Usually when I visit the amateurs in a foreign country I go around to various cities to see as many hams as I can.  During my recent trip, with one exception, I stayed only in a single place: in Mexico City, which with its 20 million inhabitants is as big as many other entire countries.  Mexico is very large, so going from one major city to another requires long travels and after such a trip I may find only one or two active amateurs, therefore, it was not worth it.

   Long before my trip I wrote a letter to the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores asking for their cooperation in finding active hams.  I knew that I won’t get any answer, and I was right.  I wrote them anyway as a matter of courtesy, wishing this will be reciprocated.
   I also wrote a similar letter to Luis XE1L whom once I met by chance for about 30 seconds in Dayton.  Luis was very cordial and helpful, and exchanging a bunch E-mails before the trip he gave me lots of valuable information, and during my stay in Mexico City he helped me locate several known DXers.
   I took with me a 2 meter HT and tried to find amateurs by contacting them but this was a failure because virtually all their repeaters need a tone to open them, and my HT does not have such a capability.

   Sunday.  My friend Mike AB2DP and I, took an early morning flight from La Guardia airport in New York City, changed planes in Dallas/Ft.Worth, and arrived to Mexico City early afternoon.  Mike was complaining:
   “They should not turn on the ‘Fasten your seat belt’ sign; every time they do, the plane starts to shake.”
   We changed some money at the airport and we got 8.33 pesos for a dollar.  I called up Luis XE1L and he advised us what to do.  At the taxi service booth we gave the name of a hotel, prepaid the fare, 86 pesos, and received a ticket which we gave to one of the many drivers waiting outside the terminal.  This is a safe way to travel; there were instances when  foreigners were robbed by taxi drivers and their accomplices.
   The taxi took us to the hotel in an exclusive neighborhood.  I called up again Luis XE1L telling him that we are all right, then I called up Theodoro XE1YQQ, a Romanian expatriate who came to the hotel with his wife Rosa XE1YQR.
   Shortly after, we got a call from Luis XE1L who was in front of our hotel with his family.  We all went down to meet them, then later Theodoro took us to their house to show us their station.  Theodoro and Rosa own a large hardware store.  They were licensed in 1995, love amateur radio, and both have over 100 countries confirmed.  Their son Leon XE1YQS is busy with high school, girls, computer and guitar.  On the top of their 60 foot tower they have a 7 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, an R7 vertical by Cushcraft, and a longwire for 40 and 80 meters.  Theodoro XE1YQQ and Rosa XE1YQR have very nice QSL cards with slogans like: “The QSL is the final courtesy of the QSO” and “We are not strangers just friends who haven’t met” and I can testify that indeed they are very good friends.  Even Leon XE1YQS who is not very active has a QSL card.
   I wanted to photograph Theodoro on his tower but Rosa protested saying that  it is too dangerous.  In that case I suggested she should go up because I needed a picture of an operator with his or her antenna.  Rosa changed her mind and let Theodoro take the risk.
   Next to see was Luis XE1L.  Luis is a highly regarded architect, and I saw several houses he designed and built, including his own.  Luis XE1L, licensed in 1973, is one of the best known DXer of Mexico, and he operated from various exotic locations like Peter I Island 3Y0PI; Revillagigedo XF4L; Easter Island XR0Y; South Shetland 4K1/XE1L; Martinique FM5/XE1L; Saint Martin FS5/XE1L; Barbados 8P6/XE1L; Mayreau Island FL5/XE1L; 4U1UN; 4U1ITU; 4U1UN/4X4/XE1L, etc.
   Luis has a 54 foot tower on his roof which is 20 feet above the ground; on that tower is a 7 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters.  A second tower, also 54 feet high, installed on a lower roof, has his 3 element Yagi for 12-17-30 meters.  A third tower, also a 54 footer, carries his 6 element Yagi for 6 meters.  Other antennas include his 80 element Yagi for 70 cm used for fast scan ATV; and 2 meter and 70 cm antennas used for satellite communications.  He operates an open repeater on 144.63- MHz.  Luis XE1L has a very nice QSL card and his manager is Mary Ann WA3HUP.  Luis’ E-mail address is:  [email protected].
   While we were admiring with growing envy his huge station with various pieces of equipment and gadgets, Nellie XE1CI, another of Mexico’s real big guns showed up with her little poodle called CQ.  The poodle understands only Spanish so you have to call him “Se Koo.”
   Mike AB2DP and I returned to our hotel which was expensive and did not have  air conditioning.  Mike started to brag about his past achievements:
   “I wonder how many great DXer are in the US?”
   “One less than you think!” was my answer.
   He is a great theoretician; he can tell 100 ways to get a DX station but he still needs three countries to make the Worked all Continents.  About ham radio he knows everything from A to B.

   Monday.  With the help of Theodoro XE1YQQ and Rosa XE1YQR we moved to a cheaper hotel in one of the business districts of Mexico City, in its historical center.  I found out that the price of many things are negotiable in this country.  We got a 20% discount at Hotel Capitol and we paid about $25.00 for a double.  The hotel was very nice and quiet, with the window opening to an inside Spanish type courtyard.  The room was hot; it was an unusually torrid weather in the country, even the locals were complaining.  Theodoro lent us a small fan which made our life bearable.  The hotel has a very good restaurant with reasonable prices.
   With Theodoro XE1YQQ and Rosa XE1YQR with whom we met almost daily during my 18 days stay, we went to see Michel XE1MD.  Michel, a retired medical doctor, was born in France and came to Mexico in 1962.  Licensed in 1979, Michel is very active on the bands and is a good QSLer.  He wrote a very interesting book “El Arte del DX,” also published in a French version with the title “L’Art du DX.”
   Michel XE1MD has a 60 foot tower on the roof, which is 20 feet from the ground.  On the tower he has a 5 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, and an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters.  Michel is also using a magnetic loop type antenna up to 100 watts, on frequencies continuous from 13.9 to 29.0 MHz.  He is a builder, has a separate little shack for his constructions.  He gave me some leads to meet other local hams.  Michel is a DXer, is on the Honor Rolls for phone and mixed, and he has QSL cards.
   Even if the Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores did not answer my letter we had to pay them a courtesy visit.  Around 6:00 PM, Theodoro XE1YQQ, Rosa XE1YQR and Michel XE1MD took us to their headquarters.  There we found Don Ramon, a secretary but not an ham.  We saw the QSL bureau where Jose XE1XOK, Carlos XE1POO and Virginia were sorting cards.  We also saw a well equipped station XE1LM, and their tower with a five element Yagi.  However nobody could find any of their QSL cards.
   The Federation, and before that the League, used to publish a bimonthly bulletin “Onda Corta” but they stopped in 1995.
   I bought their latest callbook issued in 1993 listing over 8,000 hams.  The callbook is not updated even to the date of publishing; I found several hams licensed in 1990-92 but other people are listed under their callsigns.  If one can not hear many XE calls on the air it is because most of them are on 2 meters or inactive.  I was told that while the number of hams in most countries is increasing, in Mexico is decreasing, mostly because no new licenses were issued during the last couple of years.
   Late in the evening, at the hotel I was awakened by an unsolicited room service with some drinks.  Next morning I was again awakened by an unsolicited wake up call.  At least they knew that we were there.

   Tuesday.  Mike AB2DP and I went shopping to “Artesanias Ciudadela” a very large market serving mostly tourists, about 7-8 blocks from our hotel.  After hours of walking around, comparing merchandise and prices, I bought 9 colorful blankets in various sizes, made of cotton.  The ones made of wool were three times more expensive.  I was taking them as gifts and I knew the receivers would not know the difference, so I bought the cheaper ones.  Curious enough, I know that I bought 9 pieces, I packed them myself but when I arrived home there were only 8 blankets.  I don’t even try to figure this out.
   In a nearby pharmacy I bought over the counter for about $3.50 a box of Lomotil in case “the revenge of Montezuma” would hit me.  I did not need it;  Montezuma had no reason to be angry with me, I never got mixed up with his misunderstanding with the conquistadors.
   Here is a politically incorrect story:  On a street corner a boy approached a tourist and said:
   “Senor, do you want to go out with my sister?”
   “Me, going out with you sister?” answered the snobbish tourist “I don’t even drink your water!”
   For the afternoon, Theodoro XE1YQQ set up a meeting with Sam XE1ZLW, member of the local club, in a large parking lot of a shopping center in Satelite, a suburb of Mexico City.  Theodoro and Sam did not know each other, each  agreed to recognize the other by the color of their silvery cars both were driving.  We went to the parking lot and you won’t believe how many silvery cars were there.  Both Sam and we waited about 20 minutes, not far from each other.  From time to time Theodoro asked drivers of silvery cars if they were Sam but nobody wanted to admit that.  Finally Sam was found and we all went to his house.  It seems that most of the Mexican hams have very nice houses and Sam is no exception.  It is because only members of the upper middle class have the amateur radio hobby.  The rest of the country goes for soccer, and that does not require expensive equipment just strong arms and legs, and a really big mouth.
   Sam XE1ZLW is an obstetrician.  Talking about obstetricians, a 70 year old man is asking his doctor:
   “Doc, my wife is 25 years old and she just gave birth to a baby.  Do you think I can do it again?”
   “What makes you think you did it the first time?” answered the doctor.
   Sam XE1ZLW was born in Minnesota, and was brought to Mexico when he was one week old.  In 1985 he started as a CBer because his house was damaged during the big earthquake, he moved to a new neighborhood without telephones, and he needed communications.  In 1987 Sam got his amateur radio licenses, he is on the Honor Roll, missing only North Korea.   In the same situation are several Mexico’s big guns: Luis XE1L, Nellie XE1CI, Vic XE1VIC, Sam XE1ZLW, Fernando XE1AE, and others around the world.  It seems that placing North Korea on the DXCC list, after Romeo’s phony adventure, and just a very limited token operation, is considered a controversial decision.
     Sam’s tower is 63 feet tall above the roof which is 45 feet from the ground.  His house is on high grounds with unobstructed view all around.  His 11 element TH11DX High Gain antenna for 10-12-15-17-20 meters, and his 2 element High Gain antenna for 40 meters also help him breaking the pile-ups.  Sam is using his tower and a wire extension for 80 meters, and with the antenna tuner he can even get up to 160 meters.  To take his photo with his antennas I asked Sam to climb his tower.  Sam obliged and was hugging the tower as he was engaged to it.  Later he confessed that it was the first time he ever got on the tower and assured me that it was also the last time to do it.  He is a member of the International DX Association and he is a good QSLer.  His E-mail address is:  [email protected].
   Sam XE1ZLW is the past president of the Satelite city radio club, which now has about 40 members, a callsign and a nice QSL card for an inexistent radio station: XE1RCS.  Yes, while I met many hams with stations but without QSL cards, here was a club without station but with nice cards. The members meet the last Tuesday of the month, at 9:00 PM, in a restaurant.  After long a discussion, it was decided that the meeting place is in a bad neighborhood and we should not go there.  It was around 6:00 PM and I suspects that Theodoro did not want to wait another 3 hours till the time of the meeting, so we went home.

   Wednesday.  Mike AB2DP and I went again sightseeing and shopping in the Mercado de Curiosidades y Artesanias, about two blocks from our hotel.  I would have said ‘window shopping’ because we did not buy anything, but that place has no windows.  There are 167 stalls and the merchandise is all over the place.  As you pass through the hallways the dealers  greet and invite you to see their stuff.  Bargaining is the rule of the house.  It is relatively easy to push down the first asked prices 20-25% but later you will find the same items for less than you paid for.  So first just look around, take notes what, where, and how much  various things cost you are interested to buy, and on the last day or so, do the actual shopping.
   The exchange rate is better in the city at various cambios than at the airport; we got 8.4 pesos for a dollar.  There is no black market or street exchangers like in many other countries.

   Thursday.  I wrote a bunch of postcards and bought some magnets for my wife. They cost 2 pesos and they come in endless varieties. Of course I told my wife that they cost much more.  As I am crazy for QSL cards she is even crazier for magnets and has hundreds of them on two refrigerators and a microwave oven.  Not too much food in the frige because she spends all her money on magnets.
   About the postcards: I sent a bunch of them Air Mail about 25 days ago; they still did not arrive to New York.  Probably they went on the long path.
   We went to see Carlos XE1GC, an anesthetist still working at age 72.  Carlos was licensed in 1976, works mostly SSB, is a DXer with over 100 countries for his DXCC.  When we arrived he invited us in and he said something in Spanish but I understood only “cinco minutos.”  We were waiting in the living room admiring his antiques.  After about 20 minutes I started to look for him.  I found him on the top of his tower, wearing a safety helmet and a tick protection coat, in the scorching sun in around 90 degrees heat, waiting to be photographed.  I took his picture and he came down almost melted but happy.  He has a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, and a wire dipole for 40 and 80 meters.  Carlos XE1GC does have QSL cards.
   Starting from 1970 Carlos maintained radio communications for several sea expeditions on balsa rafts and ships like the 1984 voyage of the Atlantis.  In 1993 he sailed for a month on Marigalante as a radio operator.

   Friday.  Mike AB2DP and I, not having any amateur scheduled to visit, have decided to go on a trip.  We booked a tour called “Pyramids of Tula and Tepotzotlan.”  We paid each $35.00 to a tour operator, a guide with a microbus picked us up at the hotel at 9:00 AM, we, went to get another tourist, a guy from Malaysia, and we started the journey.  The guide made an offer:  for an extra five dollars he will take us to two extra places not included in the tour.  We accepted and paid him.
   We visited a few places, the names I don’t recall and I can not even pronounce.  We saw an old church in Santa Clara on our way to the Jesuit monastery of Tepotzotlan, built in the 17th century in a Mexican baroque style, with hand carved altars covered with gold.  It was not allowed to use flash when photographing, allegedly it rubs off the gold, Mike AB2DP used up a whole roll of film for indoor shots in the dark interior using outdoor settings; not even the Holy Ghost will make those photos come out right.
   We continued to Tenayuka, to an Indian ceremonial center predating the Aztecs, and then to the archeological site of Tula, about 65 miles from Mexico City.  There we saw the pyramids and some large statues of warriors called “atlantes.” It was a very hot day.  Somewhere we stopped for lunch that was not included in the price of the tour.  It was a fancy restaurant and I asked Mike if he knows what to do after eating.
   “Sure - he said with confidence - I put on my shoes!”
   Around 6:00 PM we have returned to our hotel.  On the way I stopped at an ice-cream on the stick vendor on a street corner.  He was offering his beautifully colored stuff as “orange,” “mango,”  “pineapple,” and other tropical fruit.  I bought a “mango,” it was green but it tasted like nothing.  I threw it in the garbage and I bought an “orange.”  It was gorgeous pink but again it had no flavor at all.  Gently it deposited it near the “mango” and I bought a “pineapple.”  This one was a magnificent yellow, but, yes, you guessed it, had no taste at all.  It followed the “mango” and the “orange.”  And people kept buying them.  It would have been nice if they would have called the stuff “green,” “orange,” “pink” or what ever color they have, instead of calling them what they don’t have.

   Saturday.  Theodoro XE1YQQ and Rosa XE1YQR who were our best guides I ever had on any of my trips, took us to Efraim XE1JGM.  Efraim an eletro-mechanical engineer is the past president of the Radio Club Azteca.  Just like Sam XE1ZLW, Efraim got in amateur radio by necessity; in 1986, to keep in touch with friends and family after the 1985 earthquake.  He has a very nice station, a tower with good antennas, but he declined my invitation to climb his tower, even if it was very well anchored.
   Efraim’s wife Tessy is teaching Hebrew in the Jewish School, she was licensed in 1986 as XE1XTN.  With all their very good station with lots of equipment, nowadays both operate mostly on 2 meters, usually making local contacts.  Efraim has QSL cards, Tessy does not.
   Efraim told me that in Mexico one can take the test from the age of 12.  There are four categories of licenses but everybody I asked remembered them differently:
      Primera         (extra)     1,250 W on HF, 500 W on UHF and VHF;
      Segunda       (general/advanced)    500 W on HF, 200 W on UHF and VHF;
      Novato         (novice)  codeless, not renewable,  150 W on 40 and 2 meters;
      Restringido  (novice)  codeless, not renewable,  50 W on 40 and 2 meters.
   In the Mexican callbook I see also another category: Principiante, that’s probably Novato.
   In the evening I got a phone call from Fernando XE1AE and he invited us to Cuernavaca, a city about an hour and half drive from Mexico City, and from Dieter XE1AMS, right in the capital, and we agreed to visit them the next day.

   Sunday.  Mike AB2DP suddenly decided that he had enough of the heat, changed his airline tickets and returned to New York.  As they say: “If you can’t take the heat, get out of the kitchen.”  He got out of the country.
   Theodoro XE1YQQ, Rosa XE1YQR, Michel XE1MD, and I left early in the morning to Cuernavaca at the invitation of Fernando XE1AE.  The previous night I told Fernando that I prefer to go where are many hams.  He said there are quite many in his town.  Fernando asked me at what time will we be arriving because he wants to prepare lunch for us.  When we got there I took his picture in front of his house, then on the roof with his 76 foot tower, with a TH11DX, 11 element Yagi; an inverted V for 40 and 80 meters; and an 11 + 11 element Yagi for 2 meters.  I also took his picture in his big radio room.  Fernando has 368 countries confirmed and over 500 awards.  He has QSL cards.
   Fernando XE1AE was licensed in 1956, he is selling and installing radio communications equipment.  He is a big guy; I can imagine him selling the anything he wants but I don’t see him climbing roofs and towers to install antennas.  He is in Cuernavaca only from Friday to Sunday, the rest of the week he is at his home in Mexico City where he has another radio station.
   When I finished my work we sat down chatting about DX and waiting for the promised lunch, which never materialized.  Asking him about the “many hams in Cuernavaca” Fernando changed his story saying he does not know them because he is only three days a week in this town.  It happened before, and it happened again.  An amateur who wanted to be featured in a magazine lured me with promises and delivered little.  OK, no lunch and no other hams.
   He kept slapping me on my back saying:
   “ I like you George, you are a character, I like you George.”
   I kept slapping him back saying:
   “I like you too Fernando, you are a bigger character than anybody I know; I like you too Fernando.  But I am known to have very poor taste!”
   Fernando is in the middle of a long line of Fernandos; his father and grandfather were Fernandos; is son is Fernando, XE1FVV but inactive; even his little grandson is Fernando.
   We left Fernando hungry and went to see Geoff XE1GE, born in Mexico in 1907 by English parents.  From 1928 Geoff was a second operator at X3A and in 1933 he received his own call: X1BG.  His license was revoked in 1934 because even born in Mexico he had no Mexican citizenship.  In 1936 Geoff got back his license and used the XE1GL call till 1941 when everybody’s license was suspended on account of the war.  After the war Geoff came back as XE1GE.  He really kept being reborn from ashes.
   Geoff XE1GE has a 30 foot tower on the roof which is 15 feet from the ground.  He is using a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters, a 6 element Yagi for 6 meters, a sloper for 17 meters, and three wire dipoles for 20, 40, and 80 meters.  Geoff is a builder and experimenter.  He works CW and SSB, and FM on 2 meters.  Geoff XE1GE worked 150 countries; on 6 meters he worked over 60 countries.  He does have QSL cards.  Geoff XE1GE is the only living founder of the Liga Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores, established in 1932, which became a couple of years ago Federacion Mexicana de Radio Experimentadores.
   On our way back to the capital we stopped at Dieter XE1AMS.  Born in Mexico by German parents, Dieter is a business administrator of a digital creations company.  He was licensed in 1985.  His wife Claudia XE1MGC, is the director of personnel at La Salle university; she works only on 2 meters.  Dieter has a 60 foot tower with a 13 + 13 element Yagi for 2 meters, and a 4 element Yagi for 10-15-20-40 meters.  He is on the Honor Roll with 330 countries confirmed.  His E-mail address is:  [email protected], and he has a nice QSL card.

   Monday.  I did not have anybody to visit so again I became a tourist walking around the city and window shopping.  Right near my hotel is a huge computer and electronics complex with about 400 little stores, some of them as small as my walk-in closet, others larger.  It has five entrances from three different streets.  It is open seven days a week and they are selling and repairing computers, monitors, printers, VCRs and all related equipment.  As is the local custom, as one walks through the endless halls, the merchants greet you and ask you what are you looking for.  They have the very latest technology for sale.
   Many stores have private security guards, some armed and wearing bulletproof vests, others unarmed.  Probably there are more guards than thieves and robbers, still robbing and stealing is still a lucrative business.
   A man was approached on a dark street by a stranger.
   “Good evening Senor.  May I ask you for a donation?  I did not eat for days, I don’t have a job, a place to stay.  I have nothing except for this knife and this gun.”
   The man gave generously.
   Another man while being robbed complimented the mugger:
   “Mr. Mugger, your English is very good!”
   “It has to be Senor- said proudly the mugger - I service only Gringos!”
   On many street corners in rich residential sections of the town there are guard houses with security guards checking the visitors.  Some apartment buildings and even private houses have their own guards.
   After checking out lots of stores I found the best buys, usually out of the tourist paths, where mostly the locals shop.  In the big artisan markets the first asking price for a colorful T-shirts starts at 50 pesos.  It can be bargained down to 40 pesos.  The same merchandise is sold on streets for 20 pesos.  When you bring this to the attention of the dealers asking 50 pesos, their standard answers is: “that is a different material.”  No, I checked it out, the material is the same, only the price is different.
   I bought more than 20 T-shirts, a couple of ponchos, an “Aztec calendar” made of wood, and more magnets for my wife.  Now we have to buy a third refrigerator because there is no more room on the two we have.

   Tuesday.  The Radio Club Azteca doesn’t has its own place, therefore is holding its meetings, twice a month, at the Federation.  Not having its own place, it doesn’t has a station, but it has a beautiful QSL card.  However this does not compensate for those who have stations, do operate, promise QSL cards but they don’t even have one.
   Founded in 1932, it is the oldest amateur radio club in Mexico City, presently having about 30 members. Theodoro XE1YQQ and Rosa XE1YQR drove me there in the evening.  I met there Memo XE1NJ the director of IARU Region 2, area C, and the Executive Secretary of the Federation.  Memo, a building administrator, was licensed in 1978, he is a DXer with 317 countries confirmed, works only SSB on 10-15-20 meters.  His wife Rebeca is XE1RUN and she is active.  His son Memo Jr. is XE1OJ, and his daughter Ady is XE1NG, both are inactive.
   In 1985 Memo participated in an expedition to Revillagigedo when the XF4MDX call was used.
   We met some of the members of the Azteca radio club.  First to arrive was Arturo XE1NAD, the club’s president.  Every year they have an election for president and one can be re-elected just once.  I visited his station the next day.
   I also met Felipe XE1MHF.  He works in the printing industry, was licensed in 1990, operates only on SSB, mostly on 2 meters.  His wife Olga XE1XZT was licensed in 1996.
   Jean-Pierre XE1YVE was born in France.  He is an electronic engineer and was licensed in 1988.  We arranged a meeting for a couple of days later but he did not show up.
   Emir XE1PAR is a retired doctor who despite his name does not have a harem.  I visited Emir three days later.
   Manuel XE1JRI is selling and installing computers and is training the users.  I saw him and his family of amateurs the following Saturday.
   Carlos XE1FOX is assistant director of IARU, Region 2, area C, and also director of the Federation.  Carlos works in advertising,  He is a DXer, works only SSB, and has over 200 countries confirmed.
   Efraim XE1JGM, past president of the club, whom I visited three days earlier.
   Once a year the club organizes a national contest.  I took some group photos at the XE1LM club station, the one that seems not to have QSL cards, said “asta la vista,” and returned to my hotel.

   Wednesday.  In the morning, Arturo XE1NAD, the president of the Radio Club Azteca, picked me up from the hotel and took me to show his station.  Arturo a physicist, is the system manager for Penoles, the world largest silver mining company.  Arturo is very enthusiastic about amateur radio, has plenty of excellent equipment, he was licensed in 1994, operates SSB, RTTY and satellites, and has a nice QSL card.  He has a 40 foot tower on the roof, 120 feet from the ground.  On that tower Arturo has a 3 element monobander for 10 meters; a 3 element TH3-Jr what is a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters; and a 2 element Yagi for 40 meters.  He also has a rotatable dipole for 17 meters; and a rotatable dipole for 6 meters.  Furthermore, a G5RV is used for 10 to 80 meters, also with the tuner for 160 meters.
     Arturo is working satellites on 2 meters and 70 cm, in the B mode, and is planning a setup with a 1.2 GHz for uplink and a 2.4 GHz for downlink, operating on S mode.  Arturo XE1NAD is a contester and he created his own contest computer program.  In his car he has a dual band mobile rig for 144 MHz and 432 MHz.  Arturo is also an excellent photo amateur, and in martial arts he has a black belt, 2nd DAN.  His E-mail address is:  [email protected].
   Arturo took me to the office of Luis XE1L, in a beautiful Spanish style building surrounded by tall office buildings.  It is easy to find Luis’ building because it has a tower with a large Yagi on the top.
   Luis took me to Lorenzo XE1U who has a Ph.D. in civil engineering but works in insurance as the vice-president of La LatinoAmericana.  Lorenzo is fluent in  English, French, Italian and besides Spanish, he speaks a dialect used on the Canary Islands.  Licensed in 1969, Lorenzo has a tremendous station, but is not a DXer; works only SSB mostly with friends.  His tower is 66 feet from the roof, 90 feet from the ground.  On the tower Lorenzo has a 30 element, vertically polarized Yagi for 2 meters; a TA-33-40 Yagi for 10-15-20-40 meters, a wire dipole for 40 and 80 meters, and three verticals for 144 MHz, 432 MHz, and 1.2 GHz.  He likes 40 meter SSB.  Has a separate room for constructions.
   In Tepotzotlan he has a second house with a complete station, an 82 foot tower with a 30 element Yagi for 2 meters; a TH7DX type of antenna which is a 7 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters; a 2 element Yagi for 40 meters; and an 18HTS vertical from High Gain for 10 to 160 meters.  Lorenzo XE1U has a nice, colorful QSL card.

   Thursday.  For this day I had scheduled a ham who did not show up, did not even call to cancel the appointment.  I went people watching and again to the two large artisan markets.  I prefer to shop where are fixed prices; I really don’t like haggling.  As a dilettante in bargaining I am no match for the professionals. No matter how much time I am wasting checking out prices and trying to push them down, after making the purchase, I always find better buys.  That is the reason I prefer to do my shopping the last day of my trip, at least I won’t see that I made bad deals.
   Some merchants spoke some English but many of them, even dealing for years with foreign tourist, mostly Americans, knew very little.  When asked about prices they showed them on their calculators.
    I called up my wife and told her that I met Senora Isabela and I will stay in Mexico for a while.  She wished me luck and said to eat lots of fresh fruit from the market, and drink plenty of water.  I wonder why was she suddenly so concern about my diet?

   Friday.  Today Emir XE1PAR, the one with fancy name but no harem to go with it, came to the hotel and took me to his house.  Emir is a retired medical doctor who worked as a hospital administrator.  He was licensed in 1984.  His daughter Maria-Eugenia XE1PAT is an architect living in Leon Guanahuato; they have QSOs every day on 40 meter phone.
   Emir has a 40 foot tower on his roof which is 33 feet from the ground.  His antennas are: a 6 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters; a Ringo for 2 meters;  a Diamond for 2 meters and 70 cm.; and a wire dipole with traps for 40 and 80 meters.
   Emir XE1PAR has a second house in the state of Morelos where he takes his Kenwood TS-440 or his Drake TR-3, with a wire dipole.  Emir has QSL cards.
   In the afternoon I took a taxi to Nellie XE1CI who lives in a very high class section of the town.  The taxi driver got off four times asking for direction; twice he was sent the wrong way.  To enter the building I had to pass two security checks.  When I got to the lobby and entered the elevator and pushed the button of her 5th floor, the elevator went down instead of up because the lobby is on 8th floor.  That really can confuse a burglar!
   If one talks about Mexican YLs or Mexican DXpeditioners than one talks about Nellie XE1CI.  She was licensed in 1968; her late husband Max XE1TX was also a very active amateur.  Her three daughters and their husband are also hams: Patricia XE1TX , got her father’s call; Debora XE1XYZ; and Lorena XE1XYW; are not as active as Nellie XE1CI, but who is?
   Nellie’s tower is 165 feet from the ground and has a 30 foot mast.  She has the following antennas: an omnidirectional 2 meter vertical on the top; a 12 or 24 element (she did not remember exactly) vertically polarized Yagi for 2 meters; a TH11DX Yagi from High Gain for 10-12-15-17-20-30 meters; a Cushcraft 2 element Yagi for 40 meters; and an inverted V wire dipole for 80 meters.  Nellie XE1CI works on SSB, RTTY and satellite.  She is on No.1 Honor Roll and has the 5BWAS with YLs only.
   In Nellie’s radio room, among scores of interesting ham memorabilia, I saw a dedicated photograph of JY1, King Hussein of Jordan.
   Nellie operated in many DXpeditions and from many locations like Easter Island XR0Y; Revillagigedo XF4CI; Jordan YJ8XE; Israel 4X/XE1CI; Guantanamo Bay KG4CI; Puerto Rico XE1CI/KP4; Belize V31CK; Grenada J37NL; St.Pierre FP/XE1CI; British Virgin Island VP2V/XE1CI; as well as in Venezuela; Germany; Sweden; Hilton Head Island IOTA NA-110; Isla del Carmen in XE3; etc., etc.
Her E-mail address is:  [email protected].

   Saturday.   Manuel XE1JRI whom I met at the Radio Club Azteca meeting came to get me and took my to his house where I met his spouse Olga XE1NBJ, a housewife; and their pretty daughter Reyna XE1LMV just finishing college.  All three were licensed in 1992.
   Manuel XE1JRI is the most active ham in the family; Olga XE1NBJ is mike shy and Reyna is busy with her studies. They have a small station and a wire dipole for 40 and 80 meters, but no QSL cards.  Their QSOs are virtually only with Mexican stations.  The standard excuse for not working DX is that they do not speak a foreign language.  This maybe the case of Olga but Manuel speaks enough English to be able to use it in QSOs, and Reyna’s English is even better.  Besides, there is a great deal of countries in Central and South America where the hams do speak Spanish so I wish the Mexican amateurs would get over this presumed language barrier and start to talk with the world.
   Manuel XE1JRI is active in public service communications; he relayed messages after various hurricanes destroyed part of the public communications system.  The Mexican amateurs have drills preparing them for potential disasters created by earthquakes, hurricanes, and the possible eruption of the Popocatepetl volcano.  Once a year Manuel participates in the Boy Scouts Jamboree demonstrating amateur radio communications to children.
   With Max XE1XA we agreed to meet in a diner, half way between Manuel’s and Max’s houses.  They never met before but hams can always find each other.  So we met and I went with Max.  First we went to the house of Vic XE1VIC.  Vic is an accountant, he was licensed in 1978 and is one of Mexico’s big guns.  He has a very big station with lots of equipment.  His tower is 75 feet high from the roof, 95 feet from the ground.  It supports a TH7DX, which is a 7 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters; a 2 element Yagi for 40 meters from Cushcraft; a G5RV for 10 to 80 meters; a Butternut vertical for 40-80-160 meters; a shortened wire dipole for 160 meter; an inverted L for 160 meters; and he can also resonate his tower on 160 meters.  No wonder he has over 100 countries worked on this band.  Vic has a nice QSL card.  What was surprising is that Vic does not use computers; he does not like them.
   Member of Mexico DX Association and Mexico DX Club, Vic XE1VIC is on No.1 Honor Roll, has both phone and mixed, 5BWAZ, 5BWAS, 160WAS, and scores of other difficult awards to obtain.  He went twice on DXpedition to XF4 Revillagigedo and once to 4J1 Malyj Vysotskij.
   I saw that Vic’s house, like many houses in upper class neighborhoods, it is protected, among other devices, with pulsating high voltage.  I wonder if that creates any radio noise?
   I photographed Vic on his tower and I sensed that he was not very comfortable in that position.  I also took his picture in front of his house, with his tower and antennas in the background.
   After finishing at Vic’s place we went to see the station of Max XE1XA.  Born in Italy, Max came to Mexico for a visit, then he decided to stay.  He manufactures medical equipment and various electronic parts and ensembles.
   His tower is 40 feet from the roof, and 53 feet from the ground.  It has a 8 element Yagi for 2 meters and a TA33, a 3 element Yagi for 10-15-20 meters.  His claim to fame is his satellite activities; he made thousands of QSOs with over 100 countries using a 16 element cross Yagi for 2 meters, and a 40 element cross Yagi for 70 cm.  Furthermore Max XE1XA is known for his EME work.  With his home made dish, 16.5 feet in diameter, with a 24 dB gain on 70 cm, Max made hundreds of QSOs with 28 different countries.  He is member of AMSAT from 1974, and published articles in The AMSAT Journal.  His main interest is building equipment for very low level signals.  Max has a nice QSL card.
   In April 1989 Max XE1XA made the first satellite operation from Revillagigedo making 521 contacts.  He also operated via satellite during the Easter Island XR0Y DXpedition making 431 QSOs with 41 countries, uplink 70 cm, downlink 2 meters.  He was part of the group who made the first 6 meter EME contact from Easter Island.   Max’s E-mail address is:  [email protected].
    I returned to my hotel to rest but I got a call from Manuel XE1JRI that he found another ham willing to be photographed. I could not miss the opportunity, Manuel came over and drove me to Roberto XE1NDN, an orthopedist.  A family of four, all hams!  Roberto XE1NDN was licensed in 1990; his wife Marisa XE1IRF, a kindergarten teacher, licensed in 1992; his daughter Mariza XE1JVF, a university student studying business administration, licensed in 1992; and son Roberto XE1JRS, a salesman, licensed also in 1992.  I have noticed the tendency in many families to give the children the same first names the parents have.
   Roberto XE1NDN was saying that he has to have three jobs to support his family.  I told him that in the US the medical doctors make quite a lot of money, and the best season for orthopedists is winter when people slip and fall on ice, and break some bones.  In Mexico there is little chance for ice.  “Oh - said Roberto - Santa Patineta takes care of us, orthopedists!” referring to accidents caused by children riding roller skates.
   Here I found hams acting more like CBers; no logs, no QSLs, only short distance contacts mostly with friends, without trying to extend their radio communications to far away places in other countries.  Again the unjustified excuse was that they don’t speak foreign languages.  Roberto XE1NDN has a computer but does not uses it to it’s full capabilities, for example to log his QSOs.  After taking their pictures I returned to my hotel wishing I could go home but according to my schedule and airline tickets I had two more days to stay.

   Sunday.  In the morning I went with Theodoro XE1YQQ and Rosa XE1YQR to a big market which had two distinct sections: one with the usual new clothing; and the other one, a real flea market with genuine antiques which I have rarely seen in other places.  I did not buy anything but it was fun to look at them.
  In the afternoon, all three of us went to Palacio de Bellas Artes, 4-5 blocks from my hotel, and saw four very well executed and imaginative modern dances presented by the Compania Nacional de Danza.  I specially like the ballet created to the music by Georges Bizet, on the theme of Carmen.  It was fantastic.  The best seat in the house costs about $14.00.
    The Palace of Fine Arts, an architectural masterpiece, had a painting exhibition with the works of Diego Rivera, his wife Frida Kahlo, Siqueros, Orozco, and other great Mexican classics.

   Monday.  The end of my trip was approaching.  I did the last minute shopping and I took everything I bought to Theodoro’s hardware store where they were packed in two cardboard boxes and later taken to my hotel.
   During the last few days I was sick of the spaghetti I have eaten almost daily,  I did not want to adventure in typical Mexican food, so I bought in the market bread, cheese, tomatoes, and that I ate three times a day.
   I noticed some peculiarities in Mexico City.  The subway which has a very extensive network, is very cheap: 1.5 peso which comes to 18 cents.  However the highway tolls are much too expensive; going to Cuernavaca we paid 50 pesos each way for about an hour drive.
   On the streets of Mexico City, in special in the business districts, there are men with red flags, some with a large letter E, others without it, or just with a piece of rag, jumping around and waving their flags to get the attention of the drivers and attract them to their parking garages; the letter E stands for Estacionamiento.
   Buses and minibuses have often a man standing in the open front door yelling out the route and inviting passengers to get on.
   The traffic is tremendous and noisy, impatient drivers blast their horns, cops are blowing their whistles, scores of cars are crossing the intersections after the lights turn red.

   Tuesday.  I took a whole day tour going to Puebla and the pyramid of Cholula.  Puebla has 3 million inhabitants.  There we visited the Hidden Convent of Santa Monica filled to the rim with religious paintings and carvings.  Only on the two tours I have taken I went to so many churches, chapels and convents, I bowed my head in front of so many crosses and lots of various saints that I believe that I should be entitled for a place in Heaven.
   As usually, the guide took us to a “factory,” this time to a “Talavera ceramic factory.”  During my travels when I took tours I was taken to many-many “factories” but never saw a worker; the “factories” were just stores only for foreign tourists where the guide gets a commission on everything his group buys, and that makes the prices higher than if you shop by yourself.
  Another bit of information:  for absolutely the same tour, various travel agencies charge different prices.  For example I found three brochures of three agencies asking for the above tour $35.00, $43.00, and $46.00.  Why I say that is the same tour?  Because instead of sending three buses with three drivers and three guides, they combine everybody in a single bus, no matter where you booked the tour and how much you paid.  I paid $43.00 (silly me) and the guy sitting near me paid $35.00.  So, collect all the tour brochures you can find, decide on a tour, and book the cheapest one.

   Wednesday.  I had return tickets for an afternoon flight but I went to the airport early in the morning, changed my tickets for an earlier flight.  I kind of finished my job, ran out of money, and it was very hot; I was anxious to get home.
   At the Dallas/Ft.Worth airport I had to pass immigration and customs and change planes.  I was the lucky winner of perhaps a random selection by the customs officials and they checked not only all my three pieces of luggage, but also I had to hand them my jacket for inspection.  They examined carefully even the books I was carrying: DX-Aku, Messages from the Easter Island Expedition; and VK0IR; both by KK6EK, received as gifts from Luis XE1L.
   I  believe it was not a routine customs inspection.  Initially I had the intention to take a side trip to Cuba to visit some hams, and that is forbidden because of the embargo.  I told about this to a couple of people.  Perhaps words got around and the authorities were waiting for me.  I certainly do not match the profile of a smuggler, and they could have brought their sniffing dogs to check me out.  But the dogs wouldn’t find any proof that I was in a forbidden place.  For that sniffing people were needed.  Let me express my restrained opinion about the embargo: it is completely useless, and is restricting the freedom of US citizens to travel wherever they want.

   I truly enjoyed the trip despite of the unusually hot weather.  I met really nice amateurs and non amateurs alike.  Mexico has everything and even more than one can expect on a vacation.  And you don’t even have to cross the pond to get there; it is right behind our backyard.