This year, the microwave race was the first ever that we wanted to complete from Koruna.
On II. subregional race, there was still snow in the Eagle Mountains, so we haven't been to Koruna since last year's November A1. We were expecting enough inconveniences - bad weather, poor conditions, etc., but what awaited us when we reached the hill exceeded all our, even the darkest imaginations - see photos...
Within a few hours, a police patrol and a "lookout" from the fire department arrived at the scene, so all that is known so far is that the fire started sometime between Wednesday and Thursday, and it was certainly not a case of spontaneous combustion (there is no electricity on the hill, there was no storm), nor was it a random ember from a passerby... According to initial findings, the fire started to spread extremely quickly from top to bottom, i.e. from the attic to the broadcasting and living room. The glow was so strong that not only did the entire roof and the entire upper floor disappear, but all 15 antennas were literally vaporized (only coils of aluminum and pieces of iron brackets remained), glass and windows melted into balls, and even ceramics were deformed. Iron poles and 3mm sheets twisted like plastic. There's just absolutely nothing left...
The damage was estimated at 120,000 - 140,000 CZK, the investigation has started, but of course the perpetrator is still unknown. When writing the report, several variants were made as to who and why could do something similar, especially when there was a more than realistic threat that the entire surrounding forest would burn together with the building (according to the most knowledgeable, it is a complete miracle that the entire hill was not left in ashes...), but everything is still under investigation.
None of us at the club believe that someone who calls himself a radio amateur could have done this, but the police have not yet ruled out any possibility. Perhaps the only thing that is clear is that, given the extremely rugged terrain, someone had to go "to be sure" and must have been on the hill at some point in the past, because otherwise our QTH it is very difficult to reach (1100 m above sea level, barrier 2 km below the cottage, etc...).
We met yesterday and after a few minutes it was clear - we will rebuild the entire QTH, including the cabin. We will collect again all antennas, coax, jumpers, backup sources and in short all the junk that is on VHF necessary. It won't be right away, but we already know today that we will build it even bigger than it was in the last 12 years that we have been constantly improving and perfecting our cabin.
So this year's Microwave Race looked like this - a race that probably none of us will forget for a long time, even if we didn't make a single connection in it. If any of you reading this should for any reason feel like you know anything that could help us figure out what happened, we would of course greatly appreciate any information. And the fact that we are simultaneously solving it "our own" way, without the police, is probably more than clear to everyone.
Thanks for reading and listening on PD or VHF IARU.
73 /GL – for OL7M Pavel, OK1MU