Eastern Iowa DX Association

Welcome to the Eastern Iowa DX Association web site! Our club is open to any amateur radio operator who is interested in DXing and/or contesting. You are cordially invited to attend club meetings and get aquainted. We have many friendly, outgoing members with varied areas of expertise, who would be delighted to meet you and offer their help as needed. (Detailed club information is on the "About EIDXA" page.)

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EIDXA News     (Updated July 24, 2020)

EIDXA Meetings
EIDXA meetings are on hold indefinitely due to Covid 19 virus concerns. When this crisis is resolved, we will resume meetings. Stay tuned!

We normally meet quarterly in January, April, July and October on a Friday evening. Our normal meeting location is the Hall Perrine Cancer Center at Mercy Medical Center in Cedar Rapids. The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting starts at 7:30 p.m. A program of interest follows the business meeting. Complete details, including an aerial photo map, may be found on the "Meetings" page.

Note: The presentation by Al, KØVM from the October 2019 meeting is available for download on the "Meetings" page.

July 2020 Eastern Iowa DXer
The July 2020 edition of the Eastern Iowa DXer is now available on the "Newsletter" page. Bob, WØGXA, has as usual put together a great newsletter, loaded with good information. Be sure you don't miss it!

Membership roster updated on February 8, 2020
The membership roster has been updated. Thanks to Mike, NA9Q, for updating the list! You can find the list on the "Members" page.

Buy-Sell-Trade Listings
There are several interesting listings of equipment for sale on the "Buy-Sell-Trade" page -- take a look!

EIDXA Email Reflector
The EIDXA email reflector is available for your use. To post to the reflector, email your message for the group to: eastern-iowa-dx-association@googlegroups.com 
The reflector allows you to include photos or other files in your message.

You may visit the group homepage here:
    https://groups.google.com/group/eastern-iowa-dx-association
The homepage has a complete archive of all messages exchanged via the group.

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The Eastern Iowa DX Bulletin
For August 2 - August 9, 2020

DX News items are courtesy of:

The Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX)
   Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW, Editor (kb8nw@hotmail.com or kb8nw@arrl.net)
   The bulletin is available at http://www.papays.com/opdx.html

This list is a compilation of current DX operations (or those that start within the current week) from recent issues of the OPDX bulletin, with the dates of operation highlighted in red. The items appear in order of callsign prefix. Hot links are provided for QSL information wherever possible. Credit for the source is given at the end of each item.

3W, VIETNAM. Jesus, WP4JBG, is now active as XV9G (previously 3W9G) from Ho Chi Minh City. He now lives in Vietnam and operates from the 11th floor of an apartment that overlooks Tan Son Nhat International Airport. His equipment is a Yaesu FT-891 running barefoot with 100W with a modified MFJ-1622 apartment antenna. Jesus states [edited], "I will confirm all QSOs via QRZ.com and/or eQSL. I cannot confirm paper QSL cards in Vietnam due to postal service is not reliable and probably the card will not make it to my QTH. If you need a paper confirmation card, you can send it to my home country Puerto Rico (WP4JBG).  It will take a few months for the confirmation due to I only go back every 4 months and return to Vietnam."
-[OPDX # 1474 July 27, 2020]

5H, TANZANIA. Late last week, information came out about a well-known DXer (from the late 80's and the first half of the 90's; many older DXers may remember working him from very rare places; some questionable) will be going to Pongwe, Zanzibar Island (AF-032), Tanzania, and be active as 5H1RR. Specific details and dates have not been mentioned, but the operator was named -- Roman Vega (aka Romeo Stepanenko), 3W3RR (also to name a "few" other callsigns -- 1SØRR, 1SØXV, 1S1RR, 4L/AHØM, 5AØRR, 9DØRR, R3A/3W3RR, UB5JRR, XE2/AHØM, YAØRR and P5RS7).
  Romeo has been mostly in prison starting in 1993 (in Libya and Egypt), in in 1999 by the FBI - in Miami (however, that case was dismissed), but was arrested again in Cyprus in February of 2003. After spending 18 months in prison there, Romeo was extradited to the United States on an Interpol warrant in 2004. After serving many years in different prisons throughout the U.S. (for conspiracies to commit money laundering and access device fraud), Romeo was released from the York County Prison (PA) where he was held until November 2019, and then escorted to an airplane jetway at JFK  airport and on February 1, 2020, landed in Russia.
  For more details about Romeo and his operations, pictures of his QSL cards and his life activities (a lot of info), see the following Web pages:
   http://www.3w3rr.com/p/intro.html
   http://www.dokufunk.org/amateur_radio/personalities/index.php?CID=1175
  ADDED NOTES: Even if Romeo's 5H1RR operation takes place, his operation will probably not count. He has been banned/disqualified from participation in the DXCC program (in any manner). This was enacted by the ARRL Awards Committee after they reviewed all of the documentation for Romeo's 1992-93 P5RS7 North Korea operation. It was also announced in an ARRL DX Bulletin (#11) in 1996:  http://www.arrl.org/w1aw-bulletins-archive/ARLD011/1996
  By the way, on May 25th, 2020, there was a posting that Romeo was also going to be active as 9Q9RR from Mbuji Mayi, Dem. Republic of Congo. NO QSNs were reported.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

5X, UGANDA. Shabu, MØKRI (ex-9U4RI), will be going back to Uganda (second home) after 15 years and be active as 5X1RI sometime during the end of July to mid-August. He is calling it "The Pearl of Africa - DXpedition Part 2." Look for more details to be forthcoming.
-[OPDX # 1460 April 13, 2020]

8P, BARBADOS. Mathieu, VA2MVR, is currently active as 8P9QC and is living in Pine Gardens until September 12th. Activity is mainly on 40/20 meters using SSB and may try FT4/FT8 later. He is using an FT-891 w/100 watts into a sloping dipole between a tree and coconut tree. QSL only via LoTW.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

9G, GHANA. Matteo, IZ4YGS, will once again be active as 9G5GS from Sanzule, Sanzule, Ellembelle District, Western Region (WW Loc. IJ84SX), Ghana, in the jungle among palm trees and swamps, snakes and crocodiles, a few hundred meters from the ocean, Ghana, beginning August 8th until September 15th. Activity will be limited to his spare time (usually on "almost every evening", between 2100-0000z) on 160-10 meters using mostly FT8 (F/H) and SSB, with a Yaesu FT-891 and 100 watts into a vertical antenna. On FT8 (Fox-Hound Mode) the suggested frequencies are: 3590, 7056, 10131, 14090, 18095, 21091, 24926 and 28091 kHz. On FT8 (Standard Mode) on the standard frequencies; PLEASE SEND REPORT FIRST, not the Loc. He will also be active through the QO-100 geostationary satellite, USB mode. He will update daily to ClubLog. QSL via LoTW, IZ4YGS direct or eQSL.
-[OPDX # 1473 July 20, 2020]

A6, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES (Special Event - Emirates Mars Mission - Hope Probe). The United Arab Emirates has officially entered the global space exploration race. This came after His Highness Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, President of the UAE, issued a decree to establish the UAE Space Agency, and began working on sending the first Arab and Islamic probe to Mars, a project named "Hope Probe". This makes the UAE one of only nine countries working to explore Mars. The probe will start its journey in 2020 (expected to be launched from Japan's Tanegashima Space Center on July 19th; depending on weather), and is scheduled to arrive at Mars by 2021, in celebration of the 50th anniversary of the union of the UAE. The planning, management and implementation of the probe project are implemented by an Emirati team, whose members depend on their skills and diligence to acquire all space exploration-related knowledge and applying it. The program is fully funded and supervised by the UAE Space Agency, while the probe is being developed by the Mohammed bin Rashid Space Centre (MBRSC), in collaboration with international partners. The objectives of the mission include building Emirati human resources that are highly qualified in space technology, developing knowledge, scientific research and space applications to benefit mankind. Other goals of the mission include establishing a sustainable knowledge-based economy, promoting diversification and encouraging innovation, elevating the UAE's status in the space race and further widen benefits. The mission will help to promote the UAE's efforts in scientific explorations, and to build inter- national partnerships in the sector to promote the position of the UAE.
   For more information, kindly visit Emirates Mars Mission official website through the following link:   https://www.mbrsc.ae/emirates-mars-mission
  Special Event Operations by the Emirates Amateur Radio Society (EARS) for 2020 are as follows:
    A6ØEMM/1 -- Operator Obaid/A61M; QSL via A61BK
    A6ØEMM/2 -- Operator Abdullah/A61Q; QSL via EA7FTR
    A6ØEMM/3 -- Operator Fahed/A61FK; QSL via A61BK
    A6ØEMM/4 -- Operator Khalid/A61BK; QSL via A61BK
    A6ØEMM/5 -- Operator Ali/A61DD; QSL via A92AA
    A6ØEMM/6 -- Operator Obaid/A61QQ; QSL via A61BK
    A6ØEMM/7 -- Operator Faisal/A61FJ; QSL via LZ1YE
    A6ØEMM/8 -- Operator Ismail/A61DL; QSL via A61BK
    A6ØEMM/9 -- Operator Khalid/A61NN; QSL via DIRECT
-[OPDX # 1473 July 20, 2020]

CE9, ANTARCTICA. Alexander, RX3ABI, has been active as RI1ANM from the Mirny Antarctica Base Station (AN-016) and will be there until early 2021. Activity will be limited to spare time on various HF bands, but it seems he likes mostly 40 and 20 meters FT8 between 0200-1530z. QSL via his home callsign.
-[OPDX # 1469 June 22, 2020]

CN, MOROCCO. Hassan, CN8SG, will be active with the special callsign CN21SG from Kenitra. Activity is celebrating the 21st anniversary of the reign of his Majesty King of Morocco Mohammed VI. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via EA7FTR.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

DL, GERMANY. To celebrate the 70th anniversary of the International Police Association (IPA), German radio amateurs of the IPARC (IPA-Radio-Club) will be active as DL7ØIPA with the main activity from August 2-6th, November 7th (CW) and 8th (SSB) (IPARC-Contest 2020) and various weekends. Therefore, QSOs will be on CW and SSB, every Sunday, starting on the August 2nd, from 0800 UTC until 1000 UTC on QRG 7080 kHz +/- QRM, and starting Thursday, August 6th, from 0600-0700 UTC on QRG 3680 kHz +/- QRM, followed by every Sunday/Thursday until the end of 2020. They will also try 20 meters, if the conditions are OK. For more details, see their QRZ.com page or (https://dl0ipa.darc.de/).
-[OPDX # 1464 May 11, 2020]

DXCC'S MOST WANTED (ClubLog). The "DXCC Most Wanted" entities list has been updated on ClubLog as of July 3rd. The list contains 340 entities. The following are the top 26 entities:
   1. P5 DPRK (North Korea)     14. KH4 Midway Island
   2. 3Y/B Bouvet Island        15. ZS8 Prince Edward & Marion Islands
   3. FT5/W Crozet Island       16. PYØS Saint Peter and Paul Rocks
   4. BS7H Scarborough Reef     17. PYØT Trindade & Martim Vaz Islands
   5. CEØX San Felix Islands    18. KP5 Desecheo Island
   6. BV9P Pratas Island        19. SV/A Mount Athos
   7. KH7K Kure Island          20. VP8S South Sandwich Islands
   8. KH3 Johnston Island       21. KH5 Palmyra & Jarvis Islands
   9. 3Y/P Peter 1 Island       22. JD/M Minami Torishima
  10. FT5/X Kerguelen Island    23. EZ Turkmenistan
  11. FT/G Glorioso Island      24. ZL9 New Zealand Subantarctic Islands
  12. VKØM Macquarie Island     25. YK Syria
  13. YVØ Aves Island           26. FK/C Chesterfield Island
No change on the Top 26 since we last reported back on July 6th. The complete "DXCC Most Wanted" entities list (340) is available at:  https://secure.clublog.org/mostwanted.php
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

EA8, CANARY ISLANDS (Reminder/Satellite Op/Rare Grid). Philippe, EA4NF, will be operating on the satellites from Lanzarote Island, Canary Islands (AF-004, WW Loc. IL38 & IL39), as EA8/EA4NF between August 10-17th. A special focus will be from the very rare IL39 Grid. Portable activation will be with a FT818 and a FT817ND operating in full Duplex with an Alaskan Arrow Antenna. Activity will be on the FM and Linear Satellites. QSL via LoTW as EA8/EA4NF. Keep an eye on Philippe's Twitter feed for further updates and passes at:   https://twitter.com/EA4NF_SAT
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

G, ENGLAND (Special Event). Members of the Royal Signals Amateur Radio Society (RSARS) are celebrating their 100th anniversary by using the special callsign GB1ØØRS from June 28th until the end of October. Activity will be on various HF bands using CW, SSB, RTTY and PSK. Special awards are available. See: https://rsars.org.uk/rsars-corps-celebrations-2020
QSL via the Bureau.
-[OPDX # 1470 June 29, 2020]

HA, HUNGARY (Special Event). Members of the Hungarian FIRAC will be active with special callsign HA7ØMAV from Budapest until December 1st. Activity is celebrating 70th anniversary of Hungarian Railway. They will operate on various HF bands. QSL via LoTW and eQSL only.
-[OPDX # 1473 July 20, 2020]

HK, COLOMBIA. Members of the Colombian Amateur Radio League (LCRA) will be active with the special callsign 5K87LR from Bogota, Colombia, until August 31st. Activity is to celebrate 87th anniversary of the LCRA. Operations will be on various HF bands. QSL via LoTW only.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

KG4, GUANTANAMO BAY. Just a reminder that Miguel, W1SRR, is being deployed to Guantanamo Bay [WW. Loc: FK29kv (Shack) and FK29kw (House)] sometime in mid-June for a year. He plans to be active as KG4MA. His current shack equipment: Elecraft KX3 with KXPA100. Activity will be on Digital and SSB on various HF bands; he is learning CW and will try and make contacts via CW once proficient. He states, "Will attempt QSL cards, please standby for further direction."
-[OPDX # 1468 June 15, 2020]

OJØ, MARKET REEF. Operators Tommi/OH3BRJ (father) and Valtteri/OH3BRK (son) are expected to be to be active as OJØ/OH3BRJ and OJØ/OH3BRK from Market Reef (EU-053) between August 6-7th. Activity will be on 80-6 meters using SSB, RTTY and FT8/FT4 with two IC-7300.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

P4, ARUBA. Thomas, KM4VI, will be active as P4/KM4VI from Aruba (SA-036) between August 2-7th. Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands using SSB QRP only. QSL via his home callsign, direct, LoTW or eQSL.
-[OPDX # 1468 June 15, 2020]

P4, ARUBA. Thomas, NY4P, will be active as P4/NY4P from Aruba Island (SA-036) sometime in August 2020. Activity will be holiday style on various HF bands using SSB. QSL via his home callsign, direct, by the Bureau or LoTW.
-[OPDX # 1446 January 6, 2020]

PA, THE NETHERLANDS (Special Event). Look for special event station PI75VERON (Vereniging voor Experimenteel Radio Onderzoek in Nederland) to be on the air beginning August 1st until December 31st. Activity is to celebrate the 75th anniversary of the VERON (The Netherlands Ham Radio Society - https://www.veron.nl/ ). QSL via PA1AW.
-[OPDX # 1472 July 13, 2020]

PA, THE NETHERLANDS (Special Event). Dutch special event station PA75WSN will be active until the end of the year. It was 75 years ago that the allied forces liberated The Netherlands from the Nazi regime, ending the second World War five years after it started. The southern part of The Netherlands was liberated in the autumn of 1944, while the northern part was only liberated in the spring of 1945. On May 4, 1945, the German forces formally capitulated to the British Field Marshall Montgomery. The capitulation was effective the next day. The village Wassenaar also was liberated in May 1945. Their QSL card pictures the residents welcoming the Canadian soldiers after liberation the village of Wassenaar. Activity will be on various HF and UHF bands using SSB and the Digital modes. QSL via the Bureau or direct (see QRZ.com).
-[OPDX # 1472 July 13, 2020]

SP, POLAND. Members of the Mysliborski Klub Lacznosci PZK (SP1PMY) will be active with the special callsign SN87LOT from Mysliborz between now and August 31st. Activity is to commemorate 86th anniversary of the flight over the Atlantic Ocean by two Lithuanian pilots Steponas Darius and Stasys Girenas. They flew from New York in little airplane "Lituanica" to Kaunas on July 15th, 1933. Their flight ended with catastrophy in a forest near the village of Pszczelnik (ca. 6 km from Myslibórz, West Pomeranian Voivodeship). There is a monument dedicated to those two brave airmen at the place where airplane fell. Every year at this monument every year there takes place celebrations with highest Polish and Lithuanian representatives. Activity will be on various HF bands. QSL via SP1PMY, direct or by the Bureau.
-[OPDX # 1471 July 6, 2020]

TF, ICELAND. Operators Mek/SP7VC and Kate/SQ7OYL will be active as TF/SP7VC and TF/SQ7OYL, respectively, from various locations Iceland beginning July 24th until August 13th. Possible grid squares mentioned while /MM: JO37, JO27, JO18, JO09, JP81, JP80, JP72, JP63 and JP53, and maybe some others depending on WX and power source on the ferry. Also, they plan to activate 7 Lighthouses and 7 WFF references. Activity will be mostly meteor scatter on 70 MHz and 144 MHz, and 6m will be used for the first time to activate EME (Moon-bounce) - the locator will be chosen to get proper ground gain on moonrise and moonset over the North Sea. Exact location will be proposed later with Moonrise and Moonset times. QSL via SP7VC. For more details and possibly updates, see:  https://iceland2k20.blogspot.com
-[OPDX # 1451 February 10, 2020]

UA, EUROPEAN RUSSIA (Special Event). Members of the Fifth Ocean Amateur Radio Amateur Club, together with the Union of Radio Amateurs of the Armed Forces (SRVS) with the support of the Russian Radio Amateurs Union (SRR), are now active as R9ØWDWR from Bryansk Region until August 16th. Activity is to mark the 90th anniversary of the formation of the Russian Airborne Troops. Operations will be on 160-10 meters. QSL via RZ5D (paper only). For more details, see:     https://www.qrz.ru/news/16256.html
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

VKØIR HEARD ISLAND VIDEOS RELEASED. Dr. Bob Schmieder, KK6EK, has released 6 unseen videos of the Cordell Expedition's - VKØIR DXpedition to Heard Island during Jan/Feb 1997. He divided the collection into six parts, on YouTube.com:
  Part 1 Preparation    --  https://youtu.be/IGcbjiFWAig
  Part 2 Outbound       --  https://youtu.be/RFCzL5dyDkM
  Part 3 Landing/setup  --  https://youtu.be/50ykT4acnV8
  Part 4 Operations     --  https://youtu.be/kYX-F1mulTo
  Part 5 Environment    --  https://youtu.be/gXNAKC--ElI
  Part 6 Departure      --  https://youtu.be/uGFiFw3TWxY
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

VU, INDIA (Special Event). Dinesh "Pandir", VU2DCT, will use the special callsign ATØII (II=Improve Immunity) from Lucknow, India, to spread the awareness of the Covid-19 pandemic situation. Activity will be through August 18th. QSL via his home callsign.
-[OPDX # 1466 May 25, 2020]

VU, INDIA (Special Event). Utsav, VU3ZIG, will use the special callsign AT2SON (SON=Save Our Nation) from Habra, India, which was issued by WPC Ministry of Telecommunications Government of India, to show the gratitude and tribute for the COVID-19 warriors during this pandemic situation. Activity will be through August 18th. QSL via his home callsign.
-[OPDX # 1466 May 25, 2020]

XW, LAOS. Mike, XW2DX (ex-UAØXB), is currently active as XW2DX from Vientiane, Laos. He will be staying in the country for the next 5 years. Activity will only be on 20/15/10 meters per his license. He will be using an Icom IC-718 transceiver with wire antennas. QSL via RMØL.
-[OPDX # 1473 July 20, 2020]

ZL7, CHATHAM ISLANDS. Operators Chris/ZL2DX and XYL Catherine/ZL2QT are once again active as ZL7DX and ZL7QT, respectively, from Waitangi, Chatham Islands (OC-038) and will be there for the next couple of years. Activity will be on various HF bands plus 6m EME. QSL via MØOXO.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

ZL7, CHATHAM ISLANDS. Stuart, ZL3STU, who lives on the Chatham Islands (OC-038) and was heard on 30 meters FT8, July 30th, between 0450-0625z. His QRZ.com page states that he uses an IC-706MKII. QSL via info on QRZ.com.
-[OPDX # 1475 August 3, 2020]

ZS, SOUTH AFRICA (Special Event). The Port Elizabeth Amateur Radio Society has registered the special callsign ZS182ØS and will be operating the callsign for the rest of this year. The ZS182ØS callsign commemorates the 200th anniversary of the arrival of the 1820 British Settlers in the Eastern Cape area of South Africa. Activity will be on various HF bands and modes. QSL via the Bureau to Tom, ZS2EC, also via LoTW, ClubLog's OQRS and QRZ.com. For more details about the Settlers, see:
   https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1820_Settlers
   https://www.1820settlers.com
-[OPDX # 1465 May 18, 2020]