DL1CW and DL3GA activated OA7 from Cuzco between March 13 and 23. This is a diary by DL3GA:

The planning of this trip started when Peter, DL6GBM told me that he knows a QTH in Cuzco, Peru. This is an interesting place for us since Peru participates in the CEPT license program - this means that DLs don´t need a guest license. Peter obtained sketches and photos of the vicinity so we agreed on visiting the place in early 2000. We were promised that we could also use one neighbour´s vicinity for wire antennas, but only until the end of march since construction would start there in april. In autumn 99 however, Peter found out that it was going to be impossible for him to go. I didn´t want to do this trip solo and I wanted to go before april, so I started to look for another partner and found Arno, DL1CW. We had already worked together from HI3 during a multi-single operation. Via email and phone, we planned our flights and who would bring what piece of equipment.

This trip is something new for me: I linked two weeks in Peru (DXpedition) with another two weeks in Arizona (Skydiving with my team). So I have a complicated flight schedule (Frankfurt -> London -> Phoenix/AZ -> Dallas/TX -> Lima -> Cuzco) and loads of luggage... I meet Arno, DL1CW, in Lima after my arrival - the story until here is quite colourful. I don´t want to go into details but one thing: It is good that Arno came one day earlier than me. He used (and really needed) the time to get familiar with the customs procedures. Our trip was close to being significantly delayed because Arno had all antennas with him. Sharing his knowledge, I make it through customs in no time...

Monday, March 13, 2000 Lima: Check-in at 4:00 AM local time for the flight to Cuzco. We pay 12 Soles per person for the domestic flight but the sticker on our boarding card says 25 Dollars for an international flight... They don´t let us proceed to the gate with this. It takes almost an hour to solve this problem - good thing we went to check-in early ! Landing in Cuzco on schedule, but that is something you have to experience yourself. Our taxi has problems to make the steep incline to the entrance of our "hostal". We get out of the car, so at least the luggage makes it on the second attempt. On the way back, he ruins his fender in the narrow lane. I guess now he hates monday mornings even more... We are the only guests and may choose the room, and there is no problem to find a good place for the R-7000 vertical antenna. Unfortunately it soon becomes obvious that this QTH is not what it appeared to be. Signals from NA and EU are very weak and we spend a lot of time calling CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ CQ...... At the end of this first day, there are only 50 QSOs in both logs, most of them with SA and AS. We make up on some sleep...

Waiting for the next QSO...

Tuesday, March 14, 2000 We are QRV early but even the low bands are quite dead. We explore the touristical centre of Cuzco. There are many internet cafes and travel agencies, and we can even exchange german money here (at a horrible rate, though). After buying some food and drink, we haul ourselves back up to the hostal - this is where you find out that there is not much oxygen at 3400m ASL. At the optimum time for EU, we have openings on 10m and 12m but they disappear as quickly as they come and don´t result in very many QSOs. Looks like our signal is quite weak in EU. In the evening, we can work some JA, mostly on 17m.

Wednesday, March 15, 2000 I wake up early and work a few JAs on 30m - the other bands are quite useless. A station from PY calls me on 20m and asks for QSY to 15 and 10m - no problem, I have enough time to do that anyway... HF0POL answers my CQ on 10m. After breakfast, almost nothing works. When Arno takes over, I had called CQ for more than an hour with no QSO. Is our QTH that bad ? Some reports seem to tell a different story but after all we don´t seem to get through to anywhere. This is a wet and dull day, so we keep on trying.

Friday, March 17, 2000 We pack our bags and move to the new QTH. Antenna and station are installed in an hour. I activate the TRX - there is a noise floor of S7 on all bands. Is that it ? No more QSOs at all ? Touristic "Plan B" for the rest of the time ? Well, the noise disappeared at last. It came back on some days but only for a short time and therefore posed no serious problem. After a few CQs a great pileup comes up on 10m and really excites me. After 90 minutes, I´m totally finished and Arno has to take over - he experiences the same on 12m. We let 15m (including some RTTY) and 17m follow. At the end of this day, the logs have exploded to over 800 QSOs. We recognize however, that many stations work both OA7/DL1CW and OA7/DL3GA on the same band and in CW. So we decide to divide the bands during the weekend: Arno concentrates on the WARCs and I prefer the classic bands.

Saturday, March 18, 2000 I am QRV beginning 6 AM local on 20m. The pileup is low and allows relaxed QSOing. The first VK gets into my log. I ask myself if we should participate in the contests this weekend: Russian Contest (CW) and BARTG Contest (RTTY). I decide, not to get into it. After the breakfast I have another pileup on 10m but unlike Friday, I ride it down after a while. Same with Arno on 12m, 15m doesn´t work at all. So now I do go for some QSOs in the RTTY contest... In the evening, I log a long list of russian stations on 20m, noone else seems to be awake in EU. All RTTY signals on 20m have a terrible audio - only one QSO here. Arno has better condx during the night and goes to sleep in the early morning with more than 1000 QSOs in his log.

The new QTH and R-7000 mount

Sunday, March 19, 2000 10m works well after breakfast. The callers are rather weak now, but many EUs get into the log and NAs seem to be more interested in us now. Michael, DL1GKG/HI3 and Lothar, DL1SBF make it into my log. But after a while it´s over and we spend some more time in the RTTY contest (working P4, PY0F, CX and CE). Later on 15m signals are not loud but I have a short QSO with Peter, DL6GBM, see above. This evening there is a heavy thunderstorm with massive rain. Instead of a taxi, we take a ferry to go downtown...

Monday, March 20, 2000 I take over from Arno in the early morning to get an impression of the condx to JA at that time. It works for a while on 20m, then 30m and finally 40m but only about 100 QSOs altogether. After breakfast we go downtown to book our trip to Machu Picchu and read emails. I leave Arno with his burst of shopping fever and return to the station. After a few QSOs on 10m, the S7 QRM floor returns and I have to go QRT for now...

Tuesday, March 21, 2000 During my early shift, some EUs and JAs get into the log (mostly on 20m) and I work some new countries (CP, VY7) on 40m. Otherwise, this is our cultural day with the trip to Machu Picchu - a story of its own... Back home, we're too tired for the radio - no late shift today.

Wednesday, March 22, 2000 I work on 10m until the pileup of CE0Z/OH3JF messes up my operation. I was on 28008 up1, he is at 28007.5 up5. No wonder I hear many stations that mean to work CE0Z... Do those guys on Juan Fernandez believe they are alone on the bands ? Again, no HF condx around lunchtime so I activate my handheld radio to have a QSO with OA7/DL1CW on 2m FM...

Thursday, March 23, 2000 After some more night shift to AS, I pull the plug shortly before breakfast and put our OA7 activity QRT. The logs combine to more than 3700 QSOs now. Could have been much more if we had spent more time at this QTH rather than the quiet place we started with. But we made the best of it and many of you were able to work a "new one". At breakfast, our host has bad news for us: First, the taxi drivers are on strike today, blocking the main way to the airport with a demonstration. Second, there is bad weather in Lima and no airplane has arrived from there yet. Our host promises to solve the first problem by personally taking us to the airport on small roads, avoiding the demonstration. While packing our stuff, we notice that the second problem is about to disappear, as various planes fly in and land in Cuzco. After arriving at the airport, we find the flight schedule messed up due to the weather problems earlier that day. But this turns out to be our advantage since we have the chance to take a flight immediately, one hour earlier than scheduled ! We are literally dragged through security etc. and even our luggage is rushed to the plane. We spend another 30 min standing on the taxiway before we take off but that doesn´t remove the smile from our faces... In Lima, we spend the time until Arno´s departure on the airport, finally clearing Arno´s customs business and planning the "after-trip jobs" such as designing/ordering the QSL etc. After Arno has departed, I taxi to my hotel, because there is more than a day to go until my departure to the USA.

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