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 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. Now I just need to find someone to lend me a rotator and a mast.
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 Zadar to the ferry. They were already waiting for us there Srečko, 9A3EO, a Marijan, 9A6PAC, and together with us embarked and sailed towards Dugi Otoku.
After disembarking, we went to stay in the town 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.
While wandering around the island, we managed to meet a compatriot from Ostrava, 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.
He willingly helped us with every construction of the antenna Vasek, 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 in height 9 m above the ground.
After building the antenna, I was trying to help others, so I didn't have time to test it.
On the same day we from Srečka they received the message that we can use it for broadcasting lighthouse keeper's office.
We decided that the next day we will build on the lighthouse tribander ECO, which was lent to us by the company DDAmtek, a deltalup on 40 m and 80 m.
He competed in this position Vasek under the brand 9A/OK5DX, the others competed under their brands on individual bands like single op – single band, except me.
Since Vašek was supposed to go to 15 m and on 10 m the conditions were not great, I decided that I would go to 15 m. We had borrowed the equipment for this band from Mussel, OK1TN.
Before the actual race, I took advantage of the good conditions and did some testing. First they are 100 W, and then with 5 W. On 5 W to me 28 MHz managed to make a connection with HC8N, and later even in PILE-UPe also with A45WD. This made me very happy and I told myself that the antenna is working well.
I prepared the evening diary and everything needed for the race and I went to sleep.
In the morning at 5:00 UTC I was woken up by the alarm on my mobile phone, I didn't really want to get up. I went to the radio and first retuned 10 m, where there was no sign of any station, so I switched to 15 m. I could barely hear the station 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.
At 05:43 UTC I finally made the first connection with 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, but a significant opening did not occur.
At 10:18 UTC I made the first connection to 10 m – UY7PBY, then UN4L, XX9TRR a RN3QX. I went through the band but couldn't find anything so I went back to 15 m and went on to make other connections. After about 45 minutes I went back to 10 m, collected what he could and then back to 15 m. Sometimes I tried to call the 10 m, but to no avail.
Since the conditions did not allow opening on 10 m to Japan, 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. I made the last connection at 21:11 UTC with L71F. I ended this day with 328 connections and went to sleep.
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 – at 6:04 UTC connection with T99W, but the band remained closed until 8:05 UTC when I established a connection with VK2WPX. Terms opened up to Japan so I could also call on 10 m.
I lasted until 10:45 UTC and then went back to 15 m. I checked again after about 45 minutes 10 m, but he was just collecting connections from Africa and South America, I didn't hear North America even today. On 15 m North America opened earlier so I could call. Last connection to 10 m I conducted at 18:08 UTC s D4B.
After closing North America on 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. I tuned the band and called for about another hour, but I didn't register any new station. After an hour of failures, I recognized that the race was definitively over for me.
Overall I did 640 connections – 131 per 10 m a 509 for 15 m.
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.
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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.
Thanks everyone for the links and I look forward to seeing you at some other race like OL5T or OK1TNM