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Friday, March 28, 2014


SB DX @ WW < KB8NW $OPDX.1156.1
Ohio/Penn DX Special Bulletin No. 1156.1

The Ohio/Penn DX PacketCluster
DX Special Bulletin No. 1156.1
BID: $OPDX.1156.1
March 28, 2014
Editor Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW
Provided by BARF80.ORG (Cleveland, Ohio)

Thanks to the Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society, Northern Ohio DX
Association, Ohio/Penn PacketCluster Network, AB5K & the AR TelNet
Clusters Network W2VU, W8GEX & 60m News, DL1THM and G3XTT for the
following DX information.

60M NEWS (For immediate release: 27 March 2014). US Ham Operators and
Government Test HF Radio Communications -- Disaster Communications
Compatibility Exercise Uses Automatic Link Establishment -- Washington,
DC, and San Francisco, CA ­ 27 March 2014: US Amateur Radio operators
(ham operators) and Federal Government radio stations are engaged in a
nationwide test of their capability to communicate with each other by
shortwave radio, in case of an emergency or disaster. They are partici-
pating in a 12-day joint readiness exercise running from 27 March through
7 April, covering all areas of USA, using a digital High Frequency (HF)
radio system known as Automatic Link Establishment (ALE). This High
Frequency Interoperability Exercise 2014 (HFIE-2014) runs concurrent
with the federal National Exercise Program (NEP) 2014.
ALE is a standardized digital signaling protocol used by each radio
service, ham and government, to establish HF communications between their
own stations. For the first time, the government regulatory agencies
(FCC and NTIA) have authorized these stations to communicate with each
other using ALE. HF radio enables long distance communication independent
of terrestrial communications infrastructure, internet, or satellites.
To facilitate the communication testing, the Federal Emergency Manage-
ment Agency (FEMA) secured temporary authority from the National Tele-
communications and Information Administration (NTIA) and the Federal
Communications Commission (FCC). Federal Government radio stations and
hams are allowed to communicate with each other using ALE during the
exercise. Under existing rules, hams have secondary access to 5 HF radio
channels on which Government stations are the primary users.
HF radios used by Federal Government stations have the ALE capability
built into the hardware. Amateur Radio operators have implemented the
same ALE protocols using their personal computers with ham radio equip-
ment and software. The Special Temporary Authority allows for on-the-air
testing of interoperability between the hardware and software-generated
ALE implementations.
Participation in the interoperability exercise is open to all ALE-
capable Federal Government radio stations and to all ALE-capable US
Amateur Radio stations. While five channels are available if needed,
the test plan calls for using only two of the channels in order to
minimize impact on other stations not participating in the exercise.
Specifics of the STA are as follows:
(1) Temporary modification of the authority granted at NTIA Manual
section 7.3.8(4), which authorizes Federal Government stations
to communicate with stations in the Radio Amateur Civil Emergency
Service, to allow communications with any Amateur Radio station
utilizing Automatic Link Establishment, limited to the five channels
in the 5 MHz band which are available to the Amateur Radio Service
on a secondary basis, for the period March 27th through April 7th
2014.
(2) Concurrent waiver by the FCC of that part of FCC rule 97.111(a)(4)
which limits communications with US Government stations to trans-
missions necessary to providing communications in RACES, limited
to the five channels in the 5 MHz band which are available to the
Amateur Radio Service on a secondary basis, for the period March
27th through April 7th 2014.

The HFIE-2014 is a semi-annual ham radio readiness exercise coordinated
by the HFLINK organization http://hflink.com and the Global ALE High
Frequency Network <http://hflink.net>.
It is open to all ALE-capable ham radio stations. Technical and oper-
ational guidelines for ham and federal government stations are available
National Exercise Program (NEP) 2014 is a complex emergency preparedness
exercise with activities sponsored by government departments and agencies,
designed to educate and prepare the whole community for complex, large-
scale disasters and emergencies. As part of the National Preparedness
Goal (NPG), it enables a collaborative, whole community approach to
national preparedness that engages individuals, families, communities,
the private and nonprofit sectors, faith-based organizations and all
levels of government.

CQ NEW (Press Release): Katie Allen, WY7KRA, Named CQ Sales & Marketing
Manager (Hicksville, NY -- March 28, 2014) - Katie Allen, WY7KRA, has
been appointed Sales and Marketing Manager for CQ Communications, Inc.,
effective immediately, it was announced today by company President and
Publisher Richard Ross, K2MGA. Katie will be responsible for advertising
sales for CQ Amateur Radio magazine (including the CQ Plus digital supple-
ment), as well as marketing efforts for all CQ Communications products.
An active DXer and contester who recently earned her Extra Class license,
Katie entered the world of amateur radio as the ARRL's Membership Manager
in the 2000s, earning her first ham license under the guidance of other
League staff members. She then sparked an effort to revitalize the ARRL
staff radio club and station, W1HQ, both of which had fallen into inactiv-
ity, and helped move ham radio into the world of multimedia by producing
and posting various operating videos on You Tube. She currently lives in
Sundance, Wyoming with her husband, Dwayne, WY7FD.
"I love ham radio and the ham industry and I'm beyond thrilled to be
back in it," says Katie. "I know there are challenges ahead, but my
successes over the years have been with new projects or revitalizations ...
so perhaps I've come home again to my area of specialty."
"Katie's enthusiasm for amateur radio and everything relating to it,
along with her track record marketing our hobby to newcomers and her
experience in multimedia and social networking, put her in an ideal
position to help manufacturers and retailers best match up their products
with our readers," notes CQ Publisher Dick Ross, K2MGA. Ross adds that
"the introduction of CQ Plus has expanded CQ's audience beyond its tra-
ditional base of active hams to the broader hobby radio community. Katie's
ability to connect with both groups, and to reach out via new media, will
help add to our advertisers' ability to do the same."
CQ Communications, Inc., based in Hicksville, New York, publishes
CQ Amateur Radio, including the CQ Plus digital supplement, in addition
to CQ books, videos and related products. It also sponsors a comprehensive
series of operating awards and the world's most popular on-air contests.
Its flagship magazine, CQ Amateur Radio, is currently in its 70th year
of continuous publication, now in both print and digital formats.

PJ2, CURACAO ISLAND (Correction). The German team of Anja/DH2AK and
Torsten DL1THM (not Wilf/DL1HTM) will be active as PJ2/homecall from
Curacao Island (SA-099) between March 31st and April 18th. Activity
will be on the high bands, SSB and maybe some Digital modes. They will
announce activities on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dl1thm
QSL via their home callsigns, direct (see QRZ.com) or by the Bureau.

TX6, AUSTRAL ISLANDS (Update/Press Release). The following was posted
by Don, G3XTT, at 1800z, March 28th: "We now have over 2500 RTTY QSOs in
the log. We have focused our RTTY efforts on 15m, so that everyone gets
a chance of a contact ­ that’s over 2,500 unique calls on RTTY.
We tried 160 again last night but with very poor results. Given that
we have limited stations and operators, we feel further 160m operation
cannot be justified. In contrast, 80m CW has gone well for us and we
will certainly be doing more.
By far the majority of emails we are getting via the form on this
website are about log queries. Again, let me say there simply isn’t time
to check them all out while we are here ­ please QRX until we return
home, or work us again.
We will be QRT for a few hours in the middle of today our time (roughly
2100 to 2400 UTC) for a tour of the island and an opportunity to relax
a little. With over 50,000 QSOs in the log we are very happy with the
way things are going although, from the size of the pile-ups, especially
when the bands are open to Europe, you could be excused thinking we had
only just started!
For QSLing, a reminder that the preferred method is OQRS via the Clublog
site or, for “traditional” direct and bureau QSLs, it’s via G3TXF (the
team are very grateful to Nigel for volunteering to take on this major
task ­ we couldn’t ask for anyone better).

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** IMPORTANT NOTICE/REMINDER ** The Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin now has a new
FAX number. Contributors can now send/fax their DX information to the
following number: 1-419-828-7791 ( F A X only! )
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SPECIAL NOTE BY EDITOR: If you are having a problem receiving bounced
mail by sending mail to me via " kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org ", please send
mail to me via " kb8nw@arrl.net "...... TNX de Tedd KB8NW
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PLEASE NOTICE (as of February 12th), NEW ADDRESS CHANGES FOR THE
OPDX INTERNET HELP/SUBSCRIBE/UNSUBSCRIBE REQUESTS:
OPDX WORLD-WIDE WEB HOME PAGE (provided by John, K8YSE):
ALSO VISIT THE NORTHERN OHIO DX ASSOCIATION'S WEB PAGES AT:

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Excerpts and distribution of The OPDX Bulletin are granted as long as
KB8NW/OPDX/BARF80 receive credit. To contribute DX info, please send
via InterNet Mail to: kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org - OR - kb8nw@arrl.net
Information can now be faxed to the following "NEW" phone line at:
1-419-828-7791 (F A X only!)

/EXIT
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Tedd Mirgliotta, KB8NW - E-mail addresses:
<kb8nw@barf80.nshore.org> <kb8nw@hotmail.com> <kb8nw@arrl.net>
Editor of the Ohio/Penn DX Bulletin (OPDX - DXer's Tool of Excellence)
President of the "Northern Ohio DX Association" (NODXA)
DX Chairman for the "Northern Ohio Amateur Radio Society
ARRL Assistant Director of the Great Lakes Division
Sysop of the "Basic Amateur Radio Frequency BBS" (BARF80.ORG)

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