CQ WPX 2003 by OK1TNM

This year's 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 . 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 Vasek'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, Vasek, 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, a spolu s nami sme sa nalodili a vyplávali smerom k Dugi Otoku.

After disembarking, we went to stay in the town Zaglav, kde sme už mali vopred zabezpečené ubytovanie. Nebolo to však ideálne miesto on vysielanie, a preto sme spolu s našimi chorvátskymi priateľmi začali Search lepšiu lokalitu.

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, ktorá sa pred dvadsiatimi rokmi vydala on ostrov a usadila sa tu. Ich dom stál on kopci a ponúkal dobrý výhľad on okolie. Miesta on postavenie antén tu bolo dostatok.

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. Keďže sa nám prvý deň nedarilo moju anténu správne vyladiť, pokračovali sme aj druhý deň, a to s ešte väčším odhodlaním.

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, ktorý nám zapožičala firma DDAmtek, a deltalup on 40 m and 80 m.

He competed in this position Vasek under the brand 9A/OK5DX, ostatní súťažili pod svojimi značkami on jednotlivých pásmach ako single op – single band , except me.

Since Vasek 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. Zariadenie on toto pásmo sme mali zapožičané From Mussel, 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. on 5 W to me 28 MHz managed to make a connection with HC8N, a neskôr dokonca v PILE-UPe also with A45WD. To ma veľmi potešilo a povedal som si, že antenna funguje dobre.

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, kde nebola po žiadnej stanici ani stopa, a tak som prešiel on 15 m. Slabo som počul stanicu DL3TD, ktorá dávala výzvu. Pokúšal som sa ju dovolať asi päťkrát, ale márne, a tak som ladil ďalej, no ani on nič Other som sa nedovolal – vždy išlo len o stanice z Európy.

At 05:43 UTC I finally made the first connection with DL3TD. Nasledovali ďalšie dve európske stanice. Asi po hodine som zistil, že rotátor ukazuje inú polohu než antenna – o 45°. Uvedomil som si to až pri prvom Japoncovi. Rýchlo som rotátor dokalibroval a konečne som počul, že pásmo je plné. Sledoval som otvorenie 10 m, ale výrazné otvorenie nenastalo.

At 10:18 UTC I made the first connection to 10 m – UY7PBY, potom UN4L, XX9TRR a RN3QX. Prešiel som pásmo, ale nič som nenašiel, a tak som sa vrátil on 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 on 15 m. Občas som skúšal volať on 10 m, ale bezvýsledne.

Since the conditions did not allow opening on 10 m to Japan, sústredil som sa on Severnú Ameriku, no aj tu to nevyšlo. Zbieral som spojenia z Južnej Ameriky a nakoniec sa Severná Amerika otvorila on 15 m. Posledné spojenie som uskutočnil o 21:11 UTC s L71F. Tento deň som ukončil s 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, 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 on 10 m.

I lasted until 10:45 UTC and then went back to 15 m. Po asi 45 minútach som opäť kontroloval 10 m, ale už len zbieral spojenia z Afriky a Južnej Ameriky, Severnú Ameriku som ani dnes nespočul. 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. 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 connections – 131 per 10 m a 509 for 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. Vasek 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