12-29-2014, 10:04 AM
1A0C Sovereign Military Order of Malta is active from Dec. 28th, 2014 to Jan. 6th 2015 and it will be concentrated on HF to provide a QSOs especially to North American West Coast and Japan.
They have been well spotted and have a good signal. They were strong this morning on 12 meter CW, (where I finished my last band for them), and are spotted on 10 meters and 17 meters right now. They have good signals on both bands. S.M.O.M. is an actual DXCC Country but is physically a building in Rome Italy, so you can expect the same propagation as Italy.
QSL's go via Direct or OQRS. Read their QSL Policy at: http://www.1a0c.com/qsl-information/ they do LBOTW for a small donation.
This country is "semi-rare". They are usually active only certain times of the year, normally around the Christmas / New Year Holiday. You may find them in an occasional contest. They are all excellent operations so it should not take long to break the pileup.
Enjoy!
Al - N1API