George Pataki WB2AQC
Bucharest, the capital of Romania, is the largest city of the country and has the biggest amateur radio population of the urban centers. In the United States, the federal capital of Washington, DC, is far not the largest city of the country, and the state capitals are not necessarily the largest municipalities of their regions. In the European countries, however, usually the most populated and developed cities are their capitals.
The number of amateur radio operators in big cities is larger than the average per capita because there exist more educational possibilities, more radio clubs, more hams ready to help a newcomer, and more people with high income who can afford this hobby. Bucharest is the power center of the country, and the ones closest to that power receive the most benefits.
The Federation of Romanian Radio Amateurs is in charge of organizing the activities of Romanian amateurs. It is sponsored by the Ministry of Youth and Sports and is subsidized as a technical sport, emphasizing participation in competitions.
The General Secretary and his deputy work in Bucharest, but they often visit amateurs and radio clubs of other cities. The country has 40 counties and the majority have county radio clubs with full- or part-time employees or chiefs of the clubs. There are also municipal, school and factory radio clubs run by volunteers, except for the city of Bucharest, which has a full-time chief.
The incoming YO-QSL bureau is located at the Federation, where received cards are sorted and distributed to the county clubs. However, each county club is responsible for its outgoing QSL service for its members but this service is sometimes is slow because of lack of funds.
The radio station of the central radio club, YO3KAA, active mostly in contests using YO0FRR or YP0A callsigns, is also at the Federation.
The municipal radio club has its own station - YO3KWA. Every Tuesday afternoon, after 4 PM, the local amateurs gather there to pick up their QSL cards, to borrow or return books and magazines from the club’s library (yes, they return them sometimes), and to exchange news and gossip. Once a week a course in electronics, rules and regulations, plus a code practice session, is held for those who want to take the licensing test.
At the club I met people in all kinds of professions. Many were students, workers, clerks, professionals, even high-ranking officers, some were retired, and others were on active service. Many of them were from various branches of the armed forces, while others were from the secret police. As I said, some were retired and others were still in active service. Often I did not know which was which. While on this subject, I heard a story. On a battleship an officer was testing a seaman, asking him:
“What would you do if standing on the pier you would see your superior officer struggling with high waves 100 feet from you?”
“I’ll meet him half way, Sir, as he always did for me, Sir, throwing him a 50 feet rope, Sir!”
The next question:
“What would you do if another sailor fell into the water?”
“I would throw him a life preserver, Sir” was the prompt answer.
“And what would you do is an officer fell overboard?” was the next question.
The seaman hesitated for a minute and then asked:
“Which officer, Sir?”
As you could guess by now, I am also not very fond of officers, in special of those who wear mostly civilian clothes.
There are several other club stations, some more active than others. At the “Children’s Palace” YO3KPA is run by two instructors - Sandy, YO3AWC, and Nicu, YO3CB.
A couple of small private companies in which the owners are amateurs have organized radio clubs: YO3KWT of Adcon Computers has Lix, YO3NP, as chief operator, while Costel, YO3GDS, is in charge with YO3KBN of Conex Electronics. YO3KYX is a military radio club.
Speaking of radio clubs, I heard that at one of the meetings a member got very upset because things were not going his way and yelled:
“Half of the members of this club are idiots!”
All the members jumped on him and demanded an apology and a retraction.
“OK,” mumbled the angry man, “I apologize. Half of the members of this club are not idiots!”
There are many amateurs with personal stations. One of the most active ones is Adrian, YO3APJ. He uses a small transceiver and a very big linear amplifier resting on the floor. Adrian’s three-element beam is on the roof of a very tall building with wide open space in every direction. No wonder he is on the Honor Roll and has 5BDXCC. Every Thursday at 6 PM local time Adrian conducts (on 3.650 MHz) a DX forum, giving the latest news about DXpeditions, QSL managers, etc. Lots of Romanian-speaking amateurs check in with questions and answers.
Joska, YO5AVN/3, is another very active amateur who uses both factory-made and home-brew equipment. Toto, YO3NL, President of the Federation of Romanian Radio Amateurs, is a member of the YO DX Club and has 295 countries confirmed and 5BDXCC.
Yani, YO3XQ, is a veteran CW operator who uses homemade equipment. On the other end of the age spectrum is 17-year old Matei, YO3GEK, who has a modern, factory made transceiver and a computer for packet radio.
The father-and-son team of Costi, YO3ACX, and Paul, YO3GMP, shares a well equipped station, a vertical antenna, and some wire dipoles installed high up on the roof of their ten-story building. Costi is a flight radio operator on IL-18 Russian made airplanes, and Paul is a 15-year-old high school student.
Mitica, YO3BFL, is sightless. He operates CW using a special keyboard made for blind people. Nick, YO3BWK, is blessed with all kinds of foreign-made transceivers and test instruments.
Aurel, YO3CDN, is a civilian electronics specialist who works for the army. He has a neat station equipped with a computer. I worked him on 20 meter SSB and promptly received his QSL.
Liviu, YO3DLL, is in charge of the electrical energy supply for the telephone company. He is very active with his small station.
Calin, YO3RA, spent some years in a labor camp for political prisoners. After the 1989 revolution/coup d’etat he was one of the many who ran for the office of the President, but unfortunately for YO amateurs, he didn’t make it. Anyway, why would a nice person like Calin want to get in a business like that?
Tina, YO3FRI, a wife and the mother of two, is very active on SSB, CW, and RTTY. Her husband Tinel, YO3GCM, and both children are licensed amateurs.
Dan, YO3ZA; Carol, YO3RU; Sergiu, YO3SF; Titus, YO3FK; Tity, YO3YF; Nicu, YO3YZ; Dumi, YO3ZV; Oli, YO3AMM; Gil, YO3RZ; Nicu, YO3AIS; Petrica YO3ZR; Luky YO3DCO; Nelu, YO3CZ; Costi, YO3ACX; Ely YO3AS; and Mihai, YO3CV are the big guns of Bucharest, and they do QSL sometimes. On the other hand, I have a long black-list of amateurs from the capital city whom I worked and sent my card, but I did not receive theirs in return.
As in many countries, the amateurs of Bucharest are a big and diverse group, and I am glad I had the opportunity to meet many of them.