Bungalow C5 is on the
air I thought it was a sign that I
should follow up when I was given bungalow C5 of the Kotu Strand Hotel in
Kotu, The Gambia January 2000. So I got me a licence and got on the air
the very next day. Here on the right are the main attributes of my
activity: the key ( I was only on CW), the log ( I used ICOM IC746
delivered by Swedish Radio Supply), local
tonic and imported gin. I almost forgot the antenna tuner in the
background, an ICOM AH-4 also delivered by the Swedish Radio Supply and a length of wire
tied to the palm tree on the beach.
Part of the house I
am on the air from in The Gambia is available for rent per week. Near the
capital city but far from tourist areas and noisy hotels. Please telephone
Radio Syd +220 4226490 and talk with Connie or Benny. They can help you
with the licence as well.
Amateur Radio
activity from
The Gambia, West Africa
January-February
2000
November 2002
October-November 2003
November 2004
Operator: Henryk Kotowski
SM0JHF Please NO QSL, thank you
My cards have been sent automatically through the QSL bureaux.
Antenna department is easy. Local
"wine makers" can climb any tree in seconds and fasten an antenna wire
.. On the left: my actual antenna wire, hardly visible. The girl
balancing my rig on her head used to deliver fruit. On the right: my
antenna tuner and watered ground connection. The soil is quite dry here.
This set up worked well, I made thousands of contacts on all bands from
160m to 10m.
This is my stand-in for phone
pile-ups The truth: The DJ of Radio Syd,
Banjul, the first commercial radio station in Africa
Jatta sisters, Taco, Njara, Penda were willing to
marry me on the spot. The truth: it is true
This is my secret weapon, a 2.5 kW
amplifier. The truth: A quite ancient AM (909
kHz) transmitter of Radio Syd, Banjul
Part
II
I visited The Gambia
again in November 2002. This time I had a smaller transceiver, ICOM IC706, and a
smaller power supply but the same antenna tuner ICOM AH-4. I stayed there one
week, this time in another village called Kololi near Senegambia Hotel. A
7-meter fishing rod supported a wire that acted as a vertical multiband antenna.
It worked surprisingly well on 50 MHz and this band offered long and good
openings to Europe. I did participate in the CQ WW Contest 2002 CW from here and
made at least 1000 QSOs on HF bands. Before and after the contest I prefered
WARC bands when 50 MHz was not hot.
I
did visit Radio Syd near Banjul. Unfortunately, the antenna tower collapsed
during a storm on September 11, 2002 so this station is no longer on the air
(until futher notice).
At
the time of my stay in The Gambia, an international team staged a full-size
DXpedition. I met 10 members of this team; the one who was next to me, Franz
DL9GFB, was hiding in The Senegambia Hotel so well that I could not spot his
antenna and missed him. They were using both C56R and C53M callsigns from 4
different hotels.
Juha OH9MM, the mastermind
of C56R / C53M DXpedition
Stein LA6FJA -
nicknamed Rag - on the roof of the hotel Kombo Beach
where the main station C56R / C53M was set up
Raimo OH3BHL
(left) and Kimmo OH9MDV assemble a fibreglass
50 MHz yagi antenna at Bungalow Beach Hotel
A view of Radio
Syd near Banjul in January 2000
A view of Radio
Syd near Banjul in November 2002
Jeff N0DY at the main
operating position of station number 2
This innovative microphone boom of the headset acts as sunshade while
operating CW, very useful in Africa !
Larry YL3CW at the main
station
Girts YL2KL at
the main station
Kaspars YL1ZF at
the second operating position of station number 2 in Bakotu Hotel
The setup of
C56JHF in November 2002. IC706, a modified Bencher paddle,
pen&paper log, the small power supply (turned upside down for
better cooling)
Raimo OH3BHL,
Awa from Sierra Leone, Kimmo OH9MDV, Rag LA6FJA and
SM0JHF / C56JHF in Bungalow Beach Hotel at the 6-meter station
