The Deleted Entities Chase
As with most OT DXers, Ive become more interested in the history of DX over the past few years, especially after reading the W6AM book a few times. I recently visualized a new project, which improved my knowledge of world history with ham radio. I was curious to know how many of the deleted entities I have worked after they were deleted.
If youre only interested in "keeping score of entities worked," you will probably not be interested.
If you worked a German ham in Saarbrucken, you have worked the old 9S4 area. If you worked a Chinese ham with a "2" in the prefix, you worked the old Manchuria. Most likely you have worked stations in all the old PK areas of Indonesia. You quickly find that you have worked most places on the deleted list, but there are a few that you probably have missed.
There are 21 deleted entities that I never worked before their deletion, mostly because of my own inactivity between 1960 and 1968. I wondered how many of those areas Ive actually worked. I went through my QSLs to find out. What I found was most interesting.
I had never worked stations in six of the deleted group: 1M (Minerva Reef), 8Z5 (Kuwait-Saudi Neutral Zone), CR8 (Damao-Diu), FN8 (French India), VS9H (Kuria Maria), VS9K (Kamaran I.). Incidentally, I found only one VU QSL from Goa, the old CR8/Goa.
It was my goal to work those six areas, even though they are deleted as entities.
After checking with 9K2HN, it turned out that 9K2UU is intermittently active from Khiran, in the old 8Z5 Neutral Zone, alternating with his home station in Kuwait City. We arranged a QSO, and I was surprised to hear him 5-9+ on 20m SSB. Only 5 to go.
Apparently there is nobody active from Daman or Diu Island, but one of these days there will be. Daman is only about 100 miles north of Mumbai, so it should be possible. Diu Island could be interesting as a new IOTA. The only contacts made from that area before the 1961 deletion were the 55 QSOs made in 1948 by W6ODD/CR8. There were no operations from Daman (Damao in Portugese).
French India was scattered among several areas along the east coast of India. The biggest concentration of amateurs is in Pondicherry. Interestingly, VU2AX (the original FN8AD) is still shown on QRZ.com as living in the same place as he did during his FN8 days. Nobody seems to know if hes still alive. Since there are at least a dozen hams in Pondicherry, this one should be possible. One day Ill find one.
The other three will be more difficult.
Since the Minerva Reefs were claimed by Tonga, there have been no operations. Minerva is a frequent stop for yachters traveling from Tonga to New Zealand. Fiji does not recognize the Tongan claim of this area, and the issue is still under dispute. If Fiji eventually were to assume the claim over Minerva, it might become a regular entity again on the DXCC list.
There was a 1990 operation on Kuria Maria (formerly VS9H) by a group of Oman amateurs (its now part of Oman), which I somehow missed. Perhaps this will be active again as an IOTA operation.
Since Kamaran (formerly VS9K) is part of Yemen, its unlikely there will be an operation there any time soon.
In the process of studying the history of all the entities on the deleted list, it has been a most interesting view of geographic history around parts of the world. As hams, we naturally have this interest, but the deleted list is an interesting window into the past operations in our hobby. This project has really sparked my interest in DX.
If youre looking for something new to do with your DX chasing, I highly recommend this as a fun and educational project. One thing is certain: The more deleted ones you missed, the more fulfilling this project will be.
73, Jim
W6YA
Courtesy of W6YA