LA8AJA's homepage

I happened to surf by SM3GSJ’s page a few days ago. Here I discovered that he has released a newer version of GcmWin. This is a great program for creating great circle maps of the world. You can also plot prefixes on the map, or create nice locator maps to keep track of your worked locators. Check out the program on http://hem.passagen.se/sm3gsj/

After my last post about Botswana, I managed to work A25/DL7DF on 17M RTTY and 20M SSB. That’s a total of 7 QSO’es. Check the picture for the logsearch. Thank you very much to the team for a great operation. They gave me a total of 3 new band countries and 1 new mode country.

Before work on Friday, NH7O were cq’ing on 40M with a nice signal. I managed to work him quickly. He is an LoTW user, so I guess this one will be confirmed quite easy. Here you can se his qth and his antennas. He runs a 2 element yagi on 40M. Later that day I worked HV0A and 9M6XRO on 20M CW. They were both a new CW country on 20M. I also heard V8 on 20M SSB with a nice signal, but couldn’t break the pile-up. I didn’t try for very long, since he weren’t running split, and the pile-up were quite messy. Yesterday evening, S79TF were spotted on 30M. He wasn’t very strong, but I gave a few calls, and he came back to me, though I’m not sure he logged me, cause I never got the confirmation because of QSB and QRN. 

LoTW gave me severaI new confirmations. 4O3A gave me a new one on RTTY. He is always fast to confirm on LoTW! I also got ZL1BYZ, ZL2IFB and 7K1PTT from the DX I worked last week. Talk about fast QSL’ing.

Looks like an expedition is getting closer! Here is a fresh press release:

Press Release # 1—-Desecheo KP5—-2009

The Caribbean National Wildlife Refuge Complex has selected and announced a team of operators to activate Desecheo Island (KP5) sometime between January 15, 2009 and March 30, 2009. The Team will be co-led by Dr. Glenn Johnson, WØGJ and Bob Allphin, K4UEE.

Background: On June 30, 2008, the Caribbean National Wildlife Refuge office in Puerto Rico sent a letter to persons that had previously made inquiries about an Amateur Radio operation from Desecheo. They announced their decision to allow one group to activate the island and invited proposals that must adhere to strict guidelines and criteria. Applicant’s had 45 days to prepare and submit their proposals.

CNWR received seven written proposals. A panel of three Fish and Wildlife Service employees, from areas within the Service outside of the Caribbean refuge, spent September 24 & 25 reviewing and evaluating the proposals. The selection criteria used were those outlined in the proposal invitation letter. Points were awarded for how well criteria were addressed for thoroughness and documentation.

The proposal with the highest ranking was submitted by team leaders Dr. Glenn Johnson, WØGJ, and Bob Allphin, K4UEE. Their plan involves a team of fifteen operators for a 14-day operation. USFWS has not announced the actual dates of the operation yet, but the DXpedition is expected to take place between January 15, 2009 and March 30, 2009. A Special Use Permit (SUP) will be issued as per USFWS regulations. We
expect that the DXpedition team and DXers worldwide will have a minimum of 30 days notice.

A website is being planned and will be announced in the near future.

The ARRL DXCC Blog posted an interesting article about an "Ethics and Operating Procedures for the Radio Amateur" booklet by John Devoldere, ON4UN. If you have been listening to the HF bands the last few years, there is no doubt that many people need to learn how to operate properly. The behaviour on the bands are not good. And if you are a DX’er and have chased many of the big DXPeditions, you will surely have noted all the jamming and noise created by people. I find this booklet well worth the read.

IARU Endorsed Booklet Promoting Ethics

Oct 1, 2008 09:57 ET
Bill Moore, NC1L

A 67-page booklet, "Ethics and Operating Procedures for the Radio Amateur" by John Devoldere, ON4UN, and Mark Demeuleneere, ON4WW, is available for free download from the ARRL Web site. The booklet is an "Americanized" version of the booklet that the authors wrote for an international audience. An international version is also available. At its June 2008 meeting, the IARU Administrative Council endorsed and recommended the principles set out in the booklet as a means of encouraging all radio amateurs "to operate to the highest levels of proficiency, with proper consideration for others using the amateur radio bands" and as a tool "to teach newcomers and others correct operating behavior." The booklet mainly addresses HF operating issues, but the principles are also applicable to VHF and higher bands. ARRL Chief Executive Officer and IARU Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ, expressed appreciation for Devoldere’s and Demeuleneere’s efforts: "The authors are well known, experienced HF operators who are concerned about on-the-air operating standards and who decided that ‘It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness.’ Anyone who reads their booklet will learn something, no matter how experienced they may be."

Bill Moore NC1L
ARRL Awards Manager
 

I did a little bit of DX’ing after work today. I got A25/DL7DF on 30M RTTY (new modecountry) and 40M (new country). Thanks for the expedition guys. You are doing a great job. The expedition homepage can be seen here.

I also modified my WordPress theme to include gravatars in the comments.