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I always imagined that of all the countries in the world,
those in the Far East are the most exotic. This is probably because
with my European background; I was born and grew up in Romania. The
Oriental cultures seemed the farthest away from my own.
While I was living in my native country, limited by
political and financial considerations, a visit to Asia was an impossible
dream. However, when I immigrated to the United States, these kind
of trips became just a matter of choice; when and where to go. What
kept me awhile from realizing my dream was the very long flight from New
York to any Far Eastern destination.
After a hiatus of 15 years, in 1990 I have returned
to ham radio, and the desire to meet the amateurs in far away countries
surfaced again. Finally in the Year of the Monkey (1992) I decided
to visit the Far East with my wife Eva WA2BAV; daughter Diane KB2KLV; and
son Tommy KB2KRN. I compared various travel brochures and I picked
a tour going to five cities in five different countries: Tokyo, in
the JA1-land; Singapore, the 9V1-land;
Bali, in the YB9-land; Bangkok, in the HS1-land;
and Hong Kong, the VS6-land. Little did I know
that we would wind up in 8 countries: from Singapore we took a side trip
to West Malaysia, the 9M2-land; and from Hong Kong
we visited Macao, the XX9-land, and China, the BY-land.
I wrote in advance to various amateur radio association
in the five countries on our itinerary, as well to individual amateurs
with whom I had QSOs or just picked out of the Callbook. I gave them
the time period we would be in their cities, the hotels where we would
be staying, and I let them know that I wanted to meet and photograph them
for a possible travelogue. Some answered and we established dates,
other were not interested and did not answer. I managed however,
with some perseverance, to find and meet amateurs in all five cities, to
see their radio stations and living conditions, and in some cases even
their work places. It was a good chance to observe their lives, an
opportunity no local guide could ever offer.
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The first to answer my letter asking for help in meeting
local hams was JARL, the Japan Amateur Radio League. They sent me
a list of the Japanese amateurs enrolled in the International Host Exchange
Program, which, however, proved to be not very useful because several hams
from that list when contacted by phone seemed not very interested in meeting
a foreign visitor.
Fortunately I did not rely on that list and I established
through letters a firm date with Itsuo JK1UFW, with whom I had previously
a QSO. Itsuo was the president of JECC, Japan English Communication
Club, which publishes a newsletter “The JECC News,” and he was also involved
in the activities of TIARA, the Tokyo International Amateur Radio Association,
which publishes “TIARA News.”
As soon as we arrived at the Narita airport in Tokyo
I called up Itsuo and on his advice I also contacted Shigeru JR1UTH (also
KJ6DR), who was working at the International Section of the Japan Amateur
Radio League. We were delayed at the airport waiting for members
of our group coming on another plane, but when finally we have arrived
at the hotel, Itsuo JK1UFW and Shigeru JR1UTH were waiting for us.
I had my name and callsign badge on my shirt so they recognized me right
away.
In Tokyo we took an uninteresting city tour which,
according to the travel brochure was suppose to include the Imperial Palace.
In reality we were taken to the palace’s gate and told that behind the
tall wall and the trees there is the palace. We should have gone
to a Sumo wrestling match instead, not that I enjoy watching overweight,
heavyset men, wearing big diapers, pushing around each other, but at least
they would have let us in.
We were also taken to the Tokyo Tower, which looks
like the Eiffel Tower; it about 1,000 feet high and has a two-level observatory
deck at about 450 feet. Tour operators have the tendency to take
tourists to high places and make them look down and say “Wow!.” I
prefer to stay down, look up at high places, and say nothing. It
is safer and cheaper.
According to the brochure we were suppose to be treated to
“a sumptuous dinner.” Our group was taken to a fine Japanese restaurant,
we took off our shoes, left them in the hallway, entered the dinning room
and sat down, and I mean down, at a very low table. Taking off the
shoes and leaving them unattended may worry some people but is not a big
problem, unless of course one has big holes in his socks. I was very
hungry, and I love Chinese food so I figured that I will have also a feast
with Japanese food. On the table was a variety of dishes of unrecognizable
origins, and I though that I’ll be better off not asking what are they.
I believed that as long as the food doesn’t wiggle on the plate it is okay
to eat. I was hungry and I took a big bite of something, I chewed
it, but somehow I just could not swallow it. It seemed to have a
mind of its own and did not want to go down. I did not want to force
it, anyway I didn’t like its taste. I got up, grabbed my shoes from
the hallway and ran out of the fancy restaurant in such a hurry that I
put them on only about a block away. I was afraid they will come,
take me back, and force me to chew some more. Later at home, I looked
up in a dictionary the word “sumptuous” and I saw that it did not match
with what I got in that restaurant.
We were taken to see a traditional tea ceremony; it
ran about 15-20 minutes but it seemed that it lasted for ever. An
old lady dressed in a colorful kimono, prepared the tea very slowly in
the traditional way, probably required by the customs, but it did not add
anthing to its taste. I would not have the patience to go through
such a long and elaborate ritual just to have a cup of tea. I would
grab a tea bag, toss it in a glass of hot water and that would be the end
of my whole ceremony. And I would not need any fancy kimono.
My first lesson in Japan was that their customary food
is just not for everybody. My second lesson was that their prices
are sky high. Even the radio equipment made in Japan seemed to be
cheaper in the United States than there.
Next day we took the Nikko tour, about 90 miles north
of Tokyo, visiting the very interesting Toshogu shrine consisting of 55
structures, such as, sacred houses, gates, a five-story pagoda, and a Buddhist
temple. To enter the temple we had to take off our shoes, put them
in some lockers which could be unlocked with a 100 yen coin. I thought
that was the price for renting the locker, but when we took out our shoes
the coin came back. It seems that we had to put a 100 yen deposit
to make sure that we will reclaim our shoes. Why, would the people
otherwise leave there their shoes and walk barefoot for the rest of the
day?
On our free day, when no sightseeing was scheduled,
I met again Shigeru JR1UTH, who came with Takashi JF1GUQ, the editor of
Mobile Ham Amateur Radio Magazine, and we went to visit the JARL offices
in the Toshima-ku section of Tokyo.
Mobile Ham is a beautifully produced 200-page magazine,
much of it in full color, with columns and articles on DX, HF and UHF,
Satellites, Above 1200 MHz, EME, 29 MHz, FM, Facsimile, RTTY, SSTV, Packet,
Software, Contests, YL, QRP, SSTV, Awards, DXpeditions, the Antique Wireless
Society of Japan, Ham Life, TVI, many theoretical and construction write-ups,
QSL information, stories on local and foreign amateurs and their work,
New Products, Tests Reports, News from JARL, even cartoons, and many more,
as well as plenty of advertisements. The only drawback for me was
that all this good information was in Japanese. The magazine has
an informative Internet Home Page at: http://www.iijnet.or.jp/mobile_ham
and a Mobile Ham Radio Club with JA1ZNG as the club station.
At the meeting with Takashi JF1GUQ we established a
collaboration and since then they have published several of my travelogues.
There are three more Japanese amateur radio periodicals
that I know of: “JARL News” the about 100-page magazine of the Japan Amateur
Radio League: “CQ Ham Radio” with almost 600 pages; and “59” a thinner
publication as compared with CQ but still having more pages than any US
radio magazine.
At the JARL headquarters I first visited their Exhibition
Room which is a museum of old and antique radios and radio parts.
The man in charge of the museum as well the JARL club station JA1YAA was
Mamoru JA1FC.
They asked me if in the US we have such exhibitions
of antique radios. I said that they are many, they are not so nicely
arranged in glass cabinets, and we call them “flea markets.”
Next place to see was the JARL QSL bureau. It
was very impressive; 8 people working very fast, without the expected chit-chat,
were sorting, packing and mailing tens of thousands of QSL cards a day.
They were handling around 17 million outgoing QSLs a year and about the
same number of incoming cards. I was told that some of these sorters
wear protective gauze masks when sorting incoming cards. I saw those
masks worn also on the street by people worrying about inhaling sickness-causing
viruses or impurities. The JA hams are one of the best QSLers in
the world and many of their cards have beautiful photographs.
I also saw the control station, JJ1ZUT, for the JARL-sponsored
Fuji-OSCAR-20 amateur radio satellite. The chief operator of this
control station was Toshiyuki JR1NVU.
In the office of IARU Region 3 I visited its secretary,
Masayoshi JM1UXU. He is responsible for publishing the English language
“Region 3 News,” the Journal of the International Amateur Radio Union,
Region 3.
In the US, after passing the required examination,
one obtains simultaneously both the operator and station licenses.
In Japan, however, one obtains first an operator license, then he can apply
for a station license. The 1992 Callbook listed only 36,688 JA hams,
in reality there were over 2,300,000 amateur radio operators and over 1,200,000
stations but most of them were only on VHF/UHF.
I saw many interesting things, some of them quite curious;
in some hotels, at the entrance, there are racks for umbrellas. It
seems that there is a rule for people not to take their umbrellas indoors;
come to think of it, I was carrying all the time a concealed collapsible
umbrella not knowing that I was breaking a local tradition. I am
truly very sorry about that.
Another curious thing I noticed is that in the clothing
stores I saw only mannequins with Caucasian features; not one single with
Asian characteristics. Are the merchants suggesting that if a petite
Japanese lady will buy one of the displayed dresses, she will suddenly
look like a six feet tall, blond, long legged California girl?
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Leaving Tokyo we arrived to Singapore late at night.
I was worried that I would not find any hams in this “island-city-state”
because months before the trip I wrote to SARTS, the Singapore Amateur
Radio Transmitting Society, and a couple of amateurs with whom I had previous
QSOs, but received no answer. I called up various governmental agencies
connected with radio and broadcasting asking if they knew any amateur radio
operators, but most of them did not even know what ham radio is.
Finally I found in the phone book the number of Dick 9V1YQ. I called
him a couple of times and left messages on his answering machine.
I had a QSO with Dick and I had with me his QSL card with his address.
I was desperate, but the next day, after returning from the city tour,
I found at the hotel a message from Dick 9V1YQ. It turned out that
he had just returned from a business trip to India, Pakistan, and Thailand.
He represents the Harris Co., a manufacturer of broadcast and communications
equipment, and travels a lot around Southeast Asia. Dick 9V1YQ is
an American with K2SZE as a home call; previously he operated as 9M2RF,
JY9RK, and P29RK.
Dick uses, collects, and restores Collins equipment.
He also collects unopened Coca Cola cans and bottles from various countries.
I photographed him near his station running about 100 watts. Then
he told me to put the camera away and took me to another room where he
had a 1.5 kW station; with one short CQ call he raised a huge pile-up.
Dick told me that the 100 watt station is what the inspectors see when
they come to check out his equipment.
There were about 75 licensed amateurs in Singapore;
about 25 were active on HF. The Singapore Amateur Radio Transmitting
Society holds monthly meetings (usually attended by about 30 members and
a large number of visitors and foreign hams), sends out minutes of the
meetings, and also publishes annually an updated Callbook. Not all
9V1 amateurs are members of SARTS.
Singapore is a beautiful city, very modern and active.
With the decline of Hong Kong in the financial world, Singapore is rising
and gaining prominence. There are many rules and regulations which
may seem strange to an outsider: for example, chewing gum in public is
prohibited (sorry Mr. Wriggley!). In the ladies’ room in hotels there
are signs that read “$50.00 fine for not flushing the toilet.” I
would consider this a brutal gender discrimination because there is no
such indication in the men’s room. When I was told about the sign
I wanted to see it for myself, but I was afraid that there may be even
a bigger fine for a man entering the ladies’ room, so I took the word of
the giggling American females exiting those places. I wonder how
they check on these things: do the big sisters have surveillance cameras
or just toilet patrols?
We took the sightseeing tour included in our package,
and we also went around by ourselves. We took the cable car to Sentosa
Island where we boarded the monorail to look around. We went to Mt.
Faber, which is only 345 feet high, but for the low-lands of Singapore
it is a mountain; we visited Buddhists temples and the Raffles Hotel
where it is said that the “Singapore sling” drink was invented.
While I was visiting Dick 9V1YQ, my wife went shopping;
I would have been much better off if I would have taken her with me!
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From Singapore we took a previously unscheduled half-day
side trip to West Malaysia. For about $20.00, a tour operator picked
us up at our hotel and took us by bus north via a 3/4 mile long causeway
to the city of Johor Bahru just over the border, gave us a sightseeing
tour, and brought us back to our hotel in Singapore.
I was not prepared for this tour and I did not make
any arrangements to meet with 9M2 amateurs. Anyway, I would had no
time for individual visits because I had to stay with my group. Getting
out of Singapore and into Malaysia, then out of Malaysia and back to Singapore
was only a matter of filling out some arrival forms and getting the passport
stamped.
We visited the Abu Bakar Mosque, a very smelly food
market, and various sectors of the city. Malaysia is predominantly
Moslem, but Buddhism, Hinduism, and Christianity are practiced as well.
The state of Johor has a tropical climate, its population of 2,000,000
is made up of Malays, Chinese, Indians, and others. In the state
capital of Johor Bahru we saw many modern and rich areas, as well as poor,
slum neighborhoods. After our return to New York I checked the Callbook
and found several amateurs living in Johor Bahru, but anyway I would not
have had time to look them up.
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From Singapore we flew to Jakarta
in Indonesia, changed planes and continued to the island of Bali.
Months before our trip I wrote to a couple of YB and YC amateurs I had
QSOs with, but received no answer. From the Callbook I picked the
name and address of Achmad YC9DWH, because he was living in the city of
Denpasar, relatively close to the hotel where we were staying, at Nusa
Dua on the southern peninsula of Bali, and since he was listed with bold
letters I supposed that he was an active ham. I wrote him, he answered,
and we established a date. Not wanting to rely on a single person,
I continued inquiring for possible contacts, and Nardi YF0NA, with whom
I had a QSO, advised me to write to Teddy YC9CB, who lives in Kuta, a city
even closer to my hotel than Denpasar.
When we arrived in Bali the first to call was Teddy
YC9CB, who owns the Paradise Beach Hotel. He came to pick me up and
brought with him his friend Yoshitaka JN3GKU, who was a guest in his hotel.
We went to see Teddy’s station and met his wife Christine YC9BEA, who was
not active.
Teddy and his family are Christians, his house is full
of pictures and statuettes of saints; I somehow did not expect to find
Christians in Indonesia. Teddy YC9CB uses excellent Japanese equipment;
I did not see his antenna because we arrived at his house during dark hours.
Next day I contacted Achmad YC9DWH, a manager of the local branch
of a large banking network. He took me to Nuraka YC9BMU, who being a Hindu
had a customary little shrine on his front yard, and was wearing a traditional
sarong. In the backyard, Nuraka had his tower but his beam antenna was
lowered for repairs. Nuraka runs a travel agency.
Achmad took me to see Wayan YC9DPA, who operates with
his brother Ketut YD9COP, Golden Kris Tours. Their colorful 40-page
booklet describing various tour packages and places in Indonesia is like
a geography textbook of this country. His chief of transportation,
Yoga, has a license; his call is YD9BYG, but is inactive. Wayan is
also a Hindu and has also a shrine or a “house of spirits” on his front
lawn, near the entrance.
The last place to visit was the station of Achmad YC9DWH,
ex YC7JK. Working for a large financial corporation, Achmad is being
relocated every couple of years; this explains that his former callsign,
YC7JK, is from a different district; originally he came from Java.
I photographed him with his station and his antenna but, I had to cut short
my visit because Achmad, being a Moslem, had to go to the Mosque for one
of his five times a day prayers.
In Indonesia there are several classes of licenses.
Those with YH as prefix can operate only on 2-meter FM; the ones with YD
and YG work on 2-meter FM, and CW and SSB on 80 meters with only 10 watts;
those with YC and YF in the prefix operate on 2 meters FM plus 10-12-15-17-30-40-80
meters (no 20 meters) with 150 watts. The highest class is identified
by YB and YE as the prefix, and they can use 500 watts on all the band.
There are many more licensed Indonesian amateurs than
those seen in the Callbook, mainly because the ones with the lowest class
licenses, operating only on 2-meter FM, are not listed. The Indonesian
Amateur Radio Society, ORARI, publishes in Jakarta a 30-40 page monthly
magazine “Amatir Radio.”
Bali is a very interesting place; there are literally
thousands of temples; most of the houses have one or more shrines where
food offerings to the spirits of ancestors are made; usually oranges and
some rice. Incense is burned in many temples and at many shrines;
I had to smell the smoke sometimes but I didn’t inhale it (where did I
hear this one before?).
If I would have a shrine for my ancestors I would put
an orange and a little bottle of brandy for my father, and lots of “mamaliga”
(corn flour boiled in water) for my mother, because that was she feeding
me for years.
The traditional dances are beautiful. We saw
a folk play, always the good beating the bad, but as required by local
customs, it was grossly overacted. The monkeys jumping on visitors’
heads at the Sangeh forest are fun to watch except when is your head they
prefer to mess up; usually that is the time when one stops laughing.
Funny thing about Indonesia; there is quite a
bit of confusion over its location: Oceania or Asia. The ARRL DXCC
Countries List places it in Oceania; the International Amateur Radio Union’s
rules for the Work All Continents award also places it in Oceania; however
atlases, encyclopedias, and map makers claim that it is in Asia.
While in Bali, I asked several people this question, and I could not get
a clear and unanimous answer. Upon my return, I called up the Indonesian
Consulate in New York, and after some internal consultation, the answer
was a definite maybe: perhaps it is in Asia but it also could be in Oceania.
And one expects poor school children to know these things.
Continuing our trip, we had to fly back to Jakarta,
change planes, fly to Singapore for a stopover, then continue to Bangkok;
it was a tiresome experience. The only fun I had during this long
journey was at the Bali airport meeting Kim HL2IAD, who was wearing a cap
saying “HL2IAD HAM RADIO” which were about the only three words he could
say in English. I pointed to his cap and then to my name and call
badge and we understood each other. He almost missed his flight to
Seoul because he wanted to take pictures with us.
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Leaving Indonesia, after hours of delays, we arrived
to Bangkok at 4 o’clock in the morning. The local guide who was supposed
to assure transportation to the hotel was not waiting for us, so wee took
taxis.
Six months before our trip I wrote to RAST, the Radio
Amateur Society of Thailand, and to an amateur I had QSO with, but for
a long time I did not receive any answer. Finally a letter came from
Tony HG0/G4UAV, the international liaison officer of RAST. Tony is
a journalist and computer expert who writes a weekly section on computers
for the Bangkok Post. He has lived for years in Bangkok and is very
active in amateur life; participated in the works of the 16th and 19th
SEANET (Southeast Asia Network) conventions held in Thailand; operated
HS0B, the official RAST club station, and HS5EA, the 19th SEANET Convention’s
station.
On the day of our arrival, after three hours of sleep,
I called up Tony who came to the hotel and took me to the club station
HS0AC, located at the Science Museum. There I met Ray HS0/G3NOM,
a telecommunications engineer working in Thailand on a long-term project.
Ray is the club’s station manager, a contester and DXpeditioner.
He operated as XU1NOM in Kampuchea (Cambodia), he was the only British
member of a JT-JA-G joint expedition to Gobi, Mongolia, operating as JU830C/4;
and he was preparing to go Bangladesh as S2/G3NOM or/and S21U. Ray
is a member of the G-QRP Club. Recently I received his G3NOM/ZC6
QSL card for his June 1996 group operation from Palestine. It is
a very nice card but is not recognized for DXCC.
While I was admiring the station’s seven-element beam
and a second antenna system installed on the top of a 300-foot tower, Vichan
HS1ABU arrived. Vichan is the publisher and editor-in-chief of CQ
Amateur Radio, a very good monthly 130-160 page magazine, many of them
in full color.
HS0AC, the club station, has three operating positions
and is equipped with modern Japanese transceivers. While I was taking
photographs, I heard on one of the rigs a strong CQ call by HG1S; as I
speak Hungarian, and have worked that station from New York, I felt like
answering the call. I was invited to operate, I answered and made
a short QSO. I am sure that Gyula, the operator of HG1S, was very
surprised to work a Thai station in Hungarian. I could have made
many more QSOs but I was in a rush to see other stations as well.
Next we visited Vichan’s station, HS1ABU, but on our
way we stopped to see the new building where the offices of CQ Ham Radio
were to be relocated.
Vichan’s company also publishes a CQ Log Book which
includes about 30 pages of useful amateur radio information; a study guide
called 73, for those who want to take the test for a license; and other
printed matter for ham radio. He used to publish the Thailand Callbook
but was taken over by RAST; the 1990 edition has over 400 pages,
is written in Thai, and contains over 45,000 amateurs with their calls,
names, home and work addresses, and phone numbers. On the occasion
of the 19th annual SEANET Convention held in 1991 in Chiang Mai, northern
Thailand, RAST published the “1992 Diary” full of interesting information
about the reciprocal operating agreement with the US, temporary licenses
for foreigners, photos and stories about previous SEANET conventions, ham
life in Thailand, etc. There is also a second amateur radio journal,
about 86 pages, and I wish I could read its title.
At Vichan’s house I met his 16-year old son Jade HS1ZEB,
who holds, as his father, an Intermediate class license. In Thailand,
there were about 45,000 Novice class hams, who could operate with 10 watts
on 2-meter FM. There were just over 100 Intermediate class licensees
and they could operate as well as on 10-15-20-40 meter bands using 200
watts on CW and SSB. There is however a catch: for security reasons,
only about a handful of them were allowed to operate individual stations,
the rest could work only at club stations. This explains the fact
that despite the very large number of Thai amateurs listed in the Callbook,
one can very rarely hear a HS station on the air. This situation
is slowly changing and more individual stations are being permitted to
operate. There was only one Advanced licensee but he is not active:
HS1A, His Majesty King Bhumibol Adulyadej.
Vichan took me to see Mrs. Mayuree HS1YL, the President
of the Radio Amateur Society of Thailand. Her late husband, Col.
Kamchai Chotikul HS1WR, in 1964 co-founded the RAST and for many years
was its President. Mrs. Mayuree, an exceptionally gracious lady,
was not active on the air despite a roomful of radio equipment; I saw at
least 20 pieces of radio gear such as receivers, transmitters, transceivers,
amplifiers, slow scan TV, etc.; however, she was very much involved in
governmental relations, working for full legalization of amateur radio
in Thailand. Her radio shack looks like a memorial room for her late
husband, with photographs of Thai and foreign dignitaries who contributed
to the advancement of amateur radio in this country.
The sightseeing tour took us to the Grand Palace and
Emerald Buddha Temple. However, I did not see them because a police
guard did not let my daughter Diane enter, and I stayed out with her; she
was wearing an ankle length sarong instead of the prescribed skirt.
The uniformed genius let people with miniskirts in but sarongs were not
in his rule book. One could rent skirts in front of the entrance,
probably from the policeman’s relatives; so what’s wrong with creating
some business opportunities for your own people.
The Bangkok radio amateurs had monthly meetings on
every first Sunday of the month, at 11 AM, at Sinha Bier Haus, on Asoke
Road.
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I was really concerned about the possibility of meeting
amateurs in Hong Kong; six months before out trip I wrote to HARTS, the
Hong Kong Amateur Radio Transmitting Society asking for their cooperation
in meeting local hams, but they never answered. I also wrote to amateurs
I had QSOs with, and a couple whose photographs I have seen in amateur
radio magazines, but without results. When I told this to an amateur
in Singapore he said: “Oh, the Hong Kong people, they are too busy making
money; they don’t have time for visitors.”
As soon as we arrived at the hotel, I began my search
for hams. I had the Hong Kong pages from the latest Callbook, and
tried to find some hams in the phone directory. A hotel clerk told
me that while he doesn’t know anything about ham radio, his father John
is an amateur radio operator and his call is VS6YGI. He even obtained
for me an old copy of a HARTS circular with some good information, such
as the fact that the members meet on the second Tuesday of each month at
The Volunteer Officers’ Mess, second floor of Beaconsfield House (near
Hilton Hotel) from 18:30 onwards. With my luck, I was there on the
third Tuesday.
Most of the amateurs I found in the phone directory
lived far from my hotel located on Hong Kong island. They were mostly
in Kowloon, the New Territory, or even on Lantau island. I located
Ed VS6DX (home call K4DXN), but he was leaving for China where he had an
electronic factory. I found Brett VS6BG’s phone numbers, both home
and office, left several messages, but he did not return my calls.
Other people said they would call back, and they never did, or gave me
phone numbers of other hams. It seemed they were indeed busy making
money. I knew that I needed just one good lead, and the others would
follow. Philip VS6CT, the President of ELARCS, the English Language
Amateur Radio Communication Society, was not in Hong Kong. ELARCS’s
membership list contained about 50 calls, names, home and office numbers,
even fax numbers; real business people. Finally I found Graham VS6VO,
who entered his apartment the moment I called; he had just returned from
a business trip in India, Pakistan, and Thailand.
Next day Graham picked me up at my hotel and we went
to see his station. He lives on the top floor (where else would a
ham stay if he had a choice?) of a 40-story building, 450 feet from the
ground. The building is on a hill, away from other buildings.
The antenna is a four-element tribander, and he shares it sometimes, with
a flip of a coaxial switch, with his next door neighbor John, VS6VA.
For 40 and 80 meter bands Graham uses wire dipoles. Graham’s home
call is G4LUC, from 1979 to 1987 he operated as OZ1HEB, and from 1987 is
VS6VO.
Graham took me to Mike VS6WV, home call from 1953:
W0YZS. Mike operated as SV0FE in 1987-88, also from Kuwait, Cyprus,
and even the 9N1MM station. He lives literally on the top of the
world. His house is just below the Victoria Peak, a favorite lookout
for tourist, from where “on a clear day” one can see China. His enviable
location has its drawback: because of the strong winds at this high altitude
(a typhoon alert was in effect during part of our stay), his beam was laying
in pieces on the roof, and his vertical was bent from the middle at about
45 degrees. Mike’s QSL manager was K0TLM.
I did not give up on Brett VS6BG; he is the President
of HARTS and he knows everybody. “If the mountain doesn’t go to Mohammed,
then Mohammed goes to the mountain” is an old saying, and if Brett would
not call me back, I would call him until I found him. Next day my
persistence paid off; I found him at STAR TV where he is a Manager for
Satellite Operations. To meet Brett I took a taxi a very long way to his
work place, then we went to see his station.
Brett’s father Eldon, was active as W7TIR, and VS6WA
when he was visiting his son; and his grand father Albert, was active as
W7UXR. Brett received his first callsign in 1977: WB7PSP, and in
1980 he became KB7G. His first Hong Kong call was VS6UP and he made
over 30,000 QSOs with that call; later he changed his call to VS6BG, to
match his initials, and made by the time of my visit another 32,000 QSOs.
He also operated as KB7G/KH6 and KB7G/VE7. Brett, who is better known
as Alex, as sometimes he uses his middle name on the air, made over 20,000
QSOs on CW from the neighboring Macau as XX9TDM.
Brett passed me to Li VS6UZ, an electronics engineer
living in an exclusive section of Kau To Shan, in the New Territories.
Li has his license from 1988, he works on 2-meter FM, 2 meter packet, uses
500 watts on 10-15-20 meters, CW and SSB. He also operates on VHF-UHF
satellite. His collection of photographic camera is larger than one
sees in an average New York photo store.
The HARTS Newsletters: “Members Internal Circulation Only.”
I received a copy but not being a member and because most of the time I am a
law abiding citizen, I hesitated for a long while before I peeped in, but I
could not find anything that would require a security clearance before reading.
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From Hong Kong, for about $95.00, one can take a 10-hour
tour to Macao (Macau - with local spelling) and China. The tour operator
will pick you up at the hotel, take you by bus to the pier, board you on
a hydrofoil, and about an hour and a half later, after passing the Macau
Immigration and Customs, you’ll be placed on a sightseeing bus and given
a tour of this tiny Portuguese colony, the XX9-land. One can go to
Macao alone for less money.
Anticipating the possibility of such a side trip, I
wrote to a local amateur whose name and address I found in the Callbook,
but he did not answer. Anyway, being with a group on a tight schedule,
I did not have the time to visit anybody. The population of Macao
is 95% Chinese, and in 1999 this colony supposed to be taken over by China.
We visited a couple of landmarks, and spent most of
the time bargaining with souvenir vendors. No matter how long you
haggle, how much you push down the first asking price, after you purchased
the item, you will find the same thing at the next stall for half what
you just paid.
An almost two-mile long bridge connects Macao which
is on the mainland, with Taipa Island. Macao’s biggest income is
from the gambling casinos. The most famous tourist attraction in
this city is the ruins of St. Paul Cathedral, which was burned down in
1835 but the good people of Macao did not yet have the time to rebuild
it. Anyway, these days there is not too much need for another church,
most of the tourists come to this tiny colony for roulette wheels and blackjack
tables rather than for sermons and meditations. I even doubt that
the Chinese once they take over Macao in 1999, will spend any money rebuilding
a house of worship; therefore St. Paul’s will remain just as it has been
for more than a century and half; a facade with nothing behind it.
There are about 70 steps going up to that lonely wall; standing on those
steps and facing the “cathedral,” looking right a ham can see the most
existing thing in Macao: a three-element beam on the top of a tall building.
I don’t know whose beam it is, but must belong to one of the enlightened
ones. I would gladly give up a week’s visit by my in-laws for a day
of operating with that beam.
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From Macao we crossed into China with minimum formalities.
We were in the most south-eastern corner of China, south of Canton.
We drove through Zudai, a special economic zone, saw modern factory buildings
and good apartment houses. I kept looking at rooftops hoping to spot
a beam or two, but no such luck.
Our travel brochure stated that we would be served
“a delicious Chinese lunch.” Let me tell you; it was Chinese all
right, and according to the time of the day perhaps it was lunch, but delicious
it was definitely not. They served various dishes, none of them looked
or tasted like the good Chinese food I can get in New York or in every
state of the Union. When we almost finished with the “delicious Chinese
lunch,” they remembered to bring the rice which was supposed to be the
basic food of the land. Or perhaps that was the desert?
My biggest difficulty was when I asked for a glass
of cold water. It was extremely hot, close to 100 degrees, and we
were dehydrated.
I kept asking for cold water in every language I know
but we could not find a common denominator. I tried to play charades,
acting out that it was very hot and wanted to drink. Finally the
eight waitresses who were watching me nodded happily and all disappeared
in the kitchen. After 10 minutes they brought six glasses with water
(we were 15 in the group). Okay, I said, we are in China, we are
supposed to share the water, but the water was hot, not even warm, but
very hot. After trying the charades again, I had almost given up
when the chorus of waitresses smiled again and ran to the kitchen.
After a long while they came back with a small container with ice and put
one ice cube in each glass of hot water. We were already on our way
out, but I thanked them from the bottom of my heart, and put all the dirty
chopsticks from our table in their water. They were puzzled and started
to wash them.
We visited a village with a collective farm, real slum
houses, and saw people working on rice fields. When I was living
in Romania I saw many Chinese propaganda movies, and the workers on the
fields were always happilly laughing and singing. The ones I saw
now, were, I suppose, not of a musical type.
The travel brochure promised that we would see water
buffaloes; all I saw was sad cow stuck in the mud.
We also visited a former residence of Dr. Sun Yat Sen,
the founder of modern China, now a memorial tourist trap. At the
gift shop I bought some tapes of Chinese music; my Yankee imperialist dollars
was cheerfully accepted.
Late in the afternoon, we returned to Macao, then by
hydrofoil to Hong Kong. It was an interesting sidetrip. From
Hong Kong we returned to New York, changing planes in Tokyo. While
waiting at the Narita airport, another traveler seeing my name and callsign
badge introduced himself as Ken WA4EGW. He was returning from a tour
of southeast Asia where he was conducting training sessions in the use
of his company products. One of his students, he said, in Jakarta,
was an amateur radio operator who identified himself after seeing him wear
his callsign.
Talking about callsign badges; in our group of 15 people
there was a retired potato farmer from Idaho (I am a simple man, never
ran for office, and I spell potato without an “e”) who, every time we came
face to face, stared at my name and call badge “George - WB2AQC” and mumbled
something unintelligible. Finally after two weeks he said: “I know
that your first name is George, but I have an awfully hard time trying
to pronounce your last name.” Is worth wearing those little badges!
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If one wants to meet local hams during a trip abroad
he or she should prepare well in advance, writing many letters and follow-ups.
Have lists of many names and phone numbers, as some of them will be useless
because people could be busy, on vacation, or simply have changed their
minds. Contacts established during QSOs could work out very well.
Plenty of film should be taken along and hand carried rather than packed
in suitcases that will be X-rayed, even if the airport people claim that
their machines are film-safe. Be daring, go ahead and call
your travel agent!