Hi all,
For those of you who don't monitor 3830, here's the post written by K7JA re
our operation in Cuba as CO0US and T42FD for 2003 Field Day.
The posting for the FD "soapbox" with pictures should be up within a week or
so.
73 de Bill, W1HIJ/6
Southern California Contest Club
Pina Colada Contest Club
aka FO8DX, Team NP4A, Team CO0US
***********************************************************
? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ARRL Field Day
Call: CO0US
Operator(s): K7JA KL7MF K6PEQ N6PEQ W1HIJ KF6SGV CO2OJ CO2II CMN2OY CM2KL
CO2KK CO2WL CM2LW
Station: CO0US
Class: 5A LP
QTH: DX
Operating Time (hrs): 24
Summary:
Band? CW Qs? Ph Qs? Dig Qs
----------------------------
? 160:? ?? 0? ? ? 0? ?? 0
?? 80:? ? 10? ?? 62? ?? 0
?? 40:?? 451? ? 285? ?? 0
?? 20:?? 686?? 1247? ?? 0
?? 15:?? 286? ? 288? ?? 0
?? 10:? ?? 0? ?? 42? ?? 0
? ? 6:? ? ? ? ?? 48? ? ?
? ? 2:? ? ? ? ? 138? ? ?
? 222:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 432:? ? ? ? ? ? 1? ? ?
? 903:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 1.2:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 2.3:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 3.4:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 5.7:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 10G:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
? 24G:? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??
----------------------------
Total:? 1433?? 2111? ?? 0? Total Score = 11,228
Club:
Comments:
"CQ Field Day, this is Charlie Oscar Zero Uncle Sam. . ." Who woulda thunk it?
This was truly an historic and memorable Field Day operation, the first-ever
joint Cuban-USA FD effort since the Cuban revolution. The combined effort of
the
Pina Colada Contest Club (KP2AA) and the Federacion de Radioaficionados de
Cuba
took place from Guanabito, about 80 km east of Havana in a broad valley
("flood
plain" after close of operations Sunday).
The six U.S. members were traveling to Cuba under the first "Specific License"
ever issued by the U.S. Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Assets Control
for an Amateur Radio Sporting competition, under the category of "Athletic and
Other Competitions" with an emphasis on public performance. Field Day was a
unique opportunity to blaze this trail, thanks to the bonus points awarded for
public location and media coverage. The CO2KK interviews with the U.S. team
members, broadcast on Radio Havana Cuba the 4th of July Weekend, may represent
the widest-area distribution of media coverage of a Field Day operation, hi!
Antennas, masts, and radios brought from the U.S. were combined with antennas
and pneumatic masts and incredible know-how from the Cuban team members to
produce a successful effort from the start. We knew we had succeeded when the
first QSO was in the log; the rest were just gravy. With the lousy conditions
and our long distance from the low-band population centers, the usual "Where
can
we get the most CW QSOs?" strategy was replaced by "Who hasn't had a run yet?"
as we scampered to get all team members some action. Our T42FD GOTA station
patiently searched and pounced across 2 and 20 meters, with K6PEQ having to
work
hard to convince other stations that she was not a T32 on Christmas Island. .
.this really is a Yankee near Havana!
We traveled light for rigs, taking FT-857s and FT-897s in hand-carry baggage,
with military masts and antennas transported in golf bags. Homeland Security
opened our bags at every stop, but one friendly inspector in Miami wrote a
brief
"GL FD" note on the little slip they put in checked bags that have been opened
and inspected!
CO0US/T42FD was a true emergency exercise: everyone operating from a
completely
unfamiliar location, without the benefit of ten years of de-bugging of a
location (in more ways than one), familiarity with antenna supports, and
ground
characteristics. And immediately after the contest ended, Tropical Storm Bill
hit us with horizontal rain, furious winds, overhead lightning and thunder,
and
six inches of water running through our QTH. But at least we had
communications!
It all required a tremendous organizational and logistical effort on the part
of
the FRC leadership and team members, and the work of Oscar Morales, CO2OJ and
FRC President Pedro Rodriguez, CO2RP, was instrumental in making it all
possible
(including the facilitating of our fantastic special callsigns). The rest of
our
Cuban counterparts, CO2II, CM2KL, and CM2OY, are the "real deal" when it comes
to pulling off Field Day. You'd be proud to have them in your local club.
More details and pictures will appear in the near future on the Soapbox page,
and the CO0US/T42FD Story will be featured as the Breakfast speech at the ARRL
Southwestern Division Convention in Long Beach the first weekend in September.
QSL all CO0US and T42FD contacts via K7JA; SASE or SAE + $ would be
appreciated.
If ever there was a vivid example of the unique ability of Radio Amateurs to
join together in a display of internation goodwill through radio competition,
it
was to be found in Guanabito, Cuba, the last weekend of June, 2003. We are
honored to have been invited to be a part of history.
73,
Pina Colada Contest Club, KP2AA
Chip, K7JA ("Did W1AW really say that in the FD message?")
Janet, KL7MF ("There's a frog on my logsheet!")
Kristin, K6PEQ ("There's a big cockroach on mine!")
Dan, N6PEQ ("Yes, the frequency is in use for the next 24 hours!")
Bill, W1HIJ (Kudos for FB job on OFAC Application!)
Emily, KF6SGV ("For better, for worse, on Field Day, and in health. . .")
Federacion de Radioaficionados de Cuba
Pedro, CO2RP (President)
Oscar, CO2OJ ("Why not?")
Jorge, CO2II ("You didn't drink that water, did you?")
Roberto, CM2KL ("Climbing belt?")
Osmany, CM2OY ("Did you update your CT files before you flew down here?")
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