Carl Mason GW0VSW and his expedition is just such an example. This summer, he visited the second largest island of the Balearic Islands for a week as part of his long-awaited vacation. Menorca is located 225 km SE of Barcelona, 53 km from west to east and 23 km from north to south. It has approximately 220 km of coastline with beautiful beaches. The highest peak is called Monte Toro and is 358 meters high. The most famous monument is the Cathedral of Ciutadella, but the Romans, Byzantines and British and Spanish colonizers left their mark on the island.
I was very happy when I got the leave. Together with my family, we used a last-minute trip and went to Menorca for a week during the holidays. We flew about two and a half hours from Cardiff to Mao na Menrka International Airport. Our destination Playa del Fornells in the north of the island was only a 30 minute drive away. According to the brochure, we had a good idea of the accommodation and found it easily. There was even no problem with the placement of the antenna!
A week is not a long time, so I was only on the radio early in the morning while others were sleeping, or late at night. I had devices from previous holidays on Zakynthos EU-052 and Tenerife AF-004 QRP Plus, tuner MFJ-971, half G5RV and batteries. This time I used IC-706 and SEC-1223 pulse source. The transceiver gave the opportunity to choose the performance I want to work with - from QRP to QRO depending on the propagation conditions. The equipment was closed by a small Mk8 key.
All that remained was to stretch the antenna. However, there was no suitable tree nearby, but I asked the group from the opposite block if I could hold one end on their balcony. The half G5RV thus had one end at a height of about 6 meters and at a 45-degree angle it descended above the path to the window of our bungalow. After hitting the power button, I could finally howl QRV!
The conditions on 14 MHz were good and so I am the first QSO did right here. EA6/GW0VSW first hit the air with 70 watts the following day at 15.34 UTC. On CQ replied Ian VE2DOH from Beacosfield near Montreal with an excellent signal on 599. I was glad he called me as we have met on the band several times. My report was also 599 which meant the antenna was working fine.
A small one followed pile-up DL, LZ, OK, ON a UA staníc. Za dve hodiny som tranceiver vypol a išiel na večeru. V očakávaní ďalších spojení som nastavil budík a išiel spať. Po raňajšej káve som o 5.13 UTC začal dávať CQ. Niektoré signály, zvlášť z USA boli v enormnej sile. Do logu sa dostal aj Mat N2FOC z New Yorku a Alf SM7ENF Z Boru, či Ken VK3BXN.
The excellent conditions excited me, I reduced the power to 5W and retuned to 14.060 MHz. The first QRP station was Vitas LY2FE, which worked with a K2 transceiver to a LW antenna with only 2W. We exchanged reports on 579. The next station was Jack W7CNL from Idaho, for whom EA6 was the new 2xQRP ground. Even with a strong one QSB and QRM we exchanged reports 439 before he was lost in the noise.
IC-706 with CW filter has proven itself. The G5RV worked great until…. until after a day at the beach I found a note from the hotel manager to remove the wire above the walkway. Once again, salvation came in the form of rooms above us. I attached one end to them, the other went to the garden. Thus the L-antenna was created. Oh, what the G5RV can handle!
We spent our days on the beach enjoying the sun's rays or riding in a canoe. One day I rented a car and we went to see the island. We passed a number of small villages, were in the highest village at an altitude of 150 meters above sea level, and saw countless historical monuments. I was impressed by the lighthouse at Cape De Cavalleria, even though it was necessary to walk several kilometers of very bad road.
The weather was fantastic the whole time. Along with good food and wine, we were sad to see the holiday come to an end. It was excellent relaxation and we liked it so much that we will definitely visit Menorca again. In a week I made 118 QSOs on five bands to 28 countries DXCC. It was gratifying if someone told me that I gave them a new land or IOT. After returning home, the first directs were already waiting for me. Who knows where we will go on our next vacation? But one thing is for sure - I will definitely take the radio with me!