Yep, I've been listening to the pileup on 14.185 of all the guys working 6V7T thinking they have VU7 for a new one I tried to see if I could hear the VU7 but not a peep at this end. If he is on frequency then it doesn't look promising from here at this time. Wish I didn't have to go to work tomorrow so I could try him at around 1400Z.

John K7KB

And the A index is 22. I'm not surprised the bands are not doing that well right now.

John K7KB

Apparently you have already forgotten 7O6T where it was pretty much: "OK guys, we are here! Good luck!". Only a couple of days warning and they were operational. And if permission were to come from North Korean officials, I doubt the Intrepid team would waste much time in putting it on the air just in case those same officials suddenly had a change of heart. So there is nothing wrong in being prepared

John K7KB

Create a virus that will disable all K3's and Alpha amplifiers, except for those used by the P5 team of course  

Actually I don't think I will need to do too much from my location to get ready for P5. I should be able to work them on at least one band. Most of the time stations in South Korea have a good signal to the West Coast. But I have a hard time imagining what the pileups are going to be like.

John K7KB

LOL Well post a list of those ATNO's you need and if I hear you in a pileup I PROMISE not to call when you are going for your new one  And Gene will just YAWN because he's already worked it

John K7KB

Our local DX club has their own version of the Marathon that I participate in just for fun. Last year I had a total score of 290 (250 countries + 40 Zones), although not stellar, not too bad for a working stiff here on the West Coast Although it may increase the competition in the pileups, it does keep the bands active and I think that's the purpose of it to begin with.

John K7KB

I know Gene. The only expeditions that should come be active are ONLY ones you need and nobody else. I could say the same thing about Navassa but I don't because I would be happy to see another expedition from that location because I know a lot of DX'ers would love that operation and it could help quite a few get HR. Of course, when I worked them, the WARC bands didn't exist so I could use those band fills also

John K7KB

That's one I could use as well so if anyone does hear of a DX'pedition out to Cocos, please let us know. I haven't seen anything on DX World or Bernie's Daily DX bulletin but I may have just missed it being mentioned.

John K7KB

I just noticed there were 3 threads locked, the OD5NJ, the 8Q7KP thread, and the BIG announcement thread. Looks like anything that mentions religion or politics is off limits, however I don't care too much for draconian censorship by forum moderators either.

John K7KB

I do have Walid verified on 12M Phone so he has been on the WARC bands. But it would be nice to work them on 17 or 30.

John K7KB

I've seen alot of people post that it was a bear getting a QSL card out of Lebanon but I didn't find it that hard at all. My first card verification was from OD5NH. Since then I have had multiple contacts with OD5PY and OD5ZZ, both of which use LOTW. I think each of us has that QSL nightmare where you can't seem to get a card from somewhere no matter how hard you try.

John K7KB

It probably is going to take some thinking "Outside The Box" to get permission for a license in the DPRK. I thought it was fairly ingenious for the Intrepid group to use possible tourism on Socotra to secure a license and possibly something similar might be needed. Although it might be hard to sell tourism, but perhaps something like having Ham Radio as part of a technology summit to promote education and business. Or it could be part of a humanitarian effort but it would seem to me that would be a harder sell. I'm sure they are going to try various avenues to seek permission and when it comes, we might be surprised on how it was done

John K7KB

Wow, that is a tough one. If I could I would vote for all of them because anyone who goes out on a DX'pedition to help others get a new one in the log deserves a vote of thanks. However, if I had to pick just one, then it would be 7O6T. Not only for the rarity but the ingenuity it took to get that one on the air. Plus the danger factor involved in just being there. When David described what it was like at night going down the street in the dark, that had to be scary. I would be running myself

John K7KB

You were not booming in here on the West Coast but you still had a respectable signal for 5W and a vertical on 10 meters Glad I had the chance to get you in the log and hope you had a great time Mauri. Thanks for the quick LOTW confirmation!

John K7KB

The Intrepid DX Group is a very dedicated bunch so if anyone can pull it off, probably they can. I wish them luck and hope to hear them from P5 soon!

John K7KB