The last big city on my tour of Spain was Valencia.  It was recommended by Eduard EA3NY and it followed Madrid. Eduard called up Pepe EA5KB, told him about my project and asked him to arrange some visits.
   At the Valencia railway station, Eusebio EA5CA was waiting for me.  Pepe EA5KB who was busy preparing an IOTA convention in Alicante and hosting YUKI JI6KVR who came for the convention sent him.
   First I had to find a place to sleep.  Right in front of the railway station was rundown hotel but it was high-priced.
   “Why is this so expensive?”
   “Because it offers free entertainment all day long.”
   “What kind of entertainment?”
   “You can watch right from you window all the people who missed their train!”
      Eusebio EA5CA, licensed in 1979, runs his computer aided design company creating very sophisticated programs.  He has a 38-foot tower on the roof 80 feet from ground.  For antennas he is using a C4XL type of 9 element Yagi for 10-12-15-17-20-40 meters from Force 12, a rotatable rigid dipole for 80 meters, a Delta loop for 80 and another one for 160 meters, and a Diamond vertical for 2 meters and 70 cm.  Eusebio has plenty of rigs: a FT-1000D, a FT-1000MP, an IC-970H, an IC-756, a 2.5 kW Ameritron AL-1500 amplifier, and for 2 meters a 1 kW Henry 2002A amplifier.  Eusebio’s English is excellent, he works SSB and SSTV, is a contester, occasional builder but most of all he is a DXer with over 310 DX entities.  He worked EA0JC and has nice QSL cards in various color combinations.
    I got use to hear about the second house many Spanish amateurs have with second stations, big antennas and amplifiers.  Eusebio also has a second house in Naquera, and a third one in Denia with a complete station for DXing and contesting.
   Eusebio took me to the radio club of the Polytechnic University of Valencia, which has several rooms, big antennas, and where the EA5UPV station is located.  On a large and very high roof, I saw a Quad, a log periodic and several Yagi antennas.  The station has several rigs, in one room is an IC-756 with an Ulvin Tremendus III amplifier capable of delivering 5 kW, and for 2 meters and 70 cm an IC-821.  In a second room I saw a TS-870, an IC-821 and a second Ulvin amplifier, identical with the first one.  The third room has a FT-920 and an IC-756.  The director of the radio club is Fausto EA5AFC, a professor of electronics.  Javier EA5AUB and Henrique EA5FIB, are operators and they take care of the antennas.  Besides the regular modes of operation, in this club experiments on color ATV on the 1.2 GHz band are conducted.  Not to be everything perfect, I did not see any QSL cards.
   Eusebio also took me to Jesus EA5DOQ, a psychologist licensed in 1979.  Jesus has a 45 foot tower on a 128 feet high roof with a X-9 type Cushcraft which is a 10 (ten, yes ten, it is not a misprint) element Yagi for 10-15-20-40 meters, and inverted V for 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  He has a couple of rigs, among them an IC-756 and an Ameritron 1 kW AL-80B amplifier.  Jesus has a nice QSL card, he operates SSB, CW, RTTY, SSTV, has packet, DX cluster, is a contester and a DXer with 315 entities.  With his antenna and equipment it would be a shame to have anything less than that.
   Finally we met Pepe EA5KB who came with Yuki JI6KVR, we had lunch together, and then we went to Pepe’s house.  An industrial engineer, licensed in 1984, Pepe is married to Ana EA5CY, licensed in 1987, a post office employee.  Both are contesters and DXers, and members in EA DX Club, Pepe with 333 entities and Ana with 205.  They have a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a TS-440S and a TL-922 2kW amplifier.  They do computer logging, have DX cluster, work on SSB and RTTY, .  Pepe is an award and island chaser with 729 IOTA islands worked; he operated from 12 islands.  He worked EA0JC, second operator Jose.  Both have QSL cards.  Pepe’s E-mail is: [email protected]
   Next I saw Paco EA5BHK, an electronic technician licensed in 1979.  His wife Paquita EB5EGV was licensed in 1984.  They have a FT-1000 with a FL-2100Z, and an Ulvin amplifier.  Paco is a member of Lynx DX Group and the EA DX Club.  He is DXer with 316 entities, has lots of awards like the 5BDXCC, 5BTPEA for working all Spanish provinces on 5 bands, WAS, WAZ, WAE, DIE the Spanish Islands award; he worked over 600 Spanish islands, and others.  Paco is not only an island chaser but he operated from several Spanish islands.  He has a nice QSL card, but I did not see any of Paquita’s.  Paco EA5BHK worked EA0JC, second operator Isaias.
   Fernando EA5AT, licensed in 1983, is selling wood products for building construction.  He has a 38-foot tower on the roof 90 feet from the ground.  His antennas are: a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters with an extra element for 40 meters, dipoles for 80 and 160 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters and 70 cm.  He uses a TS-940S with a 500 W FL-2100B amplifier, and an IC-251A.  Fernando is a DXer having worked every existing entities except for Buthan and North Korea.  He is also member of the prestigious Lynx DX Group having over 1800 points for the Lynx award.  He is on the DXCC Honor Roll, WPX Honor Roll, IOTA Honor Roll with 825 islands, has 7BDXCC, WAZ (ITU) Supreme Award #1 plaque, WABA plaque (Antarctic Bases), 5BWAS, etc., needless to say that he is an award chaser and he does QSL.
Jean-Marie EA5HE, a bus driver licensed in 1983 was the next to see.  On his 22-foot tower installed on the roof, 93 feet from ground, he has TX6DXX type 6 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a wire dipole for 40 and 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  He is using a TS-440S.  He is an occasional contester, and a DXer, having worked every entity, minus North Korea; not bad for one using only 100 W.  Jean-Marie has QSL cards.
   Fernando EA5AT and Jean-Marie EA5HE took me to the radio club of U.R.E.’s local branch where the radio station EA5URV is located.  The club claims 440 members and has several rooms; a very large one for meetings and classes, one for the station and another one for Internet.  In the big room one can buy some food and soft drinks.  The members come on Thursdays from 6 PM to about midnight.  The antenna is a Hy-Gain 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a dipole for 40 and 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters and 70 cm.  The rig is TS-930S, they operate SSB and CW, have packet, DX cluster, and a nice color photo QSL card.  I met there the club secretary, Manuel EA5ELF, an automechanic, and the president, Manolo EA5FSK, a retired Guardia Civil sergeant.
   About 22 miles from Valencia is the city of Carlet.  There I met Paco EA5ADT who was licensed in 1989 and works in the Ford automobile factory.  He has a rotatable rigid dipole for 10-15-20-40 meters, and another rotatable rigid dipole for 12 and 17 meters, an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  His rigs are a TS-120S, a TS-140S and for 2 meters he is using a TS-255E.  Paco works SSB, SSTV, sometimes on satellites, has 290 DX entities and uses a nice QSL card.  He worked EA0JC, second operator Jose.
   Also in Carlet I visited Jose EA5GKT, a mechanic in a car wash, licensed in 1989.  His 29-foot tower stands on the roof 96 feet from the ground and supports a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  It seems that many Spanish amateurs prefer this kind of antenna setup.  Jose has a TS-440S, has 120 entities for his DXCC, works on SSB, CW, SSTV and 2 meter packet.  Jose also has a nice QSL card.
   In Carlet there is an active radio club that organizes island DXpeditions like the one to Isla de Buda with operators Manuel EA5GLT, Enrique EA5AOR, Bernardo EA5AOP, and Ricardo EC5AHM.
   Two members of a radio club were not in good relations and the others tried to pacify them.  One of them stretches out his hand saying:
   “Let’s be friends again and I wish you all the things you wish for me:
   The other gets angry and yells:
   “See, he is starting again!”
    Another one.  A ham buys some coax cable and says to the salesman:
   “It seems that the yardstick you are using is shorter than the other one.”
   “That is true, but is also much thicker!”
   In Alcudia, right near Carlet, I saw the station of Enrique EA5AOR, a plumber licensed in 1993 who working mostly SSB already accumulated 290 DX entities.  Enrique has a Cushcraft A-3S 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, and a vertical Diamond X-200 for 2 meters and 70 cm.  He is member of the EA DX Club and has two kinds of nice QSL cards; on one he is pictured in his bicycle-racing outfit with his racing machine.  He does computer logging with the KINGWIN program made by EA7ABW.  He is an award hunter and an island chaser; he operated from several Spanish islands for the IOTA program.  From his station I had a QSO with my friend Bandi EA5CQ, a DXer and active net controller.  I met Bandi personally in Budapest and I was pleased to hear a familiar voice.  Enrique was driving me around from city to city, from one ham to another.
   Enrique took me to Alginet to see Bernardo EA5AOP, a housepainter licensed in 1995.  Bernardo has a multiband wire dipole for 15-20-40-80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  For the low bands he is using a TS-140S, and for 2 meters he has a FT-212RH.   He works SSB, some SSTV, is an island chaser and has 120 DX entities.  His QSL card has a nice color photograph.
   In Algemesi Enrique EA5AOR took me to another Enrique, this one is EA5CMC, a machine operator in an orange packing factory, licensed in 1977.  His 48-foot tower sits on the roof 64 feet from ground and supports a Cushcraft 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters with a driven element having also 40 meters, as well as some VHF and UHF Yagis.  Enrique has a TS-850S and a FT-2400 for 2 meters.  He operates on SSB and SSTV, has about 200 entities for his DXCC, and is an IOTA island chaser.  He worked EA0JC twice; once the first operator H.M. Juan-Carlos, and then the second operator Jose.  Enrique is member of the EA DX Club and he also has a nice QSL card.
   The next amateur to visit was Augusto EA5CTU in Alzira.  A building construction foreman, he was licensed in 1987.  His 45 feet high tower sits on a roof 96 feet from the ground and supports a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters made in Spain by Tagra, a rotatable rigid dipole for 10-15-20-40 meters, a 17 element Yagi for 2 meters and a 21 element Yagi for 70 cm, both horizontally polarized, and a vertical for 2 meters.  Augusto has a TS-940S, a TS-440S, a TS-140S, an Ameritron AL-811 1 kW amplifier, and two US military surplus 2 kW amplifiers. For VHF-UHF he has a FT-736R and a TS-711E.  He works SSB, SSTV, has packet, DX cluster, e-mail and used to operate on satellites.  He has 310 DX entities and a big bunch of awards.  Augusto has two types of QSL cards, one of them has a motto: Ser Espanol: Un orgullo, Ser Valenciano: Una gracia, Ser Radioaficionado: Un deber, which translates somehow like: To be Spanish: It’s a pride, To be Valentian: it’s a gratitude, To be a Radio Amateur: it’s a necessity.  Nice thoughts!
   It is interesting, several hams just could not smile when I photographed them.  One said: “I am serious person, I don’t smile!”  I was wondering what a serious person is doing when is being tickled, but I did not try to find out.
   The next amateur to visit was also in Alzira, spelled by some as Alcira.  He was Julio EA5GHK, a police inspector licensed in 1985.  He did not look at all like the Pink Panther but he was a real inspector, he showed me his badge.  He has an H6 type of Butternut vertical, an IC-735 for low bands and a DR-599 for 2 meters.  Julio works SSB, does computer logging, is a DXer with over 200 entities, has over 400 awards, and 4-5 types of QSL cards.  He worked the first operator H.M. Juan-Carlos EA0JC.
   The last one in Alzira was Rodolfo EA5APH, a retired radio and TV serviceman, licensed in 1977.  He has a vertical antenna for 10-15-20 meters, a dipole for 40 and 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  His rig is an IC-735, and for 2 meters he has a Sommerkamp FT-290.  He operates mostly on CW, some RTTY and SSB, and has over 210 entities for his DXCC.  He has over 100 awards and he logs with KINGWIN, a Spanish program made by EA7ABW.  Rodolfo has several types of QSL cards, one with a color photo showing the operator and his station.
   The next one was in Catadau, 10 miles from Valencia: Jose EA5EE, a motorcycle mechanic licensed in 1979.  His 38-foot high tower is on the roof at 42 feet from the ground.  Jose has a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters, and a vertical for 2 meters.  Just like many other Spanish hams.  His rigs are: TS-850S, TS-140S, TS-50, three HT, and four computers.  He works SSB and SSTV, he is a contester and a DXer with over 150 entities.  He logs with PLOG; a Spanish program made by EA5OL and has two types of QSL cards.
   When I entered Jose’s radio shack I did not know to grab a microphone or to kneel down and pray.  It looks like a chapel with lots of carved saints and pictures of saints on the back wall, behind his desk with his radio equipment.  He even gave me a small picture of J.C., and I don’t mean Juan-Carlos.  When I kneeled in front of him to take some photos from another angle, I had the distinct feeling that Jose blessed me.  I hope the editors will choose to publish the photo of Jose EA5EE so the readers will have the same religious encounter I experienced in his chapel in the shack.
   After this we have returned to Valencia and had a dinner in a little outdoor restaurant.  Some children came by begging and handing out some leaflets saying that they are refugees from Romania.  I spoke with one of them, I recognized the typical colorful clothing the Gypsies are wearing; they were indeed Romanian Gypsies doing what they do best; well, second best.
   Next morning I took the cheapest train I could get and returned to Barcelona.  I had lots of fun in Valencia because the visits were well organized and I could see lots of hams in a short period of time.  Thanks to Eduard EA3NY who suggested this side trip and to Pepe EA5KB and Enrique EA5AOR who made it possible.