Hinckley ARES welcomed Dr Lucie Green to their club night, via teams, to give a presentation on how she and her team are planning on using a space craft orbiting the earth to study the suns “corona” during a total eclipse.

The presentation started at 19:30 with Dr Green giving a short talk on what happens during a total eclipse of the sun, and how sort a window the science teams have to get images to allow them to learn what is happening in the suns atmosphere, this is easier to see due to the light from the sun itself being blocked out and not causing a bright circle blocking the view. With the explanation on seeing plasma and CME’s erupting through the corona and how through history the scientists of the 18^th and 19^th centuries did this with drawings, moving on through to the modern coronagraph’s that are used today.

She then went on to introduce the MESOM mission that is currently being worked on and developed. This will be a space craft that orbits close to the earth and moon, using the moon to create the eclipse of the sun allowing the corona to be viewed more in depth and over a longer period. There is potential for the amateur radio community to get involved with this project as it moves along, assisting with monitoring the spacecraft on its orbit.

A fascinating talk, and one that would certainly go down well at the RSGB Convention.

The team have sent out the following to all the DX bulletins. This is from the Daily/Weekly DX News by Bernie (W3UR), probably the best and friendliest – and it is worth a subscription if you are a serious DXer.

In February 2026 or in less than a year an international team of 24 amateur radio operators will land on Bouvet Island. Bouvet is a Norwegian overseas territory and lies in the South Atlantic Ocean, with 93% of its surface covered by ice and snow. It sets the record as the Most Remote Uninhabited Island on Earth, and ranks #10 on the Most Wanted DXCC listing at ClubLog.

Operating as 3Y0K, our team will attempt to give as many ATNOs as possible and be active in all amateur radio bands from 10 to 160m. We will direct our attention to human modes but will be active in CW, SSB, FT8, RTTY and QO-100 satellite using up to 12 stations.

We have the necessary permit to land on Bouvet Island by helicopter, issued by the Norwegian Polar Institute. Our plan is to start the sea journey in Cape Town, South Africa, from where an icebreaker under Icelandic flag we’ll take us to the island in 7 days. Since landing depends on the weather conditions, we are scheduled to be on and around the island for up to 21 days. A helicopter will assist us in bringing ashore a significant amount of equipment to setup a camp with two radio tents. One radio tent on the lower area of Cape Fie, and one radio tent on the upper area with better take off to NA. Upper camp will focus on working NA.

The logistics behind this project is complex and requires a budget of $1.65M. Most of the money is used to pay for the services offered by the icebreaker and its crew, the helicopter with its two pilots and one mechanic, as well as the fuel. Each team member is contributing a significant amount to the budget, and they will also incur additional costs for commercial airfare, two side trips to Norway required by various tasks, winter sleeping bags and clothing, etc. 

Passionate amateur operators and clubs around the world as well as multiple companies are supporting this project. As prime example, Northern California DX Foundation (NCDXF) have pledged up to $200K, of which half matched against donations received from outside of North America. Companies such as DX Engineering, Icom, RF Power and ACOM are supporting the team with a multitude of radio equipment components. We also teamed up with a small private group to share the large costs of the DXpedition.

Please visit our website at http://www.3Y0K.com to read more about this project, the team, the latest news, and learn about the complex preparations the team is engaged in to ensure that its mission will be executed safely and successfully. At this time, we are looking to raise an additional $200K to avoid putting further financial strain on the team.

Your financial support is critical, so please consider donating either directly and/or through the clubs, associations, and foundations that you are members of. We will be only happy to make a Zoom presentation about this project to the membership of your organization at a time of your convenience. Meanwhile, we intend to continuously track the level of fundraising on our expedition website to inform everyone as to where we are in this endeavour. 

Thank you in advance for your support, and look forward to contacting you from the Most Remote Uninhabited Island on Earth!

Team 3Y0K

This month we see a number of expeditions to some interesting DXCC’s and IOTA’s. Currently on air we have D68Z from the Comoros Islands off the East Coast of Africa, VK9CU to the Cocos Keeling Islands in the Indian Ocean, and VP8TXF & VP8CIW in the Falkland Islands. All have been easily workable from the UK on all modes and bands. But there is more. 

Starting on the 12th March 2025 we have a group of mostly Belgian operators going to the Andaman Islands and will be using the call VU4AX. This is led by a couple of friends  Max (ON5UR) and Francis (ON8AZ), along with some very experienced DXpeditioners. Hopefully we will be able to make contact with this team, I need the Andamans on a couple of band slots so will only call in towards the end of the expedition to allow the ones needing them for an all time new one.

Thanks to the Daily DX for the following information.

The Russian Robinson Club are again on their travels, this time in Central and South America. Having just completed an IOTA (TI1RRC/P NA-117), a POTA (TI1RRC)  and a stop over in Panama (3F3RRC) for another POTA they are heading into Chile for another IOTA as XR8RRC (Wellington Island SA-032) and then on to SA-091 using the same call from 19th March. Both needed here for my IOTA award and both will be chased on any mode. 

There is also a Russian team activating AS-068, RI0B, from the 15th to 30th March. Another one that is needed by me for my IOTA award, I missed the last expedition being off air in 2022. The Russian Legends team operating this are also experienced DXpeditioners and should be workable from UK on all bands. 

For a number of years now I have been a member of the CDXC (Chiltern DX Club) here in the UK, and it is a group of like minded DXers and contesters who share and exchange information. This weekend in the clubs email forum it has been a big topic in the emails. Most saying that they do not want these emails and that it is wrong that the perpetrators, QSL World and QSL Creator, can harvest email addresses from QRZ.com. Only solution is to do what one member has and remove the email address from the given field and somehow put it into your bio with changes so it can not be harvested. One thing I am doing.

Another member wrote an email to a site owner and received this vile and disgusting email back in reply – email copied from CDXC email forum – which the general feeling was it neeeded to be in the public domain.

“I emailed hamradiodx.es to ask them to stop sending me emails.

This is the reply I received.

Para empezar…. lo de inmediatamente…. ¿Quien te crees que eres tu para darme ordenes a mi? Hijo de puta , inmediatamente puedes comerme la polla. Si no quieres recibir emails de QSLCREATOR bloqueas la direccion y listo pero a mi tus exigencias me comen la polla 30 veces ¿Te queda claro? Y si no te queda claro me cago en tu puta madre hijo de puta.

A llorar a tu puta casa payaso

Google translate:

“To start with… immediately… Who do you think you are to give me orders? Son of a bitch, you can immediately suck my dick. If you don’t want to receive emails from QSLCREATOR, block the address and that’s it, but your demands will suck my dick 30 times over. Is that clear to you? And if it’s not clear to you, I’ll curse your fucking mother, son of a bitch.

Go cry at your fucking house, clown.”

So that’s nice of them.”

As can be seen this is how a fellow radio amateur speaks to another with utter contempt and downright disrespect. This guy needs shaming, but then he is so far up his own arse that he is another one who thinks he is above everyone.

SO as to be fair to all, the author and owner of QSL World has written a letter of apology to all for the numerous emails that were generated for contacts and the “spam” numbers that were sent out. Have a read and see how a difference it can be to be polite in a response to the emails he received about the issue by following this link – https://qslworld.com/letter-to-the-public/.

Recently I have been receiving huge amounts of electronic QSL card requests from a number of different sources, or should I say I have received a so called “electronic QSL card” from a bot website. These sites have just harvested QRZ.com for emails and just send them out. I have at no point given my permission for this to happen, and I never will. And I can’t believe that the management at QRZ.com are allowing this to happen, but then the owners are wanting the income from the payments they must receive from these websites.

As these cards are worthless for any awards I am just not interested in them. If you need or want my confirmation then please read the QRZ.com profile and ask through the proper channels. If you send an electronic one it will never reach me as I have now started blocking the domains from where they come, so I guess somewhere there is a pile of these requests just in a file wasting bandwidth on some server somewhere. If you are a user of these services you need to look at what you are sending, especially to myself as these are just a waste of time and effort.

Our Indian friends have announced another IOTA activation by the same team as AU2V. The following is taken from their website and social media.

This is a rare opportunity for IOTA enthusiasts around the world to log this highly sought-after entity, currently the most wanted IOTA in India! Our team has worked tirelessly to make this activation happen, and we can’t wait to share it with you!

Sad news in the Amateur Radio world today. A manufacturer of radio to computer interfaces has been attacked by Russian missiles destroying their administrative and manufacturing buildings. The following is from their website.

[Kyiv, 12 Feb 2025] – Today, RigExpert’s administrative office was completely destroyed by a Russian ballistic missile. Fortunately, all employees are safe.

Despite this difficult situation, the RigExpert team is committed to restoring operations as soon as possible to continue providing our products to you. We are working tirelessly to minimize delays and fulfill our commitments. Besides, we are maintaining our usual customer support operations.  Please, don’t hesitate to get in touch.

“Our top priority is the safety of our team and the continuity of our operations. While our administrative office is in ruins, our production facilities survived, allowing us to continue serving our customers and partners,” said [Ashot Andeev, CEO]

RigExpert is committed to resuming full operations as soon as possible and will keep stakeholders informed throughout the recovery process.

For further information, please contact: office@rigexpert.com

About RigExpert

RigExpert is a leading manufacturer of antenna and cable analyzers, known for its commitment to innovation and quality. Despite current challenges, the company remains dedicated to supporting the global amateur radio and communications community.

This idea came from reading an article in RadCom about a club in Norfolk that had done this with great success. We put out an advert on all the social media channels around the Hinckley area inviting any one with an interest in radio, fixing, making, CB, and any other thing we could think of to do with communications and radio. And it paid off, we sparked interest from radio amateurs who had let their licence lapse and were looking to get back into the hobby, a few who were looking at a new hobby for themselves, and some members who had not been for a couple of years yet still paid their subs. We welcomed all.

On the evening we had Dxpedition videos running on the big screen. Ady (G6AD) brought his Yaesu FT102 line up in to show older radios, his IC7300, and his clansman backpack to show the difference of them. A few different hand held transceivers were also on show. Danny brought his little interface he has built based on the Pi boards and showed how when it will connect to his radio how he will be able to work remote using a tablet. Talk, demonstrations and tea/coffee made for an excellent atmosphere where we introduced the hobby to new visitors and old hands alike. We will definitely be seeing them again, and look forward to the next one.

Thanks to all who attended and chatted to the new faces, and to the old faces who came to get a feel for how the club is now being run.

This has recently been posted on the Peter 1st Island 2027 website. Another rare entity to be activated in the next few years, luckily this one was worked by me back in 2006 when the last team visited the island. I will be supporting and in the pile ups for sure, just to keep my skills up to scratch and get the band slots I need.

Peter I DXpedition team is proud to announce today the signing of a vessel contract with ICETUGS www.icetugs.com that will take us to Peter I Island in February 2027 where we intend to stay 3 weeks around the island. ICETUGS, an Iceland based company, has an excellent track record in providing services for expeditions, cargo and fuel supplies, tugging, as well as rescue and camp setup in the Arctic and Antarctic regions. ICETUGS is the same company that will take Team Bouvet to their destination in 2026.

Since Monday there have been rumours flying around that the announced activation of Mount Athos was an illegal operation. These are the news releases from the team in the monastery and from a trusted source.

SV1GA/A Mount Athos (28th January)

Many unsubstantiated rumors and expressions of ill will are being directed at the SV1GA/A DXpedition team and Mount Athos.

SV1GA/A

Then today direct from the team.

 

SV1GA/A Mount Athos

From Martti Laine (OH2BH)

INTERIM NEWS FROM MONTH ATHOS

Sorry for holding up the news release but it is all for a good reason!

Time flows differently in the Holy Community as even the morning prayer starts at 4 AM. We can all learn and benefit from the Mount Athos lifestyle.

Most importantly, the SV1GA/A team is safe and in good spirits and excited to have brought on the air such a rare DX entity.

The matter of Amateur Radio in Mt Athos is in the hands of different entities within the Holy Community and all we can do at this point is serve as source of knowledge and expertise. For us the key entity is the authority that issued our invitation/permit to carry out the SV1GA operation. Our paperwork is as clear as water but outside sources have put everything on hold for further review.

We are not trying to speculate the variety of arguments or opinions but just provide information for the parties involved. The final Word is expected soon as we wait for the relevant authorities to meet and review our case.

As we also have limits for waiting, we will make the decision about our own standing very soon.

When preparing a DX activation such as Mt. Athos many things need to considered such as operators, equipment, location, safety, transportation, licensing and others but what always comes as a surprise is the jealousy of competitive fellow DXpeditioners.

We will follow soon with additional details.

Warmest regards from Mt Athos!

Again credit to Bernie W3UR @ The Daily Dx for publishing this information.