Carolina DX Association - W4DXA

Posted 5/14/2013
HEARD ISLAND DXPEDITION DELAYED AND RESTRUCTURED

The DXPedition to Heard Island, VK0, originally scheduled for 2014 is being rescheduled for January 2015. This after the cost estimates for a 50 member DXPedition came in at around $1,500.000. Plans now are to pare down the size of the operation to about 12-15 operators on the air for about 30 days. The team feels that this smaller operation can be accomplished at about 1/3 the cost. Even so, this will be a very expensive operation into a part of the world difficult to reach. It will require huge support from the DX Community. Good luck team!

Posted 4/14/2013
TQSL SOFTWARE READY FOR BETA TESTING

If you are one of the many who think getting started and using Logbook of the World (LOTW) is too complicated, then there is hope! The ARRL is working to make the job of setting up and using LOTW simpler. A beta release of the new software has been made available to all members of Yahoo's "Discussion Group for ARRL Logbook of the World (LoTW)". However, if you are not a Yahoo Group user, you can find the link and documentation for the new software here:

The current release candidate v1.14-rc5 is available via:
www.arrl.org/trustedqsl-beta-release

You can review the documentation for v1.14-rc5 before you download and install it:
www.arrl.org/TrustedQSL/tQSL-help/"

Posted 4/7/2013
RICHARD (DICK) WILLIAMS, W3OA
NAMED INDEXA SECY-TREAS
Dick Williams, W3OA has been named by INDEXA to replace Bill Jennings, W4UNP as Secretary-Treasurer of INDEXA. Bill recently announced his intention to retire. Dick will fill the unexpired term until elections are held in September. INDEXA is a major sponsor of DXPeditions. Dick, a long time DXer, and member of the DXCC honor roll will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the INDEXA organization.

In an unrelated move, Bill Jennings, W4UNP agreed to fill the unexpired term of INDEXA director Rich Grant, W9RG who announced his retirement. Dick is CDXA's Contest Manager and Bill is also a CDXA member.

Posted 3/1/2013 Press Release
Team Leader Lou N2TU and the Management Team of Joe W8GEX, Craig K9CT, and Joe AA4NN are proud to announce they are planning a Commemorative DXpedition to a rare DX entity. This DXpedition will be to Wake Atoll (KH9) in October 2013.
[Read more here]

Posted 1/31/2013
INCOMING QSLs GET CAT SCAN
In case you missed it, CDXA is now the sponsoring club for the K4, N4 and W4 incoming QSL bureau These incoming QSLs are undergoing a CAT Scan before going to the US Post Office. There they will be sent to the various "letter sorters" before going to their final destinatations. Our QSL bureau manager said that not all QSLs will get the CAT Scan!

Posted 1/21/2013
Marion Island to get Ham Operator
We have just learned that ZS1BCE, David, has been appointed as the new radio technician for Marion Island from April 2013 until May 2014. David departs Cape Town on 15 April 2013 and will only be active once the ship departs with the old team about 4 weeks later. He will be active on most HF bands; SSB only. David returns to Marion Island for the second time, but the first time as a radio amateur. He conducted a tour of duty as a radio operator in 1995 / 1996 as part of the Marion M52 Team. No call sign has been applied for yet, but David wishes to apply for ZS8D. More details will follow once the call sign has been allocated. His QSL Manager will be Pierre Tromp ZS1HF / ZS8M. All enquiries should be made strictly via ZS1HF. (This information is courtesy of Dan Schaaf)

Posted 1/10/2013
Shelby Hamfest comes home
After five years of being held in Dallas, N.C., the amateur radio festival will return to the Cleveland County Fairgrounds during Labor Day weekend. "We are just tickled pink," said Cleveland County Fairgrounds Manager Calvin Hastings. "We are very excited about it returning to the county for the community. People come from all over the United States and will bring in a lot of revenue to the county.""
[Read More]

Updated 1/9/2013
HAM NATION TO AIR SSB PROGRAM
John Scott, (K8YC) writes: I was watching Ham Nation last Wednesday, and Bob Heil stated that on 1/16/2013 they will have a noted person on explaining the ins and outs of Single Side Band. If a person cannot watch the live version next Wednesday, about 36 hours after the live show, the edited version is placed out on the servers of TWIT TV. (TWIT=This Week In Technology). Ham Nation can be accessed by the icon on the CDXA website.

Updated 1/8/2013
LOTW BACKLOG DECREASES
The Logbook of the World (LOTW) backlog has finally started to decrease after steadily building over the last 4-6 weeks or so. The processing of log submissions had steadily increased to where it was running more than 14 days behind as recently as 4 or 5 days ago. It also was showing more than 35,000 logs in the queue.

Since reaching those peak numbers just a few days ago, the queue has decreased to less than 25,000 logs and the processing delay has reduced to less than 9 days. While not a lot of information is available as to the reason for the sudden turn around, ARRL had earlier reported that hardware and possibly software changes were contemplated. The queue status can be followed by going to:
www.arrl.org/logbook-queue-status

Updated 12/14/2012
CHANGE OF COMMAND

CDXA elected officers for 2013 at its annual Christmas Party/Business meeting on December 13, 2012. Most notable was the election of a new president, Hal Bouton, N4QT. Hal will replace retiring president, Ted Goldthorpe, W4VHF. Shown above, Ted gives Hal a few light hearted pointers for his upcoming term of office. br />
Elected to the newly approved position of QSL Manager was Paul Sturpe, W3GQ. Other officers re-elected to their present positions for another term were:
Vice President, Bill Fisher, W4GRW
Secretary-Treasurer, Cliff Wagoner, W3ZL
Pileup Editor, John Forbus, NV4A
Cluster Manager, Joe Simpkins, K4MD
Contest Manager, Dick Williams, W3OA
Webmaster, Wayne Setzer, WB4BXW

Updated 12/11/2012
WHO'S WORKING ZL9HR?
Here are the number of Band/Mode Slots filled by CDXA members as of 1604z, Dec. 08. To have your numbers included in this table you need to be a member of Clublog and be shown there as a CDXA member. To join Clublog, go to www.clublog.org (It's free!)

Posted 11/16/2012
CDXA TO HANDLE 4TH AREA QSL BUREAU

CDXA has been officially designated by ARRL to handle the single letter prefix 4th area QSL bureau. Because of the high number of US call signs with the number 4 in them, the 4th call area is handled by two QSL bureaus. One bureau, in Sterling, Va. handles 2X call signs, i.e. AA4NN while a second bureau in Charlotte handles the 1X call signs, i.e. K4SQR.

The Charlotte bureau has been under the able jurisdiction of the Mecklenburg Amateur Radio Society for years although much of the work has been shared by members of the Carolina DX Association. CDXA will become the responsible organization for handling the single letter prefix 4th area QSL bureau pending approval from the membership at its upcoming annual meeting.

At its annual meeting on December 13, CDXA will also elect a QSL Bureau Manager to replace Ken Boyd (K4DXA) who has managed the bureau for the last six years and has announced his intentions to retire from that position. CDXA wishes to thank the Mecklenburg club for their past service and looks forward to the continued cooperation from its members in sharing the workload associated with running the QSL bureau.

Posted 10/29/2012
TED GOLDTHORPE, W4VHF, STEPPING DOWN

The following paragraph appeared today in the NORTH CAROLINA SECTION NEWS

LONGTIME CDXA PRESIDENT TED GOLDTHORPE, W4VHF, STEPPING DOWN – For those who like to chase DX, we are fortunate to have an ARRL affiliated dedicated DX club located in North Carolina: the Carolinas DX Association. Although based in Charlotte, it serves members throughout North and South Carolina, and in many other states. Not many ARRL sections have a DX club so take advantage of its resources and superb website at www.cdxa.org Ted, W4VHF, has been the long time chief of CDXA and after many years of unflagging service, he and his equally hard working YL Itice, K4LVV, are taking some well deserved time off. Thanks Ted and Itice for your expert leadership in making DX fun in the Carolinas.

Posted 10/22/2012
VIDEO FROM SWAINS
Here is a short video from the recently completed Swains Island DXPedition. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0gnMjL1naI&feature=youtu.be

Posted 10/7/2012
BACK FROM SWAINS
Not to be outdone by AA4NN (see 2nd picture) Lou, N2TU, also a member of CDXA, showed his class by dressing up for dinner. Even in the sweltering temperatures of Swains, the guys could still have a sense of humor!

When you are on an island and the temperatures are above 110 degrees and you forget your hat.....what do you do. Why you use your pant leg of course!

Pictured above is Joe, AA4NN who just returned from the very successful DXPedition to Swains Island. Also returning was Lou, N2TU. This was Lou's first major DXPedition, while Joe is a veteran of many major DXPeditions. Both are members of CDXA. Great job fellows!

Posted 9/3/2012
NEWS RELEASE: Yaesu Presents Radios to HS0AC in Thailand
I depart Thailand early Tuesday morning after a number of days of DX pileups along side some of the most enthusiastic and friendly hams in the world! I will never forget my time here to present two Yaesu FT 2000D radios (thanks to Yaesu President Mr. Jun Hasegawa) to the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand headquarters station HS0AC that lost their radios during the terrible floods last year.
www.qsl.net/rast/ www.hs5ac.net/smf1112/smf/index.php?topic=749.0
I was delighted to find Thailand extremely "radio active" with over 300,000 hams; most on VHF. However, after seven years of waiting, the Thai hams are once again able to test for a license that gives them the HF bands. Over 40 have already passed the exam this year and at least one more test is schedule in 2012. I understand that upgrade testing will likely now occur three times a year meaning 100s of new HF operators are about to appear on the HF bands.
All this is great news for hams around the world!
73 Dennis Motschenbacher (CDXA member) K7BV HS0ZKS Executive Vice President Amateur Radio Sales

Posted 9/2/2012
Activity at Swains Island
Lou, N2TU, sent us this link for a report on the unloading of gear at Swains Island yesterday and today.
The author is Alex Jennings, the owner of Swains Island.

Posted 8/23/2012
Today, the FCC released the mandated 'report to Congress' on the Amateur Radio Service: [Read Here]
ARRL comments on the report may be seen at: [Read Here]
If you live in a 'restricted' area, this concerns you and your ability to practice your Amateur Radio hobby to its fullist.
Thanks to W4BFB for this news update.

Posted 8/10/2012
NIUE GETS NEW PREFIX
On August 3, the ITU updated its Table of International Call Sign Series to reflect a call sign change for Niue. The island will now have the entire E6 prefix block. Niue -- an island located approximately 1700 miles northeast of New Zealand -- is a self-governing island nation that has been in free association with New Zealand since 1974. Prior to the change, the island used ZK2. According to the CIA World Factbook, Niue is about 1.5 times the size of Washington, DC, and has a population of almost 1300 people.

Posted 7/12/2012 CDXA Field Day pictures can be viewed [here]

Posted 7/10/2012
Is North Korea on the Short List?
A recent announcment by Rick, K6VVA has stirred interest in the DX community about a possible upcoming DXPedition to North Korea. Rick is not looking for finacial support at the present time, but is trying to determine the amount of financial help that will be available should all the hurdles be cleared for the P5 operation.
For more information or to indicate your support, go to: http://www.k6vva.com/p5

Updated 8/1/2012 CDXA members, Joe (AA4NN) and Lou Dietrich (N2TU) are members of the 2012 NH8S SWAINS Island DX team.

Posted 7/12/2012 ANNOUNCEMENT --- 3D2C - DXpedition to Conway Reef September 24th 2012 till October 5th 2012 Our team continues its activities in Central and Southern Pacific. For 2012 We booked the beautiful island of the Pacific, we wanted to activate the last year, but we preferred the island of Rotuma with 3D2R CALL. Now our team unanimously decided that the Conway Reef is our next point. Conway Reef 3D2C.

Posted 7/5/2012 ANNOUNCEMENT --- PT0S - DXpedition to St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks Jun 30, 2012, Sao Paulo and Miami The Araucaria DX Group, in conjunction with the TX3A Team, is pleased to announce a DXpedition to St. Peter and St. Paul Rocks, PY0S, under the call sign PT0S. The DXpedition will take place in the late November to mid December, 2012 time frame. The actual dates will depend on weather conditions and will be announced on the PT0S website, pt0s.com.

Posted 5/16/2012
FCC Seeks Higher Vanity Call Sign Fee
The FCC released a Notice of Proposed Rulemaking (NPRM) on May 4, seeking to raise the fee for Amateur Radio vanity call signs. Currently, a vanity call sign costs $14.20 and is good for 10 years; the new fee, if the FCC plan goes through, will go up to $15 for 10 years, an increase of 80 cents. The FCC is authorized by the Communications Act of 1934 (as amended) to collect vanity call sign fees to recover the costs associated with that program. Read More.

Posted 5/16/2012
New "PRB-1" Law Now in Effect in Ohio
On May 15, Governor John Kasich (R-OH) signed a bill into law granting comprehensive rights to Amateur Radio operators in that state. Several key players in the successful effort to enact a “PRB-1” law in Ohio were present for the signing, including Section Manager Frank J. Piper, KI8GW; Rick Swain, KK8O; Bill Carpenter, AA8EY; Steve Katz, N8WL, and Constance Barsky, WD8ODC. ARRL Great Lakes Division Director James Weaver, K8JE, was also at the signing. Read More.

Posted 4/16/2012
DXCC Card Checking Rule Change
Effective immediately, a change in the DXCC Rules permits volunteer Card Checkers who have achieved DXCC on 160 meters to check 160 meter QSLs in the field, and all Card Checkers to check cards for Deleted Entities.

Posted 4/5/2012
FCC Seeks Public Comments on Emergency Communications by Amateur Radio and Impediments to Amateur Radio Communications. In response to the Congressional directive to prepare a study to assess Amateur Radio’s role in emergency and disaster communications and the impact of private land use regulations on the amateur community’s ability to provide such communications, the FCC issued DA 12-523 soliciting comments from the public. The period for public comment runs until May 17, 2012. Read more [here].

Posted 3/24/2012
CDXA Hamfest Banquet pictures by John Scott (K8YC) are now available for viewing. You can view them [here] or from the above navigation bar under CDXA Pictures.

Posted 3/23/2012
WANT to HELP the SWAINS ISLAND DXPEDITION
Make a donation to CDXA [marked for Swains DXpedtion] which will be added to the amount CDXA is making to the DXpedition. You can use the CDXA donation form [here] to make your donation.

Posted 3/16/2012
ARRL ANNOUNCES NEW DXCC FEE STRUCTURE
The ARRL has announced a new DXCC fee structure effective April 2, 2012. There are a number of changes with the "tweaking" of the price stucture being the least significant.A primary aim of the new fee structure is to avoid the year end backlog that occurs. This is being accomplished by removing the surcharge that is currently in place if one submits more than one application per year, deleting the current hybrid application problem and adding a new online application. Full details of the new program are available at:
http://www.arrl.org/news/view/arrl-announces-new-dxcc-fee-structure

Posted 3/1/2012
SWAINS ISLAND DXPEDITION ANNOUNCED
Joe, W8GEX and Craig K9CT, are pleased to announce they are planning another DXpedition to a rare DX entity. Joe and Craig were the co-leaders of the very successful PJ7E DXpedition on 10-10-10. Before that, they were part of the team that re-activated Midway, K4M, in 2009.

This DXpedition will be to Swains Island in September 2012. Swains ranks number 31 on the DX Magazine Most Wanted Survey and number 30 on Club Log's Most Wanted list. Because of the anticipated demand, a highly experienced team of 20 operators has been formed. The team will operate six stations over a 14 day period, from 160 to 6 meters on all modes, using the callsign NH8S. Great emphasis will be put on Europe where it is most needed.

Team members include AA4NN, DJ7JC, DL3DXX, I8NHJ, K5AB, K6MM, K6TD, K9CT, KH7Y, N2TU, N6HC, NA6M, ND2T, NI6T, SM5AQD, W4BUW, W6KK, W8GEX, WB4JTT, and WB9Z.

Posted 2/23/2012
MALYJ VYSOTSKIJ ADDED TO DELETED ENTITIES
(From The ARRL Web Site)
According to the Finnish Ministry of Transportation and Communication, the Saimaa Canal Treaty between Finland and Russia has been finalized by relevant Finnish and Russian authorities through ratification.
The Treaty has entered into effect with a date of February 17, 2012.
Malyj Vysotskij Island (MVI), R1M, is no longer included in the Treaty. Thus, MVI will be deleted from the DXCC list as of February 17, 2012, and added to the Deleted Entities List.
Administratively at HQ, we will not make the necessary changes to the DXCC system until after the final data processing for 2011 is complete -- this includes the tables shown in Logbook of The World.
DXCC members will see their current entity totals drop by one on their Mixed awards, and on the bands and modes where MVI credit is given. They will also see their DXCC Challenge totals drop commensurately.

Posted 2/22/2012
SOUTH SUDAN GETS PREFIX ALLOCATION
(From The Daily DX)
The Daily DX has learned the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) announced the official callsign allocation prefix for the fledgling nation of the Republic of South Sudan, which joined the United Nations (UN) on July 14 at 1400Z. The 193rd member of the UN has been assigned the callsign prefix block Z8A through Z8Z. The ARRL added country number 341 to the ARRL DXCC list and the first and only DXpedition to South Sudan was that of ST0R during late July and early August of last year.

Posted 2/21/2012
Hello DXers .. This is to notify you that Card checking of all QSL cards will be done at the Charlotte Hamfest on Saturday, March 10. Card checking for 160 Meter cards and deleted countries will be allowed. The cost for the basic application is $14.00 (The price of $14.00 includes postal charges required by the ARRL)for a limit of 120 cards. If paying with cash please bring correct fee as we do not have cash available.
The booth will be located next to the CDXA Booth. Our booth will have the W4/K4/N4 QSL Bureau managed by Ken, K4DXA, along with Bill, K4CIA, and me for DXCC card checking. Any of us can also do VUCC and WAS card checking if necessary.
Look forward to seeing you DXers there.
73, Gary Dixon, K4MQG

Posted 2/10/2012
[Read Here] the Latest information on Proposed Charlotte Amateur Radio Ordinance
from Sandra Montgomery, AICP, Planning Coordinator - Development Services. Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Department

Posted 2/5/2012 Ham Radio USA – 100 Years and Counting When you first glance at the title, Ham Radio USA – 100 Years and Counting, you can’t help but think Read More »

Updated 2/5/2012
WHO'S WORKING MALPELO?
Here are the number of Band/Mode Slots filled by CDXA members as of 1647z, Feb 5.

Posted 1/30/2012
NEW MEMBER HOSTS 60 METER WEB SITE
One of CDXA's newest members, Dan Schaaf, K3ZXL, hosts a web site dedicated to 60 meters. If you are interested in DXing on 60, or have questions about 60 meter operations, check out
http://60metersonline.net If you can't find your answer on the web site, Dan is quick to answer your question(s).

Posted 1/24/2012
LOTW TO SUPPORT CQ AWARDS
The ARRL and CQ Communications, Inc have signed an agreement to begin providing support for CQ-sponsored operating awards by the ARRL’s Logbook of the World ( LoTW) electronic confirmation system. The full details can be found at:
http://www.arrl.org/news/logbook-of-the-world-to-now-support-cq-awards

Posted 1/18/2012
MALYJ VYSOTSKIJ I. TO BE DELETED FROM DXCC
Although unofficial and subject to the decision of the ARRL DXCC Committee, it appears that the sun will set on Malyj Vysotskij I. (R1MV) as a DXCC entity on February 16, 2012. The Island lies within the Saimaa Channel. The channel was built by Finland in the early 1960's. The Island is entirely within Russia and Finland has been renting the island and the channel from Russia. A new agreement between the two countries discontinues the rental of the Island to Finland and therefore will most likely no longer meet the DXCC criteria for a DXCC entity.

Posted 1/11/2012
AA4NN JOINS CONWAY REEF DXPEDITION
CDXA's own Joe Blackwell (AA4NN) will be part of the dxpedition to Conway Reef which is planned for later this year. You can keep up with the planning by visiting the 3D2C web site at: http://www.yt1ad.info/3D2C

Posted 1/5/2012
GET CDXA APPAREL AT DISCOUNT
Lands' End (official supplier of CDXA apparel) has announced a 30% off sale. So if you have been wanting a new CDXA shirt or other clothing, act now. The sale is only good through January 13. Here is the link with all the details.Lands' End Sale

Posted 12/30/2011
From ARRL HQ
ARRL has announced a Diamand DXCC Challenge Award for 2012 in commemoration of the 75th year of the DXCC award. Read all about it here! Diamond DXCC Challenge

Posted 12/28/2011
CYO DXpedition For the latest information, check their website at www.cy0dxpedition.com. WA4DAN, Murray Adams is a CDXA member.

Posted 12/15/2011
N2TU TOPS ONE MILLION
Lou, N2TU is an avid race fan in addition to being a top notch contester. He is pictured below in his racing gear. Lou topped one million points in the recent ten meter contest. Your editor believes this is the first member to top the one million point threshold in the recently intitiated CDXA club competition. Good going Lou!

Posted 12/04/2011
There is a proposed Amendment to the City-of-Charlotte Zone rules that targets Amateur Radio. Comments are due ASAP. Click here to read proposal.. Send comments to:
Sandra Montgomery, AICP
Planning Coordinator -Development Services
Charlotte Mecklenburg Planning Department
600 E. Fourth Street - 8th floor
Charlotte, NC 28202

Posted 11/23/2011
From Foxnews
Radio Days Are Back: Ham Radio Licenses at an All-Time High Read more:

Posted 11/16/2011
Ham radio in the 21st century
Ham radio today differs greatly from that of past years, but it still offers a fascinating way to explore electronics. Here’s a [ look ] at how it has changed and what it has to offer both old hands and newcomers alike.
Thanks to N2HV for providing this link.

Posted 11/16/2011

Radio Arcala, OH8X
CQ Magazine, November 2011, Page 13 has a really interesting article about Radio Arcala, OH8X including a link to a video on base jumping from the tower. What an antenna....
[ http://vimeo.com/27737232 ]
Thanks to K1MIJ for providing this link.

Posted 11/2/2011

CDXA Christmas Party
The CDXA Christmas Party is right around the corner. Mark your calendars and use the [ online signup form ] to let the committe know you are coming.

Posted 10/25/2011
16 TIPS FOR N1MM LOGGER
The major contest season is upon us with CQ World Wide SSB this weekend (October 28.) The most widely used contest logging program is the free, N1MM Logger. Joe, KI4TZ has pointed out a file that will give you 16 tips for getting more from this popular logging program. You can view it in PDF format [ here ]

Posted 10/22/2011
CDXA operating with the call sign W4DXA took first place in the 2011 Field Day category 3E. Congratulations to the club and the operators who made this first place finish possible!

Posted 10/20/2011
CDXA's election of officers will be held at the annual Christmas party on December 8, 2011. Sam Hawes, K4DGJ has agreed to chair the nominating committee again this year. Please contact Sam if you are interested in running or know of anyone else who is interested in running for any of the officers' positions. Sam's contact information can be found in the roster section of this web site.

Posted 9/27/2011
The seventh annual SEDCO - W4DXCC conference is now history. Once again, there were great speakers, good food, abundant prizes and tremendous fellowship.
Speaker topics included antenna design, both transmitting and receiving, how to track down power line noise, and there were reports on several recent DXPeditions. There were also hints about upcoming DXPeditions!
Shown below, CDXA members John Scott, K8YC, Dick Williams, W3OA and Wilson Caselli, K1MIJ intently take in one of the forums in a relaxed atmosphere!

Posted 8/25/2011
CDXA member Fabrizio Vedovelli, aka Brix, is shown below operating from South Sudan. Brix was part of the very successful DXPedition which made more than 120,000 contacts from the new DXCC entity. CDXA members accounted for nearly 500 of those contacts. Congratulations Brix and CDXA members.

Posted 8/5/2011
The following message has been received from Bill Moore, Awards Branch Manager at ARRL.
[ dxcc@arrl.org ] is no longer in use. In an effort to better serve our clients, we have created a number of new e-mail addresses that will be delivered to the most appropriate person depending upon the subject. Please visit [ http://www.arrl.org/awards-branch-contacts ] for a listing of the new e-mail addresses and the general topics that they cover.

8/10/2011
WHO'S WORKING THE NEW ENTITY?
Ninety Five CDXA members were successful in working the new entity. Here are the number of Band/Mode Slots filled by CDXA members as of 0701z, Aug 10. This is the final report from ST0R after going QRT early on August 10:
Note: Two members have worked the ST0R on 160. They are:
K4CIA and W4ZV. A few of our members have been successful in working ST0R on 80 meters. They are:K5EK, KZ2I, K4CIA, N7WZ, N4ZC, NW4N, K4XP, K4MQG, N4JJ, N4PQX, W4AG, W4ZV, W7DO and K4MD.

Posted 7/27/2011
Cameron, KJ4EDF AND CDXA's youngest member passed his Amateur Extra Class exam on July 26, 2011. Congratulations Cameron!

Posted 7/20/2011
Today, (July 19) the Intrepid-DX Group is making their way to Cairo to meet with the DX Friends. Our advance team will arrive in Juba, South Sudan tomorrow (July 20th) with a list of tasks to perform in advance of the main team. As the ITU has not yet issued a new prefix for South Sudan, our license that was issued in March has the call-sign of ST0R. (Sierra Tango Zero Romeo) That will be our call for the DXpedition unless the ITU issues a new prefix which will require that we amend our license.
More updates to follow.
Thank you,
Paul N6PSE
Co-Leader, STOR DXpedition to South Sudan

Posted 7/14/2011
This morning, July 14, the UN General Assembly unanimously voted to approve The Republic of South Sudan as a member of the United Nations.
Now that the Republic of South Sudan is a member of the United Nations, the new country is now a DXCC entity by way of Section II, 1(a) of the DXCC rules. The DXCC Desk will begin immediately accepting QSOs for this new entity, with a start date of July 14, 2011.
As of July 14, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has not announced a prefix block for the Republic of South Sudan.

Posted 7/14/2011
A few CDXA members assembled recently at the AA4ZZ contest site to prepare for the July VHF contest. One project was to replace the two meter H double bay antennas with new support frames constructed of PVC pipe. But Murphy struck and the lower cross bar was assembled in the wrong position. Not to be deterred and determined not to lose the work already done, the group came up with an idea. While Paul, W3GQ (center) held the assembly and CDXA VP Bill, W4GRW stood by to catch any flying pieces, Pileup editor John, K8YC used a precision tool (found in the nearby junk pile) to whack at and dislodge the lower crossbar. Alas, the effort failed and the group had to go to plan B which is too long to explain here.

The entire effort was made possible when Joe, KI4TZ sanitized the site by bravely destroying the nearby hornet's nest after the critters had already inserted some of their venom into Bill, W4GRW and Paul, AD4IE (not pictured.) Notably absent from the scene were Ken, K4DXA and CDXA Contest Manager, Dick, W3OA who fled the scene to a nearby residence, purportedly to install some networking hardware (at least that is their story and they are sticking to it!)

Listen for the AA4ZZ contest team this Saturday July 16 starting at 1600Z and ending Sunday July 17 at 2100Z. Be sure to give them a contact on six and/or two meters so they can defend last year's first place finish (NC) and fifth place finish (Nationally.)

Posted 7/2/2011
In just a few short days, the people of Southern Sudan will declare their independence from Sudan and will become the new Republic of Southern Sudan.
Vice President of South Sudan, Dr. Riek Machar Teny has announced that admission as a member state of the United Nations will take place on July 14th, 2012.
The DX Friends and the Intrepid-DX Group continue to monitor the UN General Assembly and Security Council votes and are moving forward with our plans for a large multi-national DXpedition to take place soon after the UN admission occurs.
Equipment has been procured and is being staged for rapid delivery to Juba, the new capitol of Southern Sudan. Team members have applied for their visas and we are awaiting them now.
We have held several successful meetings with representatives of the Government of Southern Sudan. We have been issued an amateur radio license for the purpose of this DXpedition. The Government of South Sudan is very supportive of our plans to visit Juba and to help them celebrate the birth of their new country.
We plan to soon be in the new capital of Juba and to be ready to start our DXpedition after admission by the UN. We will have 18 operators operating 24X7 on seven active stations.
At this time, we are seeking Foundation, Club and Individual Sponsors to help us defray the costs of carrying out this very important DXpedition. Our official website is:
www.dxfriends.com/SouthernSudan2011/ Thank you,
The Intrepid-DX Group and The DX Friends.

Posted 6/30/2011
On June 4 we announced in this column that the ARRL web site is now showing VUCC standings. Our contest manager, W3OA has extracted CDXA members' standings from the ARRL listings. They are now shown on this CDXA web site, on this page, in the second box just below this CDXA News box. We will handle these in the same way we handle DXCC and Honor Role listings. That is, we will update the numbers early each month. If you have higher numbers shown on your LOTW VUCC Account Status page you can email a copy of that page to w3oa@roadrunner.com and those numbers will appear in the next monthly update.

Posted 6/13/2011
CDXA member Joe Blackwell, AA4NN will be a member of the recently announced DX Pedition to Rotuma Island. Joe is a veteran of many DX Peditions, including the most recent one to Scarborough Reef. Joe is a remarkable story. Less than a year ago, Joe was undergoing treatment for a serious cancer condition, but his determination and positive attitude has prevailed. Now the Ham Radio community looks forward to hearing Joe's melodious CW fist from Rotuma this September. For more information about the DX Pedition click on http://yt1ad.info/3d2r/index.html (or copy and paste)

Posted 6/4/2011
The ARRL has made the VUCC standings available on their web site. The listing is similiar to the DXCC standings. Use this link http://www.arrl.org/vucc-standings (or copy and paste) to get you to the correct web page. Enjoy!

Posted 6/6/2011
IMPORTANT: W4BFB 2m Repeater CHANGES! ALL W4BFB 2m repeaters will require use of CTCSS (pl) tone 118.8Hz for access SOON. The 145.23 repeater now requires the 118.8 tone.

Posted 5/31/2011
K5EK wins Zone 5 CQ DX Marathon Competition CQ Magazine has published the results of the 2010 CQ DX Marathon. They show that CDXA member K5EK, Ed, won the Zone Certificate for the highest score in Zone 5. Also, we can now finalize the results of our CDXA DX King competition for 2010. The top standings are listed below. More results will be published in the next Pileup.

First Place, Unlimited Category:	K5EK with 314 points
Second Place, Unlimited Category:	W3GQ with 301 points
Third Place, Unlimited Category:	W4HG with 294 points
Fourth Place, Unlimited Category:	W7DO with 294 points
Fifth Place, Unlimited Category:	W3OA with 289 points
First Place, Formula Category:	W3ZL with 227 points
Second Place, Formula Category:	W4WNT with 155 points

Posted 5/22/2011
420-440 Might be Safe in HR 607 proposed Legislation
May 19, 2011, Massapequa Park, NY - A delegation of Amateur Radio operatorsfrom the Long Island / New York City area met this morning with CongressmanPeter T. King (R-NY) to discuss his recent proposed legislation, HR 607, andits impact on Amateur Radio.
Congressman King said that he fully understands and appreciates theimportance of Amateur Radio and the service it provides to the community,and that he would see to the modification of the bill so that the 420 - 440 MHz band would be excluded from the spectrum to be auctioned. The delegation included Mike Lisenco, N2YBB, ARRL Section Manager for New York City / Long Island (NLI),Peter Portanova, WB2OQQ, NLI Local Government Liaison (LGL), George Tranos,N2GA, NLI State Government Liaison (SGL), and Jim Mezey, W2KFV, NLI ARESSection Emergency Coordinator (SEC).

Posted 5/13/2011
LOCAL HAMS FEATURED IN CHARLOTTE NEWS
Two local hams, N4ACF and W4DON were featured in a story about Amateur Radio in Wednesday's (May 11th) Charlotte Observer's Mooresville News section. Just over a month from now, Hams all over the country will be "practicing" their emergency communications skills during an event called Field Day. Field Day also provides a good opportunity for the Ham Radio Community to show off their commuications capabilities to the public by operating in public areas such as parks, shopping malls, etc. and by providing news releases to local media.

CDXA $upported DXpeditions

3B9C	3C0V	3D2C	6Y5NR/KP1	9X0R
A52A	BS7H	E4X	FO0XX	HK0NA
K5D	K7C	NH8S	PT0S	T32C
T33C	TI9KK	TO5DX	TX5C	VK9DWX
VK9MM	VP8SGP	VU7LD	XF4DX	ZK3RW
ZL8X	ZL9HR