Author - Charles M0OXO

3Y0J Bouvet 2023 – Message of thanks….

7th April 2021
I am really pleased to have been confirmed as the QSL Manager for the 3Y0J project to Bouvet in January 2023. At #2 in the Most Wanted Lists it will no doubt be the biggest Dxpedition I’ll deal with and I’m looking forward to the challenge.

 
The Intrepid DX Group have a very high reputation and an excellent track record from their past Dxpeditions 
such as South Sandwich (VP8STI) & South Georgia (VP8SGI) in 2016 and I am excited at the chance to work with them. The Bespoke OQRS has been tailored over recent Years to the needs of a Qsl Manager with a view to managing major DXpeditions such as this. It has proved with Dxpeditions such as 5V7EI, 9J2LA, A25UK, VK0EK, VP8PJ, VP6D and many more that it’s certainly up to the job.
 
I would like to wish the Team the very best of luck with your preparations ahead and of course a huge thanks for the privilege of being your QSL Manager.
 
Please see the links below that give further information. These are updated as and when appropriate.
 
https://3y0j.com/
http://www.intrepid-dx.com/
https://www.m0oxo.com/
https://clublog.org/charts/?c=3Y0J
https://www.m0oxo.com/oqrs/logsearch.php?dxcallsign=3y0j
https://www.facebook.com/charles.wilmott.3

Dismayed at the number of Sunspots?

7th April 2021
Are you dissatisfied by the sunspot numbers we aren’t having? Soumyadeep Mukherjeee of Kolkata, India, has found an optimistic way to look at young Solar Cycle 25. Add together a hundred days of sunspot activity (see image).
 
“I imaged the sun for 100 days in a row, from 25th December 2020 to 3rd April 2021,” says Mukherjeee. “This image is a blend showing every sunspot that has appeared on the solar disk over these 100 days. There were a total of 19 active regions.”
 
His composite shows that sunspot activity is clustered in two narrow bands approximately 25 degrees north and south of the sun’s equator, respectively. This is typical of young solar cycles. As Solar Cycle 25 matures, the bands will converge toward the equator, and become more densely populated. By the time Solar Maximum arrives in 2025 (that’s the official NOAA prediction), 100-day composites should be very congested, indeed”.
 

3Y0J Dxpedition to Bouvet Island

5th April 2021
Press Release from the Intrepid-DX Group
 
3Y0J Dxpedition to Bouvet Island, January/February 2023
 
As we completed our successful VP8STI-South Sandwich and VP8SGI-South Georgia DXpeditions in 2016, we began to plan for our next Dxpedition. Our target is the Norwegian Island Bouvet. This is the #2 most wanted DXCC entity.
At this time, it gives us great pleasure to announce that we have joined forces with Intrepid Norwegian DXpeditioner Ken Opskar-LA7GIA in our quest to activate Bouvet.
 
Together, in January 2023, 14 men will board the Braveheart in Capetown and make the treacherous voyage to Bouvet. We will plan to spend twenty days at Bouvet and weather permitting, we plan to have 14 to 16 good days of radio activity.
 
This will be an arduous and expensive mission. Our budget is $764,000 USD and the 3Y0J team will fund much of this mission. We desperately need the global DX Community to support our mission and help us make this important activation of the #2 most wanted DXCC entity. It is only through this kind of support that we can achieve our mission of making 100,000 contacts or more from Bouvet. We plan to make best use of Propagation and Modes on 10-160 meters.
 
We pledge to assemble the strongest team possible and to use good operating practices to optimize your ability to reach our stations. We are confident that the Braveheart crew can get us there and back safely.
In closing, we especially wish to recognize and thank the Northern California DX Foundation and the International DX Association as our premier donors. Without the support of the NCDXF and INDEXA, operations to the world’s rarest entities would not be possible.
 
You can follow our plans from our website and the 3Y0J Facebook pages:
Thank you,
Paul Ewing-N6PSE Co-Leader
Kenneth Opskar-LA7GIA Co-Leader

Einstein’s Eclipse – Restored

26th March 2021

On May 29, 1919, the Moon slid in front of the sun and forever altered our understanding of spacetime. It was “Einstein’s Eclipse.” Using his newly-developed theory of relativity, the young German physicist predicted that the sun’s gravity should bend starlight–an effect which could only be seen during a total eclipse. Some of the greatest astronomers of the age rushed to check his prediction.

More than 100 years later, Petr Horálek (ESO Photo Ambassador, Institute of Physics in Opava) and Miloslav Druckmüller (Brno University of Technology) have just released a stunning restoration of the photo that proved Einstein right. The original picture was taken in May 1919 by astronomers Andrew Crommelin and Charles Rundle Davidson, who traveled from the Greenwich Observatory in London to the path of totality in Sobral, Brazil. They were part of a global expedition headlined by Sir Arthur Eddington. Glass photographic plates from the expedition were typical of early 20th century astrophotography, colorless and a little dull. Read More

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Brazil Bureau box returned undelivered….again

20th March 2021
Once again the Brazil QSL Bureau parcel that we sent last year to the new PY address has been returned endorsed “UNCLAIMED”. I have attempted to email LABRE on 11 occasions and every email has gone unanswered by both LABRE and the QSL Bureau. I am very sorry that we have no option other than to no longer honour ANY Bureau requests for Brazilian radio amateurs and they should now request their QSLs by direct only.
 
Sadly every parcel sent to LABRE QSL Bureau since 2019 has been returned undelivered. It is time for Brazil hams to ask questions of their society.
 
I would also ask if you are in Brazil and can take up this matter up on our behalf we would appreciate it very much. We would of course like to be able to return to getting your bureau requests to you. Thank you
 
PP-PY,ZV-ZZ: BRAZIL
Liga de Amadores Brasileiros de Radio Emissão — LABRE
PO Box 004
70275 – 970 Brasilia DF
BRAZIL

What is a ‘Standard ADIF’ – M0OXO OQRS

17th March 2021

After getting errors when trying to upload QSL Cards requests using an ADIF file of your QSO’s, we are asked ‘what do we mean by Standard ADIF?’.

Many logging programs these days have so many ADIF fields that many are just wasted and clog up the system with very large and unrequired files. Log4OM has 90+ ADIF fields and so have many others. I have no doubt these fields are useful to some operators but for my purposes they are just unwanted. I don’t need to know your House Number on your Street, similarly I don’t need your Azimuth Heading. So what do I need for the purposes of using the adif file as part of your QSL request?

A ‘Standard ADIF’ is what you see below, just the bare bones of the contact QSO.

The only other fields we need are CALL, QSO_DATE, TIME ON, BAND, MODE, RST_RCVD, RST SENT. Also,

“Station_Callsign” Tells our OQRS where to upload the ADIF, and

“Operator” DXpeditions have multi operators so for this reason we ask for the operator call sign. This can be used for statistics and also for error chacking and is also added to the QSO label.

All other fields are just noise and this is why they sometimes can fail to upload to OQRS.

I hope that helps to clarify the situation for you.

M0OXO QSL Manager service

11th March 2021

If you are thinking of a Qsl Manager then please contact me and discuss your options for a fast, efficient, well presented and most important, a ‘Bespoke’ service.

All my Qsl help is exactly what it means, a non-profit QSL Service for its clients.

I offer will help to cut down as what it is seen as the chore of the hobby. This should aid DXpedition Teams, Holiday Stations or IOTA Stations and Rare DXCC.

What can I provide?
1) I can look after all your QSL requirements from Holiday station, IOTA to major expedition status.
2) I handle RSGB Bureau, Direct QSLing, LoTW, OQRS and Direct Via Paypal.
3) I work directly with UX5UO QSL Printing to ensure a quality Qsl Card and at a very competitive cost.
4) For some DX’peditions I may be able to offer free QSL cards if you use my QSL services. You may qualify for sponsorship, you are welcome to email me.

Email ; charles.wilmott@m0oxo.com

Tel:+44 (0) 7900 500775

READ MORE HERE……

https://www.m0oxo.com/qsl-manager.html

International Women’s Day Contest 2021

5th March 2021
For the 8th time, the DARC YL group is organizing an international YL event on International Women’s Day. Goal of the event: to encourage YLs to be active during the 3 hours of this activity.
 
Date: Monday, March 8, 2021
Time: 1800 to 2100 UTC (1900 to 2200 CET)
Band & Mode: 40m and 80m in SSB & CW.
 
The points per QSO are awarded according to the following scheme. There are two categories of participants: OM and YL.
Points per QSO: YL/OM1 point ; YL/YL 3 points ; OM OM 0 points Each station can be worked once per band.
 
 
 
The following applies to SWLs:
1. All logged QSOs between YL and YL (3 points)
2. All logged QSOs between YL and OM (1 point)
Logs: The logs should be submitted in chronological order and include the QSO date, time (in UTC), band, mode, callsign of the QSO partner, name of the QSO partner, RST and the included points claimed.
 
The deadline for entries is March 25, 2021.
 
The log should be sent as an Excel file in the following format (callsign as file name): DATE Time UTC Band Mode Callsign Name Report Points Surname: Callsign: E-mail:
An Excel and Open Office log template can be downloaded from www.darc.de/yl/contest. Alternatively, logs can be submitted in CABRILLO format, ADIF files and paper logs Will not be accepted. The participants send their log to Karin DL2LBK (karin@wraase.com) and receive a certificate in PDF format by email after the evaluation. The list of results will be published in the CQ-DL and on www.darc.de/yl/contest.
 
We wish all participants good luck and many successful contacts!
33 + 73 + 55 de Karin DL2LBK & Heike DL3HD

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NL0H St Lawrence Island, Alaska

26th February 2021
Well, after the first lot of cards entered the UK on the 8th December, somehow Royal Mail managed to lose them (despite them having a Tracking Number). I then had the cards re-printed and the second journey seemed to take an eternity but, they finally arrived yesterday.
 
I did do the LOTW upload some weeks ago so at least most of you would have got the match via the LOTW/IOTA QSO Matching system (NA-040) by now but for anyone still awaiting the card, all Direct requests for traditional Paper Cards will be out in tomorrow’s mail.
 
My sincere apologies for the delay, any queries drop me a line please.
 
charles.wilmott@m0oxo.com