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CQWW 2002 FROM DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

HI9X

For the CQWW-SSB contest this year four members of the Florida Dxpedition Group opted to travel to the Dominican Republic in the Caribbean. Our team leader Bill W4WX found a very nice location that catered to hams, it was owned by Mr. Erwin Scherr DL4NCF. The villa is located near the town of Samana in the eastern part of the island of Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic in an area called Las Terrenas. The villa has a 55 ft. tower with a 7 element log periodic antenna for 30 thru 10 meters. Also on the tower is a 40 meter rotatable dipole, as well as a 75 meter sloper, and an all band wire dipole. The villa is located in a compound called Los Hollandes and is managed by two very wonderful people, Jos and Ans who are originally from the Netherlands. They will both bend over backwards to cater to your every need. The villa is only 450 meters from the most awesome beach that you could imagine. Also included in the villa rental is maid service. The electricity is 120 volts 60 cycle with standard 3 prong US sockets.

The crew for 02, or as we called ourselves, the motley crew, for the CQWW-SSB test consisted of Bill W4WX our Dxpedition leader, Clarence W9AAZ, Bob K9MDO, and Cory N1WON. We had to bring all of our radio gear except for the previously mentioned antennas. We settled on two Kenwood TS-570-D HF

Transceivers, and a Yaesu FT-890, and Astron and MFJ switching power supplies. We also packed a small Dentron GLA-1000B amplifier to make us a little easier to be heard. Also packed were 2 antenna tuners, a Force 12 Sigma vertical as well as a Hustler 5 BTV vertical, and an inverted Vee for 160 meters. We also brought several hundred feet of coax, and a rigblaster Nomic for the digital modes, as well as a KAM Plus

TNC for some serious RTTY. We also took various small ham radio items. All of this filled 2 check on bags and a carry on bag for each of us, we also shoved some extra clothes into the various bags. When we were all packed we had NO extra room to spare at all.

We had already secured our HI9 licenses a few months earlier. This took some doing as we found out the hard way that the application forms on the ARRL web site are obsolete, and were rejected by Indotel, which is the equivalent of the FCC in Republica Dominicana. We finally got in touch with a very nice and helpful Senorita, Ms. Rocio Ortiz who works for Indotel. She has an excellent command of English, and

promptly emailed us the proper new forms as a Microsoft Word document. We then filled them out and faxed them back to her in Santa Domingo. In about a week we had our tickets to operate in the D.R. using our home calls followed by /HI9. She was also kind enough to issue us a special call for use during the

48 hour contest period, it was HI9X. We were overjoyed. WOW, that call sure helped generate some ungodly pileups for sure! We were not charged any fee for any of our licenses.

Finally the morning of October 22 dawned, and at 5 AM, Bill, Cory, and I loaded my pickup full of luggage and headed for JIA, Jacksonville International Airport, in Jacksonville, Florida to begin our

annual DX adventure. We would meet up with Bob K9MDO in Miami, as he was flying in from Chicago.

After a routine check-in where our carry-on bags were x-rayed, the three of us boarded an American Airlines ATR 72 aircraft for the flight to Miami. Once in Miami we hooked up the Bob K9MDO, and boarded a American Airlines Boeing 737 jet for the flight to Puerto Plata in the D.R. After a smooth flight

at 37,000 feet, we landed right on time. After we de-planed we each had to pay a USD $10.00 immigration fee, then we had our passports stamped. The four of us with our luggage then headed to the customs area. Here we ran into the proverbial brick wall, or more correctly a wall of suits and ties! Eight officers all wearing the regular uniform of the Nacional Polica de la Republica Dominica Customs Divn, brown suits,

literally surrounded us and whisked us and our luggage into an office. There were so many suits it looked like we were in a Men’s Warehouse store! The customs officers knew little English, and we knew even less Spanish. So we seemed to be at an impasse. Finally an officer arrived who spoke English. He must have been a commander as all the other suits saluted him as he entered. Bill W4WX/HI9 explained that we were amateur radio operators, or radioaficionados, and we all had licenses and permits from Indotel which listed

the equipment we had as well as their serial numbers. Then another high ranking suit came in, and the two

high ranking officers conversed in Spanish for a few minutes. They then took Bill W4WX/HI9 into a private office and told him we would have to pay a special “tax” of USD $500.00 to bring out gear into the country. Bill steadfastly refused to be shaken down like this. He told the two suits that if they insisted on us

paying this exorbitant “tax” we would go back to the states. Finally after almost an hour of haggling Bill

(our Hero) won out. We paid them a face saving ‘tax’ of USD $1.00. Several of the lower ranking suits then checked our gear and wrote everything down that we had on a form which was in Spanish and they made Bill sign it. Finally after two hours, the four of us and all our luggage were allowed to proceed outside to meet the taxi driver which Jos had arranged to meet us at the airport and take us to Las Terrenas. We found our driver Norbi and his Hyundai diesel-van and loaded our formidable pile of luggage into it. As luck would have it Norbi spoke NO English! We headed east out of Puerto Plata toward Samana and Las Terrenas, and Bob, Cory, and I decided that from this day forward Bill would now be know as “Silver Tongue” for talking the suits in customs down from USD $500.00 to USD $1.00. I swear he could talk the sweet out of sugar! The drive to Las Terrenas took about three and a half hours with one stop at a supermercado (supermarket) for groceries and a couple of cold Presidente cervezas (beer).

We finally arrived at Los Hollandes where we were meet by Jos and Ans. Quickly Jos produced a lorry, or hand truck and we and all our luggage were soon at our home away from home for the next eight days, the villa “Luzia” which is named after Erwins wife. We stowed our personal gear and clothes and set out in earnest to assemble three separate operating positions to use to pass the time before and after the contest. A couple of the diehard guys got on the air right away. They contacted our pilot station back in Florida, Roger K9RB, who phoned our XYL’s and told them we had safely arrived. I was pooped, so just took it easy and was soon sawing logs in my bed. The next morning, Bill, Bob, and I were up at seven AM and I cooked up a gourmet breakfast of bacon, eggs, toast and coffee. We had to threaten Cory that if he did not get up we would serve him breakfast in bed, for sure ! After breakfast Cory accompanied Jos to a nearby supermercado (supermarket) to stock up on groceries for the week. Bill, Bob and I assembled and put up the two verticals as well as the 160 meter inverted Vee. We spent the first day working pileups at will. All we had to do is call “CQ from the Island of Hispaniola in the Dominican Republic” and were rewarded with an almost instant pile-up! That evening we cooked steaks out on the grill and downed several cold cervezas (beer). This is the life! I turned in around ten PM as the others kept pounding out more qso’s. I got up the next morning at 4 AM and put a pot of coffee on and then got on 40-80-and 30 meter CW and put a gaggle of qso’s in the log. Just before dawn 30 CW opened to Japan and I filled several pages in the log with JA contacts.

About ten AM, Bill, Bob, and I decided to walk down to the beach, Cory stayed behind to work the deserving! As we walked toward the beach we passed a pasture full of cattle and horses shaded by many coconut trees, and we had to stop and take pictures of it. We soon arrived at the beach and were at a loss for words. It was the most beautiful beach any of us had ever seem. The sand was sugar white, and the blue water was crystal clear. There were rock formations jutting out here and there, and to top it all off we had the beach totally to ourselves, it was completely deserted. Bob took a quick dip and said the water was like a warm bath. To say the least the beaches in the D.R. are like a picture postcard. We then meandered back to “Luzia” and spent the day passing out contacts and practicing one of the national pastimes in the

D.R., taking a Siesta! Bill W4WX/HI9 hooked up his KAM plus TNC and soon had a howling pileup going on 20 meter RTTY, Ah the life of a DX’er is great! We whiled away the days before the contest, but soon it was time to get ready for the reason for our trip to Republica Dominicana, the CQWW SSB 2002

DX Contest was fast approaching

We moved the two Kenwood TS-570’s together and ran the coax from the various antenna’s to them so we could cover all bands during the contest. We linked our two laptops computers together with a null modem cable so they could talk to each other while using the popular logging software CT v. 9.85. We then checked and rechecked everything and then made an early supper. I then stretched out for a short nap before the bedlam began at 0000 Zulu. The other guys did the same. Our leader Bill W4WX/HI9 had drawn up an operating schedule for the CQWW. We would have 3 hours on, and three hours off, with one

9 hour period off around the middle of the CQWW to recharge our batteries (sleep). We would be HI9X in the new Multi-2 category, high power, all band. Bill and Bob were the lucky ones who would be starting out the contest. The new category Multi-2 allows both stations, which we called run 1 and run 2, to operate

and work anyone, anywhere at the same time. You are allowed 8 band changes each per hour. No more endless tuning around by the multiplier station looking for new multipliers. You now have two run stations on at the same time, it doubles the action and fun!

As the seconds ticked down toward the start of the test Bill and Bob were like two race horses in the starting gate. They were both chomping at the bit and were both coiled and ready to spring into action.

The clock on CT finally rolled over to 0000 Zulu and CQWW-SSB 2002 had begun at last! Bill was first

out of the gate and called CQ contest from Hotel India 9 X-Ray and made an immediate QSO and logged

It. The computers were NOT talking to one another! We frantically checked and rechecked everything.

Finally Bill shut down his laptop and rebooted, and for some unknown reason everything started to work!

At last we were in the CQWW for real. Bill and Bob pounded out QSO’s as fast as they could log them for

the entire three hour shift. Then it was my turn on run 1, with Cory on run 2. I was on 20 meters and it was complete bedlam, the QRM was so thick you could almost cut it with a knife. After about an hour the rate started to fall so I went to 40 meters and tried to find a clear ? spot . I finally found one around 7.060 and started calling “CQ contest listening this frequency and 7.220. It was total chaos with 40 over 9 signals calling on both frequencies. After I worked things down on 40 meters I QSY’ed to 75 meters and shoehorned myself in at 3.770. I called CQ contest and was got an immediate pile-up of absolute rock crushing signals. After a while the QRM from the big Multi-Multi QSO machines was deafening as they ground out endless contacts. I tried to find a clear spot, but gave up and went back to 40 meters and found a clear spot right away on 7.055 and started calling “listening this frequency and 7.212. I got a murderous pile-up of stateside stations on 7.212, and had the rest of the world on 7.055. Boy, my 3 hour shift flew by and soon Bob K9MDO/HI9 relieved me. I crashed in bed for a few hours of fitful sleep, and then it was back to the battle with me on run 2 this time, and Cory on run 1 station. I dropped down to the top band 160 meters and worked a few stations, but the QRN from South America was horrible with static crashes pinning the S meter on the rig! I then move to 80, and then to 40. Cory had a real dandy pile-up going on 20 meters which stayed open almost all night long. Mercifully my 3 hours in the hot seat soon ended and I again crashed in the rack for a few hours of very restless sleep.

When I awoke it was now 8 AM Atlantic Standard Time. Bob K9MDO/HI9 stayed on run 1 for me while a rustled up a hot breakfast for Bill and I, and after we ate, I put together another one for Bob and Cory. Bill and I then relieved them so they could eat and get a little rest from the foray! By now 10, 15, and 20 meters were open to the world. WOW, the pile-ups were awesome to say the least. After my shift ended I had the pleasure of having 9 hours off, and put it to good use. I sacked out for almost 7 hours of sound sleep, and then got up and made some hamburgers and fries for supper and relaxed before it was once again time for the hot seat of the run 1 station which had the 7 element Log Periodic antenna. As I once again got into the saddle, 15 and 20 meters were wall to wall with BIG signals! I worked stations all over the world as fast as I could log them with the laptop. You never knew who would call you when you called “QRZed

Contest from HI9X, Hotel India Nine X-ray”. Soon it was once again late at night in the Dominican Republic and I was on run 1 on 75 meters with Bob K9MDO/HI9 on run 2 on 160 meters. I cranked out QSO’s as fast as I could, and Bob had the best opening of the contest on 160 meters. He worked stations all over the States. Soon it was morning and our three hours was over again, and I had to assume my Gourmet Chef duties and cook a hot breakfast for the lads.

By now it was Sunday with the end of the contest in site in about 10 hours. I relieved Bill W4WX/HI9 and took over a roaring pile-up on 10 meters, I worked this god awful mess for 3 solid hours and could not even begin to work it down. I then turned it over to Bob K9MDO/HI9 who continued to crank out endless contacts for his entire shift. This was without a doubt the “Mother” of all pile-ups, lasting almost nine hours. We split up the last 3 hours of the contest so that each of us would have one final hour on run 1 station. I had the honor of working the final hour of the CQWW. I was on 20 meters and it was almost beyond belief! The pile-up was bottomless, and the QRM and splatter was unreal. Everyone seemed to be 40 over 9, and then a super-station would come in and cover up the entire pile-up. I shudder to think what these stations are running! By now the amplifier had been running for almost 48 hours straight. The radio room is not air- conditioned. A thermometer on the wall of the shack was hovering at 110 degrees F. I was in a tee shirt and shorts and no shoes, and was soaking wet! All we had was a small fan. Soon there were only minutes left and the pile-up continued unabated. Then at last the clock on CT rolled over to 0000 Zulu, CQWW SSB 2002 was history. Roger K9RB our faithfull pilot station called me right after the chaos ended and asked how we were. Roger was without a doubt the most valuable member of team HI9X. He kept in almost constant contact with us, worrying about our every need. He also graciously ran phone patches for use to our XYL’s back home. It gave us all a great sense of security knowing that Roger was always there for us. Soon Jan K4QD on of our club members gave us a call, and then the rest of the guys on team HI9X came into the shack and we all had a nice rag chew. After this we shut down and had our traditional “Victory Diner”. Once again we had steaks out on the grill, and of course had a few of the ever- present cervezas! I then took a hot shower to wash off all the DX! I then stretched out on the rack and was soon fast asleep. A couple of the other guys got back on the air, some people just don’t know when quit!

The morning after the CQWW I was up at 4 AM itching to work CW, I got on 30 meters and was amazed it was open. I worked a bunch of EU guys as well as a lot of stateside stations. In the D.R. it starts to get light around 515 AM, and then the band opened to Japan again. I worked a whole bunch of JA stations. I was using the laptop with CT in the keyboard CW mode, I also had a straight key piggybacked into the key

Line. I had to leave my vibro-keyer at home, as I did not have room for it in the luggage. It didn’t matter as the setup I was using was just great. I worked JA’s until the sun came up, and as usual they faded away in minutes We all spent Monday and Tuesday after the CQWW working pile-ups, beach bumming , and of course taking a well deserved snooze here and there. On Monday and Tuesday evening I got on 20 meters around 14.079 and called CQ using Hellschreiber or Feld Hell. I never dreamed anyone would answer. As usual I was wrong, I had two stations calling me at once. I guess you could call this a Hell of a pile-up Hi Hi. I have no way of knowing but these could very well be the first Hell contacts from HI9 land. I made a total of 7 Hellschreiber contact while in the Dominican Republic. If you have not tried this mode, do it, it is a real honk! Also after the CQWW Bill W4WX/HI9 fired up the rigblaster NOMIC on PSK-31. He ended up making about a hundred QSO’s with this mode alone! Altogether during our casual operating before and after the contest we made around 5,000 QSO’s using SSB, CW, PSK-31, and Hell. These contacts added to the 6,500 plus contacts that we made during the CQWW brings the total QSO’s for our trip to well over 11,00. It will be a while before HI appears in the most needed country list!

On Tuesday evening around 9 PM local time Bob K9MDO/HI9 made our last QSO from Republica Dominicana. We then secured all three stations and packed them up as we were leaving to go back home the next morning. We all got a good nights sleep and got up early Wednesday morning and took down the two verticals and 160 antenna and packed them away. We then had Ans cook us a European style breakfast which was delicious. At 945 AM Norbi and his Van arrived and we loaded up for the 3 plus hour drive to the Puerto Plata International Airport in Puerto Plata. We had a pleasant drive and enjoyed the scenery and each dozed off a time or two. As we pulled up to the airport departure area we got hold of an airport employee who could speak English. His name was Carlos and he helped us unload our luggage and get it up to the check in line. As luck would have it, as we approached the line it was lunch time, so the check in people closed it down and went to lunch. They left us and almost a hundred other people standing in the 90 degree heat while they went to eat! When we arrived a week ago and had the customs hassle, the customs officer in charge told us to check with him before we left the country. Carlos took Bill to the customs area on the other side of the airport to talk to the customs officer. This time lady luck was on our side. The customs official took the form that Bill had signed eight days earlier and asked if we had had a good time in the D.R. Bill said yes, and the Official said we were free to go. HOT DOG ! Bill and Carlos then returned to us in the check in line just as the check in people returned from lunch and opened up the line.

Carlos Took all my bags, carry-on and check in and said “these all look like carry-on to me and moved them all out of the checked bag pile which were being opened and gone through. We moved up to the ticket counter, which bypassed my checked bags from being opened up. I could have kissed Carlos! Needless to say I greased his palm a little!. I gave the ticket agent my checked bags and got my tickets and bid Carlos a fond farewell and headed for the departure area with only my carry-on bag. I had to wait for the other guys to catch up as they were not as lucky and had to have their checked bags gone through, not once, but twice! We then had our passports stamped, turned in our immigration visas, and had our carry-on bags x-rayed without incident. Once we got into the departure area we all shopped in the Duty Free Shops for “peace offerings” for our XYL’s. Finally a call was put out to begin boarding the plane and we got into line. We were all wearing HI9X hats and Tee-shirts so we were all pulled out of the line to have our carry-ons searched. My bag contained my Kenwood TS-570-D and an Astron switching power supply. The girl who was doing the checking opened the bag and looked at the rig and did not have a clue as to what it was. I told her in the best Spanish I could muster “radioaficionado Transceptor”. She looked for a few seconds and said“Si, Gracias, Adelante” and I was outta there in a flash and on the plane! Bob K9MDO/HI9 was not so lucky, they rifled his bag and found two AA batteries which they confiscated. He also had to remove his hat and shoes and be checked with a hand held metal detector. At last we were all on board the American Airlines Boeing 737. As the plane took off and we felt the landing gear go up we all breathed a collective sigh of relief. The trip to Miami was uneventful, and we all enjoyed a gourmet meal consisting of a small bag of pretzels and a coke, Yummy!

After landing in Miami we cleared Immigration and Customs quickly. We were all amazed we sailed through without a hitch. We then bid Bob, now just K9MDO, goodbye and wished him a safe trip back to Chicago. Bill, Cory, and I then proceeded to the American Eagle gate to the ATR-72 for our flight back to Jacksonville. My bag was x-rayed, and then was wiped with a special swab which was examined under ultra violet light to check for explosives residue. I then showed my boarding pass, stowed my carry on in the overhead bin and sat down and relaxed for the flight home. After a smooth flight of one hour and 20 min. we touched down at JIA. We retrieved our luggage and walked outside were my XYL picked us up,

We then dropped Bill and Cory off. I finally got home at 11 PM, not bad considering I had gotten up at 5AM in the D.R.. I petted the dogs, and for the first time in 8 days laid my head down in my own bed, how sweet it was !

Post Contest Observations

This is my Eighth CQWW from outside the US and I have made the following observations. First there is a very noticeable increase in deliberate QRMing, jamming, whistling, steady streams of CW dits being send, etc, etc. etc. I have no Idea why some of these lids and cretin idiots find pleasure in doing this at all. Next is someone moving right on your frequency without even having the common courtesy to ask if the frequency is in use. Another pet peeve is working us during the contest and not even knowing what zone you are in. Come on guys do a little homework. If we have to stop and ask what state your in it takes time, and if we spend more time with you, in the end we will not be able to get some other stations in the log. Last I am receiving more and more QSL cards which are mailed as a post card with just a postcard stamp on the with no SASE. I certainly hope the guys that do this have envelopes at the bureau. Enough said, I’ll get off my soapbox now.

In closing there is the burning but unanswered question, would we go back to the D.R. again. This is a very

Difficult question to answer. On the plus side, the accomodations at “Luzia” at Los Hollandes are top drawer all the way. The caretakers Jos and Ans will do whatever it takes to make you happy. Erwin, the owner of “Luzia” has a very beautiful villa and has done a commendable job setting up the radio room and antennas which all performed flawlessly. Also the rates are very very reasonable indeed. BUT-in the back of our minds is the almost criminal hassle from customs to try to shake us down for $$$. We have talked to two other hams who have taken ham gear to operate from the D.R. One had his rig confiscated for 30 days, and another ended up paying a “tax” of USD $114.00 assessed by the suits in customs. We were warned by Erwin to pack our gear in inconspicuous bags, but with all the gear we had this was impossible. We stood our ground and the customs people backed down, this time, but next time things could be different. I guess you just have to pay your money and take your chances. Good luck. If you go you won’t know until you get there if the suits are going to try and squeeze you. As the saying goes, how lucky do you feel?

Thanks to all who worked us, see you next year in CQWW SSB 2003 from ????

CQWW SSB Totals for HI9X,

QSO’s 6,541 Score 6.181 million points

For further information on renting “Luzia” at Los Hollandes

Owner Mr. Erwin Scherr DL4NCF

Email [email protected]

Web site www.dx-urlaub.de/

Casa Los Hollandeses “Luzia” caretakers Las Terrenas D.R.

Email [email protected]

Web site www.domrepholiday.com

Jos and Ans telephone # 1 809 248 4104 (caretakers for “Luzia” at Los Hollandes)

Qsl Info…HI9x via W9AAZ Clarence J. Kerous W9AAZ