From The ARRL Letter:
Per the announcement in the February 26, 1999 issue of
The ARRL Letter http://www2.arrl.org/arrlletter/99/0226/#9u, all operations in
Burundi since 1994 using a 9U prefix are no good. Here's the full text:
"Burundi (9U) contacts disallowed: The ARRL DXCC Desk says it's determined
that documentation for operations from Burundi (9U) since 1994 was forged. After
inquiries to DXCC about Amateur Radio operations from Burundi, the Director
General of ONATEL, the communications authorities in Burundi, informed DXCC that
the licenses were forgeries. The operators reportedly were expelled from the
country, and the incident is under investigation by their employer. The DXCC
Desk has since been rejecting cards for those operations. As soon as possible,
all contacts from those operations will be purged from the DXCC database. This
affects all operations since 1994 using a 9U prefix. DXCC notes that the
submission of forged documentation is a clear violation of DXCC Section 1, Basic
Rule 7, and also Rule 12(a).--DXCC Desk"
NOTE from [425DXN] 425 DX News #408
BURUNDI ---> According to Bill Moore, NC1L (bmoore@arrl.org), the list of
the 9U calls that will be affected by the purging process from the DXCC database
[425DXN 407] "includes the callsigns listed below and may or may not be
limited to these: 9U/F5FHI, 9U/EA1FH, 9U5W, 9U5DX, 9U5T, 9U5CW, 9U5DX. Remember,
only the contacts dated January 1, 1994 or after do not count. Some have credits
before this and these would be OK. 4U9U is OK."
9U5CW: two guys and a candlestick
"Lowbands and RTTY from Burundi"
by Peter Casier
ON6TT - 5X1T
peter.casier@wfp.or.ug
The idea to activate 9U on the lowbands originated in 1995 when I was leaving
for 9Q. Long time friend John-ON4UN asked to go to 9U as this was one of the
countries which was not added to his list of 260 odd he had worked on topband.
John has always been a great help in preparing my trips and assisting with his
valuable knowledge during our past DX operations, so.... Unfortunately, in 9Q, I
was pretty much glued onto my spot in Goma, so no 9U. When beginning of this
year, I took up a telecom assignment in the United Nations World Food Programme
(the main food aid organisation of the UN), Burundi was one of the countries I
was responsible for. Each time I spoke to John, it was: 'And when 9U?'.
And 9U came unexpectedly. All was prepared in just a few days time, as due to
the worsening security situation, I had to plan the professional part of my trip
very fast. I contacted 9U5CW (EA1FH) whom I knew from the Goma days. Alfredo
works in Bujumbura for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees. He
said that I could stay with him, and that he had a large garden to put up the
lowband antenna I had with me. There is a long story to this antenna, as it
travelled with me to 9Q5TT, D2TT/D3T and then to VK6 ready to be shipped to
Heard Island... I carry this 15m tall inverted L around in a ski bag. It has 6
telescopic tubes of 1.5m, and a top of a fibreglass fishing rod. The toploading
wire ends on a plastic egg insulating the 80 from the 160 part. The base has a
multitap UNUN, and a series of capacitors, so I can shorten the antenna from
below (switching between 80 cw and 75 ssb) and can match it perfectly. This
antenna was originally made by John, for the 9Q trip. As a sidenote, the
experiments with that antenna lead to a new design for toploaded monoband
vertical we are going to use on Heard.
Two days before the trip, I was proud to tell John abt the plans, and made some
160m skeds with him, in case conditions would be so bad I would not be able to
hear his prominent signal. The day before my trip, I finally received my Ugandan
call, 5X1T, so I could not resist running the piles from my base station in
Kampala until 2 am. We left for Entebbe airport 4 hours later. While descending
to the airstrip of Bujumbura, the capital, you get a good view on the city,
which is built right at Lake Tanganyika, leaning against the hills around it.
Right next to Bujumbura lays Uvira, Zaire, one of the sites with some large
refugee camps.
We landed in Buja, as the locals call their capital, on Friday May 31 in the
afternoon. Picked up by the people of the local WFP office, I was run through
customs (no questions asked with a UN diplomatic passport). This was the first
time I actually entered Burundi. Being a frequent traveller in the region, I
often passed here in transit, but never left the airport. The first glance at
the capital of this country which is known for its years long of etnic trouble,
was interesting. It did not seem that this country was in the middle of a civil
war and etnic clashes. The streets were tidy, the buildings were well built and
maintained, the cars in good shape... How wrong first impressions can be! There
is strict curfew at 9 pm, and every night the Hutu rebels descent from the hills
around the city, guaranteeing frequent furious confrontations with the regular
Burundi army who are mostly Tutsis.
We had meetings in the office until 5 pm when Alfredo, 9U5CW picked me up and
drove me to his home. It was good to see him again after one year and a half.
Certainly one of the main characteristics of friendship made in troubled areas
like these, and working in the same field, is that they are more intense than
day to day friends or acquaintances. We both know that we work in high risk
places, and that one day something might go wrong. When we see a friend back, it
feels like 'hey we're both still alive and kicking!'. Alfredo is a great guy,
always well humoured and busy, whom you may ask any favour. He had told me
before my arrival that he was looking forward to do 80 and 160, two bands which
had not been activated since a very long time. I actually doubt if 9U has ever
been on topband before. As both him and 9U5DX, Jean-Pierre, another collegue
from UNHCR, are very busy with their job, they had no time to put up anything
decent for the lowbands.
Alfredo's house looked great in the glare of the lights in the garden. It was a
Spanish like villa, with a wide open porch and patio, great layout of exotic
plants and palmtrees. The compound lays on the side of one of the hills, looking
over the lake - and towards EU, and USA. In the back there is a 40m by 10m grass
field, where Alfredo had planned to put up the vertical. His shack was very
simple: a Yaesu FT900AT, one car battery, a charger, a Heilset and a CW paddle.
No filters, no amplifier. The antenna is a Cushcraft R7, mounted on the roof.
Alfredo had a Kam+ RTTY modem, but it was not connected to the rig, because of
no connectors.
As it was already 6 pm, we decided to go out for some dinner first, before the
curfew of 9 pm. During the meal, we agreed to hook up the RTTY gear first, and
to do the lowband antenna tomorrow, as there was not enough light in the back
garden. Also, we did not want to take the risk of too many muscitoe bites, as
malaria is very common in this area so close to the lake. I had taken a toolbox
and spare connectors, wires and plugs with me, so we improvised a connection
between the modem and the radio. After some fiddling around (which made us laugh
by the idea that we were supposed to be telecoms professionals, hi), we got the
stuff to work. Some more fiddling to get everything in tune with WF1B's RTTY
program (tnx Ray!), and we were in business. First CQ and DF3HD came back. And
then... nothing. CQ after CQ, but zip. New frequency. CQ again. Rig heated up,
decided to run 50 W max, in the cramped 10 KHz of the 20m RTTY space. One
station per 10 minutes came back. We were a bit desillusioned. 4th station and
1st Stateside was N1RCT. 30 minutes and 6 stations further, we decided to call
it quits.
Then it was time to show Alfredo the present I had for him: A CW interface cable
for CT. I swear to God, he almost kissed me! He had mentioned in one of the
exchanges we had via Email, that running CW with a paddle and no keyer was a
pain. I knew he used CT, so the use of an interface cable was evident. I showed
him the little label on the connector: "for 9U5CW from ON4UN. Price: one
160m QSO!" "Tomorrow for sure", Alfredo smiled. We run some SSB
pile-up, and asked an ON to phone John to say we would have the antenna up
tomorrow. While Alfredo run the piles in CW (with his new cable), I assembled
the low band antenna in the living room.
The next morning, a Saturday, we raised the antenna, and laid out about 20
ground radials on the grass. The SWR on 80, 75 and 160 was perfect, but when we
listened on the bands, there was very high electrical interference, probably
caused by one of the generators in the neighbourhood (we had no electricity for
days in a row). We were worried. Fortunately, this was the first and last time
we heard the interference! During the day, we run the piles in CW and SSB.
Around 13:00 gmt, I tried 20m RTTY again, and by jolly the hords had heard me. A
whole range of diddles came back to my first CQ. Now this was a challenge, I
have to tell you: managing the piles with 50W, a vertical and a Kam+ with NO
filters. The Kam could not decode any signal once there was more than one guy
calling, and it was clear that my signal was covered by callers. I went for
split, spreading the piles open. One to two stations per minute was as fast as I
could go. A great opening to JA, fed the run for a long time. This felt great.
Yes, 9U was wanted on diddle-mode! Once the piles died out, we went for some
more CW and SSB, until 19:00. Time for lowbands to JA (JA sunrise). Numerous CQs
on topband, but no reply. Could not hear any signals neither. Nobody waiting for
us on 80 neither. At 19:22, SP5EWY was logged as the first 80m contact. A few
others followed, but nothing much. As it was too early for a decent EU run,
Alfredo decided to go for a sleep, and I continued on the other bands. Around
22:00 gmt, i tried for another strategy: instead of calling endlessly on 80m cw,
I would look for a good signal on 75m phone, raise a pileup and then announce we
would go for cw. After that, we would announce to go to 160. I call it the 'pick
and drag' technique, which I use often to drag guys from 15 to 12 and 10m, when
I know there is an opening, but nobody is listening there.... So said, so done.
I8UDB was on 75m phone. I called in, and as usual, Dom gave me the frequency.
Signals were good, and I run a pile in phone. I announce we would go to 3505,
woke up Alfredo and let him run 80 cw. The callers were numerous, our reception
was great, but it was clear that our low power and the high static in the
northern hemisphere bothered the reception of the others. So the QSOs did not go
very fast, and demanded slow CW and loads of explicit repeats. We announced to
QSY to 1823. We thought of running split from the first moment so went RX on
1835. No-one came back. This was sked time with John, ON4UN, but no signal. We
looked at eachother and were worried. And then, from the darkness of QRM, came a
biiig signal. D-E O-H-1-X-X O-H-1-X-X. Hannu! No surprise he was the first one!
We worked him, and listened for some more. No-one. Decided to just call for 'up'-'up'.
And sure enough, there they were. About 10 QSOs and that was it. Back to 80.
More piles. Around 02:00gmt, the first North-American came in: K1ST, shortly
followed by Jack, VE1ZZ. More EU, and then more NA. We tried to drag the
Americans to 160 but no go. Could only work some EU. Each 80/160 m band switch,
I had to run out, climb onto the roof to shorten or open the strap on the
toploading wire. The guards must have thought this was very funny! Back to 80,
more NA. And then it died out. Tried 40, but no go. It was 03:00 and 80 had died.
We went to bed.
Next day, the Sunday, same routine: run piles on CW, SSB, RTTY the whole time,
but propagation was real lousy. It became also clear that North America would be
problematic in RTTY: no openings were good enough to guarantee a good NA run.
Sked on 00:00 for ON4UN was nil. Run some more EU on 80. Sked at 01:00 with
ON4UN, was nil, more EU on 80 while stateside started dripping in. Went back to
160 half an hour before the sked at 02:00, and worked VE1ZZ, and some others.
And then, with a blasting signal: daadaadaah daahdit dididididaah dididaah
daadit. ON4UN at last. John explained later that on the Saturday night, he run
the fieldday station from ON6MS/P, and slept through our first two skeds on
Sunday night. He got us on first call, though. 599 both ways. By that time, both
Alfredo and myself were tired and went to bed at 4 am local time, to get up 3
hours later to go to work. Both of us had dark circles around our eyes....
Coming back home, it was straight to the radio, mainly RTTY, then later in the
night 80-160. Got up at 00 gmt for EU on low bands, and 03 gmt for NA. Still no
JA in the early night. Actually, we heard nothing on the low bands until around
21 gmt, way too late for JA... And this is how it went for the next days: to
work early, home around 6 pm, and straight to the radio. We made it a point to
get on the bands at 03 gmt, 05 am local time, for NA, and the harvest was good
for us.
On Wednesday, I left for a fieldtrip to Ngozi, upcountry in Burundi. Quite
interesting. I should say. I slept in a house, where our expatriat staff got a
grenade thrown at them one evening a few months ago. The wall was still burned
black, and pieces of sharpnel had blown all furniture to pieces. Luckily, no-one
was hurt. The next morning, we heard the sad news that 50 km up the road, three
Red Cross expatriates were killed in a cold blooded ambush. It was a sad day for
all of us relief workers in Burundi, and the whole area. The Thursday, I flew to
Gitega, another site upcountry. A wonderful area, but very 'hot'. Our food
convoys in that area are done under heavy military escort. We slept in the
office, a nice villa, 20 minutes from town. Next door, there was a convent for
retired nuns. I had visited them, asking for some rope and a small mast to get
our HF antenna in the office a bit higher. Nice people.
I flew back to Bujumbura and the piles and the next day, I learned that the
night after I left, the convent next to our Gitega office had been attacked
during the whole night, and that WFP evacuated the office. I had missed the
attack by one night! The next weekend, my last one in Burundi, Alfredo and I
just kept on ploughing through the piles in whatever mode we could think of. We
also worked our first JA on 80: JA8DNV, shortly followed by JA4DND, JA8EOT and
others. We also has some real good openings to EU on 80 and 160. No JA on 160
though. The NA harvest was good.
One night, our generator run out of diesel, so we operated by candle light, as
long as the battery of the portable computer would allow it. It sure must have
looked funny to anyone who would see us: two guys and a candlestick, intensily
looking at a computer screen and fiddling with a little black box, and from time
to time shouting and laughing when once a again, a friend was worked on the low
bands...
The Monday came, and we decided that I would leave the lowband vertical in
Burundi, until end of August as the demand for 80/160 was higher for 9U than for
5X, mostly cleaned out by 5X4F. Alfredo also said that during his holiday in
July, he would shop for an amplifier, and buy the WF1B software and the right
RTTY connectors. I hope that by now, some more people have worked him.
I bid farewell to Alfredo, flying back to my base in Kampala, Uganda. It was a
great week, and I sure hope we made some guys happy. In 9 days, together, we
made just over 3000 QSOs, of which 350 in RTTY, 42 on 160, and 233 on 80. And
ON4UN? He is one more 160 country richer. What is it, John? Number 268 or so? I
lost count, hi.
CU from 5X or some other countries in the region before the end of the year.
And.... cu from Heard island in Jan'97! Do not forget we still need your support
via KK6EK!
73-Peter ON6TT - 5X1T.
Sidenote:
Every year, reliefworkers die in the line of duty, in Africa, in Central
America, in Asia or in the Middle East, or in ex-Yugoslavia. Killed in ambushes,
or by mines or victims of cold blooded attacks. I'd like to dedicate this
article to those friends who left us, and especially those three ICRC delegates,
killed in an ambush. Our thoughts are with you. May one day, our work be
obsolete...
Here is an extract from the WFP weekly emergency telex published that same week.
It gives you an impression what is going on in this region. The report is weekly
distributed over Internet by Deborah Hicks (hicksdeb@wfp.org):
"
(...)
2.
Burundi
a) Three ICRC delegates killed in ambush north of Cibitoke on 4 June. ICRC
suspends all humanitarian operations in Burundi. IFRC also stops distribution
activities in northern Burundi.
b) A group of 85 French nationals evacuate from Burundi.
c) Massacre in IDP camp in Butezi, Ruyigi province, leaves 50 dead, mainly women
and children.
d) Further displacement of population takes place due to confrontations between
military and rebels in Kayanza.
e) Refugees from Rwanda arrive in northern Burundi following reported death of
40 persons in attack in Cyangugu Prefecture.
3.
Zaire - Goma
a) Disturbances take place involving soldiers in Goma town; airport closes
between 31 May and 4 June; food distributions and monitoring activities are
interrupted.
b) Attack on Bunagana, one of two truck entry points from Uganda to Zaire, on 5
June; 28 persons killed. WFP compound under attack.
c) Both roads into Goma from Uganda close intermittently between 1-4 June due to
security situation, delaying relief trucks.
4.
Tanzania
a) Some 6,000 Burundian refugees try to cross into Tanzania near Kigoma between
27 May to 2 June; 2,000 manage to enter but are returned to Burundi by Tanzanian
soldiers. Burundian refugees continue to cross into Ngara region in spite of
border closure.
5.
Rwanda
a) Heightened insecurity in Cyangugu.
(...) " -------------------------------------
Peter Casier
TCU Telecom Projects Manager
United Nations - World Food Programme
Transport Coordination Unit
POBOX 7159 Kampala - Uganda
tel: +256 41 231112/251113/251758 fax: +256 41 250485/251760
Email: peter.casier@wfp.or.ug
Email home: pcasier@innet.be