mar2005/index.php. Several people wrote in this week about enjoying the quiet conditions. Without many sunspots, the MUF is low, but there is less noise and absorption. Mike Schatzberg, W2AJI writes, The low solar activity seems to have produced some exceptional conditions on 20 meters within the last week. The band has been most reliable all day long here in western NC. He continues, Propagation is marked by very low atmospheric noise. Weaker stations are easily pulled out, provided QRM permitting. I am working great numbers of QRP stations, worldwide. Although we all are hoping for the beginning of the new cycle and greatly improved propagation, I do well remember the QRM that accompanies great propagation. Things don't really seem nearly so poor as in the bottom of other cycles which I have experienced. Maybe it's much better equipment and antenna systems than in years gone by. I suspect Mike's better antenna system may help. Check out the 5 element 20 meter Yagi at, http://home.earthlink.net/~cherokeehillfarm/id2.html. Mike also writes, Early morning contacts include strong European propagation, which continues well into the later afternoon. Signal reports of well over S9 are common, from both sides. Propagation into India, and Southeast Asia is quite good in the early morning times also. Regular contact is found with Jakarta, Indonesia also. He goes on to say, Later afternoon, the long path opens to the South Pacific, with unbelievable VK propagation. Yesterday's contacts, including VK3OK, VK2ZF and many others, produced reports of from 20 to 25 DB over S9 in both directions. The band goes longer, short path to the Pacific about 2 to 3 hours after dark. KH7F has his usual S9 signal here at my location. South America remains strong for most of the evening. Orrin Brand, K9KEJ is using a ground-mounted vertical antenna on 20 meters with no radials. He writes, Late mornings in the Chicago area have been rather unusual of late. I'm able to hear and work Africa, Eastern Europe and VK land, all in a matter of minutes on 20 meters. European signals run anywhere from S7 to 10/9, while East and West African stations run a solid S9. The VKs and ZLs go anywhere from S5 to S8--all on the vertical. Average daily sunspot numbers and solar flux values were down just slightly this week when compared to last, and the geomagnetic indexes were up just a bit. We only saw one day of 0 sunspot count, and there weren't any really stormy days with high geomagnetic K and A indices. The prediction for the next few days is a solar flux value of 75, and in fact that continues in Thursday's prediction from the U.S. Air Force for the next 45 days. They also predict Sunday, March 19 to be a day of geomagnetic activity, with a planetary A index projected to reach 20. The five day projection for planetary A index from March 17-21 is 8, 8, 20, 15 and 12. This slightly higher activity is based on what was occurring in the area that will be facing us this weekend, looking back to February 19-22, when the planetary A index was 6, 20, 17 and 12. This projection for geomagnetic activity seems shared this week by Geophysical Institute Prague, which projects quiet conditions for March 17, 22 and 23, quiet to unsettled for March 18, unsettled for March 20 and 21, and unsettled to active on March 19. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for March 9 through 15 were 12, 12, 0, 18, 14, 34 and 22 with a mean of 16. 10.7 cm flux was 72.9, 72.2, 74, 73.2, 72.6, 73.6, and 74.2, with a mean of 73.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 12, 12, 6, 3, 4 and 7 with a mean of 6.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 3, 9, 9, 3, 2, 2 and 6, with a mean of 4.9. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please
[DX-NEWS] ARLD011 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD011 ARLD011 DX news ZCZC AE11 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 11 ARLD011 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT March 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD011 ARLD011 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, UA3FDX, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. MAURITIUS, 3B8. Jose, ON4LAC is QRV as 3B8/ON4LAC until May 13. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL to home call. AZERBAIJAN, 4J. Mir, UA3FDX and Pavel, RA3AUM are QRV as 4J0DX and 4J0AUM, respectively, until March 27. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters, and possibly 160 meters, using CW and SSB. They will also be QRV in both the Russian DX contest and the upcoming CQ WPX contest as 4J0DX. QSL both calls via UA3FDX. SINGAPORE, 9V. Selva, 9V1UV will be QRV in the BARTG RTTY contest using the Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitting Society's special contest callsign S65X. QSL via PA0KHS. BAHAMAS, C6. Foster, W1CGT is QRV as W1CGT/C6A from South Andros, Kemps Bay until March 24. Activity is on 40 to 6 meters. He will also be active with APRS as W1CGT-8 via the ISS and on HF. QSL to home call. MOZAMBIQUE, C9. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as C91VB. He has been active on 30 and 17 meters using CW at various times. His length of stay is unknown. QSL to home call. GERMANY, DA. Thirty operators are QRV as DA0HEL from Helgoland Island, IOTA EU-127, until March 21. They will also activate the Helgoland Lighthouse, ARLHS FED-101. Activity is on the IOTA frequencies, using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL via bureau. BALEARIC ISLAND, EA6. Look for four Croatian amateurs to be QRV as EA6/9A8MM from Ibiza in the Russian DX Contest. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Look for special call ED8CLL to be QRV on March 19 from the La Luz Castle on Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, IOTA AF-004. Activity will be on 20 to 10 meters, including 17 meters, using CW and SSB and possibly RTTY and PSK as well. They may also be active on 15 meters as EF8CLL. QSL via EC8AUA. TAJIKISTAN, EY. Ark, UA4CC, Roman, UR0MC, Nodir, EY8MM, Alex, EY8CQ and Artem, EY8BA will be QRV as EY0R from Dushanbe in the Russian DX contest as a Multi Op/All Bands/Single Transmitter Mixed entry. Before and after the contest look for EY8/UA4CC and EY8/UR0MC to be active on all bands, especially on the newer and lower bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via their home callsigns. HAITI, HH. Jan, K4QD and Bill, W4WX will be QRV as HH4/homecalls from March 20 to 31. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using all modes. QSL direct to home calls. FINLAND, OH. OH1/DL2SWW and OH1/DL2VFR will be QRV from Korppoo Island, IOTA EU-096, until March 29. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using mostly CW with some SSB and RTTY. QSL via the bureau. ALAND ISLAND, OH0. Look for OH1JT, OH1RX, OH5DX and OH9MM to be QRV as OH0Z in the Russian DX contest as either a Multi/Single or Multi/2 entry. QSL via W0MM. Meanwhile, Toni, OH2UA and Marko, OH4JFN will be QRV as OH0B in the Russian DX contest as a Multi/Single entry. QSL via OH2BH. ST. MAARTEN, PJ5. Joeke, PA0VDV will be QRV as PJ6/PA0VDV from Saba Island, IOTA NA-145, from March 19 to April 5. He will be using only CW. QSL to home call. GREECE, SV. Special event callsign SY05AIA is active until June 15 to celebrate the 5th anniversary of the International Airport in Athens. QSL via SV2FWV. PALAU, T8. Hide, JM1LJS is QRV as T80W until March 20. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters, including the newer bands, using CW, SSB, AM and FM. QSL to home call. GUATEMALA, TG. Marcos, EA1APV plans to be QRV as TG7M from Guatemala City from March 22 to 26. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQ WPX contest. QSL direct to home call. CANADA, VE. Members of the Club Radio Amateur de Quebec will be QRV as VE2CRAQ from March 18 to 26 in celebration of the 80th anniversary of its founding. ASCENSION ISLAND, ZD8. Jim, N6TJ will be QRV as ZD8Z from March 19 to 30. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQ WPX contest. QSL via VE3HO. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The SARL VHF/UHF Contest, 10-10 International Mobile Contest, BARTG Spring RTTY Contest, Russian DX Contest, AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, CLARA and Family HF Contest, Virginia QSO Party, UBA 6-Meter Spring Contest, 9K 15-Meter Contest and the Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see March QST, pages 98 and 99, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP010 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP010 ARLP010 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP10 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 10 ARLP010 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA March 10, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP010 ARLP010 Propagation de K7RA A big news story this week (big to us, anyway) generated more email than I've ever received. If you were one of the kind folks who sent in an alert about a new prediction for sunspot cycle 24, I'm sorry that I couldn't get back to everyone. A new computer model of solar dynamics produced by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research predicts the next solar cycle to begin a bit later than earlier believed, but to rise much higher, perhaps 30-50% higher than the current solar cycle just ending. Their model claims to predict cycles 16-23 using earlier data with 97% accuracy. I would love to see some dissenting scientific opinion, but of course in my heart I long for another cycle 19 of the 1950s, one that I missed. 50% higher would just about get us there! You can read about the new prediction model at these sites: http://www.newscientistspace.com/article.ns?id=dn8814 http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19189 http://www.universetoday.com/am/publish/30_50_solar_cycle.html http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/national/261963_solar07.html http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=19190 http://www.cnn.com/2006/TECH/space/03/07/solar.storm.ap/index.html http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=105844. An article with a photo of Dr. Dikpati and members of her team is here: http://www.ucar.edu/news/releases/2006/sunspot.shtml. Also check out this article from NASA, which claims that the solar minimum is already here, or at least the beginning of it: http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/06mar_solarminimum.htm. Regarding current propagation, solar activity is still low, with many days of zero sunspots recently, and even more ahead. The vernal equinox is only a couple of weeks away. This is a good time for HF propagation, even with few sunspots, as the southern and northern hemispheres are equally bathed in the sun's radiation. Friday, March 10 could have unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions, with unsettled conditions on Saturday, quiet to unsettled on Sunday, and quiet on Monday, March 13. Bob Poortinga, K9SQL of Bloomington, Indiana wrote in about his experience on 15 meters last week in the ARRL International DX SSB Contest. He ran 100 watts into a wire antenna (he didn't say if it was a dipole, a rhombic, or a Sterba curtain, but let's assume it was a simple antenna) and worked 44 countries. Bob wrote: ''Highlights included 2 JAs (heard 2 others), Tonga, Ascension Island, and 3 KH6s. Also heard, but did not work, VK6NS and a ZL1 station. Had lots of QSOs to South America, mostly Argentina and Brazil. The Pacific opening lasted about two hours, occurring about 2130-2330 UTC Sunday. The 3 KH6s were worked within 15 minutes of each other and did not hear again''. Bob also likes the BeaconSee software for monitoring NCDXF/IARU beacons. Bob says ''I can't say enough about this program''. Check it out for yourself at http://www.coaa.co.uk/beaconsee.htm. Mark Schreiner, NK8Q of Allentown, Pennsylvania wrote in about how much fun he is having at the bottom of the cycle running QRP, and how great the lower part of the HF spectrum is with so little solar activity. He writes, ''About 1-1/2 hours after local sunrise I heard 3D2NB on 40m on 3/3/06 and once I figured out the QSX I worked him within a matter of a couple of calls. I was amazed to hear a station at such great distance so late after local sunrise! I had worked a Fiji Islands station who was barely copyable by me (so I can't imagine how my signal was for him unless his antenna was something special) early last summer at about 5 AM during the peak of grayline, just before my local sunrise, but to work this station so late after sunrise and with at least an S5 to S7 signal strength at my end, I thought was absolutely amazing! And finally, Warren Ziegler, K2ORS holds broadcaster Jean Shepard's old call. Warren experiments with longwave transmissions on 137.8 KHz. Look at the cool stone tower where he operates his station: http://www.w4dex.com/wd2xgj.htm. Thanks again to the multitude of hams who wrote in about the story on the next solar cycle, including AI2Q, KB9X, W9DGI, K5SWW, KA7OVQ, WF0P, K9SQL, K2ORS, N5FPW, W5TB, NG1I, K0YQ, W8XKW, NK8Q, WD4DUG, W6AH, K0HZI, AD5FD, W8UI, KC5PJW, K7VV, N7NVP, K0AMZ, N0AX and many others. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for March
[DX-NEWS] ARLD010 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD010 ARLD010 DX news ZCZC AE10 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 10 ARLD010 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT March 9, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD010 ARLD010 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, VK2YJS, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, DXNL, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. JAMAICA, 6Y. Tomas, LY1DF will be QRV as 6Y5/LY1DF from March 12 to 18. Activity will be on 40 to 15 meters using CW only. QSL via bureau. MALAWI, 7Q. Les, 7Q7LA and Harry, 7Q7HB are QRV using mainly digital modes and SSTV. Their length of stay is unknown. QSL both calls via G0IAS. CROATIA, 9A. Members of the Jan Hus radio club are QRV as 9A35Y until the end of 2006 to celebrate the 35th anniversary of the club. Activity is on 160 to 2 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via 9A5CY. NEPAL, 9N. Stig, LA7JO is QRV as 9N7JO until April. MADEIRA ISLANDS, CT3. Rosel, DL3KWR and Hardy, DL3KWF are QRV as CT3/DL3KWR and CT3/DL3KWF, respectively, until March 23. Activity is mostly CW and on the newer bands. QSL to home calls. PHILIPPINES, DU. A group of Filipino and Japanese hams are QRV with special callsign DZ1JP until March 12 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between the two countries. Activity is on 160 meters, 6 and 2 meters and EME. QSL via JA1HGY. JERSEY, GJ. Pete, K8PT, Craig, K3PLV, Tom, W8JWN and Jim, N1NK are QRV as MJ/home call until March 15. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK with two stations operating 24 hours a day. MJ/W8JWN may try using SSTV near the end of the operation. QSL to home calls. ST. LUCIA, J6. Jack, K9JE will be QRV as J68AR from March 16 to 30. QSL to home call. PAPUA NEW GUINEA, P2. Jerry, P29ZAD, Norm, P29NB, Tommy, P29TL and Peter, P29KPH will be QRV as P29K on Kranket Island, IOTA OC-258, from March 17 to 20. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters. QSL via LZ1JZ. Meanwhile, Bernhard, DL2GAC will be QRV as P29VMS after March 12 to late March or early April from a few IOTA groups, including Bougainville Island, IOTA OC-135 and the Shortland Islands, IOTA OC-162. QSL to home call. ICELAND, TF. In celebration of the 60th anniversary of the Icelandic Radio Amateurs, all TF amateurs are allowed to use the special prefix TF60 throughout 2006. BENIN, TY. Ronald, PA3EWP, Andrea, IK1PMR, Claudia, K2LEO and Tom, GM4FDM will be QRV as TY5WP, TY1MR, TY2LEO, and TY4TW, respectively, from March 15 to 20. Activity will be on all bands. QSL TY1MR and TY2LEO via IK1PMR. QSL TY5WP via PA7FM and TY4TW via GM4FDM. EUROPEAN RUSSIA, UA. Operators RA9XV, RA9XY, UA9XBL and UA9XC will be QRV as RI1PXC from Kolguev Island, IOTA EU-085, from March 14 to 20. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. They plan on also being active in the upcoming Russian DX contest as RI1PI. QSL both calls via UA9XC. ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA, V2. Bob, W4OWY, and Mark, W9OP will be QRV as V25WY and V25OP, respectively, from March 13 to 19. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL direct to home calls. AUSTRALIA, VK. The Hornsby and Districts ARC will be QRV as VK2MA on March 12 to celebrate 100 years of Hornsby Shire in northern Sydney, New South Wales. They will be QRV on 40 meters starting around 2300Z on March 11. They may also be active on IRLP node 6338 and on EchoLink with VK2ZPT-L. QSL via operators' instructions. TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, VP5. Craig, VE3OP and Roxanne, VA3ROX will be QRV as VP5/VE3OP from March 12 to 22. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL direct to VE3OP. OPERATION APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operation is approved for DXCC credit: Iraq, YI/OM2DX, operation commencing June 9, 2003. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The RSGB Commonwealth CW Contest, Idaho QSO Party, AGCW QRP CW Contest, Oklahoma QSO Party, EA PSK31 Contest, North American RTTY Sprint, UBA Spring CW Contest, NSARA Contest and the Wisconsin QSO Party are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see March QST, page 98 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD009 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD009 ARLD009 DX news ZCZC AE09 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 9 ARLD009 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT March 2, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD009 ARLD009 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. VIET NAM, 3W. Torsten, SM3NFB is QRV as XV9TH from Hanoi and is active on 40 to 6 meters, including 17 and 12 meters. QSL via SK7AX. MALDIVES, 8Q. Herbert, DJ2BC is QRV as 8Q7SH from Kuredu Island, IOTA AS-013, until March 6. Activity is on all bands. QSL to home call. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, A6. A61AX has been active on 20 meters around 0400z and from 0800 to 0900z. QSL via SP9MRO. CANARY ISLANDS, EA8. Mari, EA8GL and Dunia, EA8BHD will be QRV as ED8IWD from Isla de Gran Canaria, IOTA AF-004, from March 5 to 8 to commemorate International Women's Day. QSL via EA8BHD. FRENCH GUIANA, FY. Marc, F1HAR, Olivier, F5MZN, Laurent, F6FVY and Herve, F5HRY will be QRV as FY5KE in the ARRL SSB DX Contest. QSL via bureau. GUINEA-BISSAU, J5. Peter, HA3AUI is QRV as J5UAP and is here for a few weeks. Lately he has been active on 17 and 15 meters using SSB. QSL to home call. U.S. VIRGIN ISLANDS, KP2. K9VV, NP2B, W4OV, and WD4R will be QRV as NP2B in the ARRL SSB DX contest. QSL via NP2B. LITHUANIA, LY. Special event station LY15A is QRV until March 31 on all bands to celebrate the 15th anniversary of independence. QSL via LY2ZZ. ARUBA, P4. John, KK9A will be QRV as P40A in the ARRL SSB DX contest. QSL via WD9DZV. BONAIRE AND CURACAO, PJ2. Look for KB0VVT, KG0UT, KG0US, PJ2DX/W0CG, WE9V, W9JUV, WB9Z and NW0L to be QRV as PJ2T in the ARRL SSB DX contest as a Multi Op entry. SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, S9. Charles, S9SS has been QRV on 160 meters around 2200z and 0130z. QSL via N4JR. PALAU, T8. Dick is QRV as T80X and has been active on 17 meters between 2100 and 2300z. QSL via DJ2EH. GUATEMALA, TG. TG9ANF and TG8AOV will be QRV as TG9ANF in the ARRL SSB DX contest. QSL via TG9ANF. COSTA RICA, TI. K4UN, W4KTR, W4XO, W4BW and TI2KAC will be QRV as TI8M in the ARRL SSB DX contest as a Multi-2/High Power entry. ANTARCTICA. Dmitry, UR8UC is QRV as EM1UC until February 2007 from the Ak Vernadsky station. He is using CW, SSB and some digital modes. BELIZE, V3. Martti, OH2BH and Pertti, OH2PM will be QRV as V31BH and V31PP, respectively, during the ARRL SSB DX contest. QSL to home calls. MEXICO, XE. The Hermosillo Contest Group will be QRV as XE7T in the ARRL SSB DX contest as a Multi/Single entry. They will pay special attention to 160 meters. QSL via N7BXX. INDONESIA, YB. Toba DX Group members YC6LAY, YB6LYS, YC6JKV, YB6PLG and YB1BOD will be QRV as homecalls/p from Simeulue Island, a new IOTA, from March 8 to 15. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters, and possibly 6 meters. QSL via YB1BOD/6. SOUTH COOK ISLANDS, ZK1. Jim, W1EMT will be QRV as ZK1EMT along with Victor, ZK1CG from Rarotonga, IOTA OC-013, from March 4 to 20. They will be active with QRP on 40, 20, 17, 15 and 10 meters. QSL direct to home calls. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Angola, D2DX, current operation effective December 15, 2004; Afghanistan, T6X, current operation effective March 8, 2005; Tunisia, TS3A, from March 24, 2005 through March 28, 2005; Chad, TT8PK, from December 27, 2005 through February 11, 2006; and Laos, XW1A/XW1LLR5/XW1X/XW1M, current operation effective October 29, 2005. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL International SSB DX Contest, Wake-Up! CW QRP Sprint, Open Ukraine RTTY Championship, DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest, ARS Spartan CW Sprint and the AGCW YL-CW Party will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see March QST, page 98 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP008 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP008 ARLP008 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP08 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 8 ARLP008 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA February 24, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP008 ARLP008 Propagation de K7RA More zeroes! A string of zero-sunspot days re-appeared this week, a pattern we'll likely see repeated over the next year, but for longer periods. Average daily sunspot numbers compared to last week dropped nearly two points to 7.1. On February 20 and 21 a gust of solar wind hit Earth, causing a moderate rise in geomagnetic indices and visible aurora way up north. A small coronal hole on our sun's equator was the source. Over the next week don't expect a rise in sunspot numbers. You can take a look at recent numbers, updated daily at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DSD.txt. Check http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt for geomagnetic indicators. A solar wind from a coronal hole is expected to cause unsettled conditions for Friday and Saturday, February 24-25. Geophysical Institute Prague expects unsettled conditions for February 24, quiet to unsettled on February 25, quiet February 26-27, and quiet to unsettled on February 28-March 2. We receive a steady stream of mail inquiring about the magnitude of the next solar cycle, and the end of this one. Steve Stutman, KL7JT/1 in the Boston area said he'd heard somewhere that the rise of the next solar cycle should be modest. I poked around, and found this interesting link for solar cycle 24: http://www.lund.irf.se/rwc/cycle24/. With twenty-three recorded sunspot cycles, there isn't a huge amount of data to analyze. And so you can see on this site, various approaches are put forth, which the users believe have worked in the past. I think most of us would prefer Hathaway's prediction, which is the first one listed under Predictions of Cycle 24. We would prefer it, because it is the most optimistic. Don't miss this graphical presentation of data from the current cycle 23: http://www.sec.noaa.gov/SolarCycle/. Also, see a nice visualization of all recorded solar cycles at http://wm7d.net/hamradio/solar/historical.shtml. You can see from these graphs why cycle 19 in the late 1950s is recalled with such fondness. I became interested in ham radio as a young boy in 1963, got my license in 1965, and not only was solar activity low during the mid-1960s, but cycle 20 peaking in the late sixties was a real stinker in comparison to the recent one. Of course all of the older hams (just about everyone, since I was 12 at the time) had experienced cycle 19, and I hadn't. My only recollection of cycle 19 was as a small boy in Reedley, California. My father was a biologist, taking a few years off to earn money for school selling insecticide to farmers before returning to Berkeley for his PhD. My dad had a company car, with a long whip antenna on the back connected to a low-VHF business-band FM two-way radio (probably 30-40 MHz). I recall him talking about being unable to raise the head office in Fresno, but someone in Texas was able to relay for him, and something about sunspots. Around that time hams were living it up on 10-meter AM, working the world with low power. We don't have many sunspots now, so the MUF (maximum usable frequency) tends to stay low. But we do have quiet conditions, and the CQ 160-Meter SSB contest this weekend isn't bothered by low MUF. Finally, Cap Cox, W4AMW of Owensboro, Kentucky wrote in about the CW portion of the ARRL International DX Contest, which was last weekend, and conditions in general: Saturday morning around 1000-1200z I worked Japan, Russia, Western Europe and could hear VT and CO all about the same time on 40 Meters. That night I worked Japan and Switzerland on 80. Sunday during the day 20 was open into Europe and Africa all day and even 10 Meters lit up into Central and South America in the early afternoon. I'm running a hundred watts into a Windom. I kept looking at my calendar to make sure it wasn't 2013 already. Wow! Cap goes on to say, I guess it helps to have a couple of thousand operators on all the HF frequencies pushing the ethereal envelope in order to know what conditions are really like under the circumstances. I can get by with 'poor' bottom of the cycle conditions like these for a long time, maybe even until the next 'peak' arrives. Thanks, Cap. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for February 16 through 22 were 27, 23, 0, 0, 0, 0 and 0 with a mean of 7.1. 10.7 cm flux was 79.2, 79.2, 78.5, 76.5, 76.2, 75.9, and 76, with a mean of 77.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 8, 4, 2
[DX-NEWS] ARLD008 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD008 ARLD008 DX news ZCZC AE08 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 8 ARLD008 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 23, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD008 ARLD008 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by DL2SBY, KK6T, N1RL, NC1L, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. KENYA, 5Z. Mike, OM2DX and Palo, OM2NW are QRV from Nairobi as 5Z4/homecalls until March 6. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL 5Z4/OM2DX via OM3JW and 5Z4/OM2NW to home call. GUYANA, 8R. Ken, K7ZUM and Craig, AH8DX will be QRV as 8R1ZUM and 8R1EA, respectively, from February 28 to March 7. Prior to the upcoming ARRL DX contest, look for activity mostly on RTTY and the newer bands. 8R1EA will place an emphasis on 160 meters before and after the contest. QSL to home calls. MALTA, 9H. Members of the Texas DX Society will be QRV as 9H3W, 9H3DX, 9H3V, 9H3RY, 9H3WF, 9H3UO, along with two other 9H3 calls, from March 1 to 8. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters, and possibly 160 meters, using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. They will be active in the upcoming ARRL DX contest as 9H3DX. QSL all calls via W5PF. WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. Aniko, HA5TAA will be QRV as 9M2/HA5TAA from Tioman Island, IOTA AS-046, from February 27 to March 12. She will be active mainly on 20 meters using SSB. QSL to home call. TAIWAN, BV. Mike, K0PY will be QRV as BW2/K0PY while on work assignment here. Activity is on the low end of 40 and 20 meters using CW. His length of stay is unknown. BAHAMAS, C6. Bill, NE1B is QRV as C6AWB from Chubb Cay, IOTA NA-054, until March 3. He will be active in the CQ WW 160 Meter SSB contest as well. He will also be active from New Providence Island, IOTA NA-001, from March 3 to 5. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Lee, DT8A is QRV from the Korean King Sejong Station on King George Island. QSL via HL2FDW. KERGUELEN ISLANDS, FT5X. Gil, FT5WL plans to be QRV as FT5XP on February 27 and 28. QSL via F4EFI. FRENCH GUYANA, FY. Steve, MW0ZZK and Florent, F4CYZ are QRV as TO7IR from Royale Island, IOTA SA-020, until February 27. Activity is on 80 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and various digital modes. QSL via IZ8CCW. LIECHTENSTEIN, HB0. Kasimir, DL2SBY will be QRV as HB0/DL2SBY from February 25 to March 4. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL to home call. SVALBARD, JW. Operators JW8AJA, JW9DFA and JW9VDA are QRV until March 1. Activity is on all bands using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL JW8AJA and JW9VDA via LA9VDA and JW9DFA via LA9DFA. PUERTO RICO, KP4. Joachim, WP3F will be QRV in the CQ WW 160 Meter SSB contest. QSL via OK1DOT. BULGARIA, LZ. To commemorate the 128th anniversary of the liberation of Bulgaria from the Ottoman Empire, the Balkan Contest Club will be QRV as LZ128LO from March 1 to 31. QSL to LZ1KZA. SURINAME, PZ. Steve, MW0ZZK and Florent, F4CYZ will be QRV as PZ5ZZ and PZ5CY, respectively, from February 28 to March 8. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters. QSL via IZ8CCW. DODECANESE, SV5. Willi, DJ7RJ will be QRV as SV5/DJ7RY from Kos Island, IOTA EU-001, from February 27 to March 18. Activity will be on the lower bands. QSL to home call. KALININGRAD, UA2. Members of the UA2 Contest Club will be QRV as RK2FWA in the CQ WW 160 Meter SSB contest as a Multi Op entry. QSL via DK4VW. AUSTRALIA, VK. Look for special event stations AX3MCG and AX3GAMES to be QRV from March 1 to 31 during the 18th Commonwealth Games being held in Melbourne. Activity will be on all bands. Individual Australian amateurs may substitute the AX prefix during the games period. QSL both calls via the VK3 bureau. BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS, VP2V. Jim, G3RTE and Phil, G3SWH are QRV as VP2V/G6AY from Anegada Island, IOTA NA-023, until March 1. Activity is primarily on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB, and possibly 160 meters CW. QSL via G3SWH. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Desecheo Island, K3LP/KP5 and N3KS/KP5, from December 16 and 17, 2005. BULLETIN CORRECTION. As mentioned in DX news ARLD007 for Juma, A71EM. The correct country name for A7 is Qatar. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ 160-Meter SSB Contest, Russian PSK WW Contest, REF SSB Contest, UBA DX CW Contest, Mississippi QSO Party, CZEBRIS CW Contest, North American RTTY QSO Party, High Speed Club CW Contest, North Carolina QSO Party and the CQC Winter QSO Party will keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see February QST, page 100 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP007 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP007 ARLP007 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP07 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 7 ARLP007 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA February 17, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP007 ARLP007 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers this week rose over 7 points to 9, but this doesn't mean much. Check out http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DSD.txt to see how many days with a blank sun were noted over the last thirty days. Plan on seeing even longer stretches of 0 sunspots over the next year. A couple of years from now we should see a new cycle 24 rising faster than this old one declined. Check out a great website showing sketches of sunspots drawn in 1612 by Galileo Galilei, http://galileo.rice.edu/sci/observations/sunspot_drawings.html. The coolest part is the arrangement of the sketches into a sort of flip-book animation, which you can view with any media player such as Windows Media Player or Apple QuickTime. This gives us a reproduction of what the sun was doing over the 35 days that Galileo made these sketches. What a remarkable thing. The ARRL International DX CW Contest is on for this weekend. Sunspot 854 is pointing straight at us, but it is tiny. For an idea of the relative area covered by this spot, check the web site mentioned in the first paragraph above, and look at the Sunspot Area shown in the fourth column, relative to sunspot area in January. Look for sunspot numbers and solar flux to rise only slightly, if at all, and for quiet geomagnetic conditions. Sunday, February 19 should give us only slightly unsettled geomagnetic conditions. Based on the previous solar rotation, Wednesday, February 22 looks like it may show some fairly active geomagnetic conditions. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts slightly different conditions, with February 19 unsettled to active, and February 21 and 22 just unsettled. They think today and tomorrow, February 17 and 18, will be quiet. They predict quiet to unsettled conditions for February 20 and 23. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for February 9 through 15 were 24, 13, 11, 0, 0, 0 and 15 with a mean of 9. 10.7 cm flux was 74.8, 75.2, 76, 76, 76.3, 77.3, and 78.5, with a mean of 76.3. Estimated planetary A indices were 2, 2, 6, 3, 2, 1 and 12 with a mean of 4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 2, 4, 2, 2, 1 and 7, with a mean of 2.9. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD007 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD007 ARLD007 DX news ZCZC AE07 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 7 ARLD007 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 16, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD007 ARLD007 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by K7BV, NC1L, OK1JR, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. PETER I ISLAND, 3Y. The 3Y0X team is QRV on 160 to 70 cm with eight stations using all modes. QSL via N2OO. SENEGAL, 6W. Richard, K3IPK is QRV as 6W6/K3IPK. He may also be active as 6V6U in the ARRL DX CW Contest. QSL to home call. BAHRAIN, A7. Juma, A71EM has been QRV on 30 meters around 1800z. QSL via EA7FTR. THE GAMBIA, C5. Gerhard is QRV as C56GEA and has been active on 17 meters CW around 1100 and then 1500z. He has also been active on 30 meters around 2200z. His length of stay is unknown. QSL via OE3GEA. PHILIPPINES, DU. Bert, DF5WA plans to be QRV as DF5WA/DU7 from Negros Island, IOTA OC-129, until February 26. He will be active on all bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. This is a combined scuba diving and amateur radio expedition. QSL direct to home call. SAINT MARTIN, FS. David, K3LP will be QRV as FS/K3LP in the ARRL DX CW contest as a Single-Op/All-Band/Low-Power entry. He is also active on all bands before and after the contest. QSL to home call. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HI. Dennis, K7BV will be QRV as HI3TEJ from the HI3CCP Santiago mountaintop QTH in the ARRL DX CW contest. Outside the contest, he will be active as HI3/K7BV. QSL HI3TEJ via ON4IQ and HI3/K7BV to home call. HONDURAS, HR. Operators N0AT, K0IEX and N0STL plan to be QRV as HQ9H from Utila Island, IOTA NA-057, in the ARRL DX CW contest as a Multi/Single entry. Before and after the contest they will sign HR9/homecalls. QSL to home calls. SARDINIA, IS0. Mauro, IN3QBR is QRV as IS0/K7QB until February 21. He will participate in the ARRL DX CW contest as a Single Op/Single Band entry. He is active before and after the contest on the lower and newer bands. QSL to home call. ST. MAARTEN, SABA, ST. EUSTATIUS, PJ5. Clint, W3ARS is QRV as PJ7/W3ARS from St. Maarten and may be active in the ARRL DX CW contest. Before and after the contest, he is active on the newer bands, 6 meters and various satellites. QSL to home call. TRINDADE AND MARTIM VAZ ISLANDS, PY0T. Otto, PY1OTO plans to be QRV as PY1OTO/PY0T until February 19. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters. QSL to home call. CHAD, TT. Sylvain, TT8LN has been QRV on 17 meters SSB around 1400z. QSL via F5TLN. BELIZE, V3. Martti, OH2BH and Pertti, OH2PM will be QRV as V31BH and V31PP, respectively, in both ARRL International DX contests as Multi Op/All-Band entries. QSL to home calls. MARSHALL ISLANDS, V7. Tom, K7ZZ will be QRV as V7/K7ZZ from Kwajalein, IOTA OC-028, in the ARRL DX CW contest as a Single Op/All-Band entry. Before the contest, he will be active on the newer bands. QSL direct to home call. ASCENSION ISLAND, ZD8. Bill, W4WX and Jan, K4QD will be QRV as ZD8WX and ZD8QD, respectively, from February 20 to March 2. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters sing CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31. QSL direct to home calls. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Malyj Vysotskij Island (M-V Island), R1MVC and R1MVW, from November 15 to 28, 2005. BULLETIN CORRECTION. As mentioned in DX news ARLD006 for Viet Nam, the correct callsign for Stan, OK1JR is 3W9JR. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL International DX CW Contest, AM QSO Party and the Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend and the upcoming week. Please see February QST, page 100 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD006 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD006 ARLD006 DX news ZCZC AE06 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 6 ARLD006 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 9, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD006 ARLD006 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, ND5S, OK1JR, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. VIET NAM, 3W. Stan, OK1JR is licensed as 3W3JR and expects to be in Hanoi for one year. He can operate on 20, 17, 15 and 12 meters using CW and SSB. He hopes to get permission to operate on the low bands and 6 meters with digital modes. QSL direct via OK1JN. PETER I ISLAND, 3Y. The 3Y0X team is now QRV and of late has been active on 20, 17 and 15 meters. Normal activity is on 160 to 10 meters, including 2 meters and 70cm using all modes. QSL via N2OO. ISRAEL, 4X. Isaac, 4Z4TL will be QRV as 4X0L in the CQ WW RTTY WPX contest as a Single-Op entry. QSL direct to home call. MALAWI, 7Q. Sigfrido is QRV as 7Q7RS until March or April while on work assignment. He is usually active on 20, 15 or 10 meters. QSL via IT9YVO. BAHAMAS, C6. N4BP, K4PG, W4OV and N8PR will be QRV as C6AKQ, C6APG, C6AOV and C6AHR, respectively, from February 14 for about one week. They will be active on 160, 80, 40 and 15 meters during the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. Before the contest, they will be active mostly on the newer bands. QSL to home calls. Meanwhile, Ivars, KC4PX will be active from Nassau as C6APX during the CQ WW RTTY WPX contest as a Single-Op/Low-Power entry. Activity will be on 40, 20 and 15 meters. QSL to home call. AUSTRAL ISLANDS, FO. Wulf, DL1AWI, Mat, DL5XU and Erik, DL9AWI are QRV from Raivavae Island, IOTA OC-114, as FO/DL9AWI and FO/DL1AWI until February 14. Activity is mainly on the lower bands, especially 160 meters. QSL via DL3APO. ENGLAND, G. To celebrate their 60th Diamond Anniversary, the International Shortwave League, ISWL, will be QRV as GB6SWL on February 11 and 12. COLOMBIA, HK. Girts, YL2KL is QRV as HK1/YL2KL from the Cartagena QTH of HK1AR until February 20. This includes activity in the CQ WW RTTY WPX and the upcoming ARRL DX CW contests as Single-Op/All-Band/High-Power entries. He is active mainly on 160, 80 and 40 meters. QSL to home call. DOMINICA, J7. Operators K5KG, KK9K, WI9WI, W4IX and K1XX will be QRV as J75KG, J79RV, J79WI, J79IX and J79XX, respectively, from February 11 to 21. They will be QRV as J7OJ in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest. QSL J7OJ and J75KG via KU9C. QSL all others to home calls. MONGOLIA, JT. To celebrate the 800th anniversary of the Great Mongolian State, all JT amateurs are using the special event prefix JV800 with their own callsign suffix until the end of this year. QSL to home calls. SOUTH ORKNEY ISLANDS. Diego, LU1ZA has been active on 20 meters around 2230z. QSL via LU4DXU. ST. MAARTEN, PJ5. Ron, ND5S and Sue, KF5LG will be QRV as PJ7/homecalls from February 14 to 25. Ron will also be active in the upcoming ARRL DX CW contest as a Single Op/All Band entry. Outside the contest, they will be QRV on 160 to 10 meters using CW, RTTY and SSB in this order. QSL direct via ND5S. SUDAN, ST. ST0RM has been active on 80 meters around 0200z, 40 meters around 1700 and 1900z, 30 meters from around 1630 to 2030z and 20 meters around 1600z. QSL via T93Y. SAN MARINO, T7. John, T77CD will be QRV in the CQ WW RTTY WPX contest. QSL direct via I0MWI. MALI, TZ. Jack, F6BUM is QRV as TZ3M using CW and SSB until February 27. QSL TZ3M via F6CXJ. Meanwhile, Chris, TZ9A is QRV for another three months. ANTARCTICA. Paul, VK0JLX and Greg, VK0SEE are QRV from Davis Station. Paul will be here over the winter and Greg another four weeks. Of late, they have been active on 20 meters around 1000z. QSL VK0SEE via VK4SEE. TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, VP5. Saul, WA1UKN is QRV as WA1UKN/VP5 from the Grand Turk Island until March 3. Activity is on 20, 17, 15 and 10 meters. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Kure Island, K7C, operation from September 25 through October 5, 2005; Iraq, YI9VCQ, from November 30, 2004 through November 5, 2005. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ WW RTTY WPX Contest, New Hampshire QSO Party, SARL Field Day Contest, Asia-Pacific Spring CW Sprint, KCJ Topband CW Contest, Dutch PACC Contest, YLRL YL-OM SSB Contest, Louisiana QSO Party, OMISS SSB QSO Party, FISTS Winter CW Sprint, British Columbia QSO Challenge, RSGB 1st 1.8 MHz CW Contest, The North American CW Sprint, the NAQCC 80-Meter Straight Key/Bug Sprint, and the AGCW Semi-Automatic Key Evening will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend and the upcoming week. The ARRL School Club Roundup runs from February 13 to 17. Please see February QST, page 99 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX
[DX-NEWS] ARLP005 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP005 ARLP005 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP05 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 5 ARLP005 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA February 3, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP005 ARLP005 Propagation de K7RA Solar activity is very low. Average daily sunspot numbers for the week were down over 40 points to 9.1. Average daily solar flux dropped nearly 11 points to 80.6. Geomagnetic conditions, with the exception of January 26 were stable and quiet. On January 26 the interplanetary magnetic field, which can shield the earth from solar wind if it is pointing north, turned south, and the mid-latitudes experienced some moderate geomagnetic activity, with the A index for the day at 15. Polar regions saw a lot more activity, with the College A index in Alaska going to 36. Currently the sun is spotless since January 29. Daily readings of zero sunspots could continue for another week. We will observe more and longer periods such as this as we head toward the solar minimum, still expected about to occur about a year from now. Geomagnetic conditions should remain quiet, and solar flux around 77. This may not begin to rise again until February 10. January is over, so let us examine the average daily solar flux and sunspot numbers for the month compared with previous months. The average daily sunspot numbers for the months January 2005 through January 2006 were 52, 45.4, 41, 41.5, 65.4, 59.8, 68.7, 65.6, 39.2, 13, 32.2, 62.6 and 26.7. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 102.3, 97.2, 89.9, 85.9, 99.5, 93.7, 96.5, 92.4, 91.9, 76.6, 86.3, 90.8 and 86.6. As expected, the solar cycle is declining, but there is a lot of variation from month to month. Richard Buckner, who wrote the ACE-HF and ACE-HF Pro System Simulation and Visualization Software for propagation prediction mentioned in response to last week's bulletin that ACE-HF can do 160 meter predictions, but with some limitations. He sent along a quote from the ACE-HF Basis for Predictions tutorial, written by George Lane: 160-m Prediction Accuracy. 160-m frequencies are rounded to 2.0 MHz to conform to VOACAP's lower frequency limit. VOACAP 2-MHz predictions are reasonably accurate for NVIS and short-range predictions out to about 1500 km. But when path distances are very long, VOACAP becomes less accurate at night. At night, a residual E-layer exists with a MUF usually above 2 MHz. It is this phenomenon that permits AM broadcasts in the medium-wave bands to propagate thousands of kilometers during nighttime hours. VOACAP, however, is based on data that was collected at frequencies of 4 MHz and higher. Extrapolation was used to cover the lower frequencies, but funding limitations prevented the collection of further data to support those extrapolations. Unfortunately, computed absorption values are excessive in the extrapolations and the nighttime predictions thus become excessively attenuated as path distance increases. For this reason, 160-m nighttime predictions at long path distances should be used with caution. You can find more information on ACE-HF at, http://home.att.net/~acehf/. We heard again from Charles Lewis, S9SS of Sao Tome (an island off the West African coast, west of Gabon). On January 20 he wrote, I made 150 - 160M contacts last week. 51 were in North America, coast to coast. It was, as usual, very slow, tedious going. E-mails to me cited large pileups. As usual, I heard no pileup. Usually, I hear only one, occasionally two, stations cresting my high level noise. Even most big gun stations only get through when their signal is enhanced greatly by whatever propagation phenomenon. Even little guns find themselves all alone in the spotlight on my stage now and then, despite all the better equipped callers. There is no such thing as cracking the pileup on me on 160 meters since I never hear it. Charles continues, In the Stew Perry, I heard only five NA stations in close to three hours of listening and worked all five easily. It was interesting that I heard one station on and off for nearly two hours, while I heard the others only briefly for one period. He goes on to say, An interesting quirk here is a rogue LU 10 meter beacon that I hear often on the IARU beacon frequency for hours at a time when the band is so dead that I hear none of the IARU beacons. Weird!! I favor the W3VD beacon when I am specifically looking for an opening to the USA on 10M since, unlike 4U1UN, it transmits continuously on 10 M. He continues, I used to experience the antipodes enhancement phenomenon on the upper bands often when I was A22AA in 89-92. I would often work Hawaiian hams (and hear WWVH) when the bands were nearly in a blackout condition. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page
[DX-NEWS] ARLD005 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD005 ARLD005 DX news ZCZC AE05 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 5 ARLD005 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT February 2, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD005 ARLD005 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by 7Q7PF, CE6NE, G4WFQ, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. PETER ONE ISLAND, 3Y. The 3Y0X team expects to be QRV after February 6. AZERBAIJAN, 4J. Serge, 4J5A is usually QRV on 160 meters CW between 0200 and 0300z. MAURITANIA, 5T. Jean, 5T0JL is normally QRV using CW on 80 meters after 0400z. QSL via ON8RA. SENEGAL, 6W. David, G4WFQ is QRV as G4WFQ/6W until February 16 from Somone. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters, including the newer bands, using CW and RTTY, with some SSB. He will also be active in the upcoming CQ WW RTTY contest. QSL via G3SWH. MALAWI, 7Q. Cato, 7Q7PF is normally QRV using SSB on 20, 15 and 10 meters, and various digital modes on 40 to 6 meters. QSL direct. CHILE, CE. Operators CE6TBN and CE6NE will be QRV as CE5S from Santa Maria Island, IOTA SA-070, from February 7 to 10. Activity will be on 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters using SSB with some CW. QSL via CE6NE. GERMANY, DA. DL2KUF and DL7BA will be QRV February 4 and 5 from the Darsser Ort Lighthouse, ARLHS FED-070, on the Baltic coast. Activity is on all HF bands. QSL via operators' instructions. MARQUESAS ISLANDS, FO. Eli, HA9RE is QRV as FO/HA9G from Nuku Hiva, IOTA OC-027, until February 18. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via HA8IB. CROZET ISLAND, FT5W. Gildas, TU5KG has obtained the callsign FT5WL and will soon be active. QSL via F4EFI. ANTARCTICA. IK5DHM is QRV as IK5DHM/ANT from the Mario Zucchelli Station until the end of February. QSL via IK5VLO. ITALY, I. Special event station II1TPG is QRV until March 31 during the IX Paralympic Winter Games. QSL via IZ1CCE. JAPAN, JA. Special event station 8N3Y is active until February 28 in celebration of the ARISS contact with the Yoneda-nishi Elementary School in Takasago. QSL via bureau. ARUBA, P4. Andy, K2LE is QRV as P40LE until March 1. He intends to take part in several contests during this time. QSL to home call. BRAZIL, PY. Joska, HA9RT will be QRV as HA9RT/PT7 from Fortaleza from February 6 to 20. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters using mostly CW. QSL via operator's instructions. MOUNT ATHOS, SV/A. Monk Apollo, SV2ASP/A has been QRV on 17 meters around 1430z. SAN MARINO, T7. Members of two radio groups are QRV as T70COTA and T70A until February 5 in celebration of the 70th anniversary of the conclusion of the collaboration between the Regal Italian Government and the San Marino Republic. Activity is on all HF bands. QSL T70COTA via IZ8DDG and T70A direct. ANTARCTICA. Special event station EM10KY is QRV until February 12 from the Academic Vernadsky base in celebration of its 10th anniversary. QSL via IK1QFM. BELIZE, V3. Gerd, DJ4KW and Gisela, DK9GG are QRV as V31YN/p and V31GW/p, respectively, from Southwater Caye, IOTA NA-180, until February 8. Activity is on the HF bands using CW and RTTY. QSL to home calls. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The North American SSB Sprint, Vermont QSO Party, YL-ISSB QSO Party, 10-10 International Winter SSB Contest, YLRL YL-OM CW Contest, Minnesota QSO Party, FYBO Winter QRP Sprint, AGCW Straight Key CW Party, Delaware QSO Party, Mexico RTTY International Contest, ARCI Winter Fireside SSB Sprint and the ARS Spartan CW Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see February QST, page 99 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD004 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD004 ARLD004 DX news ZCZC AE04 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 4 ARLD004 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 26, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD004 ARLD004 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, ZS5BBO, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, 425 DX News, The Daily DX, Contest Corral from QST and the ARRL Contest Calendar and WA7BNM web sites. Thanks to all. GHANA, 9G. Alan, G3XAQ is QRV as 9G5XA from Accra until February 6. He is active on HF using CW. QSL via G3SWH. CHILE, CE. A number of operators will be QRV as CE6M from Mocha Island, IOTA SA-061, and the lighthouse, ARLHS CHI-024, from February 1 to 5. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and PSK31. QSL via CE6AMN. CUBA, CO. Operators CO3JN/1, CO2WL/1, CO3LF/1, CO3CJ/1, CO3VK/1 and CO3ET/1 are QRV from Cayo Jutias, IOTA NA-093, until January 29. Activity is on 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters using CW, SSB and PSK. On January 28, they will be QRV as T41JM to celebrate Jose Marti Day, a Cuban national holiday. QSL call calls direct via IZ8EBI. ENGLAND, G. Laci, HA0HW plans to be in England from January 29 to February 9 and possibly active as M/HA0HW in his spare time. QSL direct to home call. LIECHTENSTEIN, HB0. Bosnia and Herzegovina Contest Club members T93M, T93Y, T94DX, T94JJ and T96Q are QRV as HB0/homecalls until February 1. Activity is on all bands and modes. They will be QRV as HB0/T94DX in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest as a Multi/Single entry. QSL HB0/T96Q and HB0/T92Y via T93Y. QSL HB0s T94DX, T94JJ and T93M via DJ2MX. GRENADA, J3. Bill, VE3EBN will be QRV as J37LR from February 1 to April 5. He will be active on 40 to 10 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. US VIRGIN ISLANDS, KP2. Joe, W8GEX, John, WZ8D and Janet, KD8CGN are QRV as W8GEX/KP2 and WZ8D/KP2 until January 31 from the famous Windwood property on St. Croix. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and PSK. Look for WZ8D/KP2 to be QRV in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL to home calls. ALAND ISLANDS, OH0. Leppala, OH2BYS will be QRV as OH0L during the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL to home call. BONAIRE AND CURACAO, PJ2. Jeff, K8ND is QRV PJ2/K8ND until January 31 from the Signal Point Station on Curacao. He will be QRV as PJ2T in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest as a Single Op entry. Before and after the contest, he is primarily active on 80 and 40 meters, with antenna testing on 160 meters. QSL PJ2/K8ND to home call and PJ2T via N9AG. BRAZIL, PY. Rick, PY2EL/p and Wal, PY2WC/p are QRV from Comprida Island, IOTA SA-024. They are active on all bands using CW, SSB and digital modes. QSL to home calls. CRETE, SV9. Tomas, LY1DF will be QRV as J49W in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest as a Single Op entry. QSL to home call. CHAGOS ISLANDS, VQ9. Larry, VQ9LA will be active in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest. QSL via operator's instructions. NEW ZEALAND, ZL. ZL2BSJ, ZL1AZE and possibly others will be QRV as ZL6QH in the CQ WW 160-Meter CW contest as a Multi/Op entry. QSL via the Bureau. SOUTH AFRICA, ZS. Members of the Highway ARC are QRV as ZS5A1GP until January 29 for the weekend of the A1 Grand Prix. They will also be active in other special occasions during 2006. Activity is on all HF bands using CW and SSB, V/UHF repeaters in the region and IRLP. QSL via operators' instructions. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The CQ 160-Meter CW Contest, REF CW Contest, SARL Youth Day, The BARTG RTTY Sprint and the UBA DX SSB Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see January QST, page 102 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP003 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP003 ARLP003 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP03 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 3 ARLP003 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA January 20, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP003 ARLP003 Propagation de K7RA As we cruise into the low part of solar cycle 23, the sun has been very quiet, save for some coronal holes providing solar wind streams. This week average daily sunspot numbers were up nearly ten points compared to last. The geomagnetic field has been mostly quiet, although a little more active than the previous week. Over the next week expect solar flux to stay around 90, with geomagnetic conditions quiet, except for some unsettled to active conditions around January 23-24. Geophysical Institute Prague expects quiet conditions January 21, quiet to unsettled January 20 and 22, unsettled January 25 and 26, unsettled to active January 23, and active conditions (higher A and K index) on January 24. Rich DiDonna, NN3W of Virginia writes that, While conditions on the high bands may stink, conditions on the low bands have been spectacular. 40 meters is opening to Europe as early as 2100z from the East Coast with reliable openings to the Middle East, and long path to Southeast Asia. 80 and 160 have also been amazing. So, while Old Sol may be in nap phase, one should not assume that there is a lack of DX to work! Jon Jones, N0JK of Kansas echoes Rich's comments about the lower frequencies in a January 14 email. He writes, 160 meter propagation to Europe from the Midwest and western USA is picking up. For a low band propagation beacon I listen to the 1.2 megawatt AM station from Kvitsoy, Norway on 1314 kHz. Its signal has been very strong the last couple of evenings. Great 160M conditions were noted by W8CAR and others the same time to Europe. Jon also noted an extensive 6 meter E layer opening on January 13-14 in which W1, W2, W3 and W4 stations were coming in. Charles Lewis, S9SS of Sao Tome and Principe (an African island in the Atlantic Ocean about 150 miles west of Libreville, Gabon) was one of the stations reported in a recent bulletin by K7HP in Arizona as worked on 10 meters. Charles writes, The reason Hank worked me that night is that I also use propagation beacons. On 10 meters, I primarily depend on the W3VD beacon in Laurel, MD. That evening, as I often do, I had the receiver tuned to the W3VD beacon while I worked at the computer across the room. About 2110z I heard the beacon rise dramatically out of the noise. I checked and found the band was becoming live with 10 meters stations. I fired up my amp and called CQ. In a period of about 40 minutes I worked about 40 stations. I would have worked many more, but it took a while of rag chewing before I was discovered by the crowd. He continues, These late 10 meters openings are not very unusual for me in the 2015 to 2130z time frame. They more often start around 2030 to 2040z. They might last a few minutes or they might last a couple of hours. Until early last year, they were nearly nightly. Now they are a lot more scarce. There have been many times that I heard W3VD with a good signal and could raise no one or perhaps had a long rag chew with someone followed by no takers afterward. Charles goes on to say, I also had a very good opening on 12/11, the second day of the ARRL 10 Meters Contest that began about 2010z. I worked about 115 contacts coast to coast in NA over a period of about 50 minutes until it died. In that case also, I was working at the computer and heard W3VD pop out of the noise. The band usually dies about as suddenly as it comes to life. He continues, I am only about 20 miles north of the Equator. There is only about a 20 minute variation in sunset time over the year. The sun is usually down well before 1800z, so these openings are long after my sunset. Charles says that on 20 through 12 meters he uses the IARU beacon system, and on 12 meters he often hears 4U1UN in NYC coming in strong, while no one else seems to be on the band. He says 20 meters is his best band for working the USA, and is the best way to communicate with friends near his vacation home in Western North Carolina. Charles has an interesting challenge operating from his QTH, and that is from a huge Voice of America transmitter site that seems to hover over his station in a photo he sent. Check out a similar image on the web at, http://groups.msn.com/s9ss. A couple of weeks ago Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA had some comments about SSNe, or Effective Sunspot Numbers, and the T-Index. He continues with more comments below, through the end of this bulletin. Carl begins, In the January 6 Bulletin, I said the T Index and SSNe were similar methods that give a better picture of what the ionosphere is doing now. Both represent an effective sunspot number based on real-time sounding of the F2 region critical frequency. Let's look at the basic difference between SSNe and the T Index. SSNe is calculated from a worldwide set of ionosondes
[DX-NEWS] ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP002 ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP02 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 2 ARLP002 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA January 13, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP002 ARLP002 Propagation de K7RA Geomagnetic conditions have been very, very quiet. This week has seen many periods when the K index, both planetary and mid-latitude, was 0 or 1. The average planetary/mid-latitude K index this week dropped from 5.4/5.1 (last week) to 3.3/3.4, respectively. Of course, this low in the solar cycle, it is not surprising that sunspot numbers and solar flux dropped also. Average daily sunspot numbers dropped by 35 points from last week to 14.7, and solar flux was down 7.5 points to an average of 79.4. Over the next week expect these conditions to stay the same, with possibly some slightly unsettled geo-activity on January 16. Users of Canada's Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory data (such as me) were caught off-guard this week when our source of thrice-daily solar flux readings seemed to disappear from the net. By Googling around and using a freeware program called Xenu Link Sleuth (a handy desktop web spidering application, which you can also find via a Google search) I finally discovered the new home of the Current Flux Archive. It now appears at http://www.drao-ofr.hia-iha.nrc-cnrc.gc.ca/icarus/www/current.txt. The observatory's servers seem to have moved from drao.nrc.ca to the much longer domain shown in the URL. More 10 meter mail arrived this week. Glenn Stewart, N7NRA of Mesa, Arizona reminds us to check for beacons between 28.2 and 28.3 MHz. Glenn says, If you hear beacons, there is a very good likelihood that you can raise a PSK31 contact or two by calling CQ on PSK at 28.120. If you get lucky and find half a dozen or so PSK signals at 28.120, and if some of them are strong, head for 28.345 - 28.350 and call CQ on Phone. Chances are excellent that you'll raise a phone contact or two. The band's not dead. The problem is that everyone is listening. No one is calling CQ. Give it a try! Also in Arizona, and on 10 meters, is Hank Pfizenmayer, K7HP in Phoenix, about 15 miles northwest of N7NRA. He said that on December 26, 2005 on 10 meters from 2137-2220z he worked KP2L, KP4DKE, S9SS, MM0SLH, VE3FGU and ZL1BYZ. The next day he worked ZL2BSJ, ZL1BYZ and ZL3KR. He says, I listen just about every day to the 10 meter beacons, usually a couple times at least, and it would be easier to list days that I do not hear a beacon somewhere. I have found I can call CQ on CW for long periods with no activity at all even though I am hearing beacons all over the east coast. Bob Skaggs, KB5RX in Santa Fe, New Mexico says he has been listening to 17 meters later, and observed, When local sunset occurs, the band goes dead within 5 minutes. From 10 over 9 to nothing in less than 7 minutes. Not like when the sunspot activity is high where the band slowly fades. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past propagation bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for January 5 through 11 were 23, 24, 11, 11, 11, 11 and 12 with a mean of 14.7. 10.7 cm flux was 83.4, 82, 79.2, 78.2, 77.6, 77.8, and 77.3, with a mean of 79.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 3, 6, 5, 4, 2, 1 and 2 with a mean of 3.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 3, 6, 6, 5, 1, 2 and 1, with a mean of 3.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD002 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD002 ARLD002 DX news ZCZC AE02 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 2 ARLD002 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 12, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD002 ARLD002 DX news This weeks bulletin was made possible with information provided by F6AJA, NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. NEPAL, 9N. Pop, YU7EF is QRV as 9N7JO and has been active on 80 meters using CW around 1700z. He has also been active on 40 meters around 1440 to 1600z. QSL to home call. OMAN, A4. Chris, A45XR has been active on 160 meters around 0230z. QSL to home call. ANGOLA, D2. Janna is QRV as D2DX. She has been active on 20 meters around 1800 to 2000z and 30 meters as well. QSL via OH2BAD. CHILE, CE. Marco, CE6TBN will be QRV as CE6TBN/7 from Las Huichas Island, IOTA SA-046, on January 14 and 15. Activity will be on 40 and 20 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. NEW CALEDONIA, FK. Tibo, FK8HW has been QRV on 20 meters using SSB around 0700 to 1200z. QSL via VK4FW. JERSEY, GJ. Bert, PA3GIO is QRV as MJ/PA3GIO/p until January 15. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using SSB. QSL via operator's instructions. DOMINICAN REPUBLIC, HI. Tibor, HA7TM will be QRV as HA7TM/HI9 from Las Terrenas, Samana, from January 18 to February 2. Activity will be on the HF bands, and possibly 160 meters. QSL via operator's instructions. SAUDI ARABIA, HZ. Manfred is QRV as HZ1IK and has been active on 40 meters using SSB around 0055z. QSL via DK7YY. ANTARCTICA. Station LU1ZB will soon be QRV from Melchior Base in the Melchior Islands, IOTA AN-012. QSL via LU4DXU. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Look for LU1ZC to be QRV from Deception Base on 20 meters. QSL via LU4DXU. ARUBA, P4. Bob, W3BTX and Roy, W3TEF are QRV as P40/homecalls until January 18. Activity is on all bands, but mainly on 30 and 6 meters. QSL to home calls. SEYCHELLES, S7. Team members DL2NUD, DL9GRE and DM1CG are QRV as S79HP, S79GRE and S79CG, respectively, during what may be the first-ever S7 Worldwide EME DXpedition. In addition to being active on 40 to 6 meters, they are also QRV with EME and JT65 CW on 2 meters. QSL via operators' instructions. SUDAN, ST. Barney, K3LA will be QRV as ST2LA from Khartoum. He will be active from various locations as time permits. QSL to home call. WESTERN KIRIBATI, T30. Udo, DL9HCU is QRV as T30HC and has been active on 20 meters SSB around 0450z. He also operates CW QRP on 20 meters around 0530z. QSL to home call. PALAU, T8. Operators JA6EGL, JH6WDG and JA6CM are QRV as T88SM, T88AQ and T88CM, respectively, until January 17. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home calls. SOMALIA, T5. Look for a group of Italian operators to be QRV as 6O0N from January 19 to February 2. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via I2YSB. ASIATIC RUSSIA, UA0. Ilya, UA0FBS is QRV from Sakhalin Island, IOTA AS-018, until January 31. He is normally active on 20 meters SSB from 0500 to 0700z. QSL direct to home call. BELIZE, V3. Art, NN7A is QRV as V31JZ/p from South Water Caye, IOTA NA-180, until January 15. Activity is on 40 to 10 meters, including the newer bands near the IOTA frequencies. QSL to home call. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Angola, D2DX, current operation as of December 15, 2004; Wake Island, KH9/W0CN, from September 17 to 28, 2005. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The North American CW QSO Party, Hunting Lions in the Air Contest, 070 Club PSKFest, MI QRP January CW Contest, Midwinter CW/SSB Contest, NRAU-Baltic CW/SSB Contest, HA DX CW Contest and the Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see January QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP001 ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP01 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 1 ARLP001 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA January 6, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP001 ARLP001 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers for the past week (December 29 through January 4) were nearly 22 points below the previous period. Average daily solar flux was about the same. Average daily mid-latitude geomagnetic indices (A and K index) were exactly the same, and the planetary A and K index were slightly lower. For the near term expect sunspot numbers and solar flux to stay around the same levels (low), but gradually rise to a short term peak around January 15-16. The A and K index should also stay quiet, with a returning active patch of Sun causing unsettled to active geomagnetic conditions around January 16 and again around January 23-24. January 10-12 should have very quiet, stable geomagnetic indicators. Those forecasts are from the U.S. Air Force, via NOAA. Geophysical Institute Prague expects quiet conditions for January 9-11, quiet to unsettled today, January 6, and again on January 12, and unsettled conditions January 7-8. Currently our Sun is quiet, and the interplanetary magnetic field points north, both indicators of quiet geomagnetic conditions. Now that we have the solar flux and sunspot numbers for all of 2005, it is time for a review of annual averages. Average daily sunspot numbers for the years 1999 through 2005 were 136.3, 173, 170.3, 176.6, 109.2, 68.6 and 48.9. Average daily solar flux for the same years was 153.7, 179.6, 181.6, 179.5, 129.2, 106.6 and 91.9. The steady decline over each calendar year since the 2000-2002 period should continue through the end of this year. Two years from now we should know when trends turned around. David Greer, N4KZ of Frankfort, Kentucky reports more surprising short lived 10 meter propagation in the form of an opening toward Europe on December 31. Last Saturday morning he heard many strong European stations on 12 and 15 meters, so he went to 10 meters and called CQ at 1427z with his 3-element Yagi pointed toward Europe. I5KAP answered with a weak but readable signal. Dave reports, Seven minutes later I heard F5LIW calling CQ and worked him too. Again, signals were weak but readable. After we signed, he began calling CQ again but with no takers from what I could hear. At 1439z, I heard IK4GRO calling CQ. At S7, he had the strongest signal. We exchanged reports and he began calling CQ again but no takers from what I could hear. Then the signals were gone. Dave runs 100 watts on 10 meters. Felipe Ceglia, PY1NB of the state of Rio de Janeiro in Brazil passes word that he has a web site for DXers, which can be found at, http://www.dxwatch.com/. He carries this bulletin, along with spotting services. Carl Luetzelschwab, K9LA sent in an interesting piece that he wrote for this week's bulletin in response to an email exchange with Red Haines, WO0W. It is titled The T Index and SSNe. Carl writes, Due to the day-to-day variability of the ionosphere, our propagation prediction programs use a monthly median model of the ionosphere. Thus the prediction outputs (usually MUF and signal strength) are statistical over a month's time frame. We have a monthly median model, as opposed to a daily model, because the developers did not find a satisfactory correlation between what the Sun was doing on a given day and what the ionosphere was doing on the same day. The proper correlation was between smoothed sunspot number (or smoothed solar flux) and monthly median ionospheric parameters (foE, foF2, hmF2, etc). He continues, In order to get a better picture of what the ionosphere is doing 'now', two similar methods have been developed: the T Index and SSNe. The T Index comes out of Australia's IPS (Ionospheric Prediction Service), and is named after its developer Jack Turner. SSNe (equivalent sunspot number) was developed by the US Air Force Global Weather Central organization, and is available from Northwest Research Associates. The websites are, http://www.ips.gov.au/HF_Systems/4/2 and, http://www.nwra-az.com/spawx/ssne24.html, respectively. Carl goes on to say, Both of these methods basically vary the sunspot number in a F2 region model of the ionosphere to force the model to a best fit to current foF2 data from worldwide ionosondes. Note the phrase 'best fit' - it's not a perfect fit, as the ionosphere does not necessarily track at all locations. For example, the F2 region ionization over the Millstone Hill (MA) ionosonde may increase at a given hour, while just 400 miles away the F2 region ionization over the Wallops Island (VA) ionosonde may decrease at the same time. He ends by saying, What does using the T Index and SSNe buy us? Neither gives us a daily model of the ionosphere due to the issue cited in the previous paragraph. Nor does either take into account D region and E region issues. But with respect to the F2
[DX-NEWS] ARLD001 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD001 ARLD001 DX news ZCZC AE01 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 1 ARLD001 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT January 5, 2006 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD001 ARLD001 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by AI4LT, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. SPRATLY ISLAND. Station DX0A is QRV from Kalayaan Island until January 19. Activity is on the low bands. QSL via operators' instructions. SENEGAL, 6W. Conrad, 6W8CK has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters around 1100z and then at 1730z. QSL via DH7WW. CROATIA, 9A. Members of the Croatian Amateur Radio Association are QRV as 9A150NT during all of 2006 to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the birth of inventor and scientist Nikola Tesla. Activity is on all bands and modes. QSL via 9A6AA. ZAMBIA, 9J. James is QRV as 9J2CA and has been active using RTTY on 15 meters around 1230z and then with PSK on 20 meters around 1530z. QSL via G3SWH. TONGA, A3. Paul, A35RK has been active on 12 meters between 1945 and 2045z. QSL via W7TSQ. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Sang, DS4NMJ is QRV as DT8A from the King Sejong Station on King George Island, IOTA AN-010, until December 31. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via HL2FDW. ETHIOPIA, ET. Pertti, OH2PM is QRV as ET3AA from Addis Ababa. Activity of late is on 20 and 15 meters using CW. QSL via operator's instructions. JAPAN, JA. Taka, JR3TVH is QRV as JR3TVH/JS6 from Miyako Island, IOTA AS-079, until January 11. Activity is on 160 to 6 meters using CW, SSB, RTTY and AM. QSL to home call. SVALBARD, JW. Trond, LA9VDA will be QRV as JW9VDA from Spitsbergen Island, IOTA EU-026, from January 9 to 16. Activity will be on all bands using mostly CW and SSB. QSL direct to home call. BONAIRE AND CURACAO, PJ2. Jerry, WB9Z is QRV as PJ2/WB9Z from Curacao, IOTA SA-006, and has been active using RTTY on 20 meters around 2300z. He will be active as PJ2T in the ARRL RTTY Roundup. QSL via AF9H. EGYPT, SU. Hans is QRV as SU9HP and has been active on 160 meters using CW from 1900 to 2100z. QSL via SM0CFO. CENTRAL AFRICA, TL. Christian, F5NRY is QRV as TL8QC while here on a 2 to 3 year work assignment. Activity is on 40, 20, 17 and 15 meters using CW only. QSL to home call. GABON, TR. Alain, TR8CA is usually QRV on 160 meters around 2100z. QSL via F6CBC. BELIZE, V3. Art, NN7A will be QRV as V31JZ/p from South Water Caye, IOTA NA-180, from January 11 to 15. Activity will be on 40 to 10 metes, including the newer bands, and possibly 160 and 80 meters, using mostly CW with some SSB. QSL to home call. BRUNEI, V8. Vladislav, G0KBO, Victor, UA6AF and Yuri, RN6BR will be QRV as V8FBO, V8FVV and V8FBR, respectively, from January 8 to 16. QSL via operators' instructions. CHAGOS ISLAND, VQ9. Larry, VQ9LA has been active using RTTY on 40 meters around 0130 and 1400z. QSL via operator's instructions. CAMBODIA, XU. Peter, NO2R will be QRV as XU7ACY from Sihanoukville from January 7 to 21. Activity will be on 160, 80 and 40 meters using mostly CW with some SSB. QSL via K2NJ. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL RTTY Roundup, Original QRP CW Contest, Worldwide QRP Federation QSO Party, EUCW 160 Meter CW Contest, DARC 10-Meter Contest and the Kid's Day Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see January QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP055 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP055 ARLP055 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP55 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 55 ARLP055 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 30, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP055 ARLP055 Propagation de K7RA Average daily sunspot numbers rose over 22 points this week to 71.4, and average daily solar flux was up by nearly 5 to 91.2. Not too bad with the predicted solar minimum a year away. Over the past week geomagnetic indicators were stable, but a solar wind caused the K and A index to rise on December 27 and 28. Sunspot and solar flux levels should remain approximately the same, perhaps slightly lower January 1-4. Geomagnetic indicators should be slightly unsettled for today, December 30, then quiet December 31 to January 4, and quiet to unsettled January 5. Next week we should have a look at the average sunspot numbers for the year, comparing them with past years. So far, with only a few days to go, it looks like the 2005 average daily sunspot number will be nearly 30% less than in 2004. Conditions should be good (little geomagnetic activity) for Straight Key Night, the annual operating activity from -2400z January 1. So here on the West Coast it will run from 4:00 PM Saturday until the same time on Sunday. This is a fun activity in which participants use regular old-fashioned telegraph keys and often vintage gear to communicate manually via Morse code. Details are at http://www.arrl.org/contests/rules/2006/skn.html. Jaap Verheul, PA3DTR wrote in about Marcel Decanck, ON5AU and his propagation web site at http://users.skynet.be/on5au/. Jaap likes to use the beacon logging page (click on Beacons On-Line on the left side of the page) which shows which beacons from different locations are currently being received at ON5AU in Belgium. You can get some idea how your part of the world is being received in Europe on the 20 meter band and above by looking for signals from the beacon station closest to you. Red Haines, WO0W sent in some interesting links recently, including the Propagation Page for the Radio Society of Great Britain. Many nice links and resources on this page at, http://www.keele.ac.uk/depts/por/psc.htm. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for December 22 through 28 were 77, 47, 70, 77, 90, 78 and 61 with a mean of 71.4. 10.7 cm flux was 87.6, 93.1, 91.9, 91.8, 92.5, 92.3, and 89.1, with a mean of 91.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 4, 1, 3, 6, 6, 18 and 14 with a mean of 7.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 4, 1, 2, 3, 3, 10 and 13, with a mean of 5.1. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD052 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD052 ARLD052 DX news ZCZC AE52 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 52 ARLD052 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 29, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD052 ARLD052 DX news This weeks bulletin was made possible with information provided by DS4NMJ, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. JAMAICA, 6Y. Kan, AB2RF will be QRV as 6Y5/AB2RF from January 2 to 4. Activity will be on the low bands using mostly digital modes. QSL to home call. CROATIA, 9A. Members of the Amateur Radio Club Koprivnica will be QRV using special anniversary call 9A650C during all of 2006 to celebrate 650 years of the town of Koprivnica. QSL via 9A7K. ZAMBIA, 9J. Brian, 9J2BO has been QRV on 80 meters just before 0400z. QSL via G3TEV. NEPAL, 9N. Pop, 9N7JO has been QRV on 40 meters around 1300z. QSL via operator's instructions. TONGA, A3. Paul, A35RK has been QRV on 12 meters between 2130 and 2300z. QSL via W7TSQ. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. Sang, DS4NMJ will be QRV as DT8A from the King Sejong Station on King George Island, IOTA AN-010, from January 1 to December 31, 2006. Activity will be on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL via operator's instructions. BELARUS, EU. Georg, EU1AB has been QRV on 160 meters between 0150 to 0300z. QSL to home call. REUNION ISLAND, FR. Jules, FR1AN has been QRV on 10 meters around 1400z, 12 meters around 1600z and 15 meters around 1700z. QSL via N5FTR. THAILAND, HS. Tony, E21IZC is QRV on 40 meters from 1200 to 1400z until December 31. He will then be QRV as E21IZC/8 from January 1 and 2 from the Chumporn Province in northern Thailand. Activity will also be on 40 meters between 1100 and 1700z. QSL via EA5KB. ARGENTINA, LU. Special callsign LR3DX is QRV until January 6 to celebrate the 100 years of the Recalada Lighthouse at Bahia Blanca. QSL via operators' instructions. ALAND ISLANDS, OH0. Look for OH0/IZ0FKE to be QRV from the Alandia Club Station from December 31 to January 4. QSL via IZ0FMA. SEYCHELLES, S7. Ken, S79NC has been QRV on 40 meters around 2200z. QSL via 9V1NC. EGYPT, SU. Greiss, SU1GS is QRV from Cairo and has been active on 40 meters around 2100z. QSL to home call. GREECE, SV. Special callsign SY2EEC has been active on 40, 20, 17 and 15 using SSB. QSL via SV2KBB. ICELAND, TF. Ari, TF3ARI continues to be QRV on 60 meters after 1130z. QSL direct to home call. MARSHALL ISLANDS, V7. Kaoru, JA3MCA is QRV as V73Z until January 2. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. Meanwhile, Randy, N5LE is QRV as V73RY and has been active on 20, 17 and 15 meters at various times. QSL to home call. FALKLAND ISLANDS, VP8. Bob, VP8LP has been QRV on 20 meters using SSB around 0700 to 1000z and 2300 to 0200z. QSL to home call. CHAGOS ISLAND, VQ9. Larry, VQ9LA has been active on 12 meters around 1200z, 40 meters around 1300 to 1500z, and then on 160 meters around 2300z. QSL via operator's instructions. ST. HELENA, ZD7. Peter, ZD7FT has been active on 40 meters around 2200z, 15 meters around 2100z and 20 meters around 0700z. QSL direct to home call. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL Straight Key Night, SARTG New Year RTTY Contest, AGCW Happy New Year CW Contest, AGCW VHF/UHF Contest, New Year's Snowball Contest, ARS Spartan CW Sprint, HA Happy New Year Contest and the NCCC Thursday CW Sprint will certainly keep contesters busy this holiday weekend. Please see December QST, page 86, January 2006 QST, page 101 and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD051 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD051 ARLD051 DX news ZCZC AE51 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 51 ARLD051 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 22, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD051 ARLD051 DX news This weeks bulletin was made possible with information provided by 4X1VF, JA1DDH, RW6HS, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. AZERBAIJAN, 4J. Station 4KR60S has been QRV on 80 and 40 meters using CW from around 0030 to 0230z. QSL via 4J5A. ISRAEL, 4X. Members of the Holyland DX Group will be QRV as special event station 4X411A December 23 and 24 from a point on the Dead Sea which is 411 meters below sea level. Activity will be on 80 to 10 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via 4Z4BS. MAURITANIA, 5T. Feng, ON6WFO is QRV as 5T0WFO until the end of January. QSL to home call. SENEGAL, 6W. Motoko, JA1EVA and Satoru, JM3XAV are QRV as JA1EVA/6W and JM3XAV/6W, respectively, until December 25, from the Le Calao resort in Somone. After the holidays, they may also be QRV from their Dakar QTH until the end of March. QSL both calls via JM3XAV. BOTSWANA, A2. Take, JA4ATV is QRV as A22/JA4ATV and has been active on 17 meters around 1530z. QSL direct to home call. BAHAMAS, C6. Eric, K9GY is QRV as C6AYM from Nassau and Paradise Islands, both IOTA NA-001, until January 1. He will operate mostly QRP CW on 40, 10, 6 and 2 meters. QSL to home call. Meanwhile, Bill, KM1E is QRV as C6AGN until March 8 from Green Turtle Cay. QSL to home call. GERMANY, DA. Sven, DD6VSF will be QRV from Norderney Island, IOTA EU-047, from December 26 to January 3. Activity will be on 40 to 10 meters, including the newer bands, using CW. QSL via bureau. Meanwhile, Helmut, DL7VOX is QRV as DL7VOX/p from Usedom Island, IOTA EU-129, until January 2. Activity is on the HF bands using CW. QSL to home call. LIBERIA, EL. Patrick, EI5IF is QRV as EL2PM until the May. Of late, he has been active on 20 meters around 1530z. QSL to home call. THAILAND, HS. Special event station E25AJ will be QRV from Hat Yao for the 25th Asia-Pacific Scout Jamboree from December 24 to January 3. Activity is on all HF bands, excluding the newer bands, using CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV, PSK and various satellites. Japan stations QSL via JR5XPG and all others via E21EIC. MARIANA ISLANDS, KH0. Hide, JM1LJS is QRV as KH2VL/KH0 from Saipan, IOTA OC-086, until December 25. QSL to home call. ANTARCTICA. Ricardo is QRV as LU1ZR from Petrel Base on Dundee Island, IOTA AN-013. Meanwhile, Gustavo is QRV as LU1ZD from the San Martin Base, IOTA AN-016. QSL both calls via LU4DXU. SOUTH SHETLAND ISLANDS. LU1ZS is QRV from Camara Base on Livingston Island, IOTA AN-010, and has been active on 20 meters around 2000z. QSL via LU4DXU. SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE, S9. Charles is QRV as S9SS and has been active on 20 meters SSB between 2100 to 2300z. QSL via N4JR. CHAD, TT. Philippe, F4EGS will be QRV as TT8PK from December 25 to the end of February. He will be active on 20 to 10 meters, and possibly 40 meters, using mainly digital with some SSB. QSL to home call. KAZAKHSTAN, UN. Special event stations UP1SAT, UP2SAT, UP3SAT, UP4SAT, UP5SAT and UP0SAT will be QRV from December 26 to January 15 to celebrate the launch of Kazakhstan's first KazSat broadcast satellite. Activity will be on all HF bands, including 2 meters and 70 cm, using CW, SSB, RTTY, SSTV and PSK31. QSL via RW6HS. MICRONESIA, V6. Nao, JK1FNL will be QRV as V63O from Pohnpei Island, IOTA OC-010, from December 28 to 31. Activity will be on 80 to 6 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. ZIMBABWE, Z2. Vlad, UA4WHX is QRV as Z2/UA4WHX and has been active on 30 meters between 2100 and 0100z and then from 0400z to around 1600z. QSL via UA4WHX. GIBRALTAR, ZB. Ernie, ZB2FK has been active on 160 meters around 2330z to 0130z. QSL via operator's instructions. BULLETIN CORRECTION. As reported in DX Bulletin ARLD050, for Minami Torishima, the correct operator of JD1YBJ is Masa. It is not Tak, JA1DDH. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Lighthouse Christmas Lights QSO Party, DARC Christmas Contest, NCCC Thursday CW Sprint, RAEM CW Contest and the Holiday Milliwatt CW Contest are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see December QST, page 86, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP053 ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP53 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 53 ARLP053 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 16, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP053 ARLP053 Propagation de K7RA This is Propagation Forecast Bulletin number 53 for the year, which isn't bad, since 2005 is only 50 weeks old. We sometimes put an extra one out on Sunday night when a holiday forces an early bulletin, or if the early one is too soon for the weekly solar numbers, which are reported for Thursday through Wednesday. Last weekend's ARRL 10-meter contest was a nice surprise, considering that we're close to the bottom of this solar cycle. Here in the Pacific Northwest from morning to mid-day seemed quite good, with lots of transequatorial propagation to South America, with the Caribbean quite strong as well. In North America we were mostly hearing southern states, from New Mexico, Texas, across the Gulf Coast, and on up into North Carolina, Tennessee and Virginia. Average daily sunspot numbers were down over 18 points for the week (when compared to the previous seven days), and average solar flux values were down nearly six points. Geomagnetic indices indicate quiet for the most part, although the days of the contest were unsettled. Don't expect any big changes over the next week. Solar activity should stay about the same. RWC Prague expects December 18 and 19 to be quiet (geomagnetically), quiet to unsettled conditions on December 17, 20 and 21, and unsettled December 16 and 22. Jon Shea, N3DRK of Liberty, North Carolina asked about the ACE-HF PRO System Simulation and Visualization Software (see http://www.acehf.com). We mentioned this program back in the June 28, 2002 Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP026 (you can read it on the web at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/2002-arlp026.html) but haven't tried it since. Do any readers use this software for predicting HF propagation? If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for December 8 through 14 were 51, 61, 55, 51, 41, 67 and 55 with a mean of 54.4. 10.7 cm flux was 89.6, 89.1, 91.4, 93.1, 88.3, 87.9, and 89.6, with a mean of 89.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 1, 4, 12, 22, 9, 5 and 2 with a mean of 7.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 1, 3, 17, 10, 7, 4 and 2, with a mean of 6.3. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD050 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD050 ARLD050 DX news ZCZC AE50 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 50 ARLD050 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 15, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD050 ARLD050 DX news This weeks bulletin was made possible with information provided by the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. DESECHEO, KP5. N3KS and K3LP are reportedly en route with landing permission from the Fish and Wildlife Service and are expected to be on the air Thursday evening. It will be a short operation, with a minimum of 48 hours but possibly through the weekend. This is a working trip and not a full-blown DXpedition. The ops will be on as much as possible. Look for N3KS/KP5 and K3LP/KP5 on 160 to 10 meters, using CW and SSB. QSL via W3ADC. SRI LANKA, 4S. 4S7PAG and Mario, 4S7BRG are QRV from Barberyn Island, IOTA AS-171, and are active on 20, 17 and 15 meters using SSB. QSL both calls via F5PAC. BAHRAIN, A9. Special event station A92BND is QRV in celebration of Bahrain National Day, and is active until the end of December. QSL via A92GR. CHINA, BY. David, BA4DW has been active on 160 meters during his sunrise and sunset times. QSL direct to home call. ANTARCTICA. Torsten, DD1TG is QRV as DP0GVN from Neumayer Base until January 11. Most of his activity is on 20 meters. QSL to home call. ARMENIA, EK. Anna, EK6YL has been active on 20 meters using RTTY around 1430z. QSL via SP9ERV. TAJIKISTAN, EY. Alex, EY8CQ has been QRV on 30 meters between 1145 and 1300z and then around 0600z. QSL via DJ1MM. FRANCE, F. Special event station TM1JV is QRV until December 31 to mark the 100 years following the death of pioneer science fiction author Jules Verne. QSL via F4CEI. ITALY, I. Special event stations IO1NOR, IO1SHO, IO1SKE, IO1SNO and IO1SPE are QRV until January 9 to mark the approach of the XX Olympic Winter Games being held near Torino in February. QSL via bureau. MINAMI TORISHIMA, JD1. Masa, JA1DDH will be QRV as JD1YBJ from the Marcus Loran Ham Club station from December 20 to mid January 2006. He will place an emphasis on 160 meters. Meanwhile, JE7IZM/JD1 is also QRV from here. QSL via operators' instructions. LUXEMBOURG, LX. Robert, LX1RQ plans to be QRV as LX5A in the OK RTTY Contest. He will be a Single Band on 40 meter entry. QSL to home call. POLAND, SP. Special event station SP0TPAX is active during December to commemorate the very first Polish amateur radio QSO by Tadeusz Heftman in 1925. QSL via operators' instructions. TURKEY, TA. Mark, W4CK may be QRV as either TA2KA or TA2/W4CK from the Ankara Amateur Radio Club. QSL via operator's instructions. CAMEROON, TJ. Lionel, TJ3SL has been QRV on 20 meters around 0700 to 0900z and 15 meters around 0900 to 1400z. QSL via F5PSA. NAMIBIA, V5. Marco, IK1RAE is QRV as V5/IK1RAE until December 11. Activity is on 40, 20, 17, 15, 12 and 10 meters during his evening hours. QSL to home call. ANTARCTICA. Alan, VK6CQ is QRV as VP8PJ from the Antarctic Logistics and Expeditions base at Patriot Hills in Ellsworth Land. He is active from December 21 to January 30. QSL via DL5EBE. CHAGOS ISLANDS, VQ9. Larry, VQ9LA has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters between 1140 and 1220z. QSL via operator's instructions. HONG KONG, VR. Brett, VR2BG has been active on 30 meters around 2300z. QSL direct. INDONESIA, YB. Operators YB8HZ, YB8FS, YB8BRI, YB8HGM and YC8AJB are QRV as YB8ZC from Kodingareng Keke Island, IOTA OC-236, until December 18. Activity is on 80 to 15 meters using CW and SSB. QSL via YB8HZ. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The Stew Perry Top Band Distance CW Challenge, North American High Speed Meteor Scatter Winter Rally, Russian 160-Meter Contest, MDXA PSK Death Match, OK DX RTTY Contest, RAC Winter Contest, Croatian CW Contest, International Naval Contest, ARCI Holiday Spirits Homebrew CW Sprint and the Run for the Bacon QRP CW Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see December QST, page 86, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] Propagation Forecast Bulletin 52 ARLP052
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP052 ARLP052 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP52 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 52 ARLP052 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 9, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP052 ARLP052 Propagation de K7RA This weekend is the ARRL 10-Meter Contest. This year's contest, the one for 2006 and perhaps 2007 will probably all have very few sunspots, but as we've discussed in recent bulletins, sometimes 10 meters opens when we least expect it, even in the middle of the night or very early morning hours. Mark Madcharo, AB2IW in Schenectady, New York will be running QRP in the contest this weekend and wants to remind us to check paths from the northern to southern hemisphere, which at times may provide the only long distance openings. Don't be afraid to call CQ on what sounds like a dead band. You can also check the beacons down in the area between 28.2-28.3 MHz (where most of them are, anyway) or the very useful NCDXF beacons. A list of 10-meter beacons we provided recently is at http://www.ten-ten.org/beacons.html. The NCDXF beacon details are at http://www.ncdxf.org/Beacon/BeaconSchedule.html and http://www.ncdxf.org/beacons.html. One of the remarkable features of the NCDXF beacons is that the timing is precisely controlled, so it is easy to tell where a weak signal is coming from if you know what time it is, even if you can't copy the call sign. Also, they step through several discrete power levels, at 100 watts, 10 watts, 1 watt and 100 mW. Another nice thing is that their network also covers the globe for 12 meters, which can sometimes give a hint of good things to come if 10 meters is not quite open yet. Sunspot numbers and solar flux declined as sunspot 826 moved to the edge of the visible solar disk. Sunspot numbers peaked after the beginning of the month. Average sunspot numbers for the past week (the first week of December) were almost 39 points above the previous week, at 72.6. Geomagnetic conditions were very quiet for the past few days. For this weekend, the predicted planetary A index from December 9-12 is 7, 12, 10 and 5. Predicted solar flux for today (December 9) is 85, and 80 is predicted for the following five days. There is very little chance for disruptive solar flares this weekend, although conditions are expected to be slightly unsettled compared to the past few days. The College K index, measured in Fairbanks, Alaska has been 0 for sixty hours straight at the time of the writing of this bulletin, early Friday morning. You can access an array of magnetometers in Alaska to compare current to recent conditions at, http://137.229.36.30/cgi-bin/magnetometer/magchain.cgi. The measurements are in NanoTeslas, which are used to calculate the more familiar K index, but you can get a good visual indication of relative quiet or activity. Note that at this site you can vary the time observed from the last 24 hours up to one month, vary the scale, and include readings for up to 8 stations. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts unsettled conditions for December 9 and 10, quiet to unsettled December 11, and quiet conditions December 12-15. David Moore sent us a SpaceRef.com article about space storms and observing upper atmosphere disturbances. You can read it at, http://www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html?pid=18443. Back in December 1999, Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP052 for that year (see it at http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/1999-arlp052.html) noted that the end of 1999 would end the 9th calendar year of writing this bulletin, and that December was the 17th season the author performed as the Grandfather (a non-dancer's role) in Pacific Northwest Ballet's production of The Nutcracker. This year marks my 23rd season in the Nutcracker and December 2005 the end of the 15th calendar year writing the bulletin. When I began work on the Nutcracker, I thought if I was lucky the role might last a few years. With this bulletin, I thought my tenure would be just a few weeks. Thanks to you, the readers, and the ballet, both have been a blast! If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for December 1 through 7 were 79, 98, 75, 91, 85, 58 and 22 with a mean of 72.6. 10.7 cm flux was 98.2, 106.3, 101.3, 95.2, 91.7, 89.1, and 89, with a mean of 95.8. Estimated planetary A indices were 13, 12, 11, 5, 2, 3 and 0 with a mean of 6.6. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 12, 10, 9, 3, 2, 2 and 1, with a mean of 5.6. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our
[DX-NEWS] ARLD049 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD049 ARLD049 DX news ZCZC AE49 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 49 ARLD049 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 8, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD049 ARLD049 DX news This weeks bulletin was made possible with information provided by QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. KENYA, 5Z. Alex, PA3DZN will be QRV as 5Z1A on December 12 to mark Jamhuri Day which commemorates the Kenya Declaration of Independence. QSL via PA1AW. SENEGAL, 6W. Dani, EA4ATI is QRV as 6W/EA4ATI from Dakar. He is active on 20, 15 and 10 meters. He expects to soon be active as well on 160, 80 and 40 meters, and the newer bands. He will participate in the ARRL 10 Meter contest as 6W1EA. QSL direct to home call. Meanwhile, Tibi, HA7TM will be QRV as 6W/HA7TM from Le Caola from December 15 to 22. He will be active on all HF bands using mainly CW, with some SSB and RTTY. QSL to home call. EASTER ISLAND, CE0. Svien, LA6IKA is QRV as CE0/LA6IKA and has been active on 20 meters using PSK31 around 2300z and then with CW around z. QSL to home call. GERMANY, DA. Peri, HB9IQB is QRV as DJ4PM from Sylt Island, IOTA EU-042, until December 21. Activity is on all bands using CW, SSB and PSK31. QSL to home call. FRENCH GUIANA, FY. Operators David, F0CRS and Freddy, F5IRO will be QRV as TO7R from December 13 to 15. Activity will be on all HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via F5KIN. HONDURAS, HR. Dan, HR2DMR will be QRV in the ARRL 10 Meter contest using both CW and SSB. QSL to home call. THAILAND, HS. Pete, SM5GMZ is QRV as HS0ZFI until December 31. Activity is on all bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK31 during his spare time. QSL to home call. CENTRAL AFRICA, TL. Giovanni, IK1APO is QRV as TL8CG and has been active on 20 meters around 2000 to 2300z. QSL to home call. GABON, TR. Roland, F8EN will be QRV as TR8CR from Libreville from December 12 to January 12, 2006. Activity will be mostly CW on 40, 20 and 10 meters, and SSB on 20 meters, during his mornings. QSL to home call. ANTARCTICA. Paul, VK2JLX is QRV as VK0JLX from Davis Station until December 2006. Activity is on 80, 40 and 20 meters. QSL via operator's instructions. TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS, VP5. Kelly, N0VD is QRV as VP5/N0VD until December 10. Activity is mainly on the low bands. He will be active in the ARRL 10 Meter contest as VP5D. QSL both calls via operator's instructions. ANTARCTICA. Mike, VP8DJB is QRV from Rothera Station on Adelaide Island, IOTA AN-001. His length of stay is unknown. QSL via operator's instructions. CAMBODIA, XU. John, KF0RQ is QRV as XU7ACQ until December 28. He is normally active on 20 meters between 1400 to 1700z. QSL to home call. EL SALVADOR, YS. Roberto, I2JIN will be QRV as YS3/I2JIN from December 10 to 30. Activity is on all bands using mostly CW. QSL to home call. ASCENSION ISLAND, ZD8. Jim, N6TJ is QRV as ZD8Z and will be here for a few more weeks. This includes an entry in the ARRL 10 Meter contest. QSL via VE3HO. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL 10-Meter Contest, NCCC Thursday CW Sprint, EU-PSK-QRP Contest, North American High Speed Meteor Scatter Winter Rally, CQC Great Colorado Snowshoe Run and the NAQCC 80-Meter Straight Key/Bug Sprint are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see December QST, page 86, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP051 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP051 ARLP051 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP51 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 51 ARLP051 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA December 2, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP051 ARLP051 Propagation de K7RA Daily sunspot and solar flux averages over the past week were down, and the geomagnetic indices were up. Average daily sunspot numbers were down nearly 15 points to 33.7, and average daily solar flux declined nearly 13 points to 84.2. Currently sunspot and solar flux numbers are rising due to sunspot 826, which is growing rapidly and moving toward the center of the solar disk, giving it maximum influence here on Earth. It also could be a source of flares, which would not be good for the ARRL 160 Meter CW Contest this weekend. Predicted solar flux for today (Friday) through Monday December 5 is 100, 105, 105 and 105. The predicted planetary A index for the same days is 15, 12, 8 and 5, although those numbers will be higher if sunspot 826 becomes especially active. Back in Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP048 (see http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/2005-arlp048.html) there was a report of WB5AGZ in Stillwater, Oklahoma picking up a 10 meter repeater from New York (KQ2H) during the middle of the night and into early morning. We now have another similar report, also from Oklahoma. Stan Stephens, WA6SKD of Midwest City, Oklahoma wrote in with this narrative: I would like to confirm Martin McCormick's (WB5AGZ) observations from Stillwater, Oklahoma on late night 10 meter FM signals from KQ2H on 29.620 MHZ. I am in Midwest City, Oklahoma (near OKC). I monitor the 10 meter FM band always looking for a contact or two, since I am a night owl. I have observed KQ2H many times after midnight, almost too numerous to keep track. These openings have not just been this month, but also spring and summer. What I hear does sound like a link with stations having no idea they are being copied 59+ in Oklahoma. He continues, Now for the good part, these late night signals are not limited to KQ2H. I have also noted signals from the southern U.S. and Midwest with an occasional California 10 FM repeater. Also, like Martin, I notice no other signals on 10M, and 12M, 15M, and 17M also with no signals. Trying to raise these repeaters can be difficult on my Azden PCS 2800 (10 watts and Ringo), but when I do get a response from the machine no one is home! Stan goes on to say, In general I find the 10 meter FM band is open a lot more than it is given credit for, I am not sure what conditions allow this but no complaints on this end. It is cool making a 10 meter FM contact with a distant station at 0300 in the morning. I have been on 10M FM with my Azden for 23 years, my log books really show varied conditions on 10M FM. Although some years have been better than others, this includes sunspot cycle minimums. This is very interesting, and shows us that 10 meters may be open more often than we think, even in the middle of the night when there shouldn't be any conventional propagation. Remember that the ARRL 10 Meter Contest is coming up next weekend, December 9-11. November ended on Wednesday, so let's look at the monthly averages for solar flux and sunspot numbers. The average daily sunspot numbers for the months September 2004 through November 2005 were 50, 77.9, 70.5, 34.7, 52, 45.4, 41, 41.5, 65.4, 59.8, 68.7, 65.6, 39.2, 13 and 32.2. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 103, 106, 113.7, 95, 102.3, 97.2, 89.9, 85.9, 99.5, 93.7, 96.5, 92.4, 91.9, 76.6 and 86.3. It looks like activity bounced back a bit in November, but look for the general trend to be down until the sunspot minimum, which should be about a year from now, or maybe a little longer. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for November 24 through 30 were 30, 39, 30, 26, 27, 27 and 57 with a mean of 33.7. 10.7 cm flux was 86.6, 79.9, 80.8, 80.7, 81.9, 84.7, and 94.7, with a mean of 84.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 9, 10, 5, 2, 9, 5 and 10 with a mean of 7.1. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 6, 8, 3, 2, 6, 6 and 9, with a mean of 5.7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD048 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD048 ARLD048 DX news ZCZC AE48 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 48 ARLD048 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT December 1, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD048 ARLD048 DX news This weeks bulletin was made possible with information provided by A61AV, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. MONACO, 3A. Operators N0FW, K4ZLE and N9NS are QRV as 3A/N0FW and 3A/N9NS/p until December 13. They are active on all bands, and will participate in the ARRL 160 Meter CW and 10 Meter contests. QSL via W8QID. JAMAICA, 6Y. Kenny, K2KW and Tom, N6BT are QRV as home calls/6Y5 until December 5. They will be active as 6Y0A in the ARRL 160 Meter contest as a Multi/Single entry. QSL contest call via operators' instructions and all others via WA4WTG. MALDIVES, 8Q. Roberto, IW1RIH will be QRV as 8Q7IH from Rannalhi Island, IOTA AS-013, from December 5 to 12. QSL to home call. MALTA, 9H. Andrea, IK1PMR and Claudia, K2LEO are QRV as 9H3MR and 9H3LEO, respectively, from Gozo Island, IOTA EU-023, until December 21. Activity is mainly on the lower bands using CW and RTTY. They plan to be active in the ARRL 160 Meter contest as well. QSL via IK1PMR. UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, A6. To commemorate 34 years of independence, in celebration of National Day on December 2, A6 stations will affix /ND to their callsigns. QSL via operators' instructions. ANTARCTICA. Thorsten, DD1TG will soon be QRV as DP0GVN from Neumayer Station during the Antarctic summer. QSL to home call. ENGLAND, G. Special event station GB5RSR is QRV from the Ribble Steam Railway in Preston, until December 28 as part of the Christmas celebration here. QSL via M0DJC. SWITZERLAND, HB. In connection with their 19th telethon, the USKA-Valais group is QRV as HE1TELE until December 31. QSL via bureau. JAPAN, JA. Operators JI2ZLM/2 and JF0BPT/2 are QRV from Shino Island, IOTA AS-117, in the Honshu Coastal Islands Group until December 3. QSL to home calls. ARGENTINA, LU. In celebration of 50 years since the first operation from the Argentine Station on South Sandwich Island, members of the Radio Club Pampeano will operate special event station LR50U from December 7 to 12. Activity will be mainly on the HF bands using CW and SSB. QSL via operators' instructions. ARUBA, P4. Ken, K6KA and Kay, K6KO will be QRV as P40TA in the ARRL 160 Meter contest and P40K in the upcoming ARRL 10 Meter contest. Ken also plans to operate the Stew Perry contest the following weekend from grid square FK52. QSL via WM6A. BRAZIL, PY. A group of operators will be QRV as PQ7Q from the Olinda Lighthouse, ARLHS BRA-068, in the ARRL 160 Meter contest as a Multi/Single entry. QSL via PY7VI. SURINAME, PZ. Ronald, PA3EWP and Rob, PA2R are QRV as PZ5WP and PZ5PA, respectively, from Paramaribo until December 14. Activity is on 160 to 10 meters using CW, SSB and RTTY. QSL both calls via PA7FM. POLAND, SP. In celebration of the founding of the Polish QSL Bureau, special event station SP80QSL is QRV until mid-January 2006. QSL via bureau. GREECE, SV. Steve, G4EDG and Jeff, G4ELZ will be QRV as home calls/SV8 from Kithira Island, IOTA AS-113, from December 4 to 11. Activity will be CW only. QSL via G4ELZ. CAMBODIA, XU. John, KF0RQ will be QRV as XU7ACQ from December 3 to 28. His activity will be mainly on 20 meters between 1400 to 1700z. QSL to home call. INDONESIA, YB. A group of operators plan to be QRV as YE5M from Siberut Island, IOTA OC-215, from December 6 to 9. QSL via operators' instructions. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL 160-Meter CW Contest, TARA RTTY Melee, New Mexico QSO Party, Holiday Spirits Homebrew CW Sprint, Wake-Up. QRP Sprint, TOPS Activity CW Contest and the ARS Spartan CW Sprint are all scheduled for this weekend. Please see December QST, page 86, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP050 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP050 ARLP050 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP50 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 50 ARLP050 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 28, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP050 ARLP050 Propagation de K7RA Because of the holiday last week, Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP049 went out without the usual weekly data at the bottom. The data appears at the end of this bulletin. Average daily sunspot numbers rose over 27 points to 48.1. Average daily solar flux values were up 9 points. Geomagnetic indices were on the average lower. Daily solar flux is expected to stay around 80 until December 5, when it is expected to decline. The predicted planetary A index for the next five days is 12, 10, 15, 20 and 20. This indicates recurring geomagnetic disturbance, especially toward the end of this week. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for November 17 through 23 were 62, 51, 52, 56, 45, 36 and 35 with a mean of 48.1. 10.7 cm flux was 100.5, 101.1, 102, 96.4, 94.7, 92.6, and 89.7, with a mean of 96.7. Estimated planetary A indices were 3, 4, 10, 7, 3, 6 and 8 with a mean of 5.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 1, 2, 6, 5, 2, 3 and 12, with a mean of 4.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP047 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP047 ARLP047 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP47 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 47 ARLP047 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 11, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP047 ARLP047 Propagation de K7RA We may be in another period of zero sunspots. From October 24-28 there was a sunspot count of 0 on each day. Three days at the beginning of the month were no-sunspot days, and four months ago there were five days (July 18-22) with no spots. A year from now expect to see longer periods of 0 sunspot readings, possibly up to several weeks, based on what the periods between previous sunspot cycles were like. Earlier this month Propagation Forecast Bulletin ARLP042 (October 6) referred to a nomograph, a graphic representation of numerical relations, like a ruler calibrated with inches and centimeters. This nomograph was supposed to illustrate the relationship between A index and K index, such as the figures seen in the table at, http://www.sec.noaa.gov/ftpdir/indices/DGD.txt. Unfortunately, the bulletin just quoted that same URL twice, but the unmentioned URL (the one with the nomograph) can be found at, http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/GEOMAG/kp_ap.html. Geomagnetic conditions should be fairly active for Friday. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, November 11-14 is 15, 8, 5 and 5. The Prague Geophysical Institute predicts unsettled to active conditions on November 11 and 12, unsettled conditions on November 13, quiet to unsettled on November 14 and 15, and quiet conditions November 16-17. Remember that for good HF propagation we want these geomagnetic numbers to be low, with sunspot numbers as high as possible. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for November 3 through 9 were 24, 22, 18, 34, 31, 38 and 13 with a mean of 25.7. 10.7 cm flux was 76.8, 77.4, 79.3, 81.7, 79.4, 79.4, and 78.1, with a mean of 78.9. Estimated planetary A indices were 24, 20, 10, 10, 6, 3 and 3 with a mean of 10.9. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 19, 16, 10, 12, 6, 2 and 1, with a mean of 9.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP046 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP046 ARLP046 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP46 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 46 ARLP046 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA November 4, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP046 ARLP046 Propagation de K7RA Conditions recovered from zero sunspots, which lasted for five days. Average sunspot numbers rose nearly 10 points to 17.6 this week. Average daily solar flux only rose 1.2 points to 75.4. October just ended, so let's look at monthly averages for sunspot numbers and solar flux to see if the trend is still down. Last month we looked at quarterly averages, but with monthly averages this time we'll see more volatility. The average daily sunspot numbers for the months September 2004 through October 2005 were 50, 77.9, 70.5, 34.7, 52, 45.4, 41, 41.5, 65.4, 59.8, 68.7, 65.6, 39.2 and 13. Average daily solar flux for the same months was 103, 106, 113.7, 95, 102.3, 97.2, 89.9, 85.9, 99.5, 93.7, 96.5, 92.4, 91.9 and 76.6. You can see that the numbers declined every month for the past four months, especially October, which was like dropping off a cliff. There has been some geomagnetic disturbance over the past couple of days, but conditions should settle down for the ARRL CW Sweepstakes this weekend. The predicted planetary A index for Friday through Monday, November 4-7 is 20, 20, 12 and 8. Sunspot numbers and solar flux should rise slightly, reaching a peak around November 6-8. If the planetary A index is 20 or higher this weekend it may cause some difficulty reaching those VE8 or KL7 multipliers in Sweepstakes, but don't count on any major flare activity. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for October 27 through November 2 were 0, 0, 11, 14, 29, 33 and 36 with a mean of 17.6. 10.7 cm flux was 71.6, 73.1, 74.1, 75.6, 77.8, 77.3, and 78, with a mean of 75.4. Estimated planetary A indices were 6, 5, 2, 5, 13, 8 and 6 with a mean of 6.4. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 5, 4, 1, 3, 6, 7 and 5, with a mean of 4.4. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLD044 DX news
SB DX @ ARL $ARLD044 ARLD044 DX news ZCZC AE44 QST de W1AW DX Bulletin 44 ARLD044 From ARRL Headquarters Newington CT November 3, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB DX ARL ARLD044 ARLD044 DX news This week's bulletin was made possible with information provided by NC1L, QRZ DX, the OPDX Bulletin, The Daily DX, 425DXnews, DXNL, WA7BNM and Contest Corral from QST. Thanks to all. TANZANIA, 5H. Harald, DL7VSN is QRV as 5H1HS from Zanzibar Island, IOTA AF-032, until November 17. Activity is on 80 to 10 meters, including the newer bands, using CW and SSB. QSL to home call. WEST MALAYSIA, 9M2. Enno is QRV as 9M2/PF5X and has been active on 30 meters around 1500z. QSL via PA0KHS. TONGA, A3. Alex is QRV as A35BO and has been active on 20 meters around 0700z. QSL via HB9FBO. TAIWAN, BV. Jurgen, DJ3KR is QRV as BX3/DJ3KR until November 16. QSL to home call. PHILIPPINES, DU. Station DX0TIC is QRV until November 10. QSL via operator's instructions. GUADELOUPE, FG. A group of operators are QRV as TO5S from Les Saintes Island, IOTA NA-114, until November 12. Activity is on all HF bands, including 6 meters, using CW, SSB and PSK31. QSL via F1BCS. MAYOTTE, FH. Serge, F6AUS will be QRV as TX0P from November 9 to December 7. This includes an entry in the upcoming CQ WW contest. QSL via operator's instructions. SAINT MARTIN, FS. Jean, F5AHO will be QRV as FS/F5AHO from Tintamarre Island, IOTA NA-199, from November 9 to 18. Activity will be on 20 and 17 meters using SSB. QSL to home call. TEMOTU PROVINCE, H40. Members of the Korean DX Club plan to be QRV as H40HL from Nendo Island, IOTA OC-100, from November 5 to 11. Activity will be on 160 to 6 meters, including the newer bands, using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via HL1XP. THAILAND, HS. Champ, E21EIC is QRV as E21EIC/8 until November 16. Japan stations QSL via JR5XPG and all others QSL to home call. MINAMI TORISHIMA, JD1. Operators JE7IZM/JD1 and JR6TYH/JD1 have been QRV on 40 meters at various times. QSL to home calls. JAN MAYEN, JX. Ole is QRV as JX9NOA for at least a year. Given his current antenna situation, his activity may be on a few bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. QSL via operator's instructions. SUDAN, ST. Fernando, ST2BF has been QRV using CW from around 2200 to z. QSL via W3HNK. BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA, T9. Roger, LA4GHA is QRV as T98GHA until the end of November. QSL direct to home call. COTE d'IVOIRE, TU. Gerd, TU5JM has been QRV using RTTY on 20 meters around 0800z and then around 1100 to 1500z. QSL via bureau. KALININGRAD, UA2. Alex, UA2FT has been QRV on 160 meters from around 0030 to 0530z. QSL to home call. NAMIBIA, V5. Jack, V51KC has been QRV using PSK31 on 15 meters around 1930z. He has also been active on 17 meters using PSK31 around the same time. QSL direct via IZ8EDJ. NORFOLK ISLAND, VK9N. Ron, ZL1TW is QRV as VK9ANA until November 9. His activity is mostly on 40 meters, but he will try 80, 30 and 20 meters as well. QSL direct to home call. CHRISTMAS ISLAND, VK9X. Charlie is QRV as VK9XG and has been active using RTTY on 20 meters starting around 2300z. QSL via W0YG. ANTARCTICA. Bhagwati, VU3BPZ is QRV from the WTO Indian Antarctica Maitri Base and is here until April 2006. He can usually be found on 20 meters using SSB. QSL via operator's instructions. OPERATIONS APPROVED FOR DXCC. The following operations are approved for DXCC credit: Somalia, 6O0JT, from September 30, 2004 through April 30, 2005; Uganda, 5X1W, from August 3, 2005 to August 12, 2005; Spratly Islands, DX0K, from February 1, 2005 through April 30, 2005. THIS WEEKEND ON THE RADIO. The ARRL CW Sweepstakes, IPARC CW/SSB Contest, Ukrainian DX Contest, North American Collegiate ARC CW Championship, Radio Club of America QSO Party, High Speed Club CW Contest and the DARC 10-Meter Digital Contest will certainly keep contesters busy this weekend. Please see November QST, page 103, and the ARRL and WA7BNM contest websites for details. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
[DX-NEWS] ARLP045 Propagation de K7RA
SB PROP @ ARL $ARLP045 ARLP045 Propagation de K7RA ZCZC AP45 QST de W1AW Propagation Forecast Bulletin 45 ARLP045 From Tad Cook, K7RA Seattle, WA October 28, 2005 To all radio amateurs SB PROP ARL ARLP045 ARLP045 Propagation de K7RA No sunspots. The average daily sunspot number from the previous reporting week to the current dropped six points to 7.7. There have been no visible sunspots over four days so far, October 24-27. Don't expect an improvement for the CQ Worldwide DX SSB Contest this weekend. Thankfully geomagnetic conditions are stable, and the longer nights as we head toward winter solstice are good for 160, 80 and 60 meter operation. Solar flux should remain around 70 over the next few days, rising to 80 around November 4. The predicted planetary A index over the weekend, October 28-31 is 15, 12, 8, and 5. Geophysical Institute Prague predicts unsettled conditions for today, October 28, unsettled to active conditions for Saturday October 29, and unsettled conditions for Sunday October 30. The week of the CQ Worldwide DX SSB contest last year had an average sunspot number of 139, 201.4 for 2003, 150.9 for 2002, 222.7 for 2001, 148.7 in 2000 and 160.4 in 1999. The average of 7.7 for the past week is far below any of these. I've received a few reports of VHF openings. Scott Avery, WA6LIE reported an October 20 6-meter opening from east coast to west coast around 0100-0300z. It then shifted to single hop north-south between Washington/British Columbia and California. For the same day, Jon Jones, N0JK reported from Kansas that 6-meters was open from about 2315 to after 0400z. He worked or heard stations or beacons from VE2, VE4, MN, SD, ID, UT, WY and CA. Jon commented that E layer openings are uncommon in October, and these double-hop E layer communications between east and west coasts are very rare. At 0122z, WA6RPD in CM97 and KB6NAN in CM87 worked WZ1V in FN31. On October 9 Steve Carpenter, KG4LDD near Knoxville, Tennessee was listening to the Gatlinburg 2-meter repeater on 146.850 MHz and heard KB5LTB in West Monroe Louisiana. They talked, and while the Louisiana station was scratchy, he was also quite readable. On October 17 through the same repeater he worked N9VX in Connersville, Indiana, who was full-quieting into the machine. If you would like to make a comment or have a tip for our readers, email the author at, [EMAIL PROTECTED] For more information concerning radio propagation and an explanation of the numbers used in this bulletin see the ARRL Technical Information Service propagation page at, http://www.arrl.org/tis/info/propagation.html. An archive of past bulletins is found at, http://www.arrl.org/w1aw/prop/. Sunspot numbers for October 20 through 26 were 15, 15, 13, 11, 0, 0 and 0 with a mean of 7.7. 10.7 cm flux was 76.7, 75.3, 74.7, 74.2, 73.4, 73, and 72, with a mean of 74.2. Estimated planetary A indices were 3, 2, 6, 2, 4, 19 and 8 with a mean of 6.3. Estimated mid-latitude A indices were 2, 1, 7, 2, 3, 17 and 8, with a mean of 5.7. /EX -- Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news@njdxa.org THE DXR is sponsored by the North Jersey DX Association. Please visit our website: http://www.njdxa.org/index.php scroll to bottom for subscribe/unsubscribe options --
