And another reason to get that Extra ticket if you can squeeze in the study time

John K7KB

Congrats Robert on the new one. Actually, I haven't heard that many Solomon Island stations here on the West Coast since I got back into the hobby a couple of years ago. The ones in that neck of the woods I've heard and worked is H40, Temotu Province. But nothing from Solomon. So I don't believe they are active that often.

John K7KB

The Greek authorities over-reacted, no question about it. However, if you do any research on the net you will find that Baldur has been the subject of controversial operations in the past, such as his Mt. Athos operation where apparently he used the CEPT treaty to get that operation approved for DXCC credit instead of actually getting the approval of the monestary. Although technically he was probably within the law since Mt. Athos is in Greece, did he abuse his rights as a guest? And if he did, I would imagine that could contribute to some of the animosity between the Greek Hams and Baldur along with the Greek authorities.

Anyway, I wasn't DX'ing at the time of his Mt. Athos operation so I can't say for sure exactly what happened.

John K7KB

I believe advanced spot filtering is planned for version 6, along with improved award tracking, etc. You can read up on HRD 6.x planned updates here:

http://forums.hrdsoftwarellc.com/showthread.php?24726-6-X-feature-list-version-1-0

John K7KB

I agree, but it looks like it's still allowed. So now what? I give you a call and say "I'll trade you a North Korea QSO for Mt. Athos and SMOM."

John K7KB

I used DX nets when I first started DX'ing in the early 70's. At that time I was still in high school and only had a wire antenna in the back yard. I use to check in regularly to the Afrikaner Net and the Pacific DX Net run by Jim Smith (P29JS/VK9NS), founder of the Heard Island DX Association. At the time I lived in Wyoming and was almost as sought after as the DX itself So I worked a few good ones in Africa and the Pacific with my long wire antenna. Although I don't use nets now, they do have their place for those with limited antennas or for the DX that doesn't like the hassle of the pileup.

John K7KB

You are so right about that Gene. I'll give it my best shot but it's not going to be easy, that's for sure. I just hope they call for "West Coast Only" a few times

John K7KB

The SMOM has a rich history from medieval days and considered a sovereign entity, much like the Vatican:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sovereign_Military_Order_of_Malta

Although it's sovereign status is debated, I feel it has more right to be considered a separate entity than Scaffold Reef

John K7KB

That's great!! I hope I can get this one as another new one for the year. We have been fortunate to see some great activations this year, and we are not halfway through it yet!

John K7KB

In doing some more digging, the site is also associated with the KP1-5 Project:

www.kp1-5.com

The group of hams who activated Desecheo as K5D in 2009. I had heard about the project previously, but haven't seen much in the way of updates recently. Their last update was from January 2011. But if there is any group that would have a good chance in activating Navassa, it would probably be them.

John K7KB

And probably not from Gene either

Actually, I would probably be the one doing some of the whining in that case

John K7KB

I agree. Let the people involved alone to do their work and when they are ready I'm sure there will be announcements on every DX news channel available

John K7KB

Yes, I received one quite awhile back. Didn't seem to have any problem getting a card.

John K7KB

I think we have all been there Gene. I watched a bunch of spots of Monk Apollo (SV/A) that you were able to work and yet he was way below ESP levels for me. And then I just tell myself: "Someday" As many have said, the fun is in the chase, as long as you eventually catch them

John K7KB

You know, I've seen that mentioned about the Mark V before and I don't think that's true. It may have been for the FT-1000MP but I know with my Mark V I can set VFO-A and VFO-B to completely seperate bands on the receive side. I'll check it out again this evening when I get home just to make sure.

John K7KB