It's been quite a long time, back in my early years of radio broadcasting in 1995, I accepted an invitation to Kovačica at the invitation of my friend Ján YT7FT, who was my guest. I will not list the experiences here, a lot of fun and entertainment that we experienced together. but one day I went to Kovačica with my friends Roman OM2RC (ex OM3TXY) and Ján OM2XW (ex OM3TQX) in my father's Škoda 120 for a visit.
We met a lot of nice people there, we were well entertained, just a delegation 🙂 We also took part in the Slovak National Celebrations in Báčské Petrovec, where a large convoy of Serbian Army tanks passed by in the evening, we sat there by the store on the street with a case of beer and just wondered what was going on. There are also photographs, of course on paper and on film, digital did not exist then. I will definitely publish them on the portal https://om3tix.rajce.idnes.cz/
OM3TIX videos from the radio amateurs' visit to Kovačica
I have now published on my YouTube channel the third and last part of the video that I received at the time of my farewell from Kovačica. At that time, it was shot with a VHS camera as usual, recently processed into digital format.
The first part offers an insight into the history of the YU7AJQ radio club, training and a course for young operators.
The second part includes our visit to the club in 1995 and a live broadcast on Kovačica radio
And finally, the third, last part presents friendly conversations during the refreshments organized by the club members for us. The highlight of the session was the visit of the chairman of Matica Slovenská in Yugoslavia, Mr. Benko, who unfortunately is no longer with us, but his sincere and wise words left a deep memory in me.
What to say in conclusion? The plans and enthusiasm were great at the time, but the situation then changed rapidly. Already during our visit, they announced on the radio that tourists and visitors should leave the country. Then came the war in the Balkans, so it moved from other areas, there was humanitarian bombing and killing of innocent people in Vojvodina and Serbia, destruction of infrastructure, industry and economy, and this had a devastating impact on the radio club YU7AJQ in Kovačica, YU7ABN in Padina and many others. At the same time, the capitalist reform was taking place in Slovakia, which had an impact on the demise of many radio clubs, among them our OM3KME in Stara Tura.
But still, they are nice memories of my youth, of the beginnings of amateur radio, of the enthusiasm and vigor that accompanied us then. I will never forget.
73 OM3TIX