Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Belarus: No. 19 with the PRC-320

I have just received an eQSL from Belarussian station EW6DX (operator: Igor) for a QSO on the 15m band one month ago. This makes the 19th country validly confirmed by eQSL for my target 25-country target with the PRC320.
Igor was born in 1957 and discovered the ham radio in 1970. SWL since 1970 as UC2-006-67, he was first licenced in 1974 as RC2WBJ, then UC2WDX and, finally, since 1994, EW6DX. He was active with club calls: UK2WAT, UK2WAO, UC1WWE, EW6WE and special calls UC500FS (500 years of Franciscus Scorina), EU0P, EW5P, EU5F, EU5ROPE (his QTH Polotsk is considered the geographic center of Europe), EV5V etc. Active in HF and VHF, he likes contesting and DXing in CW, SSB and FM.

PRC-320 sked between Spain and Belgium

In this video you can see the test I made with ON4FB on the 20m band using PRC-320 radios on both sides. The video contains recordings from Spain and Belgium also.

As you can see, the test was an absolute success. Thanks to Alex for his video and his participation in the test.

Tuesday, March 30, 2010

The Yugoslavian RU-20 test from another angle

In this video you can see the preparation of the Ru-20 test. I am using the Yaesu FT-857D and Alex is using the FT-897D.

And in this second video you can see the RU-20 test entirely from Spain. The quality of the recording is slighty better, although the reception is somewhat difficult at times due to QRM.

I was using a 4m whip with the Yaesu FC-40 autotuner and Alex was using a longer whip (5m+) with the SG-230 autotuner by SGC.

Testing a Yugoslavian RU-20 (aka PRC-515)

In this video you can see a test of a Yugoslavian RU-20 (aka PRC-515) both on transmit and receive on the 20m band.

The RU-20 was located in Belgium and I was in Spain, using a Yaesu FT-857D together with an FC-40 autotuner and a 4m vehicular whip. I hope you will enjoy it.

My portable eQSL design

This is a sample of my eQSL when I am operating portable with my Clansman PRC-320 as EC1CW/P.
The picture was taken on the car park of a shopping mall in the city of A Coruña.

Monday, March 29, 2010

South Africa on 15m (ZS3Y)

This is the video of a recent QSO with South African station ZS3Y (operator Volker) from Upington.

This is my second QSO with Volker. The first one was one year ago on the 20m band.

PRC-320 in the snow

This is a video of my PRC-320 in the Snow, in a QSO with Slovenian radioclub station S55T on the 20m band during the 2010 WPX contest. I was using the standard 2.4m whip antenna with the Clansman counterpoise kit.

This is a good test for frequency stability and battery performance under cold weather conditions.

Saturday, March 27, 2010

Brazil on 15m (PY5QW)

This is a video of a QSO with Bazilian station PY5QW (operator: Vigand) from Curitiba on the 15m band.

As he reminded me, I had already made a QSO with him on 25 February on the 20m band. Vigand also sent me a picture of the impressive location of his station in Curitiba.
One theory about the name "Curitiba" comes from the Tupi words kurí tyba, "many pine seeds" due to the large number of seeds of Paraná pines in the region prior to its foundation. The other version, also from the Tupi language, comes from the combination of kurit (pine tree) and yba (large amount).
The history of Curitiba is marked by waves of European immigrants that started arriving after 1850, mainly Germans, Italians, Poles and Ukrainians. In 1853, the south and southwest of the province of São Paulo were separated, forming the new province of Paraná, and Curitiba became its capital.

Friday, March 26, 2010

Faroe Islands with the 320 (OY2J)

This is a video of a QSO with the Faroe Islands on the 20m band. It was a very quick QSO using my Clansman PRC-320.

The early history of the Faroe Islands is not well known, although Gael hermits and monks from a Hiberno-Scottish mission are believed by some to have settled in the 6th century, introducing sheep and goats and the early Goidelic language to the islands; however this is just speculation. Saint Brendan, an Irish monastic saint, who is supposed to have lived around 484–578, is said to have visited the Faroe Islands on two or three occasions (512–530), naming two of the islands Sheep Island and Paradise Island of Birds.
Later (c. 650) Norsemen also settled the islands, bringing to the islands the Old Norse language which evolved into the modern Faroese language spoken today.
The settlers are not thought to have come directly from Scandinavia, but rather they were Norse settlers from Shetland and Orkney, and Norse-Gaels from the areas surrounding the Irish Sea and Western Isles of Scotland. The old Gaelic name for the Faroe Islands Na Scigirí means the Skeggjar and probably refers to the Eyja-Skeggjar (Island-Beards), a nickname given to the island dwellers.

Good times ahead for DX

I have just heard a station from Australia (VK2TS) on the 20m band with a signal of 57. Tony's QTH is on the Eastern part of the country, 17978.7km (1171.4mi) away from my location in A Coruña. It seems to be true that we are really entering an ascending cycle as far as propagation is concerned.
The figure shows the monthly sunspot number progression up to February 2010 and the prediction for the years to come. The data for March will probably tell us if the ascending cycle will be so steep as expected, but in any case it seems that there are good times ahead for amateur radio.

Thursday, March 25, 2010

Italy on 17m (IZ7FLP)

This is the video of a QSO I made last week with Italian station IZ7FLP when there was good weather. Today it is raining cats and dogs.

Gianni from Taranto has participated in a number of activations of islands, castles, municipalities and abbeys for different Italian diplomas.

Northern Ireland with the 320 (GI3SG)

Yesterday I made another QSO with GI3SG (Martin) from Northern Ireland and I have already received his eQSL. He surprsed me this time because he is a real polyglot. Besides speaking Spanish to me, I heard him speaking German in his next QSO with Switzerland.
I have also made a recording of our QSO, which I hope you will enjoy as much as I did:

Thank you very much, Martin, for the nice QSO and I hope to meet you again many more times on the air.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

Sweden: No.18 confirmed with the 320 (SE800M)

I have just received the eQSL for a QSO on the 20m band with Swedish special event station SE800M (operator: Tom). This makes the country number 18 validly confirmed through eQSL for my eDX award (25 countries), which is the target I have set myself for the PRC320.
King River Dx group celebrate the community of Marstrand, founded by king Håkon (IV) Håkonsson, about 800 years ago.
Marstrand is a small community and Island on the beautiful West Coast of Sweden, 40 km from Gothenburg and 25 km from Kungalv. The charming old houses, the Carlsten Fortress, the walking paths, and the absence of cars make this Island a very pleasant resort.
Operators working SE800M are SM6VVT Tom, SM6CKS Sture, SE6Y Rolf, SM6NM Lars and sometimes other. Usually they work SE800M from their homes near Marstrand, but every now and then they visit the Island of Marstrand, or other Islands near Marstrand like Koön or Insön, put up some antennas and work SE800M/IOTA EU-043.

Canada with the 320: VE3KZ

This is the video of one of the multiple QSOs I made yesterday on the 15m band. Canadian station VE3KZ (operator Bob) gave me a sgnal report of 55.

At the end of the video you can see a good view of the radio.

Tuesday, March 23, 2010

France: Country no. 17 confirmed with the 320 (F6FLB)

I jave just received an eQSL for a QSO I made this morning with French station F6FLB (operator Pierre) from Calais. This makes the country number 17 validly confirmed through eQSL for my eDX award (25 countries).
Calais is a town in northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras. The population of the metropolitan area at the 1999 census was 125,584.
Calais overlooks the Strait of Dover, the narrowest point in the English Channel, which is only 34 km (21 miles) wide here, and is the closest French town to England, of which Calais was a territorial possession for several centuries. The white cliffs of Dover can easily be seen on a clear day.
The old part of the town, Calais proper (or Calais-Nord), is situated on an artificial island surrounded by canals and harbours. The modern part of the town, St-Pierre, lies to the south and southeast.

Senegal with the 320 (6V7T)

This is the eQSL card of a QSO with 6V7T from Somone, Senegal. It was a QSO on the 15m band using the Clansman PRC-320.
Luc (F5RAV) was entitled to use the 6V7T callsign from 15 February to 5 March and made 4000 QSOs. He will be again on the air from Somone from 25 October to 1 November.
His eQSL does not yet have Authenticity Guarantee but I don't think that will be difficult to obtain since he has published on his website http://f5rav.free.fr/ the official letter assigning him the 6V7T callsign.

Monday, March 22, 2010

The 320 goes to the country: Switzerland (HB9ESA)

This is a video of a QSO with Switzerland on the 20m band using my PRC-320. The arrival of the spring brings better weather and longer days and newer possibilities to operate portable with the PRC-320.

There was some noticeable QRM during the QSO, but no problem to copy at all. There is a great difference as far as reception is concerned when one moves away from urban areas.

Saturday, March 20, 2010

Saint Helena on 12m (ZD7FT)

Yesterday I made a QSO with Saint Helena Island (ZD7FT) on the 12m band. Peter gave me a signal report of 52.
Saint Helena (pronounced saint hə-lee-nə), named after St Helena of Constantinople, is an island of volcanic origin in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is part of a British overseas territory that also includes Ascension Island and the islands of Tristan da Cunha. Saint Helena measures about 16 by 8 kilometres (10 by 5 mi) and has a population of 4,255 (2008 census).
Britain's second oldest remaining colony (after Bermuda), Saint Helena is one of the most isolated islands in the world and was for several centuries of vital strategic importance to ships sailing to Europe from Asia and South Africa. For several centuries, the British used the island as a place of exile, most notably for Napoleon Bonaparte.
Most historical accounts state that the island was discovered on 21 May 1502 by the Galician navigator João da Nova sailing at the service of the Portuguese Crown, and that he named it "Santa Helena" after Helena of Constantinople.

Friday, March 19, 2010

Malta, no. 67 confirmed (9H5PC)

Today I have made a couple of QSOs with Malta on 15m, but I did not know that one of them would represent the country number 67 validly confirmed for my eDX100 award. I have worked this country a number of times before. This gives you an idea of how difficult it is to get new countries confirmed by eQSL.
In 1530 Charles I of Spain gave the islands to the Order of Knights of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem in perpetual lease. These knights, a military religious order now known as the Knights of Malta, had been driven out of Rhodes by the Ottoman Empire in 1522. The knights withstood a full-blown siege by the Ottoman Turks in 1565, at the time the greatest naval power in the Mediterranean. The knights, fighting alongside the Maltese, were victorious and speaking of the battle Voltaire said, "Nothing is more well known than the siege of Malta".

Austria (OE1MWW)

This is the video of a QSO with Austrian station OE1MWW (operator Wolf) from Vienna.

Wolf also likes operating portable, and he uses an FT-897. As far as antennas are concerned, he started with a coax monopole. He also uses an inverted V dipole tuned for 20m band.

Activity stats with the PRC320

These are my activity stats with the PRC320, extracted from eQSL. I have created a different account (EC1CW/P) so that I can get separated stats for my activities with the PRC320.

As you can see, I am always in the search for the maximum usable frequency (MUF), although I am not so active as I would wish on 17m because my whip does not tune so well on that particular band.

Thursday, March 18, 2010

Japan on 15m (JO7CVU)

This is the video of a QSO I made yesterday on the 15m band with Japanese station JO7CVU (operator Ken) from Sendai.

Sendai is the capital city of Miyagi Prefecture, Japan, and the largest city in the Tōhoku (northeast) region. The city has a population of one million and is one of Japan's seventeen designated cities. The city was founded in 1600 by the daimyo Date Masamune, and is well known by its nickname, the "City of Trees".
There are about 60 zelkova trees on Jouzenji Dori and Aoba Dori. In winter, the trees are decorated with thousands of lights in an event called the Pageant of Starlight, which starts in December and ends when the New Year starts. Many people visit Sendai to see the Pageant of Starlight.

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

Czech Republic with the 320 (OK2WED)

This is a video of a recent QSO with OK2WED (Operator Petr) from Brno, Czech Republic. This is my second QSO with him using my Clansman PRC-320.

This time you can see the front of the radio, although the audio is not as good as on previous videos. I have to make some further tests with the new setup.

ZS1AFS will be sailing from England to South Africa

Yesterday I made a QSO on the 15m band with Tom (ZS1AFS) from Milnerton. Milnerton is a suburb of Cape Town in South Africa situated on the Atlantic Ocean 11 kilometres to the north of Cape Town city's centre.
Looking at Tom's QRZ.com entry I found out that he will be sailing from England to South Africa in 2010-11. He will be saling as G0CAJ/MM and will welcome contacts.
Tom Morgan is the author of a number of books on sailing and related topics, which include South African Nautical Almanac 2010/2011, Boat Trekkers Guide (co-author), How to Pass the Marine Radio Exam, 2nd Ed., Cruising Guides & Pilot Books (South Atlantic Circuit, Havens and Anchorages). More information can be found at http://www.onboardpublications.co.za/.
Milnerton's beach is well known for its views of Table Mountain and is a popular spot for walkers and surfers. The wave size varies from small to large and tends to barrel, with the best waves occurring when there is a south-easter blowing. The water is generally cold, the result of the Benguela current that flows along Africa's western shore.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Asiatic Russia (UA9XL)

This is the video of a QSO I made today with Russian station UA9XL (operator Tom) on the 17m band, using my Yaesu FT-857D transceiver.

The 4m whip works great on this band, and with the FC-40 autotuner it is a pleasure to be able to move from one band to another quickly and comfortably.

Romania on 15m with the 320 (YO3CZW)

I have just received this nice eQSL from Romanian station YO3CZW (operator Marius) from Bucharest, for a QSO on the 15m band a couple of weeks ago. I already had this country confirmed with the PRC-320, but it is always nice to receive an eQSL, especially if it is as nice as this one.

Monday, March 15, 2010

India: The country no. 66 (VU3DJQ)

I have just received an eQSL from Indian station VU3DJQ (operator Raman) from Narela, Delhi, for a QSO on the 15m band using my Yaesu FT857D. It is a great satisfaction to receive this card not only because of its beautiful view of the Taj Mahal, but also because it means a new country for my eDX100 award (no. 66) and a new zone (no. 22) for my eZ40 award.
The Taj Mahal (English pronunciation: /ˈtɑːʒ məˈhɑːl/) is a mausoleum located in Agra, India, built by Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan in memory of his favorite wife, Mumtaz Mahal.
The Taj Mahal (also "the Taj") is considered the finest example of Mughal architecture, a style that combines elements from Persian, Indian, and Islamic architectural styles.[1][2] In 1983, the Taj Mahal became a UNESCO World Heritage Site and was cited as "the jewel of Muslim art in India and one of the universally admired masterpieces of the world's heritage."
While the white domed marble mausoleum is its most familiar component, the Taj Mahal is actually an integrated complex of structures. Building began around 1632 and was completed around 1653, and employed thousands of artisans and craftsmen.[3] The construction of the Taj Mahal was entrusted to a board of architects under imperial supervision including Abd ul-Karim Ma'mur Khan, Makramat Khan, and Ustad Ahmad Lahauri.[4][5] Lahauri is generally considered to be the principal designer.[6]

Saturday, March 13, 2010

85 years of the IARU with the 320 (SN85IARU)

This is a video of a QSO with Polish special event station SN85IARU (operator Gen). SN85IARU operates between 1st of January 2010 and 30th of April, 2010 to celebrate the 80th anniversary of PZK (Polish Radio Amateur Society) and the 85th anniversary of IARU (International Amateur Radio Union).

Contacts with this station count towards (from 1th of February to 30 of April, 2010) the commemorative award "80 Years PZK - 85 Years IARU". For more details go to http://www.80.pzk.org.pl/index.html.

Friday, March 12, 2010

Serbia with my PRC320 aka "Kornjaca"

This is a video of a QSO with Serbian amateur radio station YU7AOP from the Zrenjanin Radio Club (operator Milan) using my PRC320, also known as "Kornjaca" in the former Yugoslavia because it looks like a turtle.

Zrenjanin (Serbian Cyrillic: Зрењанин, Hungarian: Nagybecskerek, German: Großbetschkerek, Romanian: Becicherecu Mare) is a city and municipality located in eastern part of Serbian province of Vojvodina. It is the administrative centre of the Central Banat District of Serbia.
Zrenjanin got its present name in 1946 in honour of the revolutionary hero Žarko Zrenjanin Uča (1902–1942). Žarko Zrenjanin was a leader of the Vojvodina Communists and wartime Partisans who during the World War II endured torture and months of incarceration by the Nazis, was released and later killed while trying to escape recapture.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Crete: No. 16 with the PRC320 (SV9CVY)

I have just received an eQSL for a QSO with SV9CVY (Operator Michael) from Crete Island.
This makes the 16th DXCC entity validly confirmed for my eDX award, for which I need 25 countries. This is also one of my first QSOs on the 12m band and shows the versatility of the PRC320.
Since yesterday I am also in a competition with a colleage (EA1HNP) who is using the latest technology, including an Icom IC-7000 and digital modes and has 27 countries confirmed. I hope to have overcome him by the first of June with my PRC320 and thus win a free dinner.

Bulgaria in Spanish with the 320 (LZ1FG)

This is a video of a QSO I made on the 15m band (my favorite band) with Bulgarian station LZ1FG using my PRC320 with my 4m-long vehicular whip antenna, military surplus from the DDR that I had to adapt to my standard ball-mount antenna base.

The QSO is in Spanish, which many of the followers of this blog will appreciate. Spanish-speaking watchers will also notice the joke Jordan makes about my callsign.

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Romania: Number 15 with the PRC320

I have just received an eQSL for a QSO with Romanian station YO4WO (operator Oly) from Constanta on the 17m band. Apparently, the 4m vehicular whip I use barely tunes on that band because it is around one quarter wavelength and the internal antenna tuner is designed for high impedance antennas, but I still got very good results.
Constanţa (Romanian pronunciation: [konˈstant͡sa]) is one of the oldest cities in Romania, founded around 600 BC. The city is located in the Dobruja region of Romania, on the Black Sea coast.
A number of inscriptions found in the city and its vicinity show that Constanţa lies where Tomis once stood. Tomis (also called Tomi) was a Greek colony in the province of Scythia Minor on the Black Sea's shore, founded around 600 BC for commercial exchanges with the local Getic populations. Probably the name is derived from Greek Τομή meaning cut, section.

Sardinia with the PRC320

This is a video of a QSO with IW0UII from Sardinia Island (Operator: Alex). It was recorded some days ago on the car park of a shopping mall.

Alex is a radio amateur since 1988 and his callsign IW0 corresponds to the ones that were given to Sardinian amateurs that did not take the CW test. Now with the new regulations he could get an IS0 callsign but he prefers to keep the original one because he is fascinated by everything that is vintage and old, with one exception... women.

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

England with the 320 (G0OPA and G3HAV)

Yesterday I made a couple of QSOs with the PRC320 on the 20m band. It was sunny but very cold. Perhaps you are able to notice that on the video when you look at my face...

John (G0OPA) and Ted (G3HAV) were trying to contact a station from Barbados with which they had a sked. John was also trying different microphone settings, so I decided to pop in to give him a signal report. As John tells on the video, he also knows the PRC320 very well.

Monday, March 8, 2010

Macedonia with the 320 (Z37M)

Yesterday I made a QSO with Macedonian station Z37M (operator: Gogo) on the 15m band. The 4m+ antenna does not work bad on this band.

The Z37M callsign belons to the "Nikola Tesla" Radio Club from Stip, which was founded in 1947. The first callsign was YU5GBC, which was used until Macedonian independence in 1991. After that, the callsign was 4N5GBC and when Macedonia got the Z3 prefiex the call was changed to Z37GBC. As one of most active HF clubs in Macedonia, they used many special callsigns such as 4O0WCY, YT5R, YZ0G, 4N9ARG, 4N5M, Z39UN, Z30RM Z39HAM and Z30M as their contest callsigns. In May 2002 callsign was changed to Z37M and the first activity with this call was made during their DX-pedition to Turkey for the WPX CW contest (TA0/Z37M).
During the last 15 years our club hosted many radio amateurs from all over the world. It is still open for everybody who visits Macedonia.

Sunday, March 7, 2010

Calling America with a PRC-320 manpack

This is a video of a call to American station K7KC with the PRC-320 in its manpack configuration with the standard 2.4m whip.

As you can see, it is not as easy as with the 4m vehicular whip I normally use.

Friday, March 5, 2010

Slovak Republic: No. 14 with the PRC-320 (OM3TWM)

I have just received the eQSL for a QSO I made this afternoon on the 17m band with OM3TWM (Vlado). I also made a couple of other contacts today on that band, with excellent signal reports, despite the fact that the length of the antenna is not ideal for the PRC-320 on this particular band.
I also have another confirmation for the QSO, which I made from the car park of a shopping mall...

Thank you Vlado for the QSO and the new country confirmed!

Thursday, March 4, 2010

CW on 15m with the PRC-320

Today I made three QSOs on 15m SSB: Germany (DL8VX), the US (AI1C, Dick) and Greece (SV2MAP, Giannis). Then Idecided to try some CW on the same band and made a QSO with DL4HG (Olaf) from Hamburg, who was using a 2-element beam. Then I received a call from HA2NEP (Peti). Finally I also got a call from K9DP (Dan) from Tennessee.
The State of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians.[7] What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. In the early 19th-century, Tennessee was home to some of American history's most colorful political figures, among them Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, and Sam Houston. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.[8] Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state, and more soldiers for the Union Army than any other Southern state.[8] Tennessee has seen some of the nation's worst racial strife, from the formation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski in 1866 to the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968.
In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more diversified economy, aided at times by federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the early 1940s, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the world's first atomic bomb.
I think I will have to clean the morse key's contacts and adjust it somewhat but the PRC-320 seems to be well endowed for this mode, with an excellent narrow CW filter.

Wednesday, March 3, 2010

France wit the 320 (F4FHT)

Here you can see this video of a QSO with F4FHT (Steven) on the 20m band. I still don't have this country validly confirmed on eQSL so this was a good contact.

I fine-tuned the antenna between the first and the second call and it seems it worked.

Northern Cyprus (1B1AB)

I have just received this nice eQSL from 1B1AB (Soyer) from Northern Cyprus for an SSB QSO on the 20m band.
Northern Cyprus or North Cyprus (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs), known officially as the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus (TRNC) (Turkish: Kuzey Kıbrıs Türk Cumhuriyeti, KKTC) [4], is a de facto independent republic [5][6][7] located in the north of Cyprus. Northern Cyprus declared its independence in 1983, nine years after a Greek Cypriot coup attempting to annex the island to Greece triggered an invasion by Turkey. It has received diplomatic recognition only from Turkey, on which it has become dependent for economic, political and military support. The rest of the international community, including the United Nations and European Union, recognises the de jure sovereignty of the Republic of Cyprus over the whole island.
The history of Northern Cyprus begins with the gaining of independence of a united Cyprus from British rule in August 1960. Independence was only achieved after both Greek and Turkish Cypriots agreed to respectively abandon plans for enosis (union with Greece) and taksim (Turkish for 'partition'). The agreement involved Cyprus being governed under a constitution which apportioned Cabinet posts, parliamentary seats and civil service jobs on an agreed ratio between the two communities. However the Constitution of Cyprus, while establishing an independent and sovereign republic was, in the words of Stanley Alexander de Smith (an authority on constitutional law) "unique in its tortuous complexity and in the multiplicity of the safeguards that it provides for the principal minority."[5] Within three years, tensions between the two communities in administrative affairs began to show. In particular disputes over separate municipalities and taxation created a deadlock in government.

Monday, March 1, 2010

The Island of Brač with the 320 (9A1CPB)

Last Saturday Antonio (EB1AAL) and I went to visit Ernesto (EA1LQ) and I took the PRC-320 with me. There I had an opportunity to try it with his long dipole antenna, and Ernesto and I made QSOs with the Croatian club station 9A1CPB (operator Petar) from the Island of Brac. Ernesto is a fan of the IOTA programme so this was a good contact for him as well.
Brač is an island in the Adriatic Sea within Croatia, with an area of 396 km², making it the largest island in Dalmatia, and the third largest in the Adriatic. Its tallest peak, Vidova Gora, or Mount St. Vid, stands at 778 m, making it the highest island point in the Adriatic. The island has a population of 13,000, living in numerous little towns, ranging from the main town Supetar, with more than 3,500 inhabitants, to Novo Selo, where only a dozen people live. Brač has the largest airport of all islands surrounding Split.
In the 4th century BC Greek colonization spread over many Adriatic islands and along the shore, but none of them on Brač. Nevertheless, Greeks visited the island and also traded with the Illyric tribes; Greek artifacts were found in the bay of Vičja near Ložišća. Brač lay on the crossroads of several trade routes from Salona (today Solin) to Issa (today Vis) and the Po River.
In the year 9 AD, the Romans finally conquered Dalmatia after long fights against the native tribes. Salona became the capital of the new province and, probably because of its proximity to Salona, no bigger villages or towns were founded on the island. Signs of Roman habitation can be found all over the islands, but they usually remain single Roman villas, cisterns, and especially early quarries between Škrip and Splitska. Splitska also became the most important harbour to carry stone to Salona and the whole of Dalmatia. Diocletian's Palace, which later became the seed of close by Split, was largely built with limestone that was quarried on Brač.[1] Also agriculture, especially wine and olives, began in the same era.

Ukraine (UT7UV)

I have just received this nice eQSL from Ukranian station UT7UV (operator Sasha) for a QSO on the 15m band. Lately I am very active on this band because it works well with my vehicular antenna and you can work good DX when propagation allows.
Perhaps I will be able to give you some interesting news about Ukraine soon...