THE RADIO AMATEURS OF CATALONIA

George Pataki  WB2AQC

  I always try to visit new places and see new people and I was twice before in Spain, why did I go there again?  My first trip was in 1970 and it was a “if today is Tuesday, this must be Belgium” type of country hopping tour.  I did not see much of anything.  The second trip was in the late 1980s and it was an exclusive Spanish tour visiting about 6-7 cities in two weeks time.  This was much better and I enjoyed every minute of it.
   The deciding factor for this third visit was my excellent working relations with Xavier EA3ALV, the editor of the Spanish CQ Radio Amateur magazine, who translated and published several of my travelogues.
   I prepared this trip by writing to U.R.E., the Spanish Radio Amateur Association asking their help for finding local hams.  For a long time I did not receive any answer because I addressed my mail to Angel EA1FQ, U.R.E.’s General Secretary, not knowing that he lives 200 miles away and comes to Madrid only once awhile.  Finally, Juan, the U.R.E.’s  Administrative Secretary answered and we started a kind of collaboration.
   I took a New York – Barcelona non-stop Iberia flight and in about seven hours I arrived to my destination.  Xavier EA3ALV picked me up at the airport and he was the first Spanish ham I interviewed and photographed.  Xavier, first licensed in 1954, is an experimenter, likes to build electronic gadgets, he is also a contester and a DXer with 308 entities worked.  He is using a FT-920 with a homemade amplifier pushing about 2-300 W into  an R-7000 vertical antenna.  He is a good QSLer and his e-mail address is [email protected].
   Xavier’s daughter Laura is EA3DBU, and her husband Albert is EC3DBZ, but they are presently inactive.
   Like many well-to-do Spaniards, Xavier EA3ALV has a second house; his is outside the little village of L’Ametlla del Valles, about 22 miles north from Barcelona, at about 1,760 feet above the sea.  What else can a DXer dream for?  There in the hills, Xavier has a 48-foot tower installed on an 11 feet high terrace.  On the top of the tower there is 7 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, from Force 12, an inverted V for 40 meters and another one for 80 meters.  For rig Xavier is using a TS-520, with an R-4C receiver for working split, and an 800 W TL-922 type of amplifier.  His brother Ramon EA3EJI lives a couple of streets away.  Ramon, a chemical engineer licensed in 1982 is a DXer, works SSB, and has 308 entities for his DXCC.
   Another amateur living in the same area is Joan-Michel EA3ADW.  He was not at home when we passed by but we saw his 6 by 17 element Yagis in diamond configuration used for 2 meter EME, a 7 element Yagi for 6 meters and another Yagi for 70 cm having so many elements I could not even count them.
   I left my big suitcase with Xavier so I can travel light, and went to look for a cheap hotel.  It was Semana Santa, a weeklong religious holiday, I checked about 15 places until I found a hostel, close to La Rambla, the most famous tourist trap in Spain.  La Rambla is a wide street starting from Plaza Catalunya and ending in the harbor.  On its both sides are countless souvenir shops, money exchangers, eateries, hotels and hostels.  Exclusively Indians run the souvenir stores.  I went to all of them and I did not see one single Spanish merchant or employees.  Bargaining is a necessity because the merchandise, mostly Tee shirts, hats, watches, figurines, dolls, knives and swords, are marked 2-3 times the selling price.  Tee shirts for example marked for 2,500-3500 pesetas, can be bought for 1,300 pesetas, with the 148 pesetas to a dollar it still comes to an expensive $9.00.  Most of the tourists are young, and from countries where there is no haggling, they pay the first asked price creating a huge profit for the storeowners.
   I asked a local amateur why are not Spanish merchants in souvenir stores, he said that this kind of work is below their dignity.  I saw Spanish workers cleaning hotel rooms and working in restaurants for much lower income than they would make selling souvenirs; their alleged dignity costs them a lot.
   About my hotel room; you heard of a “hole in the wall” type of room?  Well, my room was more of a “crack in the wall” type and it costs me 3,000 pesetas, about $22.00, and included a skimpy breakfast.
   Xavier took me to the offices of the Spanish CQ magazine where I met Miguel EA3DUJ, its managing editor for 15 years.  I don’t speak Spanish and Miguel doesn’t speak English, how come we understood each other perfectly?
   Next we went to see Ramon EA3LP, a retired radio and TV serviceman licensed in 1956.  Ramon, a member of U.R.B., Unio Radioaficionats Barcelona, and the Hispano CW Club, is mainly a builder and experimenter.  With a homemade rig running 2-3 W, working mostly CW, he made over DX 100 entities using a G5RV antenna.  Ramon has several types of QSL cards.
   Mariano EA3FEE was the next one to visit.  He has a TS-850, is running 100 W into a 5-band vertical, and worked 140 entities for his DXCC.  Licensed in 1980, Mariano is a computer programmer, and the creator of CATLOG, a logging program available on CD, and used by many amateurs.
   Xavier also took me to Rafael EA3IH, on 6 meters using the EH3IH call.  Licensed in 1949, Rafael is semi-retired, he collaborates with the Spanish CQ magazine and with Top Dance publication.  He worked in public relations for various car manufacturers.  He used to work in contests and DX on lower bands making over 300 entities, mostly on CW, but now prefers VHF and UHF operations.  For 2 meters he has a 19 element Yagi, and on 6 meters using an HB9CV type of antenna he already made 90 DX countries.  Rafael is a good QSLer.
   From Barcelona I went to a couple of side trips to Andorra, the island of Mallorca, Madrid and Valencia, subjects of separate travelogues.  For the sake of unity I present all my Barcelona visits in one single article.
   Next to see was Juan EA3AUX, a retired radio-TV-electronics serviceman who started in amateur radio in 1977.  He lives close the cathedral of Sagrada Familia and on the back of his QSL card is a color photo of Gaudi’s masterpiece.  Juan has a FT-1000, a FT-575GX, a TS-520 and a bunch of telegraph keys because he works mostly on CW.  His antenna is a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters and a two-band dipole for 40 and 80 meters.  On the wall of his shack I noticed a photo of HM Juan Carlos EA0JC, the King of Spain, at his radio station.
   We also went to Jordi EA3BCU, licensed in 1977, owner of a photographic supply store.  Jordi has a TS-850S, a Sommerkamp FT-77, and Heathkit HW-9.  He uses a Spanish made Tagro vertical antenna for 10-15-20-40-80 meters, and a G5RV multiband dipole.  Jordi built lots of equipment, and with his homemade 1 W transmitter for 15-20-40-80 meters he made many DXs.  He also works RTTY, is on packet, and does computer logging.  Jordi EA3BCU has an interesting QSL card.
   In Spain paper logging is still required but nobody checks on that.  Many hams to comply with the rules maintain paper logs even when they also do computer logging.
   Next to visit was the radio club of the Unio Radioaficionats Barcelona, where Xavier EA3ALV is the vice-president.  They have a good radio station EA3MM where we met three operators:  Amadeo EA3AOY, a carpet and drape salesman, Paco EA3PZ, a retired electronic technician, and Miguel EA3ZA, a TV service technician.  All three said that they have personal radio station.  The club has an employed secretary, organizes classes for licenses and claims 843 members.  Club members have free incoming and outgoing QSL service but they pay for membership.
   Spain has rich and checkered history.  The aftereffect of the Inquisition is still felt in some places.  I a remote mountain village a car with foreign tourist broke down.  The driver asks an old woman passing by:
   “Is there a mechanic around here?”
   “God forbid” answered the woman “Here everybody is devoted catholic!”
   Talking about devotion, a DXer tried very hard to work the last entity for his DXCC Honor Roll but could not get through the pileup. He started to pray:
   “Oh Mighty God who can do anything, please let me work this station and I promise to give one million pesetas to the church.”
   In that moment the DX station is calling him and he makes the contact, logs it, fills out a QSL card, then he continues to pray:
   “Oh Mighty God who can do anything, please let me find now one million pesetas I just promised you!”
   Jaime EA3AJW, licensed in 1992, is an automechanic.  He has a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters made by KLM, a dipole for 12-17-30 meters and another dipole for 40 and 80 meters.  He is a contester and a DXer with over 305 entities worked mostly on CW, not to wake up at night his little girl.  Jaime is on packet, has DX cluster and uses Swisslog.  He has QSL cards.
      With Xavier EA3ALV we took a trip to the city of Terrassa where we saw four hams.  The first one, Salvador EA3BKZ, licensed in 1978, owns Astro Radio, a store where he sells mostly by mail antennas, Icom and MFJ equipment, and other stuff for hams.  He has a TH5DX type of 5 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a 5 element Yagi for 6 meters, a 16 element horizontally polarized Yagi for 2 meters, a 21 element also horizontally polarized Yagi for 70 cm, both made in France by Tonna, a 9 element Yagi for 2 meters and a 13 element Yagi for 70 cm, both vertically polarized, and a G5RV wire dipole for 10 to 80 meters.  For rigs Salvador uses an IC-271E, an IC-751, a Henry Radio 2KD-5 amplifier, and a KW2000E transceiver made in England.  He worked over 200 entities, is on packet and on Internet, and does paper logging.
   The second ham we saw in Terrassa was Miguel EA3EYS, a retired metal worker licensed in 1982.  He has a TS-430S running 100 W to a vertical antenna for 10-15-20-40-80 meters, and several VHF and UHF rigs using a 9 element vertically polarized Yagi for 2 meters, and a vertical antenna for 2 meters and 70 cm.  Miguel is working on SSTV using a scanner or a digital photo camera, and he showed us several pictures he received on the air.  He has QSL cards.
   Arturo EA3BOA, a retired truck driver, licensed in 1979, was the next ham to visit.  He is a builder and he made his power supply and built several kits for his station.  His FT-277B for the lower bands is used with a G5RV, and the TM-733A/E is for 2 meters and 70 cm.  On SSTV he worked almost all Europe on 2 and 20 meters, some on 80 meters.  Arturo also has QSL cards.
   David EA3AVX, licensed in 1996, a dental technician, was the fourth ham to see in Terrassa.  He uses a TS-450S, a TS-520S, an Ameritron AL-811 amplifier, and the MFJ Tuner III.  David has a Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a dipole for 40 and 80 meters, a 9 element horizontally polarized Yagi for 2 meters, a 13 element vertically polarized Yagi for 70 cm, a vertical dual-bander for 2 m and 70 cm, and three more verticals for 2 m used for packet, and SSTV.
   In the Sarria section of Barcelona I saw Jose EA3JA, a chemical engineer licensed in 1952.  His antenna is a vertical MFJ 1748 for 2 to 80 meters, his rig is an IC-737A, a homemade power supply and amplifier, and an antenna tuner.  He worked 150 entities for his DXCC, only on SSB; the keyer I saw on his table is used only for tuning up the amplifier.  His second home with a second station is in Hostalrich, about 40 miles north of Barcelona.  Jose also has QSL cards as virtually all the hams I visited had.
   Cesar EA3HT in the San Gervasio barrio, a communications engineer and former air traffic controller, was licensed in 1951.  He has a National 200, a FR-500 receiver and a FL-500 transceiver, a homemade ¼ wave ground plane for 20 meters, and a wire dipole for 10-15-20 meters.  Cesar works mostly SSB and prefers 15 and 20 meters.  His second home is in Torre de Claramunt, about 40 miles northwest from Barcelona where he has a complete station with a Cushcraft ATV-5 type of antenna for 10-15-20-40-80 meters.
  Radio amateurs are known to handle traffic for missionaries, medical teams, and various emergency communications but the primary activity is still ham radio.  Xavier EA3ALV took me to an amateur radio station setup only to handle communications with doctors belonging to Medicus Mundi Catalunya, working in third world countries, primarily in Angola.  The operator is Xavier EC3ALP, an economist licensed in 1996 special for this purpose.  The station has a 3 element Yagi and is using 100 W and a computer and does not have QSL cards.
  In the Sagrada Familia district of Barcelona, I saw the nicest radio club I ever visited, named Quixots Internationals, with a very active station EA3RCQ.  The club has several rooms, nicely decorated with a bunch of attractive awards.  Its president is Angela EA3AMD, a photographer licensed in 1994.  Her husband Luis is EB3BKE.  At home they have a TS-850, a TS-90, and a wire dipole.  Angela works SSB and CW.
   The club members meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7 to 9 PM, they bring their QSLs to be mailed and pick up the ones that arrived.  There are courses for CW and electronics.  I met there many amateurs: Angel EA3BAF, Godofredo EA3AXL, Jaume EA3CSY, Pedro EA3AOP, Jose EC3DFU, Diego EA3BAS, Daniel EB3BBJ, Luis EA3GGY, Santos EA3AZF, Fulgencio EA3ERI, and others.  Their e-mail is: [email protected] but they did not answer my inquiry.
   When I had no visits scheduled I went sightseeing. The huge old Gothic Cathedral is very impressive indeed.  The construction of Sagrada Familia Temple is continuing with same slow paste that I noticed 29 years ago.  In 1970 I asked our guide:
   “When they finish it?”
   “Never, because they keep collecting money to work on it and once the job is finished they can not collect anymore!”  I believe that guide was on something.
   I am sorry I did not go to the Aquarium, supposed to be the best in the world.  However I went to the Museum of Contemporary Art, I paid 750 pesetas to enter a nice and modern building but I did not see too much inside.
   At an exhibition of modern art a visitor looking at a painting exclaims laughingly:
    “I never saw an angel with six fingers!”
     The artist who overheard the uncomplimentary remark answered with indignation:
   “Did you ever see an angel with five fingers?”
   I also saw the Picasso Museum.  I paid 700 pesetas to see it; I liked the ceramics and painting section and did not care at all about his engravings.  I particularly like a painting called “Portrait of Madame Canals.”  You know the kind of portrait that no matter from which angle you look at the sitter; it seems that the sitter looks at you.  It becomes a personal relation, an interactive situation to use a today’s expression.  Well, I liked Madame Canals a lot but from any angle I looked at her, she just looked over my head.  I kept moving back and forth in front of her, maybe, just maybe she would look back at me but she continued to ignore me.  I even pretended that I am leaving the room, then quickly turned around hoping that I would catch a glance of hers but nothing; she pretended that I was not even there.  I left the museum depressed and disappointed.
   Next morning I went to Andorra, returned two days later and continued to visits the Barcelona hams.
   First to see was Eduard, or Eddie, EA3NY, owner of Bit Radio, a store dedicated to the needs of the radio amateurs: antennas, transceivers, and various accessories.  Eddie a graduate of the University of Telecommunications of Barcelona, was licensed in 1987, he worked for Kenwood and opened his store 12 years ago.  His contest and DXing station is installed in his father’s penthouse, on the 10th floor of a tall building in the village of Esplugas, just outside the big city.  His 48 foot tower is on the roof, about 150 feet from the ground, with unobstructed view all around.  Eddie has a Cushcraft X9 Yagi with an additional element for 40 meters, a fixed 10 to 40 meter single element rigid dipole for checking propagation and multipliers with a TS-570D, and a sloper for 80 meters.  He is using a FT-1000 and a big amplifier.  The legal limit in Spain is 800 W but during my visits I saw several 2-3 kW amplifiers.
   Eddie EA3NY is a DXer with over 300 entities worked, a contester and DXpeditioner; he operated as ED3NY, AM3NY, S07NY (Western Sahara), FS5PL, FG5BG, EA8ZS, EA9AM, EA6URP, F/EA3NY/P from EU-064, all with excellent results.  He has QSL cards and his E-mail is [email protected].
   Eddie was on the phone for two entire hours setting up for me meetings with local hams, as well as with some in Valencia where he advised me to go.
   Jordi EA3GEP, an elementary school teacher, licensed in 1989, was the next to see.  He has a 35 foot tower installed on a roof 80 feet from ground.  Jordi has a 3 element TH-3 Jr. Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a single element monobander for 17 meters, an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters, and a double sloper for 40 meters.  His rig is a TS-850S followed by a SB-1000 amplifier.  Jordi EA3GEP is a builder, contester, and DXer with over 275 entities, is using Swisslog, and has a nice QSL card.
   The next ham to see was Ramon EA3KB, licensed in 1982, owner of a food store.  His 38 foot tower installed on the roof 96 feet from ground, is supporting a A4 type Cushcraft 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters with an extra element for 40 meters, a single element rigid Cushcraft Yagi for 12-17-30 meters, and an inverted V for 80 meters.  He has an IC-751A and an AL-811 Ameritron amplifier running 700 W.  For logging Ramon is using the PLOG program made in Spain, and Swisslog.  He worked 327 entities, has 5BDXCC and many difficult to obtain awards.  He is a DXer and an island chaser, having the #1 of the Spanish Islands Award, and he worked 726 IOTA islands.  Ramon EA3KB has two kinds of QSLs, one with a color photo showing the Barcelona Olympic Port.  He worked with EA0JC and JYI.
   Eddie EA3NY arranged with Juan EA3EM to meet me at a certain Metro (subway) station and recognized me having my cap with name and call.  Juan first took me to the city of Sta. Perpetua de Mogoda, about 7 miles from Barcelona to see Jose EA3DXU, an electronics engineer, licensed in 1982.  Jose is known for his EME work, he made over 2000 QSOs on 2 meter EME, with 363 different stations in over 60 countries, all on CW.  His 2 meter EME transmitter starts with an Standard C58, followed by a Standard CPB-58 which leads to a Mirage B108 and finally to a homemade 2.6 kW amplifier using a 4CX1500B tube.  His 70 cm transmitter starts with a TS-790E and is followed by a 1.4 kW amplifier made by LZ2US with a GS23B Russian made tube.  Jose’s tower is 35 feet high installed 25 feet from ground.  He has a double 17 element Yagi for 2 meters, and a double 38 element Yagi for 70 cm, both from K6MYC.   He works only VHF and UHF, and is using 20 meters only to arrange schedules for EME.
   Next Juan EA3EM took me to his station in La Llagosta.  Licensed in 1985, Juan is a truck driver delivering cosmetics all over the province.  His tower stands 29 feet tall on the top of his house, 38 feet from ground.  He has a Hy-Gain TH-3 Jr 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a homemade 5 element Yagi for 6 meters, two 17 element 17B2 type Cushcraft Yagis for 2 meters, and an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters.  Juan is a contester and a DXer using 500 W on SSB and CW.  He has QSL cards and his e-mail is [email protected].
   Continuing the visits, Juan took me to L’Hospitalet de Llobregat, right near Barcelona, to see Manuel EA3BIG.  Licensed in 1978, Manuel is a technical director in a company doing electrical installations.  As the President of the Radio Amateur Association of Catalonia Manuel is doing mainly organizational work, as was installing and running an amateur radio station at the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games, using the EG0JOB and EH0JOB callsigns.  His 38 feet high tower stands on the roof 32 feet from ground.  He has a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters, a 15 element Yagi for 2 meters, and a 23 element Yagi for 70 cm, both horizontally polarized.  Manuel worked on some 2 meter contests, sometimes operates SSB on 20 and 40 meter, and has QSL cards.
   With Manuel EA3BIG, Juan EA3EM and Jaume EA3CT we had long discussion about how amateur radio is organized in the US.  Jaume facilitated the conversations doing some translations.  His wife Rosa-Maria is EA3ANY.
   Next day I went to the Les Corts section of the town to visit Luis EA3OG, an editor and publisher of children’s’ books, licensed in 1961.
He is using a Drake TR7 with the MN7; for satellite work Luis has an IC-245E for 2 meters and a FT-780R for 70 cm.  For tracking satellites he is using the INSTANTTRACK program.  Luis works SSB, CW, and RTTY, is on packet, has DX cluster, and does computer logging.  Has a nice QSL.  In his second home in Villassar de Mar, about 16 miles from Barcelona, Luis has a Titan Gap for 10 to 80 meters, an IC-455, a TS-711E for 2 meters, and a TS-811E for 70 cm.
   I had three Barcelona experiences I would like to mention.
I was eating at Burger King and stranger sat near me without having any meals.  He was fidgeting for a while, then placed his jacket on a chair nearby on which were the belonging of two ladies from France, stretched his hand under his jacket and took a handbag.  Another tourist saw this maneuver and intervened, even went outside and brought two cops who took the stranger away.
   At a subway station I was trying to get in a car but a man acting hesitant confused was blocking the entrance.  I pushed him with both of my hand and in that moment another man unbuttoned my back pocket and put his hand in.  I felt it, turned around and slapped his hand yelling “You dirty thief!” and other less than flattering remarks.  The two men left the train before the doors closed.  The people around me had no any reaction; or they did not understand what happened, or they were too accustomed to such events.
My “crack in the wall” type of room had no inside door-lock so every evening I placed a chair near the door.  One night somebody opened my door, pushed it but could not enter.  I woke up wondering if the would-be intruder is a female and that was my lucky day, or a man looking for some extra cash.  I called up the front desk telling the clerk what happened, he said “That’s OK” and hang up.  I guess that was no news to him.
   I met Magi EA3UM at the statue of Columbus, right near the harbor, again prearranged, and wearing my cap with my name and call on it, and he took me to his house in Castelldefels.  Magi a communications engineer, licensed in 1968, owns a microwave communications company near the airport.  I saw parts of his company, with people working or just hanging around, through his security cameras linked by microwaves to his home.  Magi is active on EME, SSTV, ATV, SSB, CW and RTTY; there is not too much left after these.  He has a 70-foot tower with a personal elevator, and on its top is a 22.5-foot parabolic dish for EME.  On a building separate from the main house, where he has his radio station, work shop, etc. there is a dish, almost 6 feet in diameter for TV satellites reception, and a 11 foot dish for 13 cm SETI, always receiving.  Magi is a coordinator for SETI, Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence.  I noticed his antenna for SETI is pointed to outer space, probably because there is not much intelligence found on earth (see the constant wars among people).  Magi has a roomful of equipment: an IC-R70 general coverage receiver for 100 kHz to 30 MHz, the R-4B and T-4XB pair from Drake, an IC-R8500 receiver for 100 kHz to 2 GHz, a TS-780 rig for 2 meters and 70 cm, an IC-1271E for 23 cm, and a 1kW amplifier for 6-10-15-20 meters.  On a separate rack he has all homemade equipment: rig for ATV, antenna movement controller, various converters, amplifiers for 23 cm, amplifier for ATV and for 70 cm EME.  His powers used on EME are: 2 kW on 70 cm, 2 kW on 23 cm, and 1 kW on 13 cm.  Magi has a QSL showing his EME dish.
   I went see Alberto EA3CR, outside the village of Guardiola de Fontrubi.  An insurance broker, he started in amateur radio in 1974.  He has a 65 feet tower, on the hills, 1280 feet above the sea level.  He uses 5 element monobander from KLM, on a 42 feet boom, an inverted V for 40 meters, and another one for 80 meters.  Soon he will install his new Hy-Gain 105CA monobander for 10 meters, on a 24 feet long boom.  The tower can be loaded for 80 and 160 meters with an outdoor matching device.  For reception on the 160 meter band Alberto has an EWE type of wire antenna, similar to Beverage but much shorter.  He uses a FT-1000 with an Ulvin Tremendus III amplifier running 2 kW output, and a FT-221R for 2 meters.  Alberto works SSB, CW, and SSTV, and has 318 entities for his DXCC.
   About working DX; I like the riddle made by Rod AC6V:
   “How many ham radio operators does it take to constitute a pileup?”
   “25 – the callee, a caller, and 23 cops telling them that he is listing up!”
   Again prearranged, I met Juanjo EA3CB where Plaza Catalunya meets La Rambla and he took me to Vilanova i la Geltru, 28 miles from Barcelona.  Juanjo’s full name is Joan Josep Mota i Tarruella, and who can top that?  I noticed that many Spaniards have very long names and live in places with similarly long names.  Is this the reason that for five years no Spanish Callbook was published?  Perhaps too many words requires too much work.  Juanjo, licensed in 1979, is a broadcast technician for a FM radio.  His 34-foot tower sits on a 64 feet high roof.  He has an Explorer 14, a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, from Hy-Gain, an inverted V for 30-40-80 meters, a ground plane for 2 meters, and another one for 2 meters and 70 cm.  Juanjo is using the R-4C, T-4XC with the L7 amplifier pushing about 900 W.  He works SSB, CW, RTTY, and some SSTV.  For logging he is using DX4WIN.  He is the Vice-President of the prestigious Lynx DX Group, worked 325 entities, and EA0JC, second operator Jose.  Juanjo worked as SV8/EA3CB/p, SV9/EA3CB/P, FG/EA3CB/p and in group operation as S0A (for CW0), and S02R (for SSB).  He has a nice photo QSL card showing the operator at his station and his tower with his antenna.  His e-mail is not easy to remember: [email protected].
Also in Vilanova we visited Arsenio EA3NI, a retired electro-domestic storeowner.  He started amateur radio in 1960.  He has two towers on his 48 foot high roof: a 30 footer has a Hy-Gain TH5DX 5 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, the other one, about 35 feet long, carries his homemade 5 element Yagi for 6 meters.  He also has a long wire for 30-40-80-160 meters, and a dipole for 80 meters, and a 4 element antenna for 2 meter packet cluster.  Arsenio uses an IC-751A and a TS-830S, and has two amplifiers; one homemade runs about 400 W, the second about 1 kW.  He uses a computer for logging with the DXLOG program, worked 343 entities, mostly on SSB.  He has QSL cards.  Now he brother Clemente EA3VM is running the store.
   Outside the town of Sant Marti Sarroca, 30 miles from Barcelona, lives Pere EA3AJI.  A computer programmer, he started in amateur radio in 1991.  His location is about 1100 feet above sea level, and his tower is 64 feet high.  Pere’s antennas are: a Hy-Gain TH-11DX with 11 elements for 10-12-15-17-20 meters, a rotatable rigid dipole for 40 meters, and an inverted V for 80 meters.  He has an IC-775DSP and the Ulvin Tremendus III 5 kW amplifier (2.5 kW pep), as well as an IC-R7100 receiver and a TM-V7 for 2 meters and 70 cm.  Pere works SSB, CW, some RTTY, his e-mail is [email protected].  He is a DXer with 315 entities, has QSL cards, and worked EA0JC, second operator Jose.  His father-in-law Antonio is EA3CLQ.
   In Sant Pere de Ribes is Miquel EA3NB, an electronic engineer licensed in 1979.  He works for Roca where he designs electronic devices for sophisticated bathroom fixtures such as shower cabinets, with radio, telephone, control of water flow and temperature, etc.  On his 38 foot high roof Miquel has a 35-foot tower with a TA-33 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a rotatable Cushcraft D-40 rigid dipole for 40 meters, and an inverted V for 80 meters.  He is a DXer with 312 entities, works on SSB, CW, and RTTY.  He uses his computer for logging with DX4WIN, has DX cluster and is on Internet.  Has QSL cards and his e-mail is [email protected].
   The entire trip lasted 22 days and I met amateurs in Catalonia, the island of Mallorca, Madrid, Valencia and Andorra.  Each group is described in a separate travelogue.  I admit that I like the Spanish people, their personalities and ways of life.  In special I admire their mentality.  They have a very sound advice what unfortunately I could not follow but my son Thomas KB2KRN is already an expert:
   “Live off your parents until you can live off your children!”