Hi all,

Long time since I haven't been here, sorry guys!

So I'd like to start this post by thanking Dale, BA4TB, for the special words during tonight's pile-up for his expedition on AS094 (new IOTA by the way).

This is rare that an operator passes a few kind words "I read your blog everyday", Dale said !

That really makes me think of updating this blog more frequently for sure.

Xie Xie Dale for the QSO from this new IOTA, and for the nice wods !

Ronan, F8AFC

Hi all,

All of you must know Vlad, UA4WHX, from his previous tours worldwide, from all the QSO's you have made with him, from his operating skills, etc....

But on this O19VB (Oscar 19 Victor Bravo) operation, I'm very sceptical on the reasons for such an exotic call-sign. I posted some comments on DX-World on this topic, feel free to have a look there also.

But all in all, I think we can not agree with such "one man" and/or "local authorities" call sign simply because it goes against our fundamental organization (ITU) which delivers THE official list of prefix blocks. And from this list is derived the famous "DXCC list", even if some entities/prefix are for a few examples, not consistent.

I suggested Vlad, if he really wants to "honestly face the reality of their special status" (his words) to use another type of call signs such as 4L/Oscar (a bit like SV/a for Mount Athos), or a prefix belonging to a non-allocated ITU block (1AA-1ZZ).

We could debate for hours afterwards on DXCC list etc....but on this self-attribution of a radio prefix, it can not be done this way.

Nobody's perfect :-)

73

Ronan, F8AFC

Hi all,

If you have been active this morning, you must have noticed that North Pole is wide open !

It started actually yesterday with WL7E at S6 here in the afternoon. But this morning, signal strength is actualy stronger and I could work FW5JJ on 15ssb and WL7E on 12cw with...100w!

Few minutes after, I heard H44MS on 10m SSB working a contest station. At the end of the QSO, I politely asked him to go 5 up to try (still 100w here), and he came back to me with a real S8 report, amazing !!!!!!!

It comes after a few days of rather poor propagation, this is a good sign to work FW5 on 12m (he told me that "he will try") and VK9N on 12/10m if they come on those bands at deent times for EU.

Nice to see such nice propagation, we really have to enjoy those openings as this may not last wery long (http://www.solarham.net/averages.htm)

73 to all

Ronan, F8AFC

Hi all

Quite a hard one to get on missing bands : I miss ZL7 on 80/15/12/10m....

After trying 1 hour on 15 SSB (S2 here.....), I tried succesfully on 15cw where the guy was S2 in a clear pile-up. 15min of chase, S1-S2 here but no QSB.

Here is my 313th DXCC on 15m !!!!!

GL to all

Ronan, F8AFC

Hi all,

2nd new band slot of the week with CX6VM easily logged on 80m CW this morning. Quite rare on 80m, the signal was very comfortable (S5 here) and I had to call only 2 times to get through.

Tnx for n°223 on 80m !!!!!! My 5th new DXCC on 80m this year in 3 months, that's cool.

Ronan