Friday, 19th of April
The organizers view …
The camp, that has been planned since last autumn, is finally here! Organizers of the camp including Finnish youth team with some active adults arrived at the venue, Leirisalo on Thursday. Thursday’s plan was to set up the station, print info papers, make food and make the final plans for the camp.
Friday morning was tough for every organizer. Some of us had been awake until 2, trying to get the station to work. The hours in the morning went fast finishing work from Thursday, and for the last briefings. The first team to arrive in Leirisalo was Sweden and the rest arrived in the afternoon.
The very first afternoon of the camp started with some instructions and going through the upcoming program. Also, we had ice-breaker games to get to know each other.
But that was not all of it. The main program of the day was ahead of us. In this YOTA sub-regional camp we also had the famous YOTA-activity, Intercultural evening.
On the camp, we have participants from 8 different countries. So we had a lot of new interesting foods and drinks to try. Also, one of the organizers, Vilma, had just come from Taiwan with some exotic Asian foods to bring to us. After all, Intercultural evening on NOTA19 was a very successful and a lot of fun.
Rest of the evening went the Finnish way, going to the sauna! Despite the so-called “shyness” of Finns, everyone got along.
Very good start for the second NOTA, and the second YOTA sub-regional camp of the year!
The participants view …
This morning the Swedish NOTA team woke up in Åbo after a night spent on the ferry. After a short breakfast on a restaurant we all stuffed ourselves into the cars and went to Salo. After about 40 min (plus minus some navigation errors) we arrived in Leirisalo where the camp is held.
After arrival, we started mounting the Yagi-antenna and we got it half way up before lunch.
The lunch (a nice tasting soup) was extra nice tasting due to us being tired and hungry and because of the very good company. The tower work continued after lunch, but we still had a lot to do when the last bunch of people arrived by a charter bus.
It is amazing what the Finnish radio amateurs can do! We found out that everyone participating and organising the camp was a licensed amateur radio operator, from the cook to the bus driver. The Finnish youth team had done a great work in recruiting help for the camp.
The camp site, Leirisalo, comprises a main building, sleeping quarters, summer kitchen with cold eating facilities, and a sauna. The youth team had even delivered a lake next to the sauna, WOW. We were warned of snakes and mosquitoes, the former being poisonous but luckily the latter being the more probable ones to attack us. The place is surrounded by forest on one side and the lake on the other side. Today, the Finnish weather struck us really warm and pleasing, and we are hoping for it to continue so for the whole weekend.
We will be QRV on most short-wave bands during the weekend and we try to activate most modes as well.
We hope to hear you on the bands!
73 de OH2YOTA
(With keyboard ops OH3HNY, Tiiti and SA7GGO, Gustav)
Will you be QRV on 40 and 80 meters?
Greetings to Gustav SA7GGO
de Mats SM7BUA