Technik - USKA

USKA
excited to be traveling again. By this
time, Ueli has lost the “hunchbacked
piece of wood” look and is spry as
a twenty year old. The man is really
amazing!
In this issue of HBradio, I’m going to
tell you about our trip to Croatia a
few years ago. We drove from the
Zürich area to Lugano for an espresso
and a short stroll. Now, it was safe
for Ueli to drive. We switched seats
and pressed on to Verona, Italy
for a two nights stay. This was the
only place he did not set up his
antennas. We checked into the hotel,
strolled through the City and had a
wonderful relaxing dinner. I actually
put on a beautiful skirt and felt like a
part of me had been reclaimed. We
were both thrilled and having fun
as usual, no matter what that might
be. This sure beats camping in a tent
throughout Australia and Tasmania
for four months (we did that twice). I
loved it, but my days of camping in a
tent are just about over. However, if
he asked me to go again, I would say
yes. Flexibility is an important thing
to maintain a happy marriage.
As we say goodbye to Verona, we
drive on past Venice to Trieste, where
we make another stop to check out
the City. It is always so interesting to
see the contrast between Countries.
Each place for the most part, has its
own charm.
The border crossing through Slovenia
to Croatia was very pleasant. No
issues at customs and on we drove
to the Istria part of Croatia. The
Country is simply beautiful and once
at our first destination, Rovinj; it was
confirmed over and over. This stop,
the car was completely unloaded.
While I settled us in for the next
four days, Ueli went directly to the
manager to ask about setting up
an antenna for Ham Radio. The
manager had never heard of such
a thing so Ueli explained what it
was about. He promised to be
flexible in case of complaints. No
problem, the manager was happy
to accommodate the request. Ueli
went into action to set up his radio
shack on the balcony. The room was
on the top floor which looked out
to The Adriatic Sea where the water
was as clear as bathtub water. By the
next morning contacts were being
made using a Fiberglas mast holding
up 15m of wire fed by a TS-480 with
tuner. The gutter and railing offered
an excellent grounding and the
power outlet held when transmitting
with 100W. The location of the radio
station under the clear sky was an
excellent relaxing location for Ueli.
Rovinj is a most special City. The people,
scenery and food are outstanding. The
Old Town is spectacular and we ate
there every night. One restaurant
was so good that we ate there two
times. When the owner saw that we
came back, he gave us a tour of his
private dining area on another floor
and introduced us to his family. Four
days passed. We packed up and drove
south along the coast.
We arrived In Zadar, which is a most
pleasant and very interesting City.
Here the routine was repeated. This
time the antenna was a long wire
Fiberglas mast, spread from tree
to tree and through the park below
the bedroom balcony. As grounding,
Ueli chose the water radiators of the
heating system. More contacts were
made. Walking, exploring and eating
were the orders of the next four
days. Super experiences! The only
concern Ueli had was that the audio
system of the band in the nearby
bar that might pick up his signal. No
complaints were reported.
Dubrovnik was the next destination.
It was also very beautiful, but much
more touristic. Our hotel looked
out onto a harbor where large
cruise ships anchored. Being
close to the water, several floors
high like on a ship’s bridge, Ueli
decided on a different technique
for setting up. Using a vacant
sun shade stand near the
water’s edge, he constructed a
top fed slanted wire antenna.
Propagation was not bad and the
Canary Islands were contacted as
well as other European stations.
Of course the nearly invisible
wire caught the attention of some
beach visitors. This was the high
voltage end, Ueli put up a sign that
said, “Do Not Touch” along with
carefully monitoring the activity.
Of course we took turns explaining
what the setup was all about. It was
thrilling to share our hobby with so
many people. I wonder how many
actually got into Ham Radio when
they returned home. The Old City
was fascinating, but the multitude
of people made things more of a
challenge rather than a relaxing
experience. We decided to rent
a plane and fly over the area and
then out over the Adriatic. The word
beautiful, hardly describes the view
of the hundreds of Islands. Happily
we had good flying weather and
could see everything clearly. What a
fantastic time!
The next City was Split, where we
hung out for a good part of the day
waiting to catch the ferry to Ancona,
Italy. The Old City of Split did not offer
the opportunity to work on HF. The
journey across the Adriatic was an
overnight one and offered a good
respite from all the driving, packing,
unpacking and setting up.
I’m not the only one in this family who
has tricks. As we drove on towards
home – or so I thought – he took an
unexpected turn and immediately
said that we were taking a different
route home. Now, this is where it gets
quite interesting. The next stop, to my
surprise, was Milan, then Nice, north
to Château de Candy and back into
Switzerland. Yes, he also has his tricks
and as you might guess - between the
two of us, life has never been dull I
Zadar: Longwire in the backyard of the Hotel
HBradio 6/2012 71