IK5ROS Ham Site

D2/C, CONWAY REEF (Update). Jan, DJ8NK, informs OPDX this past week that "all is working to schedule, paperwork is done, flights are booked, boat (a catamaran) is chartered and hardware is in store." During the
next few weeks the team will test all of their antennas by taking them to a beach resort by the salt water on the North Sea. Their Web page is now active at: http://www.conwayreef2009.de

3DA0, SWAZILAND (Just a Reminder). Operators David/GI4FUM, Tony/G4LDL,
Malcolm/GM3TAL, Gerry/M0VAA, Michael/NC4MM and Yuri/UT5EL are now active
as 3DA0DJ, 3DA0TB, 3DA0MH, 3DA0VA, 3DA0MM and 3DA0EL until August 11.
The group will operate mainly from the Hawane Resort, but will also be
active as 3DA0SS from the international scout camp near Manzini. Activity
is expected on 160-10 meters using two stations. Over the past weekend
there has been plenty of activity on 80/40/30/20/17 meters using mainly
CW/SSB but some RTTY. QSL via their home callsigns.

4W, TIMOR-LESTE (Update). AL, CT1GPQ, will be active as 4W6AL from Timor
Lorosae between August 7th and October 3rd. Activity will be on 40/30/20/17
meters SSB, RTTY and preferably CW. His station setup will be an Icom IC-706
MK2g, a dipole for 40 and 30 meters and square loops for 20 and 17 meters.
Pilot station and QSL Manager is Toze, CT1GFK. The pilot station will be in
daily contact with CT1GPQ. Any questions or suggestions should be sent to:
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Activity logs will be online (possibly daily) on:  http://algarvedx.com
All information will be sent first via the Algarve STAR DX Team Mailing
List. Subscriptions are available on team's WEB site. PLEASE NOTE: This
is "NOT A DXpedition"! CT1GPQ will be in Timor-Leste with a Medical Team
and radio operations will take place only during his spare time.

5B/C4, CYPRUS. Andy, LZ2HM, will be active as 5B/LZ2HM between August
4-11th. Activity will be on the HF bands plus 6 meters and possibly VHF/UHF
bands (KM64HV). QSL via info on QRZ.com. ADDED NOTE: Andy was also active
during the WAEDC CW Contest this past weekend as C4I.

5H, TANZANIA. Pat, N2IEN, will be active as 5H2PD until August 8th.
Activity will be on 40/30/20/15 meters using CW and SSB. Over the past
weekend Pat was on 30 meters CW after 1600z. QSL via N2IEN.

7P, LESOTHO (Update). A team of five operators are now active from the
"Trading Post Lodge" in Roma until August 13th. They have two stations
on the air at all times with a third station to possibly be on for PSK
and RTTY. Activity will be on all bands, but with a special effort on
160/80 meters. Operators are: Pista/HA5AO (7P8AO), Frosty/K5LBU (7P8CF),
Laurent/W0MM (7P8MM), John/9M6XRO (7P8OK) and Ben/DJ0YI (7P8YI). QSL
7P8OK via M0URX, others via their home callsigns. For more details,
please visit the Texas DX Society's Web site at: http://www.tdxs.net/7p8.html

A2,BOTSWANA. Operators Les/W2LPL and his son Dan/W2DBL will be active
as A25/W2LPL from the Tuli Block in Mashatu, after their South African
operation (see below), between August 16-19th. Activity will be mainly
20 meters using SSB and PSK31. They will use a FT-857 into an end feed
antenna running 100 watts. QSL via W2LPL.

A3, TONGA. Paul, A35RK, informs OPDX that changes are (and will be) taking
place in Tonga. He informs that he has recently made a visit to Nuku'alofa,
the capital city, and during his stay there, Paul had a very productive
meeting with the Radio Licensing Officer and the Technical Officer in
the newly formed Department of Communications. In the past amateur radio
issues have been managed by a variety of different government agencies:
Tonga Telecom, Marine and Ports, the Post Office, the Treasury, and most
recently the Prime Minister's Office. Pauls states, "All that has changed,
and we now have a 'one-stop-shop' for amateur radio licensing and regulation.
Virtually all radio-related legislation is currently under review, and a
number of changes will be coming soon. A brief summary of our discussion,
and the outcomes, follows:
 INFORMATION AVAILABILITY - The Department of Communications is building
 a website. They intend to make license application forms available online.

 LICENSING PROCEDURES - Licensing procedures for visiting operators and
 yachts in transit will be simplified, especially for those entering the
 country somewhere other than Nuku'alofa (ie Vava'u). They may also make
 it possible to actually apply for a license online. However, they still
 want to 'see' an applicant before actually issuing a license.

 ENTRY LEVEL LICENSE CLASS - A 'Novice' type of entry level license may be
 created, in order to encourage more activity.  The formation of a club
 station and licensing classes (possibly thru the Tonga Maritime Training
 Institute) was discussed.

 CALLSIGN ALLOCATION -
    1) A35x (single letter suffix) callsigns may soon be issued to resident
       'Advanced Class' licensees, and possibly to special event and
       contest operations.
    2) A35xx (2 letter suffix) callsigns may be issued to entry level
       licensees.
    3) A35xxx (3 letter suffix) callsigns may be issued to short-term
       visitors and transitting yachts.
    4) The existing callsign registry will be 'purged' of all inactive
       callsigns, thus allowing for more new issues.  An effort will
       be made to publish a list of 'current' licensees annually.

 POWER LIMITS - Permitted output power will increase from the present 100
 watts to 400 watts. This will bring Tonga up to the same level that is
 authorized in New Zealand and Australia.

 ADDITIONAL 40 METER ALLOCATION - The current 40M allocation is 7.0-7.1
 MHz. In addition, 7.1-7.2 MHz operation will be permitted on a secondary
 basis.

 60 METER ALLOCATION -  This was discussed, but no allocation will be
 considered until further studies and consultations are made, possibly
 next year.

 EMERGENCY COMMUNICATIONS - Tonga now has a government Emergency Response
 Plan, and amateur radio participation is authorized in conjunction with
 the Tonga Defense Force, the Tonga Meteorological Service, the Ministry
 of Civil Aviation, and the Tonga Red Cross.

 MONITORING and ENFORCEMENT - The government intends to more carefully
 monitor amateur and maritime communications in an effort to reduce
 'boot-legging' and to insure compliance with regulations.

 I'll keep you advised as things develop. Discussions continue, and I
 must say that the new Department of Communications is very open and
 cooperative. If anyone needs further information, they may contact:
 Fe'ao Vakata  (That's pronounced "Fay AH oh Va ka TAH"), Radio Licensing
 Officer This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it >'; document.write( '' ); document.write( addy_text64889 ); document.write( '<\/a>' ); //-->\n This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it "

A3, TONGA. Ramon, XE1KK, is planning to be active from Tonga in October
during the CQWW DX SSB Contest (October 24-25th). His callsign will be
announced later. He is expected to use 100 watts into some dipoles. QSLs
are preferred via LoTW, but the Bureau is "OK".

AM5/AN5/AO5/EG5/EH5, SPAIN (Special Event). Look for the following special
event callsigns to be active between August 8-23rd. Activity is to celebrate
the "Formula One Grand Prix of Europe" in Valencia, Spain. The following
special callsigns will be activated by the following operators:
    AM5FUV - Juan/EC5BZR            EG5FUV  - Jose/EA5FL
    AN5FUV - Vincent/EB5GGB         EH5FUV  - Nando/EA5GVZ
    AO5FUV - Pepe/EA5UB
  Activity will be mainly on the HF bands using CW, SSB and the Digital
modes. A special award will be issued to those who make at least 3 QSOs
with 3 different stations. QSL Manager is Jose, EA5FL; QSL direct or by
the Bureau. For more information see QRZ.com.

GB111, ENGLAND (Special Event). Viv, G4PLY, will activate special event
station GB111HP on the air during the month of August. This is a tribute
to Harry Patch (GB90WWI) who sadly passed away on Saturday, July 25th,
5 weeks after celebrating his 111th birthday. He was the oldest surviving
combatant living in the UK who fought in World War I. QSL via G4PLY,
direct or by the Bureau. NO e-QSL or LoTW.

GB4, ENGLAND (Special Event). Look for special event station GB4WINGS
to be active between now and August 8th. Activity will be on HF (SSB/Data
with some CW) and 2m (SSB), mostly during the day and some evenings. The
special event is during the "WINGS 2009" (Windsor INternational Guide
and Scout camp, see <http://www.wings2009.org.uk> in Windsor Great Part,
England. Some 6,000 Guides and Scouts from over 40 countries across the
globe will be attending this 7 day event of fun, adventure and challenge.
QSL via the bureau or direct to M0XDF (QRZ.com).