DX Notes for December
Here is the monthly bulletin of DX information for Australian DXers. Solar and ionospheric news, DX observations, announcements of DX activations, operating tips, and anything else that may be of interest to DXers in our part of the world may be found here. Reader’s observations and suggestions for content are welcome.
Propagation notes
Not much of note to report with solar activity, but there have been periods of geomagnetic activity, stirred up by recurring coronal hole high speed solar wind streams. Low Bands remain noisy due to almost constant thunderstorm activity.
Around the bands
Forty, thirty and twenty metres continue to offer plenty of DX, with some openings to most parts of the world. Fifteen metres has shown a bit of life again too, with openings to Europe in the late afternoon. Low Bands are mostly poor, but there has been some activity on 160 and 80 m, made more difficult by the constant storm static.
DX Heard or Worked
The past several weeks has seen quite a lot of DXpedition activity, including YJ0GC Vanuatu, ZL7X Chatham Islands, VK9QR Norfolk Island, VK9XG Christmas Island, VP6D Ducie Island, 5W2TB and 5W7X Samoa, KH8C American Samoa, A35EU Tonga, XT2SZZ Burkina Faso, Z23MD Zimbabwe, EP6RRC Iran, Z6/EI5GM and Z6/EI9FBB Kosovo. There has been a bunch of Caribbean and Central American activations. Also active have been DT8A South Shetland Islands, XX9ET Macau, 4W/JH2EUV, XV9D, and OX/OZ1LXJ was on a work assignment to Greenland.
There have been a number of special event callsigns active, including VI4PEACE, GB1WAR, VK3LWF, OP0PPY commemorating the centenary of World War 1 Armistice. The Hungarian amateur radio association celebrates its 90th anniversary with HG90 stations active. ZL6YOTA and other Youth On The Air stations are also active this month.
Upcoming Activations of Interest
Details of upcoming activations will be brief as there are so many. For more details of any activation listed below, visit NG3K’s excellent “Announced DX Operations” calendar https://www.ng3k.com/misc/adxo.html
French Polynesia: TX0A Maria Est Atoll (OC-113), and TX0M Morane Atoll (OC-297P) a new IOTA, 4 – 18 December.
East Kiribati: T32NH (OC-024), 5 – 11 December.
Senegal: 6V1A (AF-045) Goree Island, 7 – 9 December.
Bouvet: 3Y0I (AN-002), two weeks activation, Summer.
Vanuatu: YJ0AFU (OC-035), 25 December – 8 January.
South Shetland: DT8A (AN-010), until end of December.
Maldives: 4S7KKG (AS-003), until 1st April 2019.
3Y0I Bouvet Island DXpedition
The Rebel DX Group Bouvet Island DXpedition team is presently in Capetown, preparing for their departure to Bouvet Island. No dates of operation have yet been announced, but word is that they are likely to sail in the next week. It will take twelve days to sail to Bouvet Island, with a two-week activation. See their website for more information: https://bouvetoya.org/
73
Luke VK3HJ