• DX Dinner menu announced
• Rescue package for hard-up French radio amateurs
• Canada announces more special prefixes
• Mega-station photos to be banned
  

The menu for the DX Dinner at the RSGB’s HF Convention 2009 has been announced, one which should keep everybody happy:

 Warmed goat’s milk

 Hors d’Oeuvres
Grilled lobster served on a bed of cabbage tree with a sprinkling of chopped watercress

 Fish dish
Juan Fernández cod grilled over an open fire and garnished with parsley

 Meat dish
Braised goat with turnips and parsley dressing served with roast parsnips and boiled cabbage tree

 Desert Island Dessert
Fresh fruit

 To drink
A choice of goat’s milk or spring water

2009 is Robinson Crusoe Anniversary Year, so they thought they’d do things CEØZ-style. Yes, it takes some DXpeditioners four and a half years to get onto an island. This story is about someone who took four and a half years to get off one.

A financial rescue package has been announced to assist hard-up French radio amateurs, many of whom are clearly unable to afford the customary return postage of one IRC or ‘green stamp’ when requesting a QSL card from a DX station.  They send the

DX station their card direct, then firmly expect the DX station to reply direct as well.

Canada has announced yet another series of special event station prefixes. And what are they celebrating this time? Well, the 150^th anniversary of the arrival of the 200^th left-handed Taiwanese immigrant in down-town Toronto. These special prefixes are in the CF, CG, CH and CI series and they can be used by all Canadian stations right the way through until the end of the year.

It has been announced that photographs of amateur radio ‘mega-stations’ on the cover of amateur radio magazines are to be banned, especially those depicting huge antenna farms in the Balkan area. This is because these are clearly not ‘amateur’ stations any more. Such photographs are also highly depressing for those of us who have to make do with a garden the size of a postage stamp.

[With thanks to Gill B. for sending me the Robinson Crusoe menu, which originally appeared in the Times of 9 October 2004. Ed.]

• Ofcom announces long overdue changes to the UK callsign system
• Exciting new American contest
• CW abbreviation banned

Long overdue changes have been announced by the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, with a view to ensuring that everybody knows in which part of England an amateur radio station is located. As of 1 July 2009 all existing English callsigns will be revoked and England divided into nine call areas with the prefixes allocated as follows:

1. GØ      Greater London

2. G1       South East

3. G2       South West

4. G3       Clifton , Bristol BS8 only

5. G4       Midlands

6. G5       Yorkshire

7. G6       Lancashire

8. G7       North-east (other)       

9. G8       North-west (other)

Stations in the Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, Jersey, Scotland, Guernsey and Wales will be unaffected by these changes and allowed to keep their existing callsigns. And when on holiday in Scotland, say, G3RFX, the architect of this new system (so allowed to keep his old callsign) would sign GM/G3RFX.

Also, to avoid the ‘American syndrome’: if you move from one English call area to another, eg Greater London (Ø) to Yorkshire (5), then you will have to apply for a new callsign with the appropriate area indicator. So our advice, if you don’t want this to happen, don’t move.

Additionally, all ‘M’ and ‘2E’ prefixes will be phased out, regardless of the licence category, seeing as there should now be more than enough ‘G’ prefixes to go round. Also,  the  highly unhelpful ‘GB’  prefix, where you haven’t a clue in which part of the UK a station is located, will be abandoned.

We have news of an exciting new American contest next weekend: the Worked All New Kentucky Experimental Radio Stations. The exchange is the usual 59 report, plus the name of your favourite Bourbon whiskey. If you can’t stand Bourbon, then simply give the name of your favourite Scotch instead. Teetotallers quote the name of their favourite mineral water.

The CW abbreviation for Merry (“Hic!”) Christmas, ‘MX’, has been banned - in case it should appear too religious or give the impression that the operator has had too much to drink. We are now told to use the more neutral American expression ‘Happy Holidays’, or simply ‘HH’ on CW.

[But didn’t some radio amateurs in Germany use the ‘HH’ abbreviation during the 1930s-40s to mean something slightly different? Ed.]

• Special Cyprus conference

• Special event station news

• Contest news

Amid growing concern that the number of special prefixes to be heard on the air could soon outnumber the boring old normal ones, all IARU member societies have been invited to attend a special conference on the matter to be held in Cyprus later this year. On the air from the Larnaca conference venue itself will be H2X and P3Z.

Special event station news:

TM5ØLOO will be on the air next weekend to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the first fully flushing public convenience to be erected in Paris . This station will be using a paper log.  

Contest News

The Worked All Insignificant Italian Villages Contest, organised by the Parma Ham Radio Club, takes place next weekend on 160 through to 10m, on both CW and SSB. The report format is the usual 59(9) plus the name of your favourite Italian salami or meat product. Vegetarians quote their favourite Italian pasta.

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll be interested in a considerable scoop for the CDXC Digest.

Not even J.K. Rowling knows about this, but in his third year at Hogwarts young Harry suddenly developed a keen interest in amateur radio and HF DXing, rather strange Muggle-type activity though it may be. So some of his friends started calling him ‘Hammy’ Potter instead. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were appalled. It was good news for amateur radio, though. After all, we always say we’re trying to encourage new blood into this hobby of ours. Meanwhile watch out for the wizard DXer in Hammy Potter and the Phantom of 15 SSB, coming to your local cinema soon.

In the wake of the September [2003] power cut which affected nearly all of Italy, an American film company is planning to make a psycho-thriller based on ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and depicting the chilling psychological effect which this unprecedented power cut had on Italy’s highly active amateur radio community.

Negotiations are already in progress with Sir Anthony Hopkins to play the leading role, that of a keen Italian amateur radio enthusiast who also enjoys having friends for dinner. The proposed title for this new movie: The Silence of the Hams.

[Originally published in the November 2003 and January 2004 CDXC Digest. Ed.]

• Guaranteed DXpedition QSOs
• Amateur radio airport courtesy lounges all the rage
• London tube map in German
• An exciting new WAB award

In these increasingly difficult financial times, some DXpeditions are now offering what they describe as guaranteed QSOs to those willing to pay for such services. QSO prices start at $US10 per band/mode. On receipt of the money via PayMate the DXpedition will then give you an exact time at which they will call you and give you the usual 59 report. However, should the contact not work out due to poor conditions, Italian QRM, Russian kilowatts or whatever, then your money will not be refunded. [Sounds like a right con to me. Ed.] 

Dedicated airport courtesy lounges for roving radio amateurs keen to notch up a new one for their DXFC and/or DXFC+QRV have been taking off in a big way. The cost for a stay of up to three hours, including as much food and drink as you can cope with, is 30 IRCs. In July G3SXW was seen making the most of the amateur radio courtesy lounge at the newly opened Market Reef International Airport, whereas more recently G3TXF took advantage of similar facilities at San Marino International.

• Friedrichshafen 2008 re-visited
• New 2m beacon in Mongolia
• Bulgarian lighthouse on the air

As in previous years a great time was had by all at the ‘Ham Radio 2008’ at the end of June in picturesque Friedrichshafen, other-wise known as Fred’s Harbour. UK visitors with a smattering of German were also heard attempting to help out the locals by translating ‘Ham Radio’ into German as Schinkenradio, only to be greeted by looks of total bewilderment on the part of the latter.

Similar attempts were made to make life easier for the locals in the context of that well-known German delicacy, the Brathering, or fried herring. Somewhat predictably the locals didn’t understand this at all when pronounced the English way to rhyme with ‘gathering’. Until it was pointed out that this was hardly surprising, seeing as the correct pronunciation is, in fact, Brat (roughly as in ‘brought’) plus Hering (as in ‘herring’): Brathering, jawoll!

It was a similar situation with that well-known English expression ‘if the worst come to the worst…’. How tempting it was here to enrol the services of that world-famous German delicacy, the Wurst, and end up with what sounds rather like a romantic encounter between two German sausages. After all, that’s what you could well end up with if ‘ze Wurst comes to ze Wurst’. Yes, German sausages have sechs lives as well, y’know. Whereas German cats have neun.  

Any UK visitors with a bit of time on their hands, and wishing to learn a few words of very basic German, could of course once again take advantage of the special intensive language courses offered by freelance Franziska  Frohmacher, invariably to be found propping up the bar in the Fred’s Harbour railway station buffet.

A new 2 metre beacon in Mongolia will operate on 144.856 MHz with the callsign JU2TWO. Sited near the capital, Ulan Bator, at 4,450 ft asl, the beacon antenna is a horizontal doublet dipole. The power level is 0.1W using A1A mode. [That’s good to know, but of what possible relevance is this item to us here in the UK? Ed.]

Now the so-called HF DX News.

Several Bulgarian radio amateurs will activate the Varna Lighthouse next week using the special callsign LZ2ØØ8LIGHT. It is the first time that this lighthouse will have been activated this year. [Whoopee! Ed.]

Two Italian operators, Alessandro and Sergio, will be active next month as 9A/home call from the island of Sveti Nikola. [Sweaty Nikola? I’d steer well clear of her if I were you. Ed.]

• CDXC prepares for AGM and Summer Social
• Complaints about online ‘erection-eering’
• Some exciting new award programmes

After all the excitement of the RSGB AGM and Dinner in Bristol last month, the Chiltern DX Club (CDXC) are now limbering up for their AGM and Summer Social. Last year this had to be cancelled due to the atrocious ‘summer’ weather, including widespread flooding. However, this year contingency plans are in place, should the Herefordshire hilltop home of President Neville, G3NUG, once again prove to be inaccessible. In which case the event will take place aboard the luxury yacht of Secretary Chris, G3SVL, currently moored on the River Thames near Maidenhead aka Virgin’s Bonce.

Numerous complaints have been received recently about a company mass e-mailing radio amateurs and promising to help them increase the size of their erections. “It’s all a big misunderstanding,” the company said. “All we’re doing is suggesting to radio amateurs that if they’d like to send us £800, then we’ll upgrade them from a half-size G5RV to the very latest HF beam. Mind you, if they wish to further demonstrate their heightened virility to the neighbours by ordering a 100 ft mast to put it on – that will cost a little bit more.”

Courtesy of Roger, G3SXW , we have learned of some exciting new award programmes designed to further enrich our experience of amateur radio. These include Sewage Treatment Works on the Air (STWOA), Defunct Post Offices on the Air (DPOA) and Moving Cranes on/in the Air (MCOA). A minimum height of 100 ft above ground is required for this last one.

Special event station news:

Listen out for GT3MP, on the air from the Isle of Man right the way through until the end of the year to celebrate the 150^th anniversary of the birth of Manx Planck, father of the quantum theory and winner of the Nobel Prize for physics. It’s a little known fact that Manx Planck, known as ‘Woody’ to his friends, was born in Douglas and only later moved to Germany, where he changed his Christian name to Max.

Finally, the contest news:

Coming up next weekend on SSB: the wonderful world of the Russian Krimskaya Contest, sponsored by Krimskaya Vodka and scheduled to last for the full 48 hours which next weekend should have to offer. The exchange consists of the usual 59 report plus the name of your favourite brand of vodka. However, if you say anything other than ‘Krimskaya’, then you will automatically be disqualified and a bunch of thugs will be sent round to your place to duff you up. [Sounds vaguely reminiscent of the Zimbabwe elections. Ed.]

• Budget airlines cash in on amateur radio holiday trade
• Kosova cashes in on newly independent status
• Another major DXpedition to Middle-earth

In the UK the budget airlines, including Ryanair and easyJet, continue to cash in on the lucrative amateur radio holiday trade, with new airports being built at destinations such as Andorra , San Marino and Mount Athos . What the airlines are not making sufficiently clear to customers is that on arrival at their chosen destination they haven’t got a hope in hell of actually being issued with a reciprocal amateur radio licence. So the best they can do is notch up such trips as new ones for DXFC and then get on the next flight home.

• DXpedition funding under scrutiny again
• Special event stations resist the Euro trend
• Anti-amnesia tablets to be issued to persistent repeat callers

DXpedition funding is increasingly coming under scrutiny with a view to weeding out those applicants who are merely applying for such financial support with a view to funding their little radio holiday in the sun – a holiday they’ll be going on anyway and which they can easily afford themselves – regardless of whether they get any additional funding or not.

In the wake of Cyprus and special event station C4EURO, celebrating the switch to the Euro right the way through until the end of the year, other countries in the non-Euro zone will be putting on special event stations during 2008 to help resist the unrelenting spread of the Euro and celebrate the proud retention of their own local currency. For example, listen out for Mongolia and JV2008TUGRIK, Norway and LA2008KRONE, Guatemala and TG2008QUETZAL.

Anti-amnesia tablets are to be issued to those of our number who have already worked that juicy DX station once, then insist on calling him/her again a mere hour or so later on exactly the same band/mode.

Legislation is just around the corner, designed to bring an end to a problem frequently suffered by some DX stations: that of being called in a pile-up by very loud European stations who then, once the contact has been made, QSY a mere 1 kHz up and start calling CQ there, thus virtually clobbering the original pile-up. An occasional problem, especially on 20m CW.

HF Contest News.

Coming up next weekend for the full 48 hours which next weekend will have to offer: the Reverse Normal Prefix Contest. For example, stations in A9 [Bahrain] contact those in 9A [Croatia] and vice versa. Other obvious pairings include

                                    AP – PA         Pakistan – Holland
                                    BY – YB         China - Indonesia
                                    FT – TF           Kerguelen – Iceland
                                    LY – YL          Lithuania – Latvia
                                    V3 – 3V          Belize – Tunisia

Complaints have already been received to the effect that this contest is highly unfair because it excludes so many other countries from taking part. In which case, it has been said, it’ll be just like the highly enjoyable Commonwealth Contest (BERU) in which stations in Commonwealth countries can happily work each other, but all that others in Italy, say, the Balkans and Russia can do is sit on the sidelines for the duration and shut up for a change.

• Germany tightens up the QSL requirements
• No Deliberate QRM during 3B7C operation
• Over-optimistic CQ calls come under scrutiny

New amateur radio legislation has been approved in Germany. On working a DL club station you are now officially required to immediately confirm the contact by QSL card to every single member of that club, even if these other club members had nothing whatsoever to do with the contact or were nowhere near the club station shack at ze time of ze QSO, jawoll! 

It was very surprising that 3B7C suffered little or no Deliberate QRM, which had been fully expected. Why should this be? Of course, their excellent operating might have helped, keeping the pile-ups tight, not polluting the bands, giving their callsign at every QSO, etc. But there’s another explanation: all the Deliberate Jammers were away on a trip to 3B7.

Once again over-optimistic CQ calls have come under scrutiny. Heard recently on 20m SSB: an IK8 station saying that he was ‘beaming to North Dakota ’. Needless to say, he ended up working no such thing and had to make do with a W2 in New York instead. Also: an OE6 calling ‘CQ Arctic or northern Siberia ’. Obviously there weren’t too many of those around either - and he had to make do with talking to a DL. But at least they speak roughly the same language.

Recent on-the-air highlights from Gibraltar included a French station who called me in a sizeable pile-up on 20 SSB. I duly typed the callsign into the computer log and saw that I’d worked him several times before. Yes, his name was Jean and he was in Paris.

“Hallo, Jean in Paris !” I replied somewhat rashly, immediately realising that I’d made a terrible mistake. I knew what was coming next.

“Oui, my name is Jean. I spell-a: Juliet-Echo-Alpha-Novembre. And yes, my QTH is Paris . I spell-a: Papa-Alpha-Romeo-India-Sierra.”

But then I suppose we ought not to mock the afflicted. There again, it was probably my fault entirely for deviating from the recommended '59 report and straight on to the next one’ in the first place.

Contest News:

The Normal Prefixes Only Contest, scheduled for this coming weekend, has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

[with thanks to G3SXW for some additional inspiration. Ed.]

This week’s headlines:

• New health and safety regulations
• Top UK DXer honoured
• CDXC Reflector goes from strength to strength

New health and safety regulations governing electronic installations come into force on 1 June 2007, with serious implications for the UK’s amateur radio enthusiasts. From that date it will be an offence to plug in, switch on or operate any item of amateur radio equipment without a qualified electrician present. Any maintenance or repair work on such equipment, especially involving a soldering iron, will also require the presence of an officially approved electrical contractor.

Top UK DXer Roger Western, G3SXW, was recently honoured with Ireland’s highest award, the Guinness Star, for his outstanding contribution to the Irish airline industry. The award was presented by Michael O’Leary, Chief Executive of Ryanair, with whom Roger had flown at least 100 times in the first three months of 2007 alone. “Well, I only did it for my DXFC”, Roger explained. Meanwhile one is left wondering as to whether Michael O’Leary knew what DXFC was.

The Chiltern DX Club’s Reflector continues to go from strength to strength. During the N8S Swain’s Island DXpedition over 500 messages per day were dropping into CDXC members’ Inboxes, much to the delight of us all. In due course watch out for the results of CDXC’s new ‘Top Reporter’ competition to find the Reflector user posting the most messages of all during 2007. First prize: a trip to North Korea, one-way only, and no radio or Internet.

Now news of some special event stations:

IQØMSB will be active until 31 December to celebrate the 500^th anniversary of the first spaghetti tossing competition held in Montelasagne di Spaghetti Bologna in 1507.

C3ØAND will be on the air throughout June and July to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the Principality of Andorra no longer granting licences to visiting radio amateurs, thus ensuring that Andorra remains a veritable haven of local on-air tranquility.

Finally, the contest news:

The Phishers International contest takes place between 0000 UTC on 2 June and 2359 UTC on 3 June on the 1.8 to 28 MHz bands, CW only. The exchange is the usual 599 report plus your credit card number, the exact name on the card, the expiry date and your security number. [I can’t see many people taking part in that one, especially if they don’t work CW. Ed.]

This week’s headlines:

• Romania and Bulgaria now rare DX

• FSDXA announce their major DXpedition for 2008

• CDXC Reflector under scrutiny

Romania and Bulgaria have now become two of the rarest DXCC entities in Europe. On 1 January, following the eagerly awaited accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the European Union, most YO and LZ operators packed their bags and joined countless thousands of their compatriots straining at the leash to migrate to other countries in the EU, especially the UK. This follows a similar wave of immigrants from Poland, where the amateur radio population is now in serious decline - amidst fears that there there could also be very few SPs left by the end of the year.

Following on from the above, the Five Star DXers Association (FSDXA) have announced that after 3B7C their next major DXpedition will be to either Poland, Romania or Bulgaria. This will be in 2008 and the callsign either SP5C, YO3C or LZ1C. It’s expected that by then the on-air demand will be considerable. A short list of luxury 5-star hotels has already been drawn up for each country and the beer tasted in the respective hotel bars. All depending on which 5-star hotel wins the day: QSL via either SP3SWH, YO3SWH or LZ3SWH.

Ofref, the Internet reflector watchdog, is investigating allegations of trivial message threads on the Chiltern DX Club (CDXC) Reflector. This follows exchanges on such subjects such as ‘Parlez-vous Froggy?’, ‘DXCC Status for the Isle of Wight ’ and ‘What do I wear for the CDXC Annual Dinner?’. Also under investigation: a thread entitled ‘Logging programmes’. This was after some member or other in Bristol posted a message which read, “Canadian lumberjacks do a nice line in logging programs. Perhaps we ought to ask them for their advice. Or am I barking up the wrong tree here?”. This prompted a long series of replies from members also keen to branch out into comedy and embark on a succession of equally awful tree jokes. However, off the record Ofref admitted to being highly envious of some CDXC Reflector users, saying that they are very fortunate indeed in being able to devote so much of their time during the working week to generating all these messages in the first place.

Contest News:

Coming up next Sunday: the RSGB’s Worked All GB2RS Newsreaders Contest. The exchange is the usual 59 report, plus the number of live GB2RS News broadcasts you haven’t listened to during the past year because most of the time you’ve chosen to read the News script off the bloomin’ Internet instead.

January 2007

This week’s headlines:

• Abbreviated numbers in CW
• German QSL card culture criticised
• Not enough youngsters given a chance at VU7LD

In the wake of some confusion in the CQ WW CW contest at the end of November, we start with a reminder of recommended international practice with regard to abbreviated or cut numbers in CW contests. Needless to say, the long versions take up far too much valuable on-air time. Already common practice are: Ø = T, 1 = A, 9 = N. The others are: 

2          U         dit-dit-dah
3          W        dit-dah-dah
4          V         dit-dit-dit-dah
5          S         dit-dit-dit
6          B         dah-dit-dit-dit
7          G         dah-dah-dit
8          D         dah-dit-dit

Please use these abbreviated numbers in signal reports only, not callsigns. Otherwise W1LLY, for example, would end up as ‘WALLY’, 5H1RK as ‘SHARK’ and I8IOT as ‘IDIOT’. It has also been suggested that seeing as everybody’s 599 in a CW contest anyway, this 599 could be speeded up by abbreviating it to a single dot, or E (dit). As yet it is unclear how well this would work out in practice.

Radio amateurs in Germany are up in arms about attempts to change what many of them regard as an essential part of their on-air way of life: the practice of casually working a DX station from their local club station under the club callsign (1KW to a 5-element monobander), then firmly expecting a QSL card for their home station as well (10W to a piece of wet string). Some observers maintain that this is cheating. Also under scrutiny: Germany’s rather rigid QSL card culture, in which a card is regarded as obligatory for every single QSO in the log, band-mode dupes an’ all. A powerful reminder to this effect can be seen on a DL QSL card featuring a delightful cartoon of a little boy nearing the end of his current session on the loo and about to reach for the toilet paper. The caption: ‘The job isn’t finished until the paperwork is done’.

The organisers of the VU7LD Lakshadweep expedition have been criticised for not giving the younger generation enough opportunities to experience pile-up operation first hand. A few local youngsters were indeed invited into the shack and given a microphone or Morse key to experiment with, but allegedly this was not enough. There was also a report of an eager young lad who made it into the shack, only to be told that there was no on-air slot available for him, upon which he burst into tears. This Lakshadweep incident even made the front page of one of the Indian tabloids under the headline ‘Shack Lad Weep’.

November 2006

This week’s headlines:

• Major improvements promised for the HF Convention 2007
• Think tank to look into anti-social amateur radio behaviour
• New software set to transform the DXpedition video

In response to criticisms in some quarters that the bar service at the RSGB’s HF Convention was extremely slow, especially at peak periods, the venue has promised major improvements in good time for next year’s Convention. An additional five bar staff will be recruited, at least one of whom will speak a few words of English. This year reports were also received of bar staff being unable to process orders due to problems with their computer system. Here, a telephone ‘hot line’ will be installed behind the bar, giving staff direct access to the computer provider’s technical help desk, located in India, thus guaranteeing that in future any such problems will be diagnosed and resolved within seconds.

Plans are well under way with a view to setting up a think tank to look into the increasingly bizarre and anti-social patterns of behaviour exhibited by some modern-day amateur radio enthusiasts, especially in the context of DXpedition pile-ups on the HF bands. Staffed by an international team of psychologists with a special interest in on-air personality disorders, the aim will be to find as many answers as possible to the question, ‘Why do they do it?’, and to suggest possible methods of treatment. An eminent brain surgeon, Dr H. Lecter, will also be on standby, should transplant surgery be recommended as the only suitable option.

New software will soon be available which looks set to transform the traditional DXpedition video. DXpedition Video Pro is based on the assumption that fleeting images of one operator doing battle with the pile-ups from inside a tent on Clipperton Island, say, can look remarkably similar to brief shots of another operator twiddling his knobs in a hotel room in Kathmandu. This exciting new digital software enables you to choose from an extensive image and video clip library of well-known DXpedition operators, popular rigs, typical tent and hotel room interiors etc. which best reflect your particular DXpedition experience. In order to provide that all-important local flavour, also included is an extensive library of equally transposable outside location shots and genuine audio clips from virtually every DXCC entity and IOTA island around the world. In fact with DXpedition Video Pro you don’t even need to take any pictures at all while on your DXpedition. You can save yourself the hassle and do it all when you get back home.

This week’s headlines:

• Record radio sales on Swain’s Island
• Mammoth migration to Montenegro
• New PhD in DXCC Studies
• RSGB to follow CDXC’s lead?

Sales of amateur radio equipment on Swain’s Island have rocketed since the ARRL announced that it would become a separate entity for DXCC purposes. The local inhabitants, all 37 of them, are queuing up to get on the amateur radio bands. As one of them commented, “Before we were nobodies, now we are somebodies”. [You what? Ed.]

In the Balkans the huge migration of radio amateurs continues to that other new DXCC entity, Montenegro . The customs and immigration posts on the border with Serbia, for example, recently had to call in reinforcements to cope with the unprecedented number of radio amateurs heading that way, Wild West covered wagon-style, with all their goods and chattels - accompanied by security guards riding shotgun to ensure that bandits do not steal their precious amateur radio equipment, typically including a 5KW amplifier.

Following on from the ever increasing complexity of the ARRL assessment and evaluation process in the context of possible new DXCC entities, the universities of West Ham, East Ham and Balham (‘Gateway to the South’) are now advertising their exciting new degree of PhD in Advanced DXCC Studies. Successful applicants will be required to submit a gruelling 100-page thesis, to be accompanied by a 10-page appendix containing all the relevant maps and charts. Prospective PhD students are also advised that ‘a knowledge of geography, amateur radio and United States bureaucracy would be an advantage, but not essential’.     

In the wake of the huge success of the new Chiltern DX Club (CDXC) Yahoo! Group Reflector, the Radio Society of Great Britain is currently considering providing a similar service for its members. As soon as this new service has been approved by the RSGB Board, an announcement will be made on the CDXC Yahoo! Group Reflector.

Listen out for special event station GB5MOO, celebrating five years of red and silver milk bottle-tops in the South West, on the air from Joe ’s Dairy in Bristol until 31 December. Contacts with this station will also count for the new Dairies on the Air (DOTA) awards programme. QSL via M1LKY.

July 2006

This week’s headlines:

• Self-styled DX stations compete for a slot in the Guinness Book of Records
• GB special event station rule change
• Croatia does it German-style

More and more self-styled DX stations, especially in the Balkan area, are currently competing for a slot in the Guinness Book of Records. Their aim is to see how long they can go in a pile-up without mentioning their callsign. Last month on 20m SSB a YT station notched up almost 30 minutes along these lines, despite understandable cries of “What’s the callsign?” in between. It was considerable disappointment for some when he finally gave it. No doubt there were several stations who worked this one and still don’t know what his callsign was. Mind you, this style of operation certainly did wonders for this YT operator’s ego and made him feel like the bee’s knees.

Due to complaints about some UK GB special event stations being far too brief and impersonal in their operating style, especially in 80m SSB pile-ups, these stations will in future be required to give the following information during each and every QSO, with a view to making each contact last for at least 10 minutes: the operator’s name and exact QTH in phonetics, the station rig details, what his dog had for breakfast, the very latest local weather report and of course the reason for the special event station callsign in the first place, even if that’s long since been noted down by all on frequency.

Not to be outdone by the Germans and their current plethora of DQ2ØØ6* and DR2ØØ6* World Cup stations, between now and the end of the year radio amateurs in Croatia will be fielding no fewer than 26 special event stations in the 9A2ØØ6A-Z series to celebrate the World Tiddlywinks Championships taking place in Flipadiska, Croatia, on 29 July. In the heavyweight section of these Championships the contestants will be playing the game using manhole covers.

Changes to the rules are expected soon in connection with certain very unrare EU stations who call CQ on SSB, then immediately say ‘QRZ?’. In most cases there’s nobody on frequency who’s the slightest bit interested in calling them. So, merde alors!, why the ‘QRZ’? In the unlikely event that a QSO does materialise, such stations will also be banned from saying ‘73’ at the start of it, seeing as this is highly confusing for some and could easily give l’impression that the contact is almost over, although it’s only just begun.

May 2006

This week’s headlines:

• ‘Americanisation’ firmly denied
• World Cup special event stations
• Learn German in Friedrichshafen

Allegations have been firmly denied that the GB2RS News is gradually turning into a general science and technology bulletin, and becoming increasingly American in both style and content. “This is nooze to me,” a member of the editorial staff said last nite from his colorful office in the Innernational Science & Technology Cenner in Houston, Texas.

A spokesman for ARRL HQ added, “I would like to express my deep gratitood to the British amateur radio communidy for their pardicipation in this great adventure and for showing that they really care about this wonnerful hobby of ours, which means so much to so many.”

Although it was not entirely clear what he was talking about here, it certainly sounded good and had many of us fighting back tears of emotion. In the event of any future items of this sort, we gather that both newsreaders and listeners will be provided with an adequate supply of Kleenex.

If you haven’t worked Germany yet, you’ll finally get your chance during the World Cup, which kicks off in Munich on 9 June. Long before that Germany will be fielding no fewer than 38 special event stations with callsigns in the DR2ØØ6* and DQ2ØØ6* series. Twelve of these will be special stadium stations, with CW operators required to adjust their pitch accordingly. The goal is to net a final score of 1 million QSOs.

Special World Cup awards will be available, but when sending in your logs please quote the name of at least one referee. Extra time will be given to enable you to thoroughly check these logs and make sure that the details match, with the appropriate header, otherwise ze organisers vill be in touch and penalties vill be incurred. In case of any PC problems, try re-booting your computer.

[Yes, ‘Not the GB2RS News’ on ze ball as ever. Ed.]

Kicking off on 23 June: the Friedrichshafen Hamfest, or ‘Ham Radio 2006’. Any UK visitors with a bit of time on their hands, and wishing to learn a few words of very basic German, can now take advantage of the special intensive courses offered by Franziska Frohmacher, from Friedrichshafen. Freelance Franziska can frequently be found fraternising at the bar in the railway station buffet.

This week’s headlines:

• UK amateur radio drinking ban
• Rave reviews for new-look RadCom
• Hungarian station wins Radio 4 award

Main News:

Following the announcement by the UK communications regulator, Ofcom, that as of 1 March 2006, Ash Wednesday, it will be an offence to smoke while operating an amateur radio station, the UK government has signalled its intention to also ban drinking on the air. This is in line with its overall aim of banning the drinking of alcohol in all public houses, bars and restaurants - indeed any form of personal enjoyment which might be left to us these days - with a view to making us all feel a lot ‘happier’ at the end of the day. As a Times columnist commented recently, “I have lived under a Latin American military dictatorship where daily life was freer than in Britain today”. The only thing it was not advisable to do in such countries, he added, was to “go out into the street and shout ‘Down with Señor Presidente!’”.  

The new-look RadCom, the RSGB’s monthly magazine for members, continues to attract rave reviews, with its subtle pastel shades and highly attractive front covers. Indeed the February front cover, with its perfect example of oral hygiene, has since led the California Association of Medical Practitioners to nominate RadCom as their 2006 ‘Magazine of the Year’.

Special event station news:

HA145GULYAS is on the air throughout 2006 to celebrate the 145^th Goulash Eating Championships taking place in Hungary on 15-16 April. Operation will be on all bands and modes, indigestion permitting. This station has already won BBC Radio 4’s prestigious ‘Just a Minute’ award for the most repetitions of a special event station item in a radio news broadcast ever: 13 weeks in a row to date - and still counting.   

HF DX News:

HA145GULYAS is on the air throughout 2006 to celebrate the 145^th Goulash Eating Championships taking place in Hungary on 15-16 April. Operation will be on all bands and modes, indigestion permitting.

Leo, W5LEO, will be in Leominster between 22 July and 22 August and operating under the callsign M/W5LEO. The ‘mane thing’, he says, is that on the air he does a roaring trade.

[I thought this was supposed to be the DX News? And surely that last one’s more ‘Cat X-ray’ than ‘Dog X-ray’? Ed.]

January 2006

This week’s headlines:

• UK amateur radio smoking ban
• New RadCom crossword
• Amateur radio and rambling

Main News:

The UK communications regulator, Ofcom, has announced that as of 1 March 2006, Ash Wednesday, it will be an offence to smoke while operating an amateur radio station, seeing as this could pollute the airwaves. Also, despite filter tips, the on-air smoke could easily wrap itself round other signals and considerably reduce their readability. The Federation of Amateurs Given to Smoking (FAGS) was said to be ‘fuming’ at this latest restriction on lighting-up times by the UK nanny state.

September 2005

The news headlines:

• Radical changes to some country prefixes
• IQ and UK prefixes also under review
• Contests nothing but computer training
• ME1C QSL manager announced

We have been informed of the radical changes soon expected to the callsign prefixes of the following countries. This is because their standard phonetic realisations are either politically incorrect, misleading, or could portray the respective country in a negative light:

BY       In China it’s not the done thing to applaud an American.

FO       Could be interpreted as a very rude way of telling somebody to go away, the last thing they’d do in French Polynesia.

HR       Not all Hondurans scour the local tourist accommodation in the hope of enticing female guests into bed.

PP        If Brazilian children require solace or reassurance they don’t call for their father, but normally shout “Mama, Mama!”.

TF        Two very un-Icelandic dances.

XX        Could be interpreted as the only thing that hospitals in Macau ever do…

ZG       They never play this African game in Gibraltar, even on special occasions.

5N       They don’t celebrate Guy Fawkes Day in Nigeria .

9M       In Malaysia they never say ‘no’ in German to somebody called Mike.

In a related move: in Italy the special ‘IQ’ prefix is also under review - especially IQØ, seeing as this could easily be seen as the ultimate insult to that nation’s intelligence.

Serious concerns have also been raised about the continuing use in Uzbekistan of the ‘UK' prefix. After all, IQØs, in whichever country they may be, might well think they’re talking to a station in the United Kingdom .

According to a thesis recently submitted for the degree of PhD at the University of Luton, contests are nothing but computer training in disguise. Forget all that guff about the competitive spirit. The sole purpose of modern amateur radio contesting is to enable radio amateurs to hone their computer skills.

The Five Star DXers Association have announced the QSL manager for their forthcoming DXpedition to Middle-earth, ME1C. That’s Will Fitchurch, ME3SWH. Will is an organ builder by trade, the bigger the organ the better. His company motto, ‘Anything we build Will Fit Church’. Will also does a lucrative sideline in fonts [In this case surely Arial Italic. Ed.].  

July 2005

The main news headlines:

•        Band congestion charges to be introduced

•        Crack-downs at Ofcard, Ofdot and Ofdash

•     FSDXA announce their next expedition

Congestion charges are to be introduced to combat overcrowding on the amateur bands at peak periods, for example 20m at the weekend. The basic charge will be 50p per hour. Contest enthusiasts will be the hardest hit, with an entry in any one 80m Club Championship incurring a congestion charge of 75p. Full participation in a 48-hour contest will, of course, incur a charge of £24. However, with each such payment you will gain extra Nectar Card points.  

Ofcard, the QSL card practices regulator, is to launch a crack-down on UK QSL managers who base their activities on debatable rates of exchange for the US Dollar, in some cases US$ 2.15 to the Pound or more. A spokesperson for Ofcard said that some of them even maintain that the US Dollar, now at 1.77 to the Pound and worth 56p, is not enough to cover the return postage for a QSL card - in the UK, currently 47p to anywhere in the world.

In a similar move, Ofdot and Ofdash, the CW practices watchdogs, are to crack down on DXpedition operators who regularly claim QSO rates in excess of 200 QSOs per hour. That’s a QSO every 18 seconds or less. A spokesperson for Ofdot described such claims as unrealistic and exaggerated. His colleague at Ofdash was not available for comment, seeing as he had to dash off elsewhere.

HF DX News:

The Five Star DXers Association have announced their next expedition. Next year they’ll be going to Middle-earth. The callsign: ME1C. The 20-strong international team will be based at the Five Star Hobbiton Hilton, which is being built specially to accommodate them, the traditional Hobbit hotels having been deemed far too small and only Two Star at most. Nor do any of them have a fully licensed bar. Further details can be found on the Web at www.shelob.com.

Contest News:

Kicking off at 1200 UTC next Saturday: the Kelloggs 24-hour RCN (Reversed Cereal Numbers) Contest. Before the contest, work out how many contacts you think you’re likely to make. If you think it’ll be 1,500, then give ‘1500’ as your first cereal number, followed by ‘1499’ for the next station, etc. The station who comes closest to ‘001’ in his/her final QSO of the contest is the winner. NB: you must keep calling for the entire duration of the contest. No breaks allowed. [What, not even for a bowl of Cornflakes? Ed.]

May 2005

The main news headlines:

·        New ‘Who’s Who?’ Award Programme
·        Club Championship Frequencies Revised
·        New Pope a Keen Radio Amateur

A new ‘VIP’ award programme recently made its début based on the RSGB’s latest best-selling publication, ‘Who’s Who in Amateur Radio?’, which lists some 500 well-known amateurs, most of them in the UK. Scoring is according to a simple points system: 1 VIP point for a QSO with a listed amateur you’ve never heard of before - and 2 VIP points for a contact with one you have. Extra points can be gained for QSOs with amateurs who are not listed in the new ‘Who’s Who?’, but tell you that they darned well ought to have been – especially those pictured prominently on the front cover, but who are nowhere to be found inside.

The operating frequencies for the SSB section of the highly popular 90-minute RSGB 80m Club Championship have been revised. Not long ago 3.650 to 3.700 MHz was declared out of bounds, largely due to complaints from certain Continentals of massive UK QRM. However, it’s now been accepted, even by the do-gooders, that a fair number of these Continentals themselves probably wouldn’t give a toss about them causing massive QRM to us in one of their invariably much longer contests, jawoll!     

Following the election of the new Pope, expect a considerable increase in amateur radio activity from the Vatican City, up to now one of the rarer DXCC entities in Europe. Pope Benedict XVI, formerly Archbishop of Munich, is a keen amateur radio enthusiast. Listen out for him signing HV1A in his spare time. Operation is on all bands and modes, confirming that he is indeed a man of very catholic tastes. QSL via Joseph Ratzinger c/o DARC.

Special event station news:

In Croatia, 9AØQRP will be active right the way through until the end of 2005 to celebrate the first ever ‘QRP only’ licence to be issued in that country. 9AØQRP is running 10 KW to a variety of stacked HF yagis at 150’.

HF DX News:

An elderly Japanese amateur and Second World War veteran was looking forward to being on the air as VP6JA from Barbados until the end of this month. He recently emerged after many years from his hiding place amongst the sugar cane plantations of Barbados, totally unaware that he was now on Pitcairn Island . [You what? Ed.]

January 2005

DXpeditions to ZK1 are advised that the success of the operation could be jeopardised if they go for an over-large number of team members – or attempt to operate from every single island in the group. After all, you know what they say about “too many Cooks…”.

Hungary. After HGØ5HNY celebrating the New Year, listen out for HGØ5Ø4Ø1SUN celebrating sunrise on the 1^st of April 2005.

It has been announced that in future all UK amateur radio callsigns will be allocated by auction to the highest bidder. All callsigns in the G, M and 2 series will be up for grabs, even if long since issued to another person. Fully in line with the new policy of on-air self-regulation, duplicate callsign holders will then be left to fight it out on the bands amongst themselves.

In a controversial move designed to make amateur radio more accessible, the licensing authorities in one southern European country have announced that they will shortly be signing a lucrative deal with a leading breakfast cereal company, after which an amateur radio licence will be found FREE! at the bottom of every tenth packet of cornflakes.

The Hogwarts Amateur Radio Society, M2WIZ, recently made its first ever contact with Middle-earth and the Hobbiton Amateur Radio Society, ME1HOB. Somewhat predictably this contact was during an allegro ma non troppo opening on 6 metres, the ‘magic’ band.

The Plain English Society has strongly criticised certain newer UK amateur radio operators for using expressions such as “My personal would be…”. Some operators on 80 metres in particular are also criticised for ending almost every sentence with the word ‘there’, as in “My personal would be Martyn, there.” Not to mention the use of the word ‘handle’ instead of ‘name’. Yes, indeed: what was the famous composer Georg Friedrich Handel’s handle? Georg Friedrich, of course.

July 2004

Greek special event stations are currently counting us down to the start of the Olympic Games in Athens on 13 August by adding the number of days left to go to the Big Day as a suffix to their callsign. For example, with 17 days to go SX9A will be signing SX9A/17, with 16 days to go, SX9A/16, etc.

Several eastern European licensing authorities now plan to introduce a similar system to enable radio amateurs in these countries to count us down on the air to their Big Day. Yes, their birthday. So with 333 days to go to his birthday, LZ3AA would have the option of signing LZ3AA/333, the following day LZ3AA/332, etc. These special birthday callsigns would also count as ‘LZ333’ and ‘LZ332’ respectively, thus providing an additional attraction for WPX enthusiasts.

Here in the UK Ofcom continues to consider the introduction of so-called vanity callsigns. Current speculation envisages the eventual release of callsigns in the new G0**, G1**, M0** and M1** series, some of which – in line with existing DVLA practice in the highly lucrative field of personalised car number-plates - are likely to attract sizeable financial bids, especially in the case of callsigns such as GØAL, G1RL, MØNA (ideal for a YL called Lisa) and M1KE (ideal for a bloke called Mike).  

The long-awaited major international DX-pedition to the North Pole by the Polar Bear DXers Association (PBDXA), originally scheduled for the end of next month, has been cancelled after the group was unsuccessful in gaining the local residents’ seal of approval. Last-minute talks also failed to break the ice, despite husky-voiced requests to the amateur radio community to ‘bear with us’ and assurances that it would be ‘all white on the night’. The expedition was already in the balance due to ongoing polarisation amongst the team members as to which international callsign prefix to use - and lack of suitable hotel accommodation close to the proposed expedition site. Meanwhile, in order to patch up their differences, the Polar Bear DXers Association plan a Gala Reconciliation Dinner at which the star turn will be a Dame Vera Lynn sound-alike singing that immortal World War II classic, ‘Whale meat again…’.

A new QSL Bureau Sub-Manager has been appointed for the M1 series of callsigns. That’s John Smith, M2JPS, who lives close to the M3. He takes over from Dave Jones, M4DMJ, who lives near the M5. He in turn took over some years ago from Duncan McDonald, now M6DWR, who used to live close to the M8. In fact when in Scotland the M4 and the M6 still meet up occasionally for lunch of sorts at their favourite service area on the M9.

May 2004

The authorities in Bulgaria have announced that amateur radio stations there can now use their LZ prefix followed by the number of years they’ve been licensed, providing this is 10 years or more. The suffix will stay the same. For example, after 10 years LZ2ZZ can sign LZ1ØZZ; after 11 years: LZ11ZZ; after 99 years on the air: LZ99ZZ. It’s thought that many other European countries will follow suit. In some cases this will mean that you won’t have a clue as to which callsign area of which country a station is in any more, but all in all it’ll be a lot more fun. 

In a surprise move in the opposite direction, in the United States the FCC has announced a new measure designed to eliminate any on-air confusion as to which state a station is actually operating from, seeing as these days the whole thing’s basically one hell of a mess and it’s virtually impossible to tell. Indeed as of 1 June 2004 all US stations will be officially obliged to indicate their state each time they give their callsign. For example, ex-Californian W6AA, long since a resident of Pennsylvania, will have to sign ‘W6AA/PA’. Whereas KØBBB, originally from Iowa, but now living happily with his six wives in Utah [Whoops!], will have to sign ‘KØBBB/UT’, etc.  

Here in the UK the communications regulator, Ofcom, has approved plans for the introduction of highly sophisticated new computer software to facilitate fully unattended amateur radio operation on the HF bands. As of 1 January 2005 UK amateurs will be able to pop out for a leisurely pint or two down at their local pub, a mind-bogglingly spicy Meat Vindaloo at their favourite Indian restaurant – or even two weeks’ holiday in sunny Mallorca – and see what they worked when they get back.

A new awards programme has recently been unveiled: Pubs on the Air, or POTA. Although initially UK-orientated, it’s hoped that radio amateurs in other countries can be encouraged to join in the scheme and activate as many of their local hostelries as possible. The rules are based on that well-known motoring game of pub cricket. Thus a QSO with a station operating from the ‘Dirty Duck’ public house scores two runs or points, due to the duck’s two feet, dirty or not. Whereas a contact with the ‘Red Lion’ scores four runs or points, seeing as most lions have four paws, be they red or not. Something like that, anyway.

Those well-known helpers on the HF DX station scene, ‘band policemen’, are to be issued with their own official uniforms. We won’t see them, of course, but they will – and will be able to spend countless hours admiring themselves in these uniforms in the mirror at home. Truncheons will also be provided to complete the picture.

March 2004

Main News

The ITU, in association with Ofcom and The Lord of the Rings, has recently approved the exclusive allocation of the prefix ‘ME’ to amateur radio stations in Middle-earth, which will also count as a new DXCC entity. Middle-earth is not part of CEPT. For information regarding a reciprocal licence contact the Chief Wireless Officer, Ham Gamgee, ME1HG, the Post Office, Hobbiton. E-mail to ham@hobbitnet.me. Currently no amateur radio operation is permitted from Isengard, ME6, or Mordor, MEØ.

ITV is to launch a new reality series entitled I’m a Radio Ham – Get me out of Here! The contestants will be drawn from the UK amateur radio community at large and packed off to an exotic DX location in SE Asia, where they’ll face a series of trials designed to test their all-round on-air stamina. These include having to do battle on 20m with a totally wild and unruly EU weekend pile-up - and an equally daunting challenge on SSB: successfully distinguishing one callsign from another in a mammoth JA pile-up.

RSGB QSL Bureau

In order to take advantage of the much lower labour costs, it has been announced that the RSGB QSL Bureau is to be re-located to India. Longer-term plans also envisage the re-location of RSGB Headquarters as a whole to that country, where local Indian staff will be employed.

HF DX News

Next weekend John, G3WGV, will once again be in peak condition and operating from the summit of Mount Everest, 9N-/BY-001, for the increasingly popular Summits on the Air (SOTA) Awards programme. The callsign prefix used, 9N or BY, will depend on which side of the border his feet happen to be standing on at the time. As John himself added, “Yes, SOTA gives so many of us ‘summit’ to do at the weekend”.

Contest News

Next weekend we can look forward to the wonderful world of the 48-hour YO Transylvanian DX Contest, on both CW and SSB. Contestants exchange the usual 59(9) report, plus their blood group and the name of their favourite Dracula film actor.

The Solar Forecast

This week the quieter side of the sun will be looking our way, so with a bit of luck the bands shouldn’t be anything like as noisy as they have been of late, dammit.

January 2004

Amid growing concern that the number of special prefixes to be heard on the air could soon outnumber the boring old normal ones, all IARU member societies have been invited to attend a special conference on the matter to be held in Cyprus later this year. On the air from the Larnaca conference venue itself will be H2X and P3Z.

North Korea, P5, is the latest country to abolish the Morse code requirement for access to the HF bands.

Special event station news

TM5ØLOO will be on the air next weekend to celebrate the 50^th anniversary of the first fully flushing public convenience to be erected in Paris. This station will be using a paper log.  

HF DX News

Haiti. Listen out this month for 5H3HH signing HH5/5H3HH/P, CW only. Station identification on the hour, with a bit of luck. QSL via G3SWH.

A major Russian DX-pedition, 3B9U, will be active from Rodrigues Island, AF-017, between the 16^th of March and 14^th of April, with up to 20 high-power HF stations on the air simultaneously. QSL via UA3SWH.

French Polynesia. Next month G3RFX will be active as FO/G3RFX from the sun-drenched paradise island of Bora Bora, OC-067, and listening occasionally for Europe. QSL via G35WH.

IOTA News

During the month of February members of the West of England Transmitting Society (WETS) will be operating pedestrian mobile from a traffic island in the A38, in the centre of Bristol. However, contacts will only count for IOTA credit if it’s been raining heavily and this traffic island is surrounded by at least 2 inches of water.

Contest News

The Worked All Rather Small Italian Villages Contest, organised by the Parma Ham Radio Club, takes place next weekend on 160 through to 10m, on both CW and SSB. The report format is the usual 59(9) plus the name of your favourite Italian salami or meat product. Vegetarians quote their favourite Italian pasta.

The Solar Forecast

This week the more active side of the sun is expected to be looking our way. Adequate protection can only be guaranteed if you use a sun cream, Factor 2 or more

November 2003

(under the heading 'Amateur Radio Film News')

Harry Potter

If you’re a Harry Potter fan, you’ll be interested in a considerable scoop for the CDXC Digest.

Not even J.K. Rowling knows about this, but in his third year at Hogwarts young Harry suddenly developed a keen interest in amateur radio and HF DXing, rather strange Muggle-type activity though it may be. So some of his friends started calling him ‘Hammy’ Potter instead. Dumbledore and Professor McGonagall were appalled.

It was good news for amateur radio, though. After all, we always say we’re trying to encourage new blood into this hobby of ours. Meanwhile watch out for the wizard DXer in Hammy Potter and the Phantom of 15 SSB, coming to your local cinema soon.

The Silence of the Lambs

In the wake of the September [2003] power cut which affected nearly all of Italy, an American film company is planning to make a psycho-thriller based on ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ and depicting the chilling psychological effect which this unprecedented power cut had on Italy’s highly active amateur radio community.

Negotiations are already in progress with Sir Anthony Hopkins to play the leading role, that of a keen Italian amateur radio enthusiast who also enjoys having friends for dinner. The proposed title for this new movie: The Silence of the Hams.

©G3RFX 2008