I’m not a particular fan of the Commonwealth Contest, at least not when participating from the UK. It’s always a real slog, for relatively few QSOs. However, I was able to enter a couple of years ago from VP9 (see May 2000 Digest, p.46) and it was a whole new experience. So this year, with more time on my hands than used to be the case and some unused frequent flyer miles, I was once again tempted to enter the fray from outside the UK. 9G was an obvious destination. I had been there twice before, with the Voodoo Contest group, and knew the set-up pretty well. There is a decent club station (normal call 9GØARS) which is available for use by visiting amateurs (by prior arrangement with Ralph 9G1RQ), and the hotel where the Voodoo group tend to stay is just five minutes’ walk away. Andy, G4ZVJ, has twice operated the Commonwealth Contest from there, but would not be around this year as he was in DU-land for his nuptials!

The 9GØARS station consists of an FT-990, Ameritron AL-811 linear, tribander and dipoles for 40 and 80. There is also an ETM-9C keyer, donated by the Voodoo group on an earlier visit. The linear had been giving problems due to overheating, but Alan G3XAQ brought it back to the UK on an earlier visit, made a number of modifications including adding an additional fan, and took it back to 9G in February when he visited for the FOC Marathon. I was in touch by e-mail with Alan and also with Derek, F5VCR, who was due to go down in late March for the WPX SSB Contest. These days it seems to be these sort of visits which help to keep the 9GØARS club going, as local activity seems to be pretty sparse.

The nice thing about this operation was that I would have to take very little with me in the way of equipment. Indeed, all I ended up taking was my laptop for logging, a pair of headphones and a few tools "just in case". The only hiccup prior to my departure was a decision by BA to cancel my return flight, which meant coming back a day earlier or staying on an extra two days. I opted for the latter, as I expected to have a fairly busy programme in Accra, mainly in terms of meeting up with some of the locals (see below).

I arrived Accra late on the Thursday before the contest, which gave me Friday to get organised. An early visit to the station on the Friday showed that the antennas all appeared to be fine and the FT-990 was working OK. However, when I switched on the amplifier there was a rather disconcerting bang, followed by some spectacular arcing from the innards. Fortunately the problem appeared to centre on one of the valves, which I was able to replace with one of the "tired" ones that Alan had used in the Marathon. After that everything checked out fine, and I felt reasonably assured for the contest.

So it was back to the hotel to freshen up, and then a visit to the Internet café to let everyone at home know that I was safely in Accra and all set for the contest. Unfortunately "Busy Internet" was down, its main backbone having failed. The good news was that this was the first and last time this happened to me. This new Internet café is just 5 minutes’ walk from the hotel, costs about 60p an hour, and has the very latest in PCs (HP multimedia machines with flat screens), with over 100 positions in all. And it always seems to be full, not surprising as the cost of PCs is way beyond most Ghanaians, monthly ISP service costs about $30, and there are still local telephone call charges to pay. So the Internet café is extremely cost-effective.

This year the start time for the Commonwealth Contest had been brought forward by two hours to help VK/ZL entrants, so it was a 1000 start (Ghana is on GMT). I had opted to air 9G5AA, the Voodoo Contest Group call, as it won’t get used as often now that the group has decamped with its equipment to XT2-land.

Everything went swimmingly during daylight hours and by dusk I appeared to be ahead of the pack. Even when you are working from outside the UK, you can never expect to make more than 1,000 QSOs (absolute tops) in the 24 hours, so the pace is fairly leisurely and there is both the time and the incentive to move stations who are a bonus, so I kept busy moving around with stations like 8P9IF (G3PJT) and 5B4AGC.

Once dusk fell and I started to check out the low bands it became clear (as I had anticipated) that LF was going to be another story. Noise levels were high, and my rates dropped dramatically. On flying into Accra the pilot had told us we had had to skirt a 200-mile storm belt (indeed, the aircraft was actually hit by lightning during our final approach), and there had been a couple of spectacular thunderstorms following my arrival. I also suspect there was some local QRN close to the station – perhaps a faulty insulator or somesuch. However, apart from a break of an hour or so to go back to the hotel for a bite to eat and to freshen up ready for the night shift, I kept at it, but 40m was hard and 80m almost impossible. On 80 I ended with just 6 QSOs, and five of these were actually QSYs from 40.

There really isn’t much else to say about the contest. The results will speak for themselves in due course. During the days following the contest I was able to meet up with Ralph 9G1RQ, who has always been the Voodoo Contest Group’s main contact in Accra and is great company. Also George 9G1RL, who helps with licensing and renewals, always something of a trial in Ghana as the wheels of bureaucracy tend to turn exceedingly slowly. To try to help things along, I also visited the key official at NCA, the licensing authority. It always helps to maintain these personal contacts, of course. In addition, I dropped by the club station again to do some general maintenance and, at Alan’s request, to check out possible Beverage runs for any future operations. And obviously there were the mandatory visits to local places of interest, including the Arts Centre where typical African souvenirs can be bought for ridiculously low prices.

To me the point of the foregoing is that, in many ways, there isn’t too much to tell. This wasn’t a case of some dangerous visit to a barbaric nation. Ghana, like many "emerging" nations is actually very civilised (and probably safer than many parts of the UK), with good infrastructure and, in this case, a radio club that is available on request to all comers. Travel is straightforward (though you need to organise a visa beforehand) and hotel accommodation both good and reasonably priced. Health precautions are minimal if you have already had the basic inoculations. You need a Yellow Fever certificate, and malaria prophylaxis are recommended, though I didn’t see a single mosquito on this visit (the risk tends to be greater in these countries when you head inland, especially into jungle areas). So it really is possible, should you so wish, to make a contest expedition and be DX with very little effort and expense especially if, like so many of us these days, you have frequent flyer miles, Tesco vouchers, or whatever at your disposal. There are many such locations around the world and I would urge any and all of you to give it a go from time to time.

Claimed score: 7655 pts

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