. ===================== *** The Daily DX *** ===================== Volume 1 Number 37 May 8, 1997 Edited by Bernie McClenny, W3UR ----------------------------------------------------------------- Headlines ----------------------------------------------------------------- George, JY9QJ, has told The Daily DX since the low bands have been getting noisier he is on almost every day on 20 meters around his sunrise 02:44Z checking for W6's, W7's, KL7's and KH6. He says that this is a difficult path from Amman, Jordan. George also is active during his lunch time around 10:00 to 11:00Z. He starts by checking on 10 and 12 meters, then 15 and 17 meters. After work (15:00 to 20:00Z) if his time permits he is also active. George is an excellent CW operator and also operates SSB. He has worked over 25,000 QSOs since August and likes to work DX as he has work 214 countries so far. For those attending the Dayton Hamvention next week be on the lookout for George. QSL via DL5MBY. Yesterday Tham, E21CJN, told Fred, K3ZO, that the upcoming IOTA (AS-125) operation of HS50A to Koh Chang will not have permission to operate on the WARC Bands (30, 17, 12 meters). They have been given special permission to operate on 80 and 160 meters. SSTV and Satellite operations are planned. The group was to leave Bangkok, Thailand at 17:00Z on May 7th. They hope to arrive on the island around 02:00Z today (May 8th). Plans are for them to have four stations running simultaneously around 09:00Z today. They should be active until 08:00Z on May 11th. Takahiro, JH3FUK, reports that Katsumi, JH3IMR, and Ikuo, JA3TJA, will be in Taiwan from May 28th to May 30th and operating from the QTH of Bruce, BV2KI. They will be signing BV/JH3IMR and BV/JA3TJA on SSB and RTTY on 10-40 meters. QSL via home calls. Chris, ZS8IR, now has a new linear amplifier. He also reports that a crew is in the process of taking down the Rhombics and all but one of the towers. In this modern day of satellite telephones the HF system has been decreased to a single multi-band dipole on a single tower. This was a complete surprise to Chris and may dampen future operations from Marion Island as operators may have to bring their own antennas and receive prior permission. Chris is scheduled to leave Marion Island in about two weeks. QSL via ZS6EZ. Jim Smith, VK9NS, has two schedules today with Mani, VU2JPS, in the Andamans. The first is at 09:00Z on 14260 and the second is at 12:00Z on 14215. Jim says that Mani still does not have all of his paper work in line for DXCC but hopes to have it very soon. ----------------------------------------------------------------- BS7H ----------------------------------------------------------------- And now the story you've all been waiting for......by Tim, N4GN. "As has been widely reported in the media, the Philippine government announced on 28 April (within hours of the BS7H/MM departure from Guangzhou) that three Chinese military ships had been spotted in the area around Mischief Reef in the Spratly Islands. Mischief Reef is claimed by both the Philippines and China. Philippine President Fidel Ramos immediately lodged an official diplomatic protest with Beijing and ordered increased Navy and Air Force presence in the area. Although the Spratly Islands lie some 300 miles to the south of Scarborough Reef, news of the escalating tensions in the region was immediately relayed to the BS7H crew. The expedition to Scarborough actually involved two P.R.C. Ocean Bureau vessels, one carrying the BS7H team with an Ocean Bureau crew, the other carrying only Ocean Bureau personnel. The two Ocean Bureau captains were disturbed by the news from the Spratly Islands but everyone agreed to press on toward Scarborough. On the first day of on-the-air operations by BS7H (30 April), two Philippine military reconnaissance jets overflew the reef at low altitude. Then, late on May 1st, a Philippine Navy ship arrived at the reef, eventually followed by a second Philippine military vessel. Philippine Navy officers visited each of the three BS7H operating sites. They were reported to be very friendly, even bringing medicine to relieve the gastrointestinal ills suffered by some of the BS7H team! In discussions with the BS7H team and the captain of the lead Ocean Bureau vessel, however, the officers asserted the Philippine position that Scarborough Reef lies within the 200 nautical mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) claimed by the Philippines. It is important to note that the Philippine officers admitted that there is no Philippine claim to the reef itself. The captain of the lead Ocean Bureau ship, of course, stated the Chinese position that Scarborough reef is P.R.C. territory and provides the baseline for a 12 nautical mile Territorial Sea (TS) surrounding the reef. [Despite recent speculation posted to the DX reflector, China is the undisputed owner of Scarborough Reef. Substantial evidence supporting this fact was submitted to the ARRL DX Advisory Committee, including official statements from the Philippine government. N4GN] At first, the Philippine Navy seemed to be concerned that the amateur radio operations of BS7H were somehow an 'economic activity' subject to treatment under an EEZ claim similar to commercial fishing or oil drilling. But after observing the pileup operations, this concern was apparently satisfied. Still, the Navy officers insisted that it was O.K. for the P.R.C. ships to safely pass through the Philippine-claimed EEZ, but that they should not stop in any one place for a prolonged period of time. [This does not appear to be in accordance with the Third U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS III). --N4GN] The captain of the lead Ocean Bureau ship was unable to reach any agreement with the Philippine Navy officers on this point. Finally, wishing to avoid a further escalation of tensions, the Ocean Bureau captains made the decision to leave the reef and return to Guangzhou, cutting the planned seven-day BS7H operation down to only three days." ----------------------------------------------------------------- QSN ----------------------------------------------------------------- TL8MS - Central African Republic - Was active yesterday on RTTY on 14087 at 21:40Z. QSL via DL6NW. TT8DX - Chad - Baldur seems to be predictable: 14025 around 17:00Z, 10103 between 20:00 and 22:30Z, 7001 from 22:30 to 00:00Z and 3508 around 00:00Z. QSL via DJ6SI. XV7TH - Vietnam - Thorsten was on 14195 QSX 14200-14210 yesterday around 14:20Z. QSL via SK7AX. ----------------------------------------------------------------- IOTA ----------------------------------------------------------------- The following IOTA stations were on yesterday (5/7/97): IOTA Call Freq Time ------ ------- ----- ----- EU-014 TK/DL4VCR 14193 20:15 OC-022 YB9BV 14195 11:48 IOTA frequencies - CW 28.040 24.920 21.040 18.098 14.040 10.114 7.030 3.530 SSB 28.560 28.460 24.950 21.260 18.128 14.260 7.055 3.765 ----------------------------------------------------------------- Calendar ----------------------------------------------------------------- Begin End Country Call (IOTA) ----- ------ ------- ----------------------------------- May 8 May 9 TT TT8DX May 8 May 10 3V TS40A May 8 May 11 8Q 8Q97FTG (AS013) May 8 May 11 F DL2RBY & DL9NCW (EU065,068,096,064) May 8 May 11 EY EY8/K4YT May 8 May 11 HB0 HB0 - DJ9SI, DJ8KI, DL8SET May 8 May 11 HS HS50A (AS125) May 8 May 12 YB YC8VYY (OC2?? New) May 8 May 13 BV BV3/DL5AUJ May 8 May 14 8Q 8Q7BP & 8Q7LU May 8 May 14 8Q 8Q7MZ & 8Q7BZ (AS013) May 8 May 15 FR FR/DJ4VW (AF016) May 8 May 15 FR/J FR5DJ/J & FR5KH/J May 8 May 16 KH6 N2NB/KH6 May 8 May 20 C6 C6AGN (NA080) May 8 May 21 3B8 3B8/F6DBZ May 8 May 30 4S 4S7BRG May 8 June 6 9M6 9M8CC (OC088) May 8 June 8 3B8 3B8/NK6F May 8 June 15 3X 3XY3A May 10 May 11 BV BV0THU May 10 May 11 CQ-M International DX Contest May 10 May 11 Volta DX RTTY Contest May 10 May 17 GW GB100LP & GB100FI (EU124) May 11 May 16 UK UK4YT May 12 May 16 G GB100FI (EU124) May 12 May 19 ZK2 ZK2 - K8VIR ----------------------------------------------------------------- Today's Propagation Forecast ----------------------------------------------------------------- The effective sunspot number for Tuesday, 5/6/97, was 17.1 The WWV numbers for Wednesday, 5/7/97, were as follows: Date Hour SFI A K Forecast ----------- ---- --- - - ----------------------------------- 7-May-1997 21 72 3 1 vLOW/QUIET;vLOW/QUIET-UNSET 7-May-1997 18 72 4 0 VRY LOW/QUIET;VRY LOW/QUIET-UNSETTLED 7-May-1997 15 72 4 0 VY LOW/QUIET TO UNSETTLED 7-May-1997 12 72 4 1 vl/q vl/q-u 7-May-1997 09 72 4 2 VRY LOW/QUIET;VRY LOW/QUIET-UNSETTLED 7-May-1997 06 72 4 2 VRY LOW/QUIET;VRY LOW/QUIET-UNSETTLED 7-May-1997 03 72 4 1 VY LOW/Q-UNSET 7-May-1997 00 72 4 1 VRY LOW/QUIET;VRY LOW/QUIET-UNSETTED The forecast for Thursday, 5/8/97: solar flux 74, A index 10, K index 2. Thursday should be High Normal. The forecast for Friday, 5/9/97: solar flux 75, A index 8, K index 2. Friday should be High Normal. ----------------------------------------------------------------- QSL Info ----------------------------------------------------------------- Call Manager ------- ------- 4Z4LF WA4WTG EW52OB EU1FC J87GU DL7VOG R60UPAL UR8LV RA9DX SP7LZD RP4FMK RZ4FXX RP4W UA4WE RP4Y RW4YA TT8MS DL6NW VS97KM VR2KM A41LZ - Box 2837, Ruwi CP 112, Oman DJ6SI - Baldur Drobnica, Zederweg 6, D-50127 Bergheim, Germany ----------------------------------------------------------------- Credits ----------------------------------------------------------------- Many thanks to the following for the above DX information: 425 DX NEWS, GM4FDM, JY9QJ, K3SKE, K3ZO, KC3AJ, NOAA, N3OSH, N4GN, OPDX, US Air Force, ZS6EZ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subscriptions ----------------------------------------------------------------- Subscriptions to THE DAILY DX are $28.00 for 6 months (25 weeks), $49.00 for 12 months (50 weeks). Send Check or Money order to THE DAILY DX, 3025 Hobbs Road, Glenwood, Maryland 21738-9728, United States. ----------------------------------------------------------------- Wanted ----------------------------------------------------------------- If you have any DX information please e-mail it to bernie.mcclenny@mail.wdn.com or FAX us @ 301-854-5105. _______________________________________________________________ / \ | THE DAILY DX is published Monday through Friday by Bernie | | McClenny, W3UR, 3025 Hobbs Road, Glenwood, MD 21738 USA. | | This e-mail message and its contents are copyrighted and are | | proprietary products of THE DAILY DX. Any unauthorized use, | | reproduction, or transfer of the message or its content, in | | any medium, is strictly prohibited. For permission to quote, | | reprint or repost this e-mail send a request to THE DAILY DX | | include date, volume and issue number. 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