In late 1998 a DL was invited or at least permitted to operate from Mt. Athos using Monk Apollo's call sign. This was a pretty much cw-only operation. He operated on a few bands for several days and made quite a few Qs.

 A novel twist on the DX station avoiding pileup QRM happened a few years ago while I was listening to a DXpedition . Initially the DX station was listening up as usual but then he started to come back on the CALLERS' frequencies, hopping from spot to spot. The pileup took some time to figure out what was happening but eventually many stations got the idea.

 A method like that would make it difficult for an intentional QRMer to wreak havoc since even if he found the DX station the DX would have probably made a contact and moved somewhere else. For the QRMer the DX would be an elusive, moving target that never stays put; the legitimate caller has no problem. Everyone in the pileup would just park themselves somewhere knowing that the DX would come back transceive. There would be no "up" police, etc.

 I've thought about that day and what I heard. Maybe the idea has some merit but then how do you know if the DX has gone QRT, is asking for EU only, etc.? Perhaps the DX could start on a frequency, make the announcement he's going simplex on callers' frequencies and then come back to the original frequency for announcements.

 Maybe it's got the kernel of an idea but there are issues; how can you reliably hear a weak DX station amid perhaps three or four other callers close to your frequency, etc.

 Just a thought...

 

 Yes, the logs for P5/4L4FN have been on LOTW for quite a few years.

 What happens with operations from entities on bands that are restricted
(e.g., formerly TK on 6, etc.) is generally one of two things: first, a non-resident op visiting the entity makes Qs not knowing that the band is restricted or two, a resident op may get limited special permission (exhibition/demonstration, etc.).

 In countries with very small amateur populations and therefore often not strictly codified amateur regulations an individual resident op can plead his case to the appropriate regulatory entity and, depending on influence/status there, get permission sometimes even retroactively.

 Last fall I worked 7Z7AB in Saudi Arabia on 80 but 80 meters is not allowed there. I eventually got the QSL but an announcement from ARRL said that as a result of the restriction the card wouldn't count.

 Soon after this announcement the ops from 7Z7AB said that they would submit documentation showing that they had special permission. They did and now the card counts.

 I've seen similar situations in the past (years ago VU on 30, etc.) so you never know.

 I am proud to say that I actually worked the original Slim at 8X8AA in 1968. Any activity since then is, well, a "Slim".

 This island in the Gulf of St. Lawrence (according to Slim at the time) is truly difficult to get to and appears on very few maps, thus the lack of activity in recent years.

 8X8AA always QSLd 100% via the North Korean bureau.

 The official word from EZ has been that amateur radio has not been allowed for some years (not sure of how long) although that could change due to new regulations. QSLs for older QSOs are, of course, accepted.

 I worked VS9ASP, an RAF station in Aden, now Yemen, in 1968. When the British forces left Aden shortly thereafter the logs were lost and thus I never received a QSL.

 In 1990 when I returned to DXing I heard that some had indeed gotten QSLs but the logs, if they still existed, were again lost and the ops by now may be SK.

 My friend in the UK, Shaun, M0BJL, was relentless in chasing down leads and after many dead ends he found one of the original ops, Roy Folgate, who was now living in Spain and had the logs.

 In 2006, after 38 years, I got my VS9ASP QSL.

 Never, ever, give up the chase.  

 It's unfortunate that in the past many logs were thrown out after QSL managers became Silent Keys. The loss of a very, very large number of rare DX logs after the death of W2CTN, a major QSL manager of decades ago, was an especially great loss for the DX world.

 The Turkmenistan authorities stated that amateur radio would be authorized if the Turkmenistan ARRL equivalent would furnish a legitimate address. The group did so repeatedly only to face endless bureaucratic hurdles, jumping through the same hoops over and over. Eventually the authorities stated that since no legitimate address was given no licenses would be issued. Case closed.

 The whole charade was a ploy to make the authorities look reasonable when in fact they had absolutely no intention of issuing licenses. The country has been in turmoil for quite some time and has become xenophobic due to and based on some rather bizarre ideologies.  

  Their manager will certainly contact you but if there's no response within a reasonable time I'd simply resubmit your inquiry. I've found in discussions with other DXers that the 7O6T team has been exceptionally diligent in getting cards to their proper destinations as well as responding to questions.

  I'm confident that you'll have your card in due course.

 If I have one suggestion beyond a dedicated 24/7 20 meter cw station it would be that Pacific/SE Asian stations on the low bands should not be working JAs, etc. at US sunrise. As has been implicitly suggested here they will have hours and hours of darkness for the much closer JAs after the terminator has passed the west coast .

 The last big expedition to Amsterdam was by FT5ZH in late November to late December 1998 and their signals were generally very good in the eastern US across many bands. This was close to the peak of the last sunspot cycle. FT5ZH had only a lmited number of operators, perhaps two or three, but they did an excellent job; a larger group should do quite well.

 I don't see this anemic cycle going anywhere except down over the next several years.  There may be brief periods of somewhat better conditions but I believe the best (such as it was) is behind us.

 I hope I'm wrong.

 I concur with N5UD; to say this cycle stinks is putting it mildly. 10, 12 and 15, to say nothing of 20 during a good cycle are loaded with DX well into the night. In this cycle, even in the Fall of 2011, signals almost uniformly are nowhere near what they were in the cycles I've seen since the fifties.

 But you make do with the hand you're dealt and go with it. There are still plenty of interesting things out there but expectations now are far higher than ever before (10-160 clean sweeps on all modes, North Korea on sstv, etc.) and give rise to dissatisfaction, e.g., "I missed Yemen on xxx band. I got 7O everywhere but there."

  It's a hobby and still lots of fun. When it isn't, I'm QRT.

 9M4SLL peaked well before my SR on 40. I could copy him fine but while some East Coast stations got through he worked more zeroes, fives, sevens, etc.

 He was even halfway decent on 80 the day before yesterday but apparently they're having difficulty on the low bands with high QRN according to their comments this morning.