Varese 2008

The QSL for all the stations active during the Varese 2008 award period (rules here). The Jolly ones are II2UCI, II2BIN and IQ2IR


The Golden Award

Tag Technorati: varese 2008, insubriaradio, ii2uci, ii2bin, iq2ir

Update on the Republic of Kosovo

Many have been wondering what the status with regard to the Republic of Kosovo is as of today, both in general and in amateur radio terms specifically. Substantial progress has been made, and a new approach to get Kosovo totally on its own feet is well on its way. The United Nations (UNMIK) has scaled down its administrative role while the European Union (EULEX) has initiated its supporting role to help integrate the "interim administration" functions into the local institutions.

The United Nations Frequency Management Office (FMO) is one of those local institutions. This Office was responsible for authorizing Amateur Radio operations before and after the Kosovar declaration of independence, but as of today the FMO does not exist nor are licenses issued. You may still hear some stations operating as YU8 since those licenses issued in the past have not been specifically terminated.

Undoubtedly, Kosovo as a "country" has all required country requirements; (A) a defined territory, (B) a permanent population and (C) a government and (D) is capable of interacting with other countries with whom it has established diplomatic relations. As of today, the Republic of Kosovo is recognized by 46 countries representing many leading states and all geographical continents.

From an Amateur Radio and DXCC perspective, a great deal of confusing discussion has taken place; one side argues that the DXCC criteria needs to be honored at all times. Others see the criteria as not being engraved on a tablet of stone but that the rules facilitate "entities" dynamically in the context of an ever-changing world. Both views have some merit and should be appreciated.

Western Sahara (SO), another disputed DXCC country, is currently recognized by 48 countries and even today it is not a member of the United Nations nor does it have a dedicated ITU prefix. At the time Amateur Radio entered this desert country, no one had argued that it belonged to DXCC. When Swains Island was up for DXCC discussion it was decided that the DXCC criteria had to be changed and so Swains entered the scene. Swains was added not decades ago - but just recently.

Before Swains Island, DXCC used three "measuring sticks"; UN membership, ITU prefix or IARU society. In facilitating Swains, the ARRL Board of Directors decided to keep the UN and ITU parts but changed the IARU rule to recording of an event by the US Department of State, which again opened up another gate for more DXCC entities.

Now Kosovo meets the highest US Department of State criteria - Kosovo is an independent state recognized by the United States and easily passes the US State Department gate, if that gate is honored in the right spirit. With DXCC rules in place as they existed before Swains, Kosovo would enter through the IARU gate because of its permanent amateur radio population and its national society, SHRAK.

The above is just an illustration of the dynamics of the DXCC at any given time, following the dynamics of the world.

The world outside Kosovo abounds with many other examples that offer a slightly different perspective in the international arena. Another oft-mentioned entity - Northern Cyprus - is recognized only by Turkey, and
the situation regarding Cyprus remains deadlocked. Two new cases - South Ossetia and Abkhazia - are recognized by the Russian Federation and probably soon by Belarus (EW) and Venezuela (YV). If they ever achieve wider recognition apart from the countries subject to the current conflict, they will become another set of DXCC candidates.

An immediate UN membership gate is pointed more in the direction of those that get themselves established with no gun fire. The UN's potential for resolving conflicts to its own satisfaction is seriously hampered by the Security Council veto structure that plays a major role in eliminating new countries at that gate.

So, the ARRL is left to define a workable recognition based country criteria - be it qualitative and/or quantitative. Kosovo with its almost 50 recognitions is the first one at the gate. Delaying action on the Republic of Kosovo so that it does not qualify for anything is not an option for the ARRL. Kosovo is a country with a permanent amateur radio population and therefore Kosovar amateurs should be welcomed to our community.

Back to the practical world; YU8/OH2R QSLs for the first amateur radio operation from the Republic of Kosovo were printed last week by Gennady, UX5UO and they will be in the mails in a few days. We thank Gennady for his efforts and support in making these full-color cards meet the spirit of the Kosovo case as they represent a special moment for those involved with the Kosovo project and those who follow world events as well as the development of the DXCC program.

You can view these cards at http://www.dailydx.com/Kosovo.htm

You may read more about YU8/OH2R and Kosovo at www.n4gn.com/yu8/

VK9CJW online logs

The VK9CJW logs are online: http://www.ik5run.it/vk9cjw.htm

425 toolbar

On the 425 toolbar you have up to 16 engines for your searches. They are: Google, 425 bulletins, QRZ, DxWatch, DxZone, Latest spots, IK3QAR managers, Hamcall, Dxscape, eHam, DXcalendar, F5LEN DXCC info, Wikipedia, eBay, YouTube and NoBids. If you have other engines to suggest use the msg button on the toolbar to send me your comments.

Another feature in the 425 toolbar is the antenna heading/distance calculator, powered by DxWatch.com. Click the drop down menu at the Earth icon ;the last item is the antenna heading/distance: fill the field with your gridlocator and choose between kilometers and miles. The table will appear for all the DXCC countries. For example, to beam 9X Rwanda from JN35ub point 150°/330° (short/long path) and the distance is 5681 km. Give it a try ! If you still don't have the 425toolbar you can freely download it here!

And last but nor least the Google, Microsoft and Yahoo zoomable maps. You can find them clicking the button on the toolbar. The 425 toolbar has already been downloaded by 4426 users and every day about 500 operations are performed with the toolbar. For Explorer and Firefox browser and it's FREE !

100months

From today we have 100 months to save the planet.

Two new DXCC countries ?

Russia has recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

KM9D on the way to OC-163

The Winlink report received Tue, 26 Aug 2008 00:00:00 UTC locates the Don Henry (with Jan KF4TUG & Mike KM9D on board) at the 13-47.77S / 165-14.44E location, "en passage, bound for Ndende Island, Santa Cruz group" entering Solomon isl. Soon the rare OC-163 ref will hopefully be activated using probably the H40MY callsign. The only previous activity from that ref has been made by Bernhard, DL2GAC as H44MS.

Update 1: Report received Wed, 27 Aug 2008 00:00:00 UTC: Location 11-55.84S / 165-36.83E RH28TB30 aboard 'Don Henry', en passage, 65nm remaining for Ndende Island.

Update 2: Report received Thu, 28 Aug 2008 00:15:00 UTC: Location 10-44.22S / 165-49.80E RH29VG90 aboard 'Don Henry', lying to anchor, Luesalo (aka Shaw Pt.) Graciosa Bay, Ndende

My TripAdvisor

http://www.tripadvisor.com/members/iz1crr

P29NI: la mia 1000esima IOTA

Non sono l'unico ad attendere la prossima spedizione di Derek ad Hermit Island (OC-041) come P29NI. In effetti l'ultima attività da questa referenza è ormai lontana nel tempo ad opera del solito Bernard DL2GAC. Non per altro solo il 5.1% dei partecipanti al programma IOTA può "vantarsi" di aver accreditato OC-041. Ma per me rappresenterà un traguardo importante. Per quanto abbia delle conferme in arrivo prima di ottobre, attenderò di udire il segnale di Derek in QSO con qualche europeo per poi richiedere subito la QSL ed inserire il tutto nel database online IOTA, per raggiungere il (per me) mitico punteggio di 1000 IOTA confermate. Poi, prima di febbraio 2009 avrò sicuramente incrementato ancora il punteggio di qualche QSL di cui sono in attesa, ma è per me simbolico che la 1000esima sia proprio una attività del mio carissimo amico G3KHZ, col quale ho condiviso due fantastici viaggi, a Sonsorol e nel Borneo. La mia nuova situazione (marito e padre) mi ha impedito di partecipare alle successive attività di Derek da P29 (non per altro gli ho "regalato" la mitica verticale di UJX affinchè ne facesse buon uso. Allora in bocca al lupo P29NI! Io il mio dovere, contribuendo per la spedizione (via PayPal) l'ho fatto, chi altri vuol essere altrettanto generoso ?

Another DXpedition by Derek G3KHZ

LCWO: avanti italiani !

Ci ho messo un giorno intero per tradurre il sito LCWO in italiano e spero che questo stimoli qualche OM nostrano ad iscriversi e provare le sessioni CW. Son proprio curioso di vedere nelle classifiche qualche bel nominativo italiano. Ci è già arrivato Arturo IK7JWY e nell'elenco utenti vedo anche IW0HK, IK0XFD e IZ1KGL. Allora forza con i tentativi per arrivare ai vertici delle graduatorie. Ed ancora grazie a Fabian Kurz, DJ1YFK per l'ottima idea.