Archive - September 2015

OY1OF Ólavur erects 10m beam

OY1OF-2 1

Tonight I received the latest log update from Ólavur OY1OF, as always log has been uploaded to LoTW and QSL requests processed for bureau and direct. Ólavur took some photographs using a drone of him putting up the 10m beam at the club station recently. Also a photo from his day job of working on the off shore rigs.
With tonight being the night of the bloodred moon, Olavur has shared with us an image he took a few years ago.

As always, thank you to Ólavur for sharing these photos with us. You can see more of his photographic work on his website http://www.faroephoto.com

OY1OF-1


OY1OF-4 1OY1OF-4 2

OQRS is the way to go!

Before


Times change and how we receive bureau QSL requests has also changed, let me show you why we need to make these changes.

Here are two photographs, the first on the top left is a box of 4,500 bureau cards received from  the RSGB Bureau on Monday.

The second photograph underneath is the same box 3 days later after all the QSL cards have been processed through the logs that I am QSL manager for.

THIS is how many are then put into my rubbish recycling bin just 3 days after receiving the cards.

I want to ask please for your help! In order to keep this Bureau service going we must change the way that I receive bureau requests.

AfterIf you are requesting a DXCC or IOTA Expedition or contest QSL card you must ONLY use OQRS!

Please understand that DXpedition call signs are NOT members of the RSGB and I will be charged money to receive them.

Just as important to remember is that DXpeditions and contest stations DO NOT need YOUR QSL card.

A DXpedition is undertaken to help you obtain an ATNO (All Time New One) whether that be a DXCC, IOTA, WAB area, band, mode or whatever.

Here are some facts for you:
4,500+ QSL cards received 4,200 QSL cards thrown away!

Out of the 4,500 QSL cards, 2,000 had already been requested direct, bureau or using OQRS, in some cases all three!. If you request a bureau QSL PLEASE DO NOT send another QSL! Only use 1 QSL route.

The average length of time that the cards took to arrive with me are 2 years 6 months. If the QSL cards had been requested on OQRS then you would get the cards 2 years 6 months quicker.

One Japanese station sent me 34 QSL cards for 34 QSOs for ONE DXpedition. The work that the bureaus have had to put in in both time and money just to get those 34 cards to me is quite startling. We need to STOP the waste and get smarter in how we use our resources.

If you DO have to send your QSL in Via Bureau type ALL QSOs on ONE card or paper.

Of course there are some stations that I am QSL manager that ARE RSGB members that DO want your QSL. OY1OF, OY4TN, PJ4DX, M0URX. Please continue to send us QSL cards for those stations, for ALL other DXpeditions please use OQRS only.

“QSL Via M0URX” does NOT mean that all QSL cards that I am manager for can be sent to me Via Bureau. Only RSGB affiliated call signs can receive QSL cards.

So the best way to know what to send me and what NOT, is clear. ALL DXpedition & contest QSL requests must be made by OQRS ONLY.

For the QSL route of the rest please check on QRZ.com for each call sign. Or use OQRS. If we need your QSL we will contact you.

I have been working with the RSGB for the past year to ensure that all QSL cards for my attention are delivered to me, but this costs money. I have agreed to pay to receive for DXpediitons QSL cards that I am QSL manager for and are not RSGB affiliated.. However this is only for those that cannot use OQRS as a last resort. OQRS must be your first option to receive  ALL DXpedition Bureau cards!

Any QSL cards that ARE sent to me for the call signs I am manager for MUST be made clear “QSL Via M0URX” if not they will NOT reach me. Sorry.

ALL OUT-GOING QSL cards are sent at my cost to all IARU World QSL Bureaus, so our outgoing QSL service continues as normal.

Thank you for your help in changing the way we work with you and reducing costs and time that your QSL cards are delivered to you.

 

Space Weather TV by Dr Tamitha Skov

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I am not sure if this may be of interest to some of you? Space Weather TV http://spaceweather.tv/ hosted by Dr Tamitha Skov has been getting very excited with all the solar weather this last week.
Tamitha is very enthusiastic about Amateur Radio and welcomes space weather questions from radio amateurs.  
 
She is also on Twitter @TamithaSkov every couple of days in the UK afternoon she can be watched on Periscope you can see on Twitter for the Periscope alert.
 
What is Periscope? Ok guys it is an App you can download onto your mobile phone and is linked with Twitter. Tamitha’s Periscope is a live Space Weather chat in which she explains the very latest Space Weather, very interesting and a lot to learn. She has only just started doing the live periscope chat recently and you can ask questions live and there are quite a few radio amateurs logging in.
 
So who is Dr Tamitha Skov?
Tamitha Mulligan Skov is a Research Scientist at The Aerospace Corporation in Los Angeles, California. She holds a B.S. in Physics and a B.S. in Physical Chemistry from UCLA. She earned her M.S. and Ph.D. in Geophysics and Planetary Physics from UCLA in 2000 and 2002, respectively. Dr. Mulligan Skov works actively in the fields of solar and space physics, focusing on solar transient phenomena such as coronal mass ejections, solar flares, solar energetic energetic particles, and galactic cosmic rays, and the subsequent effects these phenomena have on the Earth’s magnetosphere and radiation belts. She is an instructor at the Aerospace Institute and serves on multiple review and anomaly teams for NASA, NOAA, and other government and private contractors. She also serves as an audio forensics analyst and instructor for the National Law Enforcement and Corrections Technology Center (NLECTC), hosted at Aerospace and funded by the Department of Justice.
 

Bureau box arrived 21/09/2015

Bureau box


A bureau box containing about 4,500 QSL cards arrived today 21/09/2015.

Cards sorted.& prcessed 24/09/2015.

Please remember for DXpedition QSL cards you should ONLY use OQRS.

 

WS5K/KH8

K800 IMG 0653

Stan WS5K is currently in Pago Pago, American Samoa, and is QRV as WS5K/KH8 until October 4th.

Stan’s Grid locator is: AH45pp. 

Tutuila Island – IOTA ref: OC-045

QSL Via M0URX OQRS OQRS or Direct letter to M0URX. 

No incoming QSL cards are needed, so if you require Bureau QSL please only use OQRS.

Please DO NOT send to me Via the QSL Via Bureau. It will not be collected.

WS5K/KH8 has been uploaded to LoTW. Please log it correctly WS5K/KH8 or you will NOT get a match. QSL Via M0URX OQRS

 

PJ4/OE7PGI Bonaire

PJ4/OE7PGI Philippe will be operating from Bonaire 01 – 07/11/2015.

Philippe will be operating 20m – 10m, SSB and some RTTY.

QSL Via M0URX – OQRS & Direct postal.

Bureau Via OQRS only https://www.m0urx.com/oqrs/

Need a QSL Manager?

DXpedition QSL Posting– A reminder that DXpeditions & UK based QSL managers can take advantage of discounted postal costs for their  DXpedition QSL mailings by using my Royal Mail Online Business Account. 

For more information please email Tim Beaumont, M0URX,tim@m0urx.com  

QSL Manager Service – I offer full QSL manager services for your DXCC, IOTA DXpeditions and holiday stations.

Outgoing QSL Bureau – I also run an Outgoing QSL Bureau. All bureau cards are posted to all World IARU Bureaus 3 times a year.

Fast access to the World Bureau network.  £6 per kilo. Lower rates for high volume.

The QSL service that will always put your QSL as priorirty… No matter what the weather outside!

OQRS – Please use it to request your QSL cards

Amateur Radio is very much in a new age, there are many advances in the hobby which bring new technology to every aspect of our wonderful hobby.
 
One of the tools and services that we can take advantage of in our hobby is the “bureau”, the bureau has also changed and we need to adapt in the way we request our bureau QSL cards.
 
For ALL DXpeditions, IOTA, Contest stations, and some rare DX stations, incoming QSL cards are NOT required in the QSL exchange! You are asked NOT to send your QSL cards through the bureau for these stations. Instead request your QSL cards using Online QSL Request System (OQRS).
 
On my OQRS system https://www.m0urx.com/oqrs  you can request ALL your QSL cards very quickly. Your request will be processed very quickly and will be placed in country bins, the cards will be sent to the IARU Bureaus every few months. Your QSL will get to you much quicker and is the ONLY way that you should be requesting DXpedition QSL cards.
 
Why is this so important? The IARU Bureau service is a costly and time consuming service for the national societies, and certainly 75% of the QSL cards that I receive are recycled with the rubbish once they have been replied to by my QSL service. The DXpeditions DO NOT need your QSL card. 
 
The time and money invested in sorting and shipping the QSL cards around the world by all our bureaus is a very big commitment for all the societies involved, with so many QSL cards in the system that are NOT required it is literally “clogging up” the bureau. Use OQRS and get your cards much quicker!
 
How can YOU make use of OQRS for YOUR call sign? Register your call sign on CLUB LOG upload your log and you have access to your own OQRS that you can manage QSL cards that you want and let others request YOUR QSL card.

MS0OXE Fair Isle QSL Preview

QSL-MS0OXE-2

K800 QSL-MS0OXE-2-BACK
MS0OXE Fair Isle DXpedition ended today with 5,340 QSOs in less than 1 week of operation in which the team experienced some of the most disturbed band conditions that we have seen in a long time. Every day say solar flares slamming into Earth’s Ionosphere causing the K index to reach 5, and the A index to stay at 59 for almost 18 hours. This caused the bands for the team to be very unstable or closed for long periods with 10m and 12m barely workable the whole week. On Friday the 9th September the team stopped to view the beautiful Aurora which caused the bands to close.

Thank you to all who worked MS0OXE on this DXpedition to Fair Isle. Log has been uploaded to Club Log & LoTW. QSL cards will be in the print room very soon and will be posted in early October.

QSL Via M0URX OQRS – https://www.m0urx.com/oqrs/
Please note – Do not send your QSL to us Via Bureau – Bureau = ONLY Via OQRS link above. Thank you

 

MS0OXE FAIR ISLE EU-012 September 2015

K800 QSL-MS0OXE-3

The Black Country DX & Contest group will be QRV from Fair Isle, IOTA EU-012, from the 9TH to the 15th September 2015.

We expect to be QRV from 18:00 UTC on the 9th to 16:00 UTC on the 15th September 2015.

We will be on 10m – 40m in CW, RTTY, SSB and some PSK.

Due to no mains power throughout the night we will QRT each night around 2330 local and QRV each morning from 0730 local. Hence, no 160 or 80 meters.

We will have 3 stations on the air at all times from 0730 till 2330 each day from the 10th to 14th September.

Fair Isle OSWe are staying at the south lighthouse (SKADDAN) GRID: IO99EM, WAB: HZ16 and for lighthouse chasers ILLW: UK0127 – ARLHS: SCO 079 FAIR ISLE SOUTH SKADDAN – WLOTA: LH 1319.

QSL- All QSL is via Tim M0URX online OQRS system. https://www.m0urx.com/oqrs/

 

WE DO NOT REQUIRE YOUR QSL CARD FOR CONFORMATIONS. Request QSL’s via M0URX OQRS.

K800 WP 20150910 17 55 15 ProLOTW upload, once we have returned home. CLUBLOG uploads every day.

MS0OXE will be operated by M0VKY, M0YOM, G0JKY & M0CKE.

More information on our website- http://www.ms0oxe.net/

We look forward to working you from Fair Isle. 73, MS0OXE.

Image copywright www.ScottishViewpoint.com 

Given the remoteness of Fair Isle the team are pleased to report that they have been able to upload the log to Club Log and LoTW directly from the Island.

On the evening of the 10th, Simon reported that they are viewing the Aurora Borealis. On the downside this means that band conditons are very poor at this time.