New Prefix for Bosnia-Herzegovina Officially Announced

In response to a request from the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina in August, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) withdrew the call sign prefix allocation T9A-T9Z for Bosnia and Herzegovina and made a new allocation, E7A-E7Z. The change was made initially on a provisional basis under authority of the ITU Secretary-General and was confirmed by the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference to be effective November 17, 2007.

GJ, Jersey Island, 28-Dec. thru 6-Jan.

A DX'pedition this coming week from Jersey Island is planned by 3 French and 1 Scottish amateurs. They plan to concentrate on the low bands, 12, 17 & 30-M as well as RTTY. There will be three HF stations so you have a good chance of working this one to fill in some of those band-blanks in your Challenge effort. Please do not mix your QSO's on the same card but QSL each operator independently as per the instructions on the web site.

New Look For DXCC/VUCC

The ARRL has completed the finishing touches on certificates issued through the 5-Band DXCC (DX Century Club) and VUCC (VHF/UHF Century Club) programs. The awards program staff worked with the ARRL in-house graphic designers to create a fresh new look for these traditional awards.

The new 5-Band DXCC certificate recognizes the achievement of this award with a distinctive graphic display that incorporates the ARRL diamond and globe design that is familiar throughout the DXCC program, as well as stunning raised gold leaf enhancement; when framed and hung in your shack, it will definitely mark your accomplishment. The new VUCC award is a full color diploma that features red, white and blue shading over a grid square map with a stylish VUCC logo.

Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, Will Attend Jackson's Mill 2008

Dan Ringer, K8WV, reports that Riley Hollingsworth, K4ZDH, the FCC's chief of amateur enforcement will attend the 50th Roanoke Division ARRL Convention at Jackson's Mill next August. That should really boost attendance at this the FIFTIETH WV State ARRL Convention at Jackson's Mill.

FJ is official

The ARRL DXCC Desk is pleased to announce the addition of St Barthelemy (FJ) to the DXCC List, making the island entity number 338 with an effective date of 14 December, 2007. Cards with contacts dated December 14, 2007 or after will be accepted for DXCC credit. New card submissions for St Barthelemy will not be accepted until January 1, 2008 in order to allow time for administrative adjustments.

A NEW DXCC Entity - Saint Barthelemy, FJ

Bernie, W8UR, is reporting in The Daily DX that we have a NEW entity on the DXCC list as of today. Basically France changed the status of FJ, Saint Barthelemy, which previously counted as FJ, FS - Saint Martin. Now it appears that FJ and FS will be separate countries and we have a NEW one!

As you probably guessed, Martii, OH2BH, and Olli, OHØXX, have traveled to Saint Barthelemy and should begin operation today around 1600 GMT as FJ/OH2AM. Initial operations will be on 20-M SSB and 17-M CW to give as many as possible a NEW counter for Christmas! (And you thought Santa was only putting a piece of coal in your stocking this year!) DX IS!

New 6-M Beacon in Portugal

Dave, W8UI, reports that there is a new 6-M Beacon operational in Portugal. The beacon sends: V V V DE CS1RLA/B QTH IM57px followed by 15 seconds of carrier and 5 seconds of silence. The frequency is 50.076 MHz and it is located 57 miles due South of Lisbon. This might be a good indicator of European 6-M openings. Come on Sunspots!

Has the Next Solar Cycle Begun?

Woo, Hoo! The folks in the Solar Physics community are all buzzing this week (and so are the hams!) about the activity on the Sun this week. On December 11th a region appeared on the sun that is high in latitude and has "reversed" magnetic polarity. These two conditions (of a sunspot) are what signals the beginning of a new Solar Cycle. The only thing that is keeping the scientists from announcing that this is the beginning of Cycle 24 is that this is just a "region" that "may" turn into a sunspot. If it does, then we can all start to hope for better propagation sooner rather than later.

ARRL 10-M Contest This Weekend

Don't forget that this weekend is the ARRL 10-M Contest. 48-hours from 0000 Saturday to 2350 Sunday (operate no more than 36 hours.) Rules can be found HERE and remember this contest allows BOTH CW and SSB. Solar flux is up to a whopping 78 so there might actually be some 10-M propagation. GL to all.

Spratley Islands - March 22-30

Bernie, W3UR, reports in The Daily DX that N1UR is planning a DX'pedition with his wife, KB1PQN, to the Spratley Islands in March (22-30.) They will have two 100-watt rigs, no amps and verticals. This is a very hard one to work so mark this on your calendar.

If you don't already subscribe to The Daily DX, you might think about doing so. I find it chock full of useful DX information. You can get a 2 weeks of The Daily DX for free HERE.

J5C - Guinea-Bissau in January 2008

The guys that brought you XT2C will be going to J5, Guinea-Bissau between January 11 and 21, 2008. They will concentrate on the low-bands (40-160-M) but will have 16 operators manning 5 full-time stations. HERE is their web site with many more details.

2007 BS7H (Scarborough Reef) DX'pedition Video

Thanks to Ted, W8KVK, HERE is a link to a YouTube video of the BS7H DX'pedition. It is just still photos with a music background but they have added motion to the still photos and it is a very nice presentation. The video runs 4 minutes and 48 seconds.

WVDXA Exclusive Telephone Call-Out List for E4

Alan, W8OP, has graciously agreed to set up a Telephone Call-Out list for WVDXA members for the upcoming E4, Palestine, DX'pedition. This is the procedure which worked so well for us on the VU7 and BS7H operations (well, except for the poor lady in Lincoln County who kept getting the 5 a.m. wake up calls instead of W8WEJ!)

If you want to be included in the Call-Out List, send your telephone numbers, and all pertinent info to Alan, W8OP, at W8op-at-AOL.com (change -at- to the @ symbol of course.)

The Call-Out list works like this: K4OM hears the E4 on 20-M. Pete looks at the Call-Out list and sees he is to call W8OI and he does. This alerts Garry to the E4 operation. Garry in turn calls the next on the list, W8WEJ, to alert John. If Garry does not get an answer, he then calls the person John should call (for example, W8TN) and alerts Clark. Clark then calls the next person on the list and so on.

Once you get on the air, also get on the WVDXA Chat Page and be ready to pass real-time info back and forth to other WVDXA Members. Good luck to all with the E4 Operation and THANKS to Alan for setting up the Call-Out List which will be published on the WVDXA Email Reflector.

E4, Palestine, December 14-22

According to the Ohio/Pennsylvania DX Bulletin, after 8 years of not being on the air, signals will soon be heard from E4, Palestine. E4/OM2DX should be operational from December 14-22 on 160-M to 10-M CW,SSB and RTTY with two stations. HERE is the web page for OM2DX describing the operation.

NASA Solar Cycle Prediction

HERE is the latest prediction from NASA (updated November 14th) regarding the next solar cycle. It is obviously difficult to predict (and be correct) in advance the behavior of a solar cycle. This prediction uses three different methods and comes to a very nice conclusion (for us 6-M types) for the upcoming solar cycle. Bring it on!

What Are Some of Your Most Prized QSL's?

A recent email from K8KFJ got me thinking - [DANGER, Will Robinson!] What are some of the QSL's you have received that are your "Most Prized" ones. Garie, K8KFJ, remarked, "One of my most prized DX QSLs would be ZA2RPS worked in June of 1971 on 20m SSB. We're told that shortly after this operation began, it was shut down by the Albanian authorities. Further, that there was no other operation from ZA until some 30 years later (ZA1A in 1991)."

So, leave a comment to this Post about your "Most Prized" QSL. If this subject sparks enough interest, send W8TN a JPG of the QSL and I'll post it on the Internet for all to see and enjoy.

What IS that Noise You Hear?

Ever wonder about those strange noises you hear in your receiver? Is QRN causing you to lose QSO's? Well, Ken, VE3HLS, has created a WEB PAGE to help you track down that offending noise. He has files on this site which he has identified that will help you track down what is causing the noise. The files are MP3 audio files and you can look at the waveform of the noise to see what it looks like on an oscilloscope.

Kick up Your CW Skills for the CQWWDX Test

At the WVDXA meeting in October, I demo'd a couple of CW training programs for the PC. One has been around for some time - Morse Runner. However it simulates a full QSO. This is good but for a change of pace, try - RufzXP. This is an interesting concept to improving your CW skills. It sends an actual ham callsign which you type into the keyboard then press Enter. If you got it right, you get a Happy Face and the next call is sent just a little bit faster. You can choose how many calls it sends and the starting speed. Then after the run you get scored. It keeps track of your scores for you so you can track your improvement. This doesn't take a long time and can be run many times just to improve your ability to copy call signs.

Snap Shots Removed from the Blog

Today I removed the Snap Shots feature from the Blog since the majority of those who responded to the poll indicated they did not use that feature. Whether or not you used the Snap Shots, if you now see that there has been a change in the speed with which the Blog loads in your Browser, please indicate by voting in the Poll in the Sidebar. Thanks!

UA4WHX Operations Approved by DXCC

DX'ers. The ARRL DXCC Desk has approved all the operations from Vlad's most recent trip. These include, but may not be limited to, the following: 5X1VB -- Uganda; 9U0VB -- Burundi; 9X0VB -- Rwanda; D20VB -- Angola; D60VB -- Comoros, and J20VB -- Djibouti. Other operations include: 3DA0VB -- Swaziland; 5R8VB -- Madagascar; A25VB -- Botswana; C91VB -- Mozambique; ST2VB -- Sudan; Z2/UA4WHX -- Zimbabwe; V51VV -- Namibia, and OD5/UA4WHX -- Lebanon. BTW, clicking on any of the above links takes you to the appropriate QRZ.com page but each has a different photo from Vlad's trips.

Revilla Gigedo DX'pedition 11/15 to 12/17

Socorro Island (NA-030) will be the site of a DX'pedition from Revilla Gigedo (XF4) for over 1 month starting November 15th. 6E4LM will be the callsign of the group. 160-M to 10-M plus 6-M and 2-M with operation on CW, SSB, Satellites and Digital modes. Logs will show up on LoTW after all direct QSL's have been answered. They will concentrate on 160-M and 6-M. HERE is their web page.

SnapShots Poll

There was not a great response in the Poll about those who do or do not use the SnapShots feature. It was suggested at the meeting that the SnapShots feature slows down the loading of the Blog. Since we only had 5 responses and 3 of them were negative, unless someone really objects, I'll remove the SnapShots feature. If you object to this, speak up by emailing either the WVDXA Reflector or W8TN.

South Cook Islands - E51MMM & E51NNN DX'pedition

George, K5KG, and Ron, KK9K, will operate from Rarotonga from November 12 through December 1. They will operate mostly HF on CW and some SSB, concentrating on 80-M and 160-M. HERE is their Blog, which details their operation.

Riley Hollingsworth STAYING with the FCC

After thinking over his decision to retire, Riley Hollingsworth, Special Counsel for the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, has changed his mind and decided to stay with the FCC for now. He feels there are still some items "on the table" that he wants to see completed before he quits.

Did You Work the CQWWDX Phone Contest?

Did anyone else in the WVDXA work the CQWWDX Phone Contest besides Hal (as 4XØC) and myself? Leave a comment to this Post if you did. I managed about 5 hours on Friday night and entered a single-band 80-M log with 69 QSO's and 10,208 points. I managed to work 43 countries and 15 Zones including a QSO with C5ØC for a new one! Did anyone else operate? I heard W8GG calling in the same pileups I was in so I know Gregg was up all night, hi!

VooDoo Contest Group to Activate Guinea as 3XY5D

This is the 14th consecutive year the VooDoo Contest Group has activated a country in West Africa for the CQWWDX CW Contest. They will operate with seven 1 KW stations into monoband antennas under the call 3XY5D. Logs will be uploaded to LoTW soon after the contest.

K3LR Super Station Featured in Video

HERE is a 15-minute extremely well-produced video from Icom Radio News. It features the K3LR Super Contest Station operating in the CQWWDX Contest and ends with a brief introduction into the Islands on the Air (IOTA) program.

Riley Hollingsworth Retiring from FCC

According to the ARRL Amateur Radio News, Riley Hollingsworth, of the FCC's Enforcement Bureau, will retire January 3, 2008. For 9 years he has been the strong arm of the FCC in Amateur Radio enforcement issues.

W8OI Works Morocco on 160

What a thrill! Tonight I worked CN2R on 160.

Now that might not be a big feat for you top band pros but I had only worked 21 DXCC entities until tonight on 160, and most of them have been in North and Central America. I don't have a linear that works on 160 and my antenna is an inverted vee which is coil-shortened to about 120 feet, but resonant. It just goes to show that either:

A. Blind squirrels find nuts once in a while, or
B. Persistence pays off.

Now let me go get that C5 who has eluded me for three straight nights.

Hey, 160 is fun! How come I missed it all those years until now?

Contest Keyboard Overlays

Have trouble in the contest remembering which F-key will send the message you want? Then download THESE Excel templates for the program you are using, print them out and attach one to your keyboard. They are created in Microsoft Excel and if you do not have a version of Excel on your computer, you can download a free "reader" from Microsoft HERE. There are two versions available for each program, the ones marked "5 per page" simply have the same overlay repeated 5 times so you can just print out 5 copies on one sheet of paper. If you have Excel then you can modify the contents of any of the "cells" to display text that fits your own station. For example, you can replace the words "my call" in the template with your own callsign. Of course, you can also modify this concept to fit your general logging program!

Please Vote in the New Poll

There is a new "Poll" on the WVDXA Blog - see under our logo on the right. This question relates to the feature that was added to the blog several weeks ago. Wherever there is a link to another web site, a small icon (like a balloon) is displayed at the end of the link. If you hover your mouse over that icon, a preview of the link's homepage pops up.

It has been suggested that this feature is not too useful and slows down the page loading. So, please vote in the poll on the right. If it is not that useful to the WVDXA members, we will remove it.

Special Event Ops Needed at Radio Museum Nov. 3

Famous Grand Ole Opry star Little Jimmy Dickens will be at the Museum of Radio and Technology on Saturday, November 3. Will you? You are needed to man a special event station.

On that date the West Virginia Broadcasting Hall of Fame, housed at the museum, will induct 32 more honorees. Yes, Little Jimmy Dickens is one of them and he says he will be there to accept the honor. Lots of others are being inducted too - local disk jockeys you grew up with, newscasters, pioneering chief engineers, early station owners, and WV natives who are now nationally known like Bob Orr, CBS news correspondent, and David Selby who played Quentin Collins on "Dark Shadows."

The Tri-State Amateur Radio Association (TARA) has announced it will operate a special event station from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the radio museum's hamshack. A certificate will be sent to those working the station. Only problem is - TARA is having trouble finding enough operators. They would especially like some from the WV DX Association because they know what good operators DXers are.

If you can spare an hour or two on that day, I encourage you to do it. It'll be fun, and you'll be helping our friends at TARA who have allowed us to use their equipment for WV QSO Party events, and other events, in the past.

Please let me know if you can. We need to pencil you in for a specific time if possible.

Garry, W8OI

E4 on the air?

Intel via Bob, WA8VPN. Tnx

Maybe a pirate?
From DX summit.

DL5MG     10117.0 E44AI       Palaestine ?                  1546 16 Feb 2007
KK1L     742100.0 E4A                                       2151 04 Mar 2007
EB6ABR     7065.0 E4ADM       arcala de henares             1114 22 Apr 2007
NN6EE     14025.0 E41/OK1DTP  Wrkd _99_ The gud Ol_Days!    2150 23 May 2007
W4ASS     14260.0 E4ASS                                     1618 28 Jul 2007
W6BK-@    18073.0 E4HHO       test spot                     0205 03 Oct 2007
N4VN      18079.2 E4BDC                                     1229 22 Oct 2007
W4FZ      18079.2 E4BDC       Wkd Simplex                   1251 22 Oct 2007
K8BJ      18079.2 E4BDC       via k2yyk                     1311 22 Oct 2007
RA6AX     18079.2 E4BDC       pirat QTF 330                 1311 22 Oct 2007
UA3KW     18079.2 E4BDC       PIRATE FROM 270 DEGREES FR EU 1316 22 Oct 2007
                                  .-.-.

WVDXA Meeting

It was a great evening! Food and fellowship was great. Sorry not everyone could make it.

Look for 4XØC this Weekend

Good ol' WV boys, Hal, W8HC, and Jerry, K8OQL, will be operating this coming weekend (Oct. 27-28) in the CQWW DX Phone Contest as 4XØC. If you hear or work them, please send an email to the WVDXA Reflector (wvdxa@wvdxa.org) or get on the WVDXA Chat Page and announce it there.

N1MM Contest Logging Program

As demo'd at the October WVDXA Meeting, the N1MM FREE Contest Logging Program is available for downloading HERE. The program is NOT a general logging program but intended to handle your contest logging. The resulting log can easily be imported into your general logging program or uploaded to LoTW. It supports all major DX contests, interfaces with your rig, uses your sound card as a Digital Voice Keyer, automatically generates CW messages, supports RTTY and other digital modes, produces automatic beam headings, sunrise/sunsets and Band Maps from Packet and Telnet spots and MUCH more. Those at the meeting saw how easy it is to load the voice messages with just a couple of keyboard clicks.

BTW, did I mention that this program is FREEWARE? That means NO CHARGE. It also has an extremely detailed 389 page manual as a PDF file. Check out all the Features of the program HERE. Use the Menu (Home, Support, Help Files, Downloads, etc.) at the top of the MAIN page to navigate to all the various features.

I have paid BIG money for contest logging programs that do not have 10% of the features of N1MM. And NONE of them have the documentation this program has. It is cheap at 10 times the price (that's 10 times $0.00 in case you missed the fact that this program is FREE.) Even if you already have a Contest Logger, you should at least LOOK at this program. You just may be very surprised.

DX Tidbits from the OPDX Bulletin

DX'ers - Our 8th region QSL Bureau Manager, Jay Slough, K4ZLE, has signed on to the 2008 Clipperton DX'pedition. Also, Wayne, K8LEE, has signed on to the trip. That sounds good for the possibility of a 6-M QSO, right Phil?

Last Chance to Work KH3, Johnston Island ??? - Skipper of the USSV Dharma, Susan Meckley, W7KFI, may leave KH6 after November 1 for Johnston Island. Susan was told that she is the last official operation from KH3-land as the U.S. Air Force and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has delcared it a closed island. It took Susan 7 months to get permission from the USAF to stop there. Susan is expected to use the callsign KH3/W7KFI and prefers the CW mode (she states "I can get many more QSOs in.") Visit her WEB SITE to hear an interview she had with Art Bell (W6OBB - Radio Host of "Coast to Coast AM") and read about her travels on her QRZ WEB SITE. Also, you can track her progress on THIS WEB SITE by entering her call. Susan is 73 years old!

Credit for the above items to KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 the Ohio/Pennsylvania DX Bulletin and W8TN.

WVDXA Instant Messaging

Today the WVDXA Blog Team added a new feature to the "Hints & Kinks of the WVDXA" Blog. You can see it in the sidebar right under the WVDXA Greyline Map. This is an Instant Messaging (IM) service that will allow anyone on this page to communicate in "real-time" to anyone who is "Online." This is quite similar to the WVDXA Chat page.

If you already have a Google account, click on "Sign In". Otherwise, you will need to create a User Name and sign up by clicking on "Create an Account Now". I would suggest you set User Name like this:

User Name: W8TN.Clark

or
User Name: W8TN.WV

Because User Names need to be at least 6 characters long. Of course, you can choose whatever you want. Once you have signed up you can enter into a IM session with anyone who is on the page or you can invite others into a "Group Chat." You can even "Pop Out" the IM window and move it around your screen. This can let you watch DX Summit and see the IM screen at the same time.

This IM feature is a "Google Gadget" that is just a web-based application. You can also download GoogleTalk to your computer as a program and have the same functionality all the time. If you do that, I can tell you how to make a slight mod to the program so that the IM window always stays "On Top" of all other windows. Just ask.

Full instructions on how to use this IM feature of the WVDXA Blog are HERE and you can find the GoogleTalk "Client" HERE to download to your computer if you wish.

The Art and Skill of Radio-Telegraphy

Ever want to improve your ability to copy Morse code? I know I have, and do, want to improve my meager skills. A recent post to the DX-List email reflector by AD5VJ, got me to look into it a bit more. HERE is an ARRL article that talks about copying high-speed code on a "mill" (typewriter) and in it they mention THIS web site where you can download for free (or purchase a printed copy) of a book by NØHFF described as "A Manual For Learning, Using, Mastering And Enjoying The International Morse Code As A Means Of Communication."

You can download either a web-page version or a PDF version. I chose to download the PDF version and at first glance, it appears very well written. I'll be reading this as time permits and trying, little by little, to improve my CW skills so that I can more easily chase that elusive DX.

W8TN Snags 9UØA on 80-M

WOW! With just hours left before their DX'pedition ends, I took one last try to see if 9UØA was on 80-M Monday night and they had a very good signal about 0140 GMT. 10 minutes later, they were in the log! And, 4 hours after that, my 80-M QSO appeared in the ONLINE LOG.

I feel really good to have worked them on 30-M, 40-M and 80-M considering I only have an 80-M Inverted "V" with a 6:1 SWR on the low end of 80-M. This is really getting me interested in finishing the installation of the SteppIR. Then I can work them on all bands like W8DL, hi! But, the moral of this post is that even if you don't have the best antenna, give it a try - you might just get lucky!

Final Report of the VK9WWI DX'pedition

K4UJ's DX-IS Blog has an an excellent write-up on the recent VK9WWI 2-man DX'pedition HERE. If you worked or heard this operation you will enjoy reading about their set-up and the conditions they faced. Quite a good showing on Top-Band as well as many other bands for such a small operation!

Listen to Your QSO with CN2R

Dave, WA8WV, sends the following tip:

"FYI folks. If you have ever QSO'd CN2R; mostly during contests then give this a try. It is really neat. If your call isn't in there then try another call."

I searched for the call "W8AH" and was able to listen to Al make a QSO with CN2R about a year before he died.

View Your LoTW Account Offline

Have you ever wanted to look at your Logbook of the World DXCC Award Credit Matrix when you are not logged in to your LoTW account? Well, here is a simple way to do that. When you are viewing the ARRL Award Credit Matrix in your Internet browser, go to the "File" menu of your browser and click on "Save Page As. . . " (in Mozilla Firefox) or "Save As. . ." (in Internet Explorer.)

That will save the entire web page including the data. Then, you can call it up on your computer by just clicking on the saved page and have the scrollable credit report in front of you any time you want without needing to log in to LoTW. It will look exactly the same as it does when you are logged in. Save a new page as often as your records change.

W8TN Works 9UØA on 30-M/40-M

Never say NEVER! The only antenna I have at the new QTH is an 80-M Inverted "V" that Tim, KC8UHE, helped me string up so that I could work 3B7C. Well, tonight I had some time so I thought I would see if I could "tune" the antenna to work 9UØA on 30-M. It was not easy, the best match I could get was 2.6 : 1 even WITH the tuner. But, after many, many tries, I made the QSO! I then tried it on 40-M and was able to get a 1 : 1 match with the tuner. But, many more people were calling and even with the Alpha at 1 kW output, it took an hour. But, I snagged a 40-M contact as well. HOORAY! Now if they will just show up on 80-M where my antenna is resonant!

Update. They did come on 80-M but were pretty weak. I stuck with them through their sunrise (they peaked nicely) but had no luck working them on the band for which my antenna is cut. Go figure!

W8OP Works P29NI - Papua/New Guinea

Alan, W8OP, reported today: "Just worked P29NI @ 0959z on 7.002 up 2. He's a true 559 to 569 here." This 4-man DX'pedition, now operating fromTakuu Island (OC-283), has a web page HERE and is expected to do 80-M and 160-M operation.

Need a Ham Band Frequency Chart?

Are you confused as to where you can operate on a particular band? Want to keep those "OO" cards from piling up in your mailbox? Well, the ARRL has a nice Ham Band Frequency Chart that you can download and print out HERE. It is available in either COLOR or BLACK & WHITE depending on the printer you have. This chart is all on one page.

Or, HERE is a web site that has separate pages for each band. It has special frequencies noted like "Gentleman's Agreements" for each band and space is left for you to record you favorite frequencies. It is also available in COLOR or BLACK & WHITE.

Contests for Non-Contest Purposes

Many DX'ers are NOT Contesters. They just want to work new band-countries and not run up a score in a contest. But, a contest is a great place to fill those holes in your DXCC Credit Report. A contest many times brings operations on bands where you may not usually find a particular DX station. So, use the contests as a tool to pick up those much needed contacts.

A good way to plan for a contest is to see what operations are being planned by those people who like to travel to a rare (or not-so-rare) DX location and play radio. HERE is a web site that lists those planned operations. There you can find the plans for these operations and many times the callsigns they will use. Other useful info is also available (like whether they plan WARC band operation before or after the contest.)

VP6DX Ducie Is. News Release No. 4

It looks like the VP6DX operation in February 2008 will be using the new Elecraft K3 transceivers for their 7 stations. Five of those stations will have Acom amps. They plan to operate 160-M through 6-M so it's time to get those antennas tuned up and ready for this big operation. Unfortunately Jan, DJ8NK and Martti, OH2BH had to withdraw but they still have a great team consisting of: DL3DXX, DL6FBL, DL6LAU, DL8LAS, ES5TV, K3NA, N5IA, RA3AUU, SP3DOI, SP5XVY, SV1JG, UA3AB and WA6CDR.

The operation plans to have online logs and has a goal of making at least 100,000 QSO's. However, as with any major operation, this will be expensive. $140,500 for the boat charter (including food, fuel, generators and tents)!

The WVDXA has received a request for a donation toward the costs of this operation. I can forward the PDF donation request to anyone who is interested. Does the club want to put together a group donation? If so, let me know and I will take care of it. We can take a collection at the upcoming meeting as well.

Funny QSL Cards

DX'ers.
I found THIS site which has thumbnail images of 144 funny QSL cards. Just click on the thumbnail to see a larger image. Once you do that, you can just work through a slide show of all of them. Be aware, some are a bit racy!

Logbook of the World Setup - Step by Step Guide

If there is anyone in the WVDXA who needs help in getting started with the ARRL's Logbook of the World, HERE is a Step-by-Step set of instructions to get you going. Just click on each step (1 through 7) and follow the explicit instructions. This set of instructions is MUCH easier to follow than those posted on the ARRL's web site. As of tonight, the status of LoTW shows:

140,456,947 QSO records have been entered into the system.
9,782,560 QSL records have resulted.

I am currently running just over 20% of my QSO's showing confirmed on LoTW but I do have a lot of U.S. calls in there. Recently I did receive QSL's on LoTW for Vatican City and Scarborough Reef so there is plenty of nice stuff showing up there.

NØHR's DX'pedition Map

Here is an interesting Internet tool for looking at DX'pedition info. NØHR has a map on his web site that displays a small white dot for each current DX'pedition. You can click on that spot and a window will pop-up showing all the details for that operation including dates of the operation, QSL info and website among other things. Here is what the map looked like on September 21 after I clicked on the dot for 3B7C:The map can be found HERE and requires the latest version of Flash player. If you do not have Flash installed, there is a link on the top of that page where you can install it for free.

Note that there is a slider at the bottom of the map. You can move it to some future date and DX'pedition dots will pop up and then disappear. When you see a dot at some location (or the date) you are interested in, let the slider stop and click on the dot. Nice presentation.

Snap-Shots Added to All Links

Introducing Snap Shots from Snap.com

I just installed a nice little tool on this site called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site. Note that there is a little balloon like icon at the end of each link. Just roll your mouse over that icon and a preview of what that link looks like will pop-up.

Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave this site, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not.

Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.

Get DX Alarms on Your Cell Phone

Wouldn't it be nice not to have to worry about leaving the radio when that rare DX station you need might just show up? Well, here is a piece of software that will watch the Packet spots and send a text message to your cellphone when the DX call you need shows up! Ain't technology sumpin'? You just need to be running DXLab's Spot Collector software (free) and this software, SpotSpy, (also free) is an add-on for DXLab. Just set it up, grab your cellphone and get back to a normal life, secure in the knowledge that when that P5 shows up, your phone will ring (and it won't be W8OI telling you he just worked it on 6 bands either!)

W8GG Works Willis Is. on 30-M

Greg worked VK9WWI this morning (9/24/07) at 0750Z on 30-M for a new one on CW. This is a two man mini-DX'pedition to Willis Island which you can read about HERE. Greg says he was not strong but he was good copy. They plan to be operating from Willis until October 5th. W8OP, Alan, also worked him on 40-M CW yesterday about 2100Z.

W8QHG Makes it to Taiwan

In doing a little Google searching I found THIS WEBSITE that has picked up the article on Bob, W8QHG, receiving his No. 1 Top of the Honor Roll plaque. Way to go Bob. You even got mentioned on a Taiwanese web page! His fame spreads world-wide!

W8HC to Operate CCQWW from Israel

Hal W8HC returns to Israel (4X) in October for a fifth consecutive CQWW Phone Contest from the Holyland. Joining Hal again this year is Jerry, K8OQL, another familiar West Virginia contest callsign. They will operate with other 4X operators as a M/S entry from the IARC Club Station in Reut, Israel (4X4REM). In year’s past, Hal operated as 4X0WV during the contest, but for this year he was granted a special contest callsign 4XØC thanks to the assistance of IARC President Joseph, 4X6KJ. Direct QSLs to W8HC or via the buro. All QSOs will also be uploaded to LOTW as in previous operations and Hal will QSL 100% via GlobalQSL.com.

3B7C Log Search

The ability of some DX'peditions to upload their logs to the Internet in near real-time has become a major improvement in the satisfaction I get in working a station and then having the instant gratification of seeing my call in the online log. To check the log for the current 3B7C operation, click HERE to go to the main page of the 3B7C website and then click on the "Online Logs" link in the left-hand frame.

If you have worked 3B7C you will see a graphical representation of the number of bands and modes where your call appears in their log like this:This is the band chart for our own W8DL. Don has done quite well with this operation. Congratulations! Does anyone else have a chart with more Greenies?

CQ CQ de WVDXA Blog

Greetings from 'da Prez.

The WVDXA now has another Internet tool to help with the search for that elusive DX. This is the "Official" Blog of the West Virginia DX Association! BTW, "Blog" is short for "Web Log."

I hope that many different people will step up and begin posting to this Blog all the Hints and Kinks they use to work those rare (and not-so-rare) DX stations.

Anyone who wants to be able to post to this Blog need only contact W8TN and get an account set up. If you would rather not go to that extent, you can just send an email to one of the Blog Authors listed under the "Who Are We?" heading at the bottom of the Blog and they will post it for you.

The great thing about this Blog is that all these jewels of wisdom will be available for all time in the Archives of this Blog so you can easily find it later. Put your thinking caps on and let us know what you would like to see posted here.

Now, save the link to this page in your Favorites or Bookmarks so you can check back regularly.