CQ WPX 2003 od OK1TNM European Hamradio portal

Tohtoročný CQ I took WPX a bit unconventionally. I decided to join our group from the club and go with them to Croatia to the island of Dugi Otok.

After an agreement with the technical leader Jard, OK1DUO, I took charge of the 10m band. I chose it because I work exclusively on 10m at home and it is also possible to sleep at night.

Since the guys from the club also wanted to compete, each participant had to provide all the necessary equipment himself.

I started preparations at the end of November last year. We agreed to go in the Low Power category (100 W), so I had it a little easier. I had the transceiver and coaxes at home, I also had the computer for running the LOG, so I started looking for an antenna, a rotator and a mast.

I couldn't get anything from anyone for a long time. I was already starting to think about having a 6-el built. OWU, but it wasn't until a month before leaving that I thought of asking Milan, OK1IMU. I agreed with him to borrow a 5-el. yagi. Teraz už len nájsť niekoho, kto by mi požičal rotátor a stožiar.

I started calling all possible sellers, but I wasn't 100% sure with anyone. I was promised a loan of a rotator from Milan, OK1DJG from the company ALLAMAT, who was supposed to go with us, but it was not yet in stock. I wanted to insure myself, but, unfortunately, I couldn't find anyone else.

Two weeks before leaving, I learned that I could borrow a mast from our club. That really eased the situation for me. Due to my workload, I didn't have time to check the equipment, so I didn't start checking the antenna and computer until a week before I left. Unfortunately, I found that the PC is not stable at all and shuts down by itself for inexplicable reasons.

I also found out information about size restrictions during transportation, so I started looking for a NOTEBOOK. I have to thank Libor, OK1ALX, for being willing to lend me his NOTEBOOK 486. Now all that was left was to get the rotator.

Three days before leaving I learned that the rotator would definitely not be in the Republic, so I was forced to count all my savings and three days before leaving I had to buy the rotator myself. With that, my preparations for departure were practically complete. At the same time, I managed to pay my insurance, exchange money and I was looking forward to when we would finally go on the road.

On Saturday morning, March 22, already almost loaded, Petr, OK1PAT, came to pick me up, and together we loaded my things. With an almost full car, we went to pick up Dan, OK1HRA, and then headed to Holice, where we were supposed to start.

Along the way, we stopped at Vašek's, OK1VD, for his antenna analyzer, which you forgot at home. We transferred everything in Holice and after a hearty lunch in a local restaurant, we set off on our journey.

We decided to go with two cars with a trailer. We set out on the journey in the following composition:
Sveta, OK1VEY, Rosťa, OK1DXF, Vašek, OK1VD, Dan, OK1HRA, me – Ruda, OK1TNM, Jarda, OK1DUO, Lenka, OK1TUO and Petr, OK1PAT,
direction Croatia.

Crossing the border, despite the outbreak of the war in Iraq, took place without any problems, so we arrived early on Sunday morning in Zadaru k trajektu. Tam už na nás čakali Srečko, 9A3EO, a Marijan, 9A6PAC, a spolu s nami sme sa nalodili a vyplávali smerom k Dugi Otoku.

Po vylodení sme sa išli ubytovať do mestečka Zaglav, where we already had accommodation secured in advance. However, it was not an ideal place to broadcast, so together with our Croatian friends we started looking for a better location.

They took us to one of the lighthouses on the island. However, here we learned that accommodation is too expensive. Although the location for broadcasting was optimal, we still did not give up. We asked our friends if they could get someone from the navy who owned the lighthouse to meet us.

After being disappointed, we set out again to look for another place.

Počas putovania po ostrove sa nám podarilo úplnou náhodou stretnúť krajanku z Ostravy, who went to the island twenty years ago and settled here. Their house stood on a hill and offered a good view of the surroundings. There was plenty of space to set up antennas.

We moved in the next day and immediately started preparations for the broadcast. We started by cleaning the room for the operators and ended by building the antennas.

Pri každej stavbe antény nám ochotne pomáhal Vašek, OK1VD. Since we didn't manage to tune my antenna properly on the first day, we continued on the second day with even more determination.

After modeling the antenna in the evening, we finally managed to set it up and I had it up by the evening 5-el. YAGI vo výške 9 m nad zemou.

After building the antenna, I was trying to help others, so I didn't have time to test it.

V ten istý deň sme od Srečka they received the message that we can use it for broadcasting kanceláriu správcu majáka.

Rozhodli sme sa, že na druhý deň na majáku postavíme tribander ECO, which was lent to us by the company DDAmtek, a deltalup na 40 m a 80 m.

Na tomto stanovišti súťažil Vašek pod značkou 9A/OK5DX, the others competed under their brands on individual bands like Single op – Single band, okrem mňa.

Keďže Vašek mal ísť na 15 m a na 10 m the conditions were not great, I decided that I would go to 15 m. Zariadenie na toto pásmo sme mali zapožičané od Slávka, OK1TN.

Before the actual race, I took advantage of the good conditions and did some testing. First they are 100 W, a potom s 5 W. Na 5 W sa mi na 28 MHz podarilo urobiť spojenie s HC8N, a neskôr dokonca v PILE-UPe aj s A45WD. To ma veľmi potešilo a povedal som si, že anténa funguje dobre.

Večer som si pripravil denník and everything needed for the race and I went to sleep.

Ráno o 5:00 UTC ma zobudil budík v mobile, ani sa mi veľmi nechcelo vstávať. Vybral som sa k rádiu a najprv prelaďoval 10 m, kde nebola po žiadnej stanici ani stopa, a tak som prešiel na 15 m. Slabo som počul stanicu DL3TD, which gave a challenge. I tried to call her about five times, but in vain, so I kept tuning in, but I didn't call for anything else - it was always only stations from Europe.

O 05:43 UTC som konečne nadviazal prvé spojenie s DL3TD. Two more European stations followed. After about an hour, I found out that the rotator shows a different position than the antenna - by 45°. I only realized it with the first Japanese. I quickly recalibrated the rotator and finally heard that the band was full. I watched the opening 10 m, ale výrazné otvorenie nenastalo.

O 10:18 UTC som nadviazal prvé spojenie na 10 m – UY7PBY, potom UN4L, XX9TRR a RN3QX. Prešiel som pásmo, ale nič som nenašiel, a tak som sa vrátil na 15 m and went on to make other connections. After about 45 minutes I went back to 10 m, zozbieral, čo sa dalo, a potom späť na 15 m. Občas som skúšal volať na 10 m, ale bezvýsledne.

Keďže podmienky neumožňovali otvorenie na 10 m do Japonska, I focused on North America, but it didn't work out here either. I collected connections from South America and finally North America opened up to 15 m. Posledné spojenie som uskutočnil o 21:11 UTC s L71F. Tento deň som ukončil s 328 spojeniami a išiel spať.

The next day I set my alarm for 5:00 UTC again, this time I got up early with no problem and quickly got to the radio. Already at 5:12 I made the first connection of the day. I watched the opening on 10 m – o 6:04 UTC spojenie s T99W, ale pásmo zostávalo zatvorené až do 8:05 UTC, kedy som nadviazal spojenie s VK2WPX. Podmienky sa otvorili do Japonska, takže som mohol volať aj na 10 m.

Vydržal som do 10:45 UTC a potom sa vrátil na 15 m. Po asi 45 minútach som opäť kontroloval 10 m, but he was just collecting connections from Africa and South America, I didn't hear North America even today. On 15 m sa Severná Amerika otvorila skôr, takže som mohol volať. Posledné spojenie na 10 m som uskutočnil o 18:08 UTC s D4B.

Po uzavretí Severnej Ameriky na 15 m I made a lot of calls to Europe - many stations I had already heard were now calling me themselves. It took about an hour. I made the last connection of the day at 19:52 UTC with LU1FS. Ešte asi hodinu som ladil pásmo a volal, ale už žiadnu novú stanicu som nezaznamenal. Po hodine neúspechov som uznal, že pretek je pre mňa definitívne ukončený.

Overall I did 640 spojení – 131 na 10 m a 509 na 15 m.

In the morning we shared our experiences at breakfast and together we agreed that the worst part of the whole race was explaining our brand. Many stations simply could not understand the slash in our brand. There were also those who gave up and preferred to renounce the connection with us.

After breakfast, we quickly headed for Vaško and Jarda to the lighthouse and quickly packed everything there. Then we came back and together we packed everything at our place in Sala. We were able to pack everything up quickly and no antenna was damaged. When all the things were loaded into the car, we went to freshen up by swimming.

On Tuesday, we had to get up very early, because at 6:00 a.m. the ferry was leaving for the mainland, and there was still 30 km to the port. When leaving, it turned out that one car had a weak battery. This cost us a lot of nerves, when the car could neither be started nor pushed. In the end, everything worked out and we caught the ferry. On the way back, we took a few more photos on the ferry. I even managed to get to the bridge and the helm. After disembarking, we continued back home the same way we came to Croatia. In Holice, we unpacked, rearranged our things and ran home.

Finally, I would like to thank the OK1VEY World for the excellent management of the entire event and the interpretation work. Jard OK1DUO for high-quality technical preparation and organization of the event. Vašek OK1VD for his help and patience in building the antennas. Lence OK1TUO for running the kitchen. Sreček 9A3EO and Mariján 9A6PAC for mediating the broadcast from the lighthouse. Goran Jagić's family for allowing construction on their land. Thanks for providing the photos of OK1DXF, OK1DUA and OK1HRA.