TopBand: Trip to Europe (LONG)

[Bill Tippett]

Greetings Topbanders!

        Well, this is at least a month late but better late than never:

        After arriving at Frankfurt on 24 June, I found a locker to store
my big suitcase and duffel bag with motorcycle gear so that I could board
a flight to Stockholm with only my carryon for the single day I planned to
spend there with some of the SM Topbanders.  I was especially looking 
forward to meeting my friend Leif SM5BFJ and also John SM5EDX...that guy
who never seems to sleep.

        In Stockholm, John SM5EDX, Lars SM4HCM and Ken SM5BHW met me at
Arlanda airport and we went to the city apartment QTH of SM5BFJ.  Like many
Swedish hams, Leif's main radio location is in the country where he goes to
escape on the weekends.  We had a great time talking, drinking a little 
Scotch and enjoying a dinner together.  I was happy to present Ken BHW my QSL
for his 50th state on 160.  Lars HCM told me a little about his very
effective receiving setup and the other guys agreed that he has some of
the best ears in SM on 160.  I had always wondered about John EDX...is
this guy for real or is it a robot that sends CQ DX on 160 all night long?
Yes, he is human and actually holds a daytime job servicing vending
machines throughout Sweden...and I don't recall him yawning even once during
our get together!  However, he now has a new hobby in the form of a tall
blonde girlfriend so I suspect that we may not hear him so often this
season.  I only hope she is prepared for this man who never seems to sleep!

        After a good night's sleep and breakfast at Leif's, we went
for a brief walking tour of Stockholm.  I was amazed to learn that the
river flowing through the middle of the city is so clean that salmon are
regularly caught there!  Stockholm is a beautiful city and June is absolutely
the best time to visit since the long days make for some very beautiful
lighting on the buildings next to the sea.  I said farewell to Leif and
I promised that it would not be my last visit to Sweden...maybe next time
I'll do a bike tour and get to see Leif's station in the country...but at
least it was fun to finally meet some of the regulars on Topband.

        In Frankfurt, Klaus DJ6RX easily identified me since I was wearing
my BMW baseball cap as we prearranged.  He took me to his home nearby in
the country.  Like many Topbanders in Europe, Klaus doesn't have a huge
vertical but rather a shunt fed tower about 20 meters high.  He did have
a very beautiful location surrounded by farm land gently sloping downhill
in most directions.  Klaus is a retired IBM engineer and was building a
beautiful homebrew amplifier.  We enjoyed talking and then shared some
Erdbeeren Kuchen (Strawberry cake) that his wife Uschi had just made...
life doesn't get much better than this!

        Klaus then took me to the home of Peter DJ8WL.  I recall wondering
where Peter's antenna was as we drove up and all I saw was something that
looked like a 12 meter TV mast.  I figured his antenna must be down for the
summer.  Surprise!  Peter, who has over 260 countries on 160 (maybe #2 to
ON4UN?), uses only a single inverted-L with 12 meters vertical.  However his
location is on very rich and wet soil so perhaps this accounts for his
excellent signal on 160.  He is also fortunate to have room to run Beverages
in at least 3 different directions which is very rare in Europe.

        Peter had arranged a fantastic gathering of Topbanders for the party.
DJ6RX, DL3KDV, DK2WH, DK7PE, DL1VJ, N5KO/HC8N, DF2PY, DJ1RL, DJ7RD, DL3DXX,
YB1AQS and myself were present.  There may have been a few others as well so
I apologize if I omitted anyone.  We had a fantastic time while enjoying
lots of beer, goodies to eat and especially great conversation with everyone.
I think Joerg YB1AQS got the prize for having traveled the greatest distance
and it was great to meet firsthand the guys (Dietmar DL3DXX also) who had
done such a fantastic job from VK9X/Y, S2 and P29.  And FINALLY, I got to meet
Rudi DK7PE after missing him at Dayton at least twice.  I would estimate that
between DK7PE, DL3KDV, DL1VJ, DJ1RL, DL3DXX and YB1AQS, they have probably
put well over 100 countries on the air on 160.  Rudi has recently married
and may not be traveling so much but Dieter DL3KDV, Dietmar DL3DXX and Joerg
YB1AQS (temporarily working in YB) are very enthusiastic expeditioners and
I'm sure you will be hearing them on 160 from some very exotic spots in the
future.  Well, it was just a fantastic evening and it was about 4 AM when I
finally pulled the federdecke over myself and went to sleep.  

        The next day Peter and I had some breakfast and I got a better 
look at his antenna.  It just seems incredible to me to realize how well
he does with only a 12 meter (40 feet) inverted-L.  For any of you that
think you must have a monster antenna to be successful on Topband, just
look to Peter for inspiration.  His real secret (as is true for most of
the really successful guys on Topband) is perseverance and receiving
ability.  4-squares, monster amplifiers, etc. are far less important than
perseverance, knowledge of propagation, and especially receive capability.

        We were soon joined by the S21XX/P29VXX team (Joerg and Dietmar)
who were going to follow us on the drive to Friedrichshafen, which is in
extreme Southern Germany.  We stopped for a late lunch near Stuttgart and
visited Jara DL1YD and his XYL Karin DF1SK.  Karin had fixed a wonderful
Schwabish dish for lunch and we had a great time visiting.  Jara uses
only a sloping vertical with 3 elevated radials but his location is
on top of a hill with a fantastic takeoff toward the USA.  I recall from
Colorado that he was always one of the strongest stations from Germany.
Jara emigrated from Czechoslovakia to Germany in the 50's and he does not
look his age of 56 (I would have guessed about 40!).  We said our goodbye's
and started driving again through some very beautiful countryside in
Southern Germany.  The evening light on a million shades of green is still
visible in my mind.

        We arrived at the convention site in time for Peter to set up an
on-air frequency measuring test that the radio club was sponsoring that
evening.  I met Hardy DL1VDU who is the President of the radio club and 
who had asked me to give a talk on Internet as applied to ham radio.  Peter
also set up his VLF equipment for demonstration of the new allocation
Germany has on 135.7 to 137.8 kHz.  The demonstration was to show the
first transmission in Germany using this frequency.  Peter's call was
DA0LF and the other station was DA0VLF.  It will be interesting to follow
the development of this frequency in Europe...I wonder when someone will
make a trans-Atlantic QSO on this frequency?!  Peter and I had a nice 
quiet dinner together and I got to bed by 2330 which felt very good after
the previous short night.

        On Friday, I woke to the sounds of bells ringing.  For those of
you who have never been to Europe, this is one of the most delightful
sounds you will ever hear!  I'm not really going to try to cover everything
I saw since it would take too long.  However, if you really want a pleasant
change from Dayton, save your money and come to Friedrichshafen.  Here are
a few memories I have...

--Dozens of radio club booths set up representing almost every country
in Europe with many from North Africa (including 5A!) and the Middle East.

--A very interesting flea market with a lot of surplus (or maybe it was 
stolen!) high power radio gear from the former USSR.  The vacuum variables
and high power transmitting tubes really looked interesting.  I couldn't 
help but wonder where this equipment came from...maybe the OTH Radar we
used to call the Woodpecker??

--Many interesting commercial exhibits including Titanex, the makers of
the antenna used by S21XX/P29VXX (more on this later).

--The fun of continually running into DX Topbanders!  I'll never forget the
excitement of meeting Bahri TA2BK who I've talked to for years (previously
as DJ0UJ).  We both just broke into big smiles after meeting each other and
this was repeated many many times with other Topbanders, DXers and Contesters.
Bahri and I recalled the time he shocked me by answering a "CQ Contest" on
160 during one the ARRL SSB Contest.

--I especially enjoyed the DX presentation by Rudi DK7PE.  It was just 
amazing to see some of the places he was operating from when he gave many
of us new ones over the past several years.  I certainly hope Rudi will
continue to do some expeditions if his new XYL will allow it because he
gets my vote as the greatest 160 DXpeditioneer of all time!  Hopefully 
DL3KDV, DL3DXX and YB1AQS will help fill Rudi's shoes on 160. 

--In summary, this show was so International in attendance, that I really
enjoyed it tremendously and made tentative plans to return next year.  

        Sunday morning, I said farewell to Peter DJ8WL and connected with
Ben DF3CB for a ride to Munich where I was to meet with my motorcycle tour.
I actually saw Ben twice since I spent Sunday July 13 with him after the
bike tour was over.  Ben showed me his station which is using one of the 
largest Titanex verticals.  I believe his is over 30 meters (100 feet) 
high and the top 8 meters (25 feet) is unguyed!  It's just amazing to
watch it flop around in the wind and I would really have loved to see it
going up.  Ben says it is bent like a U until the top set of guys are
attached and then suddenly the remaining 8 meters springs up!  This is
definitely not an antenna for extremely high winds but it has held up
very well at Ben's QTH and of course we all know how well it worked from
VK9X/Y, S21, P29, etc with DL3DXX and YB1AQS operating.  The expedition
version is 20.5 meters (67 feet high), collapses to 3.1 meters (10 feet)
and only weighs 6.5 kg (14.3 pounds) which includes some accessories and
guys!  

        Well, this is only a tiny fraction of what I saw.  A very special
thanks to SM5BFJ, DJ6RX, DJ8WL and DF3CB for their hospitiality.  We are
truly blessed to be a part of such a wonderful community as Topbanders!

                                                73,  Bill  W4ZV

P.S. For those of you interested in motorcycling, here are a few
memories which only scratch the surface of my experience in riding the
Alps on a BMW for two weeks (others can skip):

--the smell of fresh cut timber while blasting down roads that were like 
tunnels in the dark green fir forests.

--the sounds of cow bells tinkling on spectacular snow covered mountains.

--snuggling under a thick federdecke with windows flung wide open to the
cool crisp mountain air (a pleasant change from our hot humid weather in
NC during July).

--the delightful sound of church bells ringing in the small towns.

--the smell of fresh, delicious Capuccino at open air cafes.

--the smell of freshly cut hay on the slopes of Alpine valleys.

--a couple honeymooning in the Dolomites (Northern Italy) with a 
"Just Married" sign on the back of their bike.

--millions of tiny Alpine flowers blooming on the highest passes.

--the sounds of a babbling brook mingled with cowbells lulling you to sleep
at night.

--the great feeling of you and your bike together playing the endless
curves of twisting mountain roads like a couple in a ballet.

--etc, etc, etc.  An incredible experience I'll never forget and must repeat!

                                                




        


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