425 group DX News

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                       ****  DX  INFORMATION  ****
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                        Edited by  I1JQJ & IK1ADH
                      Direttore Responsabile  I2VGW

9M4_spr- John 9M6XRO, Steve 9M6DXX, James 9V1YC, Ben DJ0YI/N6MUF, Don  G3BJ,
       Christian EA3NT and Tony KM0O will  be  operating  as  9M4SLL  from
       Pulau Layang Layang,  Spratly  Islands  (AS-051)  on  10-18  March.
       Activity will be on 160-10 metres CW, SSB and RTTY, using  "several
       stations with linear amplifiers to vertical antennas all  within  a
       few metres of the ocean". QSL via M0URX (please use  his  OQRS  for
       both direct and bureau cards at http://m0urx.com/).  Logs  will  be
       uploaded to  LoTW  as  soon  as  possible  after  the  end  of  the
       operation. [TNX 9M6DXX]
9M6    - Before joining the  9M4SLL  team,  Ben  DJ0YI  will  be  active  as
       9M6/N6MUF from Kota Kinabalu, East Malaysia on 1-8 March  (QSL  via
       DJ0YI, direct or bureau, and LoTW). [TNX DJ0YI]
C6     - W4BUW (C6AGH), W8GEX (C6DX) W8CAA and AA4NN  will  be  active  from
       Great Exuma (NA-001), Bahamas on 20-27 January. They  plan  to  run
       three stations on 160-10 metres SSB, CW  and  RTTY.  QSL  via  home
       calls.
FR     - Pierre, F8APV and Stephane, F8EOI will be active  as  FR/F8APV  and
       FR/F8EOI  from  Reunion  Island  (AF-016)  from  21  January  to  8
       February. They will be QRV on "40 metres and up", with a  ficus  on
       30m CW and 20m SSB. [TNX DX World]
J7     - "The Daily DX" Editor, Bernie McClenny (W3UR) and his  father  Tony
       (N3ME) will be active from Dominica (NA-101) in late  January-early
       February. Bernie will operate as J77A (22 January-1  February)  and
       Tony will operate as J76A (22 January-11 February);  both  will  be
       QRV in their spare time on 160-6  metres  CW,  SSB  and  RTTY.  The
       special prefixes are in  celebration  of  the  beginning  of  their
       Amateur Radio careers (1977 and 1976 respectively).  QSL  via  home
       calls, direct or bureau, and LoTW. [TNX The Daily DX]
JD1_mt - Take, JG8NQJ will be  back  to  Minami  Torishima  (OC-073)  on  15
       January and will remain there until mid-April. He plans to  be  QRV
       in his spare time as JG8NQJ/JD1 mainly on 10, 12, 15 and 17  metres
       CW. QSL via JA8CJY (direct) or JG8NQJ (bureau).
UA_ant - Nick, RW6ACM will be active as as  RI1ANP  from  Russian  Antarctic
       station Progress from 1 February until the end  of  year.  QSL  via
       RN1ON, direct or bureau. [TNX RN1ON]
YS     - Roberto, I2JIN will be active  again  as  YS3CW  from  Corinth,  El
       Salvador on 11-31 January. He  will  operate  mainly  CW  on  80-10
       metres. QSL via I2JIN, direct or bureau, and LoTW. [TNX DX Coffee]

AFRICAN TOUR ---> Once again Peter, HA3AUI will  be  active  as  6W2SC  from
Senegal and  J5UAP  from  Guinea-Bissau between approximately 17 January and
10 March.  He plans to operate  CW on 40-10 metres.  Side trips to either 6W
and J5 IOTA island groups are being considered. QSL via HA3AUI, direct only.
[TNX NG3K]

IOTA TOUR ---> Col, MM0NDX has had to cancel his participation in the  10-13
January IOTA Tour [425DXN 1131] due to a  family  matter.  Vincent, F4BKV is
doing the  trip solo,  with planned  activity from  nine IOTA island  groups
(EU-029, EU-128, EU-057,  EU-129, EU-132, EU-042, EU-125, EU-172 and EU-171)
in Denmark, Germany and Poland. Follow his progress on Twitter (@IOTA_Trip).
QSL via F4BKV (OQRS on www.f4bkv.net). [TNX MM0NDX]

                       ===========================
                       *** 4 2 5  D X  N E W S ***
                       ****  GOOD TO KNOW ... ****
                       ===========================
                        Edited by  I1JQJ & IK1ADH
                      Direttore Responsabile  I2VGW

425 DX NEWS MAGAZINE ---> The December  2012  issue  is  now  available  for
download at www.425dxn.org/monthly/index.html. [TNX IZ3EBA]

CQ DX MARATHON ---> The  CQ  DX  Marathon  is  a  year-long  DX  hunt,  with
participants competing to see who can work the greatest number of  countries
("entities") and CQ  zones  during  the  calendar  year.  The  2013  edition
started at 00.00 UTC on 1 January and will end at 23.59 UTC on 31  December.
Complete  rules   and    submission    information    can    be    found  at
www.dxmarathon.com - and do not forget to submit  your  2012  scores  by  31
January 2013 (next year's deadline will be 10 January  2014).  High  claimed
scores will be published in February and the complete results  of  the  2012
Marathon will be in the June 2013 issue of CQ Magazine. [TNX K9EL]

CONTEST UNIVERSITY ---> Early bird registration is now open for 2013  Dayton
Contest University (CTU) will be held on 16  May  at  the  Crowne  Plaza  in
Dayton, Ohio. It will be the seventh for CTU Dayton. Topics, professors  and
registration form can be found on http://contestuniversity.com

DX SOUND CLIPS ---> Tom's (K8CX) DX sound clips for 2012  can  be  found  at
http://hamgallery.com/dx2012/; the collection of 135 clips covers the  major
DXpeditions, plus rare and semi-rare DX. This makes 15 full years  of  sound
clips available. There are also some recordings on the site from  the  1960s
and 1970s. "I am looking for on-the-air  recordings  in  any  format  to  be
added to the site", Tom says. Please contact him (k8cx[@]hamgallery.com)  if
you have any. [TNX K8CX]

DXCC NEWS ---> 3D2C (Conway Reef 2012) has been approved  for  DXCC  credit.
If you had cards previously rejected for  this  operation,  please  send  an
e-mail to bmoore[@]arrl.org to be put on the list for an update. [TNX NC1L]

MOST WANTED SURVEY ---> The DX Magazine's  annual  Most  Wanted  Survey  was
conducted in September-October 2012 [425DXN 1114]. The top 20 DXCC  Entities
are:
1.  P5     North Korea                11. PY0S   St. Peter & Paul Rocks
2.  KP1    Navassa Island             12. KH5K   Kingman Reef
3.  3Y     Bouvet Island              13. ZL9    Auckland & Campbell Isls
4.  FT5Z   Amsterdam & St. Paul Isls  14. KH5    Palmyra & Jarvis Isls
5.  VK0    Heard Island               15. SV/A   Mount Athos
6.  FT5W   Crozet Isls                16. E3     Eritrea
7.  BS7H   Scarborough Reef           17. BV9P   Pratas
8.  VP8    South Sandwich Isls        18. FT5J/E Juan de Nova, Europa Isls
9.  ZS8    Marion Island              19. VP8    South Georgia
10. FT5T   Tromelin Island            20. KH3    Johnston
The 100 Most Wanted listing,  with  the  results  of  the  2011  survey  for
comparison, can be  found  at  http://www.dxpub.net/MOST-WANTED-SURVEY.html.
The complete breakdown by continent is  published  in  the  January/February
2013 issue of "The DX Magazine"; a breakdown by mode and for  160/80  metres
will be published in the March/April 2013 issue.

POSTAL RATES (CANADA) ---> Canadian postal  rates  will  rise  again  on  14
January. The new base  prices for  standard  letter  items  up to 30g are as
follows:
Canada         CAD 0.63
U.S.A.         CAD 1.10
International  CAD 1.85
Stamps are subject to taxes that can vary from Province to Province.  Actual
rates can be calculated through the "Find a Rate" on-line  service  provided
by Canada Post (www.canadapost.ca).

+ SILENT KEY + John Dack, W7KH (ex W7GUV) passed away on  7  January  at  91
years of age. First licensed in 1938, he  sat  at  the  top  of  DXCC  Mixed
standings, with 398 entities (340 current and 58 deleted)