Saint Barthelemy Amateur Radio Update

After much controversy Bill Moore on the DXCC Desk has ruled on the OH2BH and OH0XX DXpedition to Saint Barthelemy. See my original story at http://monitor-post.blogspot.com/2007/12/fjoh2am-ops-may-not-count-for-new-fj.html

The final word from the ARRL website page http://www.arrl.org/blog/DXCC%20Dialog

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Announcement from the ARRL DXCC Desk
Jan 11, 2008 15:50 ET
Bill Moore, NC1L

FJ/OH2AM

This operation by OH2BH and OH0XX was conducted under CEPT Recommendation T/R 61-01. This Recommendation makes it possible for radio amateurs from CEPT countries (and certain non-CEPT countries) to operate in other CEPT countries without obtaining an individual temporary license from the visited CEPT country.

Complaints were received from several individuals. The main thrust of the complaints is that the operators used a club call for which Laine is station trustee, rather than their individual callsigns.

The intention of the operators in using a single callsign was to limit the number of duplicate contacts. Many DXpeditions use club or special-issue callsigns for this reason. The Recommendation makes no mention of club callsigns but says that the visiting license holder "must use his national call sign preceded by the call sign prefix of the visited country." Other operations using club callsigns from French territory, including in the Caribbean, have taken place under provisions of the Recommendation and have been credited for DXCC.

Since the question was raised, checking with various CEPT administrations and with the European Radiocommunication Office (ERO) has revealed different views regarding the use of club callsigns under the Recommendation. The ERO observes that the use of a club callsign could prevent an administration from determining whether a particular operator is qualified and concludes, "Club members, including the holder of the club call sign, should use their national personal call signs when abroad."

In the case of FJ/OH2AM, the two operators clearly were qualified to operate in St Barthelemy under the Recommendation. They utilized a call authorized to them by their national authority. The purpose of a radio station callsign is to identify the administration and the licensee responsible for the operation of the station. The use of FJ/OH2AM rather than FJ/OH2BH and FJ/OH0XX did not thwart this purpose.

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And this update from ICPO and David Raycroft:

We are delighted to inform you that QSL cards for the FJ/OH2AM operation
will start going out early next week now that the operation is
accredited for the DXCC award program as of January 11, 2008.

Full-color cards will be arriving from the printers in Poland on the
15th of January (Tuesday) and we will start processing direct requests
immediately. The legwork is already done, all envelopes opened and
sorted.

Those 23.340 QSOs made by the duo represent 11.730 individual DXers and
obviously that many QSL requests as well. The logbook will be included
in the LoTW later this year.

Because of the close DXCC Honor Roll submission date, March 31, 2008, we
plan to make out all QSLs received during January to be released during
the month of February. By the 20th of February we will release a status
report and probably another option to bypass the queue for those who at
that time still want to have QSLs received for a late March submission.

We thank you for your kind words about the operation and support
received through the QSL mail.

Jarmo J. Jaakola, OH2BN
Kiilletie 5 C 30
FI-00710 Helsinki
FINLAND

http://www.kolumbus.fi/oh2bn/barts.htm

FJ/OH2AM Ops May Not Count for New FJ

To use one quote, "this has turned into a can of worms." Below was posted to this blog earlier this month courtesy of the ICPO bulletin.

18/12/2007: On Friday December 14, 2007 the island of Saint Barthelemy was added to the "Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty" public list. Martti Laine, OH2BH and Olli Rissanen, OH0XX/HP1WW begin activity December 18th around 1200 noon local (1600z) as FJ/OH2AM from St. Barthelemy (NA-146, WLOTA L-0377). They will have two stations, using an FT-1000MP and FT2000MP along with Fin Fet amplifier. Initial operations will begin on 20 metre SSB and 17 metre CW. The goal of this operation will be to give as many DXers as possible a new country. Additional bands may be added as the DXpedition goes forward. Concentration will be to have one station on CW and one on SSB. They will remain active until December 27th. QSL cards for this operation should go via OH2BN. Further information to follow. *Approved by the ARRL DX Desk - FJ is a new country starting with December 14, 2007, contacts.* [K2FF]

Well folks it may have been a fruitless effort.

Laurent Beugnet, F6GOX / FJ5BL, President of ARP Radio-Club de Paris has written Bill Moore, NC1L, on the DXCC Desk and asked them not to allow the FJ/OH2AM operation for DXCC credit. Yes, you may have it in your logbook, but it may not count for FJ St. Barthelemy (NA-146, WLOTA L-0377).

Beugnet says the operation violated regulations "French-CEPT TR/61-01 (sections 2.3and 3.1) and hence the requirement for validation of an expedition settlement of the DXCC ( article III.1), by amateur radio "FJ/OH2AM" from 18 to 27.12.2007 at St Bartholomew."

Beugnet writes to Moore:

Conclusion

It is illegal in France to use the prefix "FJ/OH2AM" whether a radio-club or absence of the operator « OH2AM » or « OH2BN » who was not on the spot.

This was indeed the case because the operators were at St Bartholomew holders stations « OH2BH » and « OH0XX ».

It would be desirable, given the very strong feelings raised by the conditions of this activity, the committee's DXCC the ARRL does not endorse a breach of the French legislation and thus its own rule III.1 of DXCC Award.

It is requested that the committee DXCC the ARRL not validate the activity "FJ/OH2AM."

It is requested that the committee DXCC that the first operation "FJ" valid under the new country DXCC No. 338 is that of "FJ5KH" Radio-Club of St. Bartholomew.

Notes :
« OH2AM » is a Radio-Club, « OH-DX-Ring Ry », PL 73, 02381 ESPOO.

« OH2AM » was updated the 17.12.07 sur QRZ.COM « Jarmo J. Jaakola, KIILLETIE 5 C 30, HELSINKI FI-00710, FINLAND », sames words than « OH2BN ».

« OH2BH » is MARTTI LAINE, SAVASUNDINTIE 4C, ESPOO FINLAND 02380, FINLAND.

« OH0XX » is OLLI RISSANEN, Apartado 0860-00432, Villa Lucre, Panamá, PANAMA.

You can read the entire letter at http://arp75.free.fr/Lettreaucomitedxcc_english.pdf

New Prefix for Bosnia-Herzegovina Officially Announced

ARLX008 New Prefix for Bosnia-Herzegovina Officially Announced

In response to a request from the Ministry of Communications and Transport of Bosnia and Herzegovina in August, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) withdrew the call sign prefix allocation T9A-T9Z for Bosnia and Herzegovina and made a new allocation, E7A-E7Z. The change was made initially on a provisional basis under authority of the ITU Secretary-General and was confirmed by the 2007 World Radiocommunication Conference to be effective November 17, 2007.

According to International Amateur Radio Union (IARU) Secretary David Sumner, K1ZZ, the Ministry of Communications and Transport (BiH) held a press conference in Sarajevo on December 18 to formally announce the change. Minister Dr Bozo Ljubic explained the desirability of changing a prefix that initially was allocated during wartime and how it was now being replaced with one that has no connection to that troubled time; similar steps have been taken with regard to passports, drivers' licenses and automobile registrations, he said. Ljubic also observed that the costs associated with the change were minimal compared to the benefits.

Amateur Radio station licenses bearing E7 prefixes will be issued beginning in January 2008, and the use of other prefixes will be phased out.

Sumner and IARU Region 1 President Ole Garpestad, LA2RR, of Norway, were invited to speak at the press conference. Accompanying them was IARU Region 1 Executive Committee member Nikola Percin, 9A5W, of Croatia. They expressed congratulations and support for the change, eliminating an issue that has complicated relations among the radio amateurs of Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Also invited to speak was Miroslav Nikse, President of the Union of Radioamateur Associations of Bosnia and Herzegovina (URAS), a recently formed umbrella organization of amateur radio associations based in different parts of the country. He thanked those involved in promoting the change. In his remarks, Dr Ljubic pledged support from the Ministry of Communications and Transport to the umbrella organization for the development of Amateur Radio repeater and digital networks that would cover the whole of the country, enhancing emergency communications capabilities.

ARRL Announces New DXCC Entity - St. Barthelemy (FJ)

The ARRL DXCC Desk is pleased to announce the addition of St Barthelemy (FJ) to the DXCC List, making the island entity number 338 with an effective date of 14 December, 2007. Cards with contacts dated December 14, 2007 or after will be accepted for DXCC credit. New card submissions for St Barthelemy will not be accepted until January 1, 2008 in order to allow time for administrative adjustments.

Country - St. Barthelemy
Prefix - FJ
ADIF # - 516
CQ Zone - 08
ITU Zone - 11
Continent - NA
Lat - 17.896 N
Long - 62.851 W
Unique IOTA NA-146

The ADIF number listed on the DXCC list for this new one has been confirmed by the DXCC Desk as #516 and not #338 that was publicized early on.

Map courtesy of WorldAtlas.com

The "event date" that caused St. Barthelemy to be added to the DXCC list was December 14, 2007, the date the US State Department Fact sheet was updated by the Bureau of Intelligence and Research. This update added St Barthelemy to the List of Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty with its Administrative Center in Gustavia, qualifying it under DXCC rules in Section II -- 1 Political Entities (c).

French St Martin (FS), while also added to the List of Dependencies and Areas of Special Sovereignty, will remain on the DXCC List, but it is now considered a Point 1 Political Entity under the same classification as that of St Barthelemy.

Please direct any questions you may have about St Barthelemy, St Martin or the DXCC program to the ARRL DXCC Desk at, dxcc@arrl.org.

Radio-amateurs de St Barthélemy ***FJ5KH***

Will be QRV Dec 22-29 to commemorate the new DXCC Entity starting around 1030 UTC,
FJ5DX will be on the air and will be joined by the other club members DK6ST FJ5AB
FJ5BC FJ1CM.

FREQUENCIES:

7065 kHz + QRM
14165 kHz + QRM
21265 kHz + QRM

Good luck in working this new DXCC Country entity.