DK6SP

OZ5E, one of the biggest Stations of Denmark, invited the youth of IARU Region 1 to work the IOTA contest from their tremendous station. This Station of the DCA (Danish Contest Academy) by Jan (OZ1ADL) brings all the antennas and tech you want to work up to Multi 4 in HF operatiom. In the end 3 youngsters followed the call. Mattheo (IU2GGL) and his friend Nicola (IN3GJH) came from northern Italy and Lars (DL4APT) from northern Germany. A british youngster unfortunately couldn’t make the trip.

The IOTA contest is all about islands and even if Denmak has it’s share of them, OZ5E is on the mainland. With the contest rules dictating that only islands can run as a multi station, we decided that we will have to settle with just a checklog. But on the other hand that means we could bring up 3 signals at the same time when everybody wants to operate. After a quick discussion we decided to stay on SSB only because nobody of us had the CW experience.

Our main rigs were two FT DX 3000 and a Flex 6700 as spare. Every band had it’s own more or less switchable independent antenna. On 80m, a 4 phase controlled verticals in a four square, allowed for an interestingly high amount of control. The problem with the 4 element 40m beam was that the broken rotatir couldn’t be replaced due to high winds thus leaving us with just a rope for manual turning. Both 20m  and 15m had big 5 element beams. Only on 10m we had to use a Multiband Beam (8 element 10m – 40m) as the new tower for the 10m beam only arrived days before.

One FT 3000 was connected to a manual amplifier and thus only used on the 20m beam to prevent retuning the amplifier when band switching. The other two stations were connected to remote Acom 2000’s. It was  interesting to have a deeper look behind all the tech of a big gun station. Especially all the needed switching and filtering that is needed to get the right antenna connected with one of the transceivers. We even did the N1MM setup on the 3 PCs ourselves.

Short before the start things got a little bit hectic. DL4APT took some final audio recordings on the N1MM voice recorder. And the others received tips and tricks from OZ1ADL. The idea was to start with the two FT DX 3000 one on 20m and the other on 10/15m. But calling on 10 and 15 didn’t work due to crap conditions so we decided to switch to 40m. And 40mit did instantly an awesome run (177 QSOs in one go) and the station never left the band for the rest of the whole contest. Thus we used the Flex to work 10, 15 and 80 when we all 3 were operating. Each Station hat a bell we hit every time we got a new multi, sometimes leading to competition if 2 stations did a search and pound.

Even with little contest experience to start, with little help and support from Jan, the Italians quickly stated to get accustomed to the contest. So we 3 were working at a good pace and switched radios from time to time to have a quick break and get to work on different bands. A bit after 2am local time in the morning Nicola and Maztheo got their well deserved sleep. So for the night Lars was regularly switching between 40 and 80m. Around 5 in the morning 40m had a great opening to North America even tired working a pileup can be energizing and more than fun. Later in the morning Mattheo came back and some time later Nicola. They did the main work from that point on. Dead tired Lars searched for multis and new stations on the Flex.

In the end we had 1435 QSOs with more than half on 40m. And we finished with a score of 2.181.984 pionts with 204 multis. 10M didn’t work that great and on top of that the multiband antenna picked up a lot of noise from the other stations even with the bandfilter. But most important we had lots of fun and were more than satisfied with our result.

After the contest the Italians cooked some pasta. Invigorated with the much needed meal and short rest we all together visited one of Denmarks highest hills the Himmelbjerget with 147m. Then the Italians left for Copenhagen where they stayed the night before they travelled back home.

And in a little bit of British YOTA tradition DL4APT came most of the way to and back from OZ5E by bicycle. Just on the way to the station it was a bit to hot (up to 35 °C) for an enjoyable ride so he took the train till Flensburg to shorten the travel to 1 day. On the way back he slept one night in a wooden shelter and was home before the Wednesday club meeting.

We like to thank the IARU for the invitiation and support of the YCP and the DCA, especially OZ1ADL for having us at OZ5E.
Youngsters, please apply for the upcoming YCPs! It is definetely worth it. Making new friends and doing contest at the same time is just awesome 🙂

73 de Lars, DL4APT

YCP team member
at OZ5E 2019

2 reports from participants at the recent Youth Contest Program in Spain at EC2DX station.

“They’re not hearing me.” – “This guy is really strong!” – “Propagation isn’t great.” – “Why have they stopped to talk in the middle of a contest?” – “They’ve stolen my frequency!” and the most important of all, “I made the contact!”.

All of these are exclamations used in an experience that started when my father (EA1UF) called me one day from work to let me know about the the possibiliy of operating in the King of Spain contest, as part of a team including other youngsters, operating from Imanol (EC2DX)’s station.

I decided to accept the invitation and take advantage of the opportunity. I had no idea what to expect, but I told myself that there is always something positive to be had in every occasion, Later on, when I started to get more details, the most attractive and unexpected part was that we would be able to use the Royal callsign EF0F, which would make it an unforgettable experience.

Looking back, what makes me remember that weekend with special affection wasn’t exactly that, rather the whole experience; after 5 long hours drive with my mother EA1ABO, who doesn’t like driving fast (a bicycle could have overtaken us), I felt really well received, the equipment we were going to use was spectacular, nothing like what I‘m used to at home. We got down to business, the two YLs in the team were in charge of 40m, I had never had such a level of rapport with someone I had never met before, we would make signs at each other to keep things fun during the first 8 hours we were voluntarily on the air the first day. But that wasn’t the end of it, nor was the emotion towards the end of the contest. Trying to make contacts right up to the last few seconds… thanks to the wonderful opportunity which I’m very glad to have taken advantage of. I was able to meet a great group of people, both hams and non-hams. I will remember the experience not only because of the radio but also for the laughter and everything I learnt (which was a lot). Overcoming the initial nerves thanks to the help of other team members David EA4AOC, Imanol EC2DX and Roberto EA2RY, who were constantly on hand to help us and give us tips to make the operation easier, and the feeling of “victory” when I looked proudly at my 40m team mate.

Summing up, I think I agree with my fellow operators when we say that although this was a unique and unrepeatable experience. It’s one that I would live out again every year if it were possible.

73 de Andrea, EA1IZH
YCP team member
EF0F @EC2DX 2019

This experience started with a call from a good friend (Juan EA8RM) who told me that the EA contest club had invited me to take part in the King of Spain contest from Imanol (EC2DX)´sstation, which obviously I accepted without hesitation.

The trip started on thursday when I took a flight via Madrid, arriving at Bilbao around 2330 local time. Imanol and Eider picked me up from the aiport and we spent the night at their house in San Sebastian. Early next morning after a shower and breakfast, we left for the station, which is 200km from San Sebastian. I didn’t know anything about Imanol’s station, I imagined it was a good station but it wasn’t until I got there and saw evrything that I realised how lucky I was to be able to operate from there.

We had only talked on the phone but from the start it was as if we had known each other forever, they were very kind with all of the team. The truth is that I would never have thought I could have had such a good time in one single weekend. The youth team was made of Andrea EA1IZH, Oihane, and myself

We returned to San Sebastian on sunday, stayed the night there, and then Eider took me for a tourist tour round the city. In the afternoon they took me back to the airport for my return trip to EA8.

I didnt just operate from the station, I also was lucky enough to have a long chat with Imanol about his station and the truth is that you learn a lot from a person like him. I though it was marvellous that most of the station is home made, and also Eider is worthy of admiration. She isnt a ham but fits into the ham world perfectly and I though it was unbelievable everything they do to help try to get through to youngsters who are interested in radio.

An experience I would repeat without a doubt.

73 de Roberto, EA8DGH
YCP team member
EF0F @EC2DX 2019

The last day of the fair started again at 9 o‘clock. While the whole fair wasn‘t as crowed as Saturday, we were visited by a lot of people who were attracted by all the YOTA promotion activities of the previous day. Also some of the Big Gun Contest stations came by to discuss further details about the Youth Contesting Program. We hope to soon announce more upcoming YCP events!

At 12 o‘clock the last prize draw for this year‘s fair took place. Great to see again a crowd around our booth and the happy faces of our winners!

Soon the fair was coming to an end and it was time for the dismantling. Everything stowed away in the car, the team made their way home again. Thank you to all people involved into the preparations, the organisation and the presence for our very own YOTA booth this year – you have been awesome!

At this point also a huge THANK YOU to the DARC HamCamp organizers who offered our international youngsters a cheap and most comfortable place to stay over the weekend directly in the fairgrounds. They already announced that they will have more capacity coming up in next years editon!

See you all again at HamRadio 2020 in Friedrichshafen. Don‘t miss all our activities through the year; keep updated about our events via our homepage, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram!

73 de YOTA PR Team

The YOTA booth was ready for today’s fair at nine o’clock. Right at the beginning the first visitors were already there. Attracted by the many young people at the booth, many came by during the day, from young to old, to find out more about YOTA and its activities.

Around 10 am most of the youngsters could be found in room Liechtenstein, where the International Youth Meeting took place again. The room was full beyond the last chair! We even had to organize a few more chairs for all the visitors. After a short welcome by our chair Lisa (PA2LS), Riku (JR2KHB) gave a special lecture about youth activities organized through YOTA Japan, a project born and inspired by YOTA of IARU Region1. But also the European activities did not come too short: reports from Germany (Claudia – DC2CL, Philipp – DK6SP), Finland (Kati – OH2FKX) and Italy (Silvio – IZ5DIY) about the latest YOTA Subregional Camps followed. In the end, of course, a photo of all the present youth should not be missing!

At noon the YOTA team (Claudia – DC2CL, Philipp -DK6SP) were guests at the Contest Forum and presented the Youth Contesting Program. The present Big Gun contesters from all over the world were astonished when they saw what excellent teamwork and places the youth teams made during their participation in the contest during the YCP Program!

At this point a big THANKS to Lukas (OE1LBS), Wolfgang (OE1WBS), Nici (OE1NBS), Sylvia (OE1YXS) and Pieter (ON1GPS) for streaming all the YOTA events during this years HAMRADIO!

In the afternoon all the youngsters gathered again in the big exhibition hall A1 for the annual “YOTA train”. The goal: to show everyone “YES, THERE IS YOUTH IN HAM RADIO!”. Starting at the YOTA booth, they visited the IARU member societies and long-time sponsors at their booths.

Later it was time for the drawing to find the today’s lottery winners. Everywhere around the booth was a huge crowd, hoping that their ticket will be the winning one.

At 6 p.m. the fair was over for Saturday – and the preparations for Sunday were on the agenda in the evening.

See you tomorrow,
73 de YOTA PR Team

For the first time we were given the opportunity by IARU to organize our very own YOTA booth at HAMRADIO in Friedrichshafen this year.
We grabbed the chance instantly and organized everything … booth A1-594 was born.

We set up everything on Thursday in advance to be ready for the official opening on Friday 9 am.
Our booth has been crowded all day. We have been visited by a lot of youngsters from all over the world.
Meanwhile we ran the daily video reports from previous YOTA camps on our big TV screen an shared old memories together with participants.

A significant event today has been the flag handover from South Africa (2018) to Bulgaria (2019). With the help of YOTA Team OE we were able to stream it live on our official Facebook page. Moderated by our Youth WG Chair Lisa (PA2LS), we handed over the flag as well as our YOTA morse key without any problems. The audience were impressed by the presentations and videos from both teams.

After the flag ceremony finished, we went to our booth again and started the daily Prize Draw. You could win 5 brand new YOTA coffee/tea mugs and 4 original YOTA Hoodies. The booth was completely crowded and we found our lucky winners.

At 6 pm the fair closed its doors and we prepared the booth for the upcoming day tomorrow. Afterwards we all left for the annual YOTA dinner at lake Constance/Bodensee. Over 70 YOTA and friends joined at a Biergarten just next to the lake. We had great fun and everybody enjoyed the evening. Let’s see what happens tomorrow – see you soon at our booth.

73 de YOTA PR Team

Day 2 at Dayton Hamvention 2019 started early for us. We arrived around 1h before the official opening at 8 am.

The YOTA booth within the Hamradio 2.0 area in Volta Hall is crowded all the time. Many people are coming by to visit and have a chat with us. More and more people are recognizing our faces and activities from recent social media postings and magazine articles. So did even the mayor of Xenia, Sarah J. Mays. We were taking part at the official opening ceremony in between the halls of the fair ground. After the official procedure the press officer of the mayor bureau came over to us. He had asked us if they could take a picture with us. We have been really honoured and chatted a bit about the future of amateur radio and the YOTA program with them. They were really impressed and wished us good luck for the future. Find this awesome picture below in the gallery.

As you can see our YOTA flag is with us wherever we go. Many hams and future operators come by and stop us for pictures. Please do not hesitate to do so, we are glad to talk to everybody of you and taking pictures. Of course, the traditional clothes are also doing there job for getting some attention here in Dayton, Ohio.

One of our main tasks for today was to visit a lot of our prime long time supporters like YASME Foundation or Messi & Paoloni Cables at the fair. We had great chats about the future of the YOTA program there as well. Thanks for your ongoing support!

Another big point on our list has been the presence at the International Amateur Radio Union booth together with the IARU worldwide president Tim (VE6SH) and Dave (K1ZZ). We spoke about future projects, upcoming YCP events and the December Youth Month and its progress over the years.

One of our YOTA team members here in Dayton, Markus (DL8GM), who is also member of our YOTA IT department also has a second booth to be here. He is doing the Linux version of the newly introduced Charly25 project. We met up with him and he gave us a short introduction to their new SDR radio. We were emphasized and a lot of youngsters joined the conversation just by seeing our faces there. So we can say that here are all over youngsters involved in great projects.

After a great evening at Crowne Plaza Hotel in the city of Dayton and many interesting conversations with the worlds top known contesters and DXers we ended the day very successfully. We will be back tomorrow at the fair with talks about our Youth Contesting Program at 12:00 at the Hamradio 2.0 forum. Furthermore we were invited to join the international contest dinner again in the Crowne Plaza Hotel in the evening.

In conclusion it has been an awesome first fair day and we are really looking forward for tomorrow!

See you all there!

In behalf of the Dayton YOTA Staff
73 de Philipp, DK6SP
YOTA PR Team

Flying from Munich (Germany) via Atlanta (Georgia, USA) we arrived in Dayton late on wednesday evening. After checking into our apartment we headed to the fair ground on the next morning. The booth is almost set up and we are more or less ready to go. On the evening we joined the annual international affairs welcome dinner in Dayton and met some new faces from all over the world already.
While still suffering from changing timezones and finding the right time to sleep we are working on plans for the upcoming days. Lots of talks and events on our list, not to forget the evening program!
Please feel free to visit us at in the Volta hall (Building 4) at booth 4304 directly next to the Hamradio 2.0 area.
Talk to us where ever you can catch us!

Looking forward to another great weekend ahead including meeting a lot of new faces and great talks.

73 from the YOTA Team
Philipp (DK6SP), Markus (DL8GM), Flo (OE3FTA) & Larissa (SWL)

This year’s second Kidsday will be held on Saturday 15th of June . This event is especially created to promote Amateur Radio to youth. This is a moment where you can share your amateur radio hobby with your family, grandkids, friends, scouts or even to the general public. This day can be the first time for youth to experience a real radio QSO, hopefully they get interested in becoming a licensed amateur radio operator.
You could make use of this suggested exchange: Name, age, location and favourite colour. Be sure to work the same station again if an operator has changed. To draw attention, call “CQ Kids Day.”

Suggested frequencies IARU R1:
10 Meters: 28.350 to 28.400 MHz
15 Meters: 21.360 to 21.400 MHz
20 Meters: 14.270 to 14.300 MHz
40 Meters: 7.080 to 7.120 MHz
80 Meters: 3.650 to 3.750 MHz

Other suggested frequencies by ARRL:
12 Meters: 24.960 to 24.980 MHz
17 Meters: 18.140 to 18.145 MHz
40 Meters: 7.270 to 7.290 MHz
80 Meters: 3.740 to 3.940 MHz

Once agin ES5TV opened his station doors for the well known YOTA Youth Contesting Program participating youngsters during ARI DX contest as always. This year we didn’t put together such a big team to compete in M/M category, but looks like we did put together another M/S world winning team. We were a 5 operator team, 3 of them were youngsters under the age of 26 – Carmen ES5CAMA, Mari ES5MARI and me Kris YL3JA. We had two OMs as well, Kaspars YL1ZF and Jüri ES5JR. We had another team for the stuff in kitchen and food, that was my girlfriend Endija (let’s say that she’s from YL1ZT and YL1XN clubs hihi). Another team consists of Valery ES5QA who was the main cheerleader and sauna operator. Contest was great as always, with just a few little issues, like flexRadio suddenly wanted to make an update, but otherwise everything worked smoothly. It’s always interesting to participate in this kind of contest, jumping between 3 modes. Anyway, thank you to Tonn (ES5TV) again for letting youngsters participate from your “big gun station”. It was a big pleasure for all of us and hopefully there will be more youngsters joining the YCP soon, it is real fun!

In behalf of the team,
73 de Kris, YL3JA