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H40,
TEMOTU ISLANDS (A New DXCC
Country!)
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H40,
TEMOTU ISLANDS (A New DXCC
Country!). In a press release
by Tim Totten, N4GN, the
South China Sea DX Team
(SCSDXT) announces that
they have extensively studied
the new DXCC criteria which
will become effective on
March 31, 1998, and have
found/researched/discovered
several potential new DXCC
entities. The Temotu Islands,
located in the South Pacific,
collectively form the easternmost
province of the Solomon
Islands, an independent
country since 1978. Because
Temotu is separated by more
than 350 km from the rest
of the Solomon Islands,
it should easily qualify
as a new DXCC entity. The
SCSDXT has teamed with the
Solomon Islands' IARU member
organization, SIRS (Solomon
Islands Radio Society),
in organizing a full-scale
DXpedition to Temotu, as
well as preparing the application
for new DXCC status. The
team for this operation
includes members from four
continents: H44GP, H44GR,
JA5DQH, N4GN, N7NG, OH0XX,
OH1RY, OH2BC, OH2BE, OH2BH,
OH2TA, W6OSP and 9V1YC.
In recognition of its new
status, the Solomon telecommunications
authorities have agreed
to assign the previously
unused H40 prefix to Temotu
for all future amateur operations.
This first Temotu DXpedition
has been issued the special
call sign H40AA. The team
will begin arriving on March
21st and may be found on
the air using their individual
H44 call signs while making
final preparations for the
main event. These early
operations--including all-band
activity in the CQ WPX SSB
Contest, will count for
DXCC credit as the Solomon
Islands under the current
rules. At 2359Z on March
31st, the H40AA call sign
will be debuted on the air,
at which point QSOs will
count for Temotu DXCC credit,
presuming the application
for new DXCC status is eventually
approved.
QSLs for H44
"warm up" QSOs
(for Solomon Islands DXCC
credit) will be via the
home call of the individual
operators. The H40AA Temotu
QSLs will be handled by
OH2BN: Jarmo J. Jaakola,
Kiilletie 5C30, Helsinki
00710, FINLAND. SIRS has
kindly requested that DXers
NOT send any cards for these
operations via the H4 QSL
bureau. OH2BN will reply
to H40AA requests via the
OH bureau after the initial
batch of direct requests
are serviced. Further details
will be announced in the
coming days.
ADDED NOTE:
All OPDX InterNet Subscribers
will receive the complete
unedited press release as
an additional bulletin.
<Ohio/Penn
DX Bulletin No. 348 March
16, 1998>
H40, THE
TEMOTU ISLANDS (Update).
Tim Totten, N4GN, sent out
three press releases throughtout
the past weekend. OPDX InterNet
Subscribers will receive
ALL/COMPLETE unedited press
releases as an additional
bulletin. The following
are excerpts from Tim's
releases for our "Packet
Radio" readers.....
Tim states, "All systems
are 'go' for the launch
of the H40AA DXpedition."
Team members over the past
week and weekend were very
busy making final preparations.
Activity by team members,
using H44RY, was heard this
past weekend. As the team
did an all-band effort in
the CQ WPX SSB Contest.
Remember, even though the
contest effort will be taking
place from the DXpedition
site in Temotu, QSOs will
count for Solomon Islands
DXCC credit (H44) before
2359z on March 31st. At
that time, the H40AA call
will make its debut, and
QSOs will begin counting
for Temotu (H40) DXCC credit
pending approval of the
new country application.
Temotu will qualify for
separate DXCC status by
reason of separation by
water. The new DXCC rules,
which become effective at
2359z on March 31st, change
the separation criteria
from 225 miles to 350 km.
The Solomon Islands Temotu
Province includes the following
islands: Santa Cruz Islands,
the Reef Islands, the Duff
Islands, Tikopia Island,
Anuta Island, and Fatutaka
Island. The DXpedition will
take place on the largest
island in Temotu. The island
is officially known as Nendo
and is more commonly referred
to as Santa Cruz Island.
The H40AA operation will
take place in a small village
known as Lata (provincial
capital). The H40AA team
is sad to report that one
of the original team members,
Kari, OH2BC, will be unable
to make the journey to Temotu.
Kari recently suffered a
fall in which he broke several
bones in his hand. The team
also reports two changes
have been made to the frequencies
listed in the original H40AA
announcement (refer to OPDX.348).
Please note the following
new transmit frequencies:
160 meters (SSB and CW)
- 1824.5 kHz and 10 meters
SSB - 28395 kHz. The team
has received another call
sign, H44DX, to be used
from Honiara, the Solomon
Islands' capital, as the
DXpedition operators pass
through on their way to
and from Temotu. This callsign
(H44DX) may be heard on
the air before, after, and
even during the H40AA operation.
H40AA will hit the air waves
at 2359z, March 31st, and
will continue through the
early hours (UTC) of April
13th. Normally, three stations
will be in service at any
given time. For the first
several days, two stations
will run almost exclusively
SSB--primarily on 20 and
15 meters. During this time,
the third station will concentrate
on CW, emphasizing 40 meters
at night and 17 meters during
the day. Beginning April
6th, the emphasis will change
to CW operation, paying
more attention to the other
bands. RTTY operation will
begin on April 8th, and
will be limited to 15 and
20 meters. The H40AA team
would like to emphasize
that they intend to stick
to the basic plan outlined
above. In this way, all
DXers will be given the
maximum opportunity to make
at least one QSO with this
'new one' during the early
days of the operation.
Lastly,
remember, H44RY and H44DX
QSOs count for Solomon Islands
credit, while H40AA QSOs
will count for the new Temotu
Islands DXCC entity, pending
approval of the application.
QSL H44RY via OH1RY. QSL
H40AA and H44DX via OH2BN.
Also, the H40AA DXpedition
Web Site is now available
at the following URL: http://www.iglou.com/n4gn/h40aa/
<Ohio/Penn
DX Bulletin No. 350 March
30, 1998>
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