Enrico Stumpf-Siering, DL2VFR Shortwave DX Handbook

DARC Verlag GmbH • Baunatal, Germany Contents

1. Preface 11

2. DX - what are we talking about here? 13 So you want to be a DXer? 14 Awards 15 Contests 16 Contests - a rather special kind of competitive activity 17 There are so many different aspects to DX 17 The Marconi Memorial Station - where it all began 18 Expeditioners 19 Travelling DXers 19 DX potential and young DXers 20 Young DXers 22

3. DX Practice 25 Getting started 25 It all starts with listening 26 The DX contact 26 Don't lose your cool 27 Pile-ups - CW & SSB 29 The reward for queuing up for hours 29 A pile-up etiquette manual? 34 List operation 36 DX nets 37 Skeds 38 Successful operating technique 39 DX is seasonal 42 Digital operation 45 RTTY and PSK 45 Watch out - pirates! 47 Famous last words 49

4. DX Information L 51 DX clusters 52 DX information from the Internet 52 Frequencies 56 The printed word and e-mail info 56 Publications from around the world 58 Publications in German 60 The Internet 61 News from the Internet 61 Webpages 64 Mailing lists 65 Books 67 DX stories, reports and expertise 67 News broadcasts .-. 68 The right sort of logbook 68 You're not on the Internet? 71

5. The Amateur Radio Bands 73 Higher bands - lower bands 73 The right sort of DX frequency 77 Propagation 80 Measuring the sun 84 Propagation predictions 89 Computer programs 90 The beacon network 91

6. Awards 93 DX and Awards 93 DXCC 95 The Basic Rules 97 Written Proof 99 The ARRL DXCC List 99 Definitions 99 Criteria 101 Political Entities 101 Geographic Separation Entities 101 Special Areas 103 Ineligible Areas 103 Removal Criteria 103 Confirmation Data 104 Endorsement Stickers 104 Contacts 104 Amateur Radio Operation 104 Stations Contacted 104 Location 105 Callsign and Licence 106 Submitting Confirmations 106 Conduct 106 Applicants 106 DXCC Applications 106 Fees 107 DXAC - DX Advisory Committee 107 Worked all Continents - WAC 108 Worked all Zones - WAZ 108 Worked ITU Zones - WITUZ 110 Worked all Prefixes - WPX 110 Worked all States -WAS 112 Worked all Europe - WAE 113 AJD/WAJA 114 IOTA 114 A - The Awards 118 B - The Island List 118 C - Award Requirements 121 D - Performance Listings 129 E - More about the Island List 129 F - Validation of Operation 137 RDA 140 WLOTA (former WLH) 141 ARLHS 142 Just a selection 143 The GCR list 144 Log extracts and QSL cards 144

7. Contests 147 Competitions on the air 147 Contests in a nutshell 148 Contest practice 151 Contesting - but how? 153 How do I want to take part? 156 The morning after 159 The linear amplifiers used by the contest winners...' 161 8. The DX Scene 163 International DX clubs 165 Contest groups and DX clubs in Germany 166 DX meetings 169 The stars 170

9. QSL Cards 173 Designing and filling out QSL cards 173 As you like it 175 Orthography 175 SWL reports 178 QSLs - the optical impression 179 Sending cards via the bureau 179 QSL managers 181 Maildrop 183 Direct QSLs 183 IRCs 187 Electronic 'eQSLs' 188 Online logs 190 The QSL collections 191

10. DXpeditions 193 The holiday operator 193 The CEPT agreement recognises national licences 194 Expeditioners - the amateurs and the professionals 197 Preparation and planning 197 Putting your plans into practice 216 After the event 234

11. DX Spirit 239 The Radio Amateur is 240

12. Curiosity Corner 243 Our world and DX 243 The 'X-Files' 245

13. Appendix'. 259 Morse code 259 Phonetic alphabets 262 Phonetic alphabet Russia 263 Numbers 264 Common abbreviations and procedure signals 265 Q-codes 275 The RST code used in signal reports 276 Classes of emission 277 NCDXF beacons - International Beacon Project (IBP) 279 IARU Region 1 Band Plan 280 IARU Region 2 HF Band Plan 282 IARU Region 3 HF Band Plan 284 Countries which have implemented CEPT 286 Prefix list and official ITU callsign allocation 300 DXCC entities listed according to main prefix 346 Deleted DXCC entities 359 DXCC entities in alphabetical order 361 Extract from the RSGB IOTA Directory 371 Russian prefixes and districts 372 United States call areas 375 Canadian provinces 376 WAE countries list and deleted WAE countries 377 Deleted countries 379 Azimuth map 379 IARU member societies, addresses and websites 380 National radio society QSL bureaux (IARU and other) 393 DX nets 402 Addresses 403 Conversion tables 404 Wavelengths and frequencies 406 Units of length 407 Tube diameters 407 Power loss 407 Links 408 Bibliography 417