SKY FEST 2000
- Details
- Category: Contest Stories
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The author from his guest villa on the Mediterranean |
Other guest speakers who were in attendance were, David Sumner, K1ZZ, Vice-President ARRL, and Secretary of IARU. Dave delivered a presentation on where the ARRL sees amateur radio heading in the year 2000. He also discussed a road map of where the league will be taking US amateur radio with the direction of its membership. With the FCC de-emphasizing Morse code, the league’s membership believes that this should not be an indication of the dumbing down of amateur radio. So a self certifying program is on the way to establish a procedure that US hams can demonstrate proficiency in not only Morse, but also in technology. This is being established at the ARRL and "experts" are being asked to contribute if not to head up various elements of this program.
John Devoldere, ON4UN and president of the UBA, presented two technically excellent discussions of "De-mystifying Radials" and "Beverage Antennas". John’s discussion was well received and can be reviewed in his new "Low Band Dxing" book.
John was also awarded the QST Cover Award by Dave Sumner for his article on "The 1999 Solar Eclipse and Amateur Radio" appearing in the Jan, 2000 issue of QST. John was very surprised and pleased with the award. He spoke about how much work and effort went into this research by the team of the Belgium IARU (UBA).
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John, ON4UN being presented QST Cover Award by Dave, K1ZZ |
I delivered my presentation on "Stacking HF Yagi Antennas" and was indeed pleased with the amount of understanding and in-depth questions that were asked of me after the presentation and during the rest of SkyFest. These YU hams really have some large towers and antennas systems already in place and planned for the future.
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Jay, WX0B president of Array Solutions at the Podium discussing Stacked Yagis |
Matjaz Vidmar, S53MV, AMSAT phase 3D co-author and microwave expert, discussed several technological improvements being implemented at the university where he teaches in Slovenia. He delivered a very detailed and technical article on the Micro-wave analyzer they are building for the engineering lab there. There is an amazing amount of energy and research being done there to develop these tools.
Mario Miletic, S56A who is the WRTC 2000 marketing manager discussed the latest in the WRTC competition slated for later this year, and the latest information on the new DSP radio trend. As many of you know Mario is an active contester, and software guru. He has been experimenting and developing DSP hardware and software for quite some time. His CW contesting robot is already a legend in its own time.
Later, during the SKY Contest Clubs' business meeting, Mario S56A was elected as President of the Club for this year. Ranko, YT6A who was president was elected CEO or Contest Executive Officer, and Kele YU1AO was elected Marketing Manager.
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Ranko, YT6A 1999 President SCC leading the business meeting. |
There was also a session on the status of 4O6A and Contesting status within YU given by Ranko, YT6A and YU1AO. The very large 4O6A station is temporarily on hold, since its mountain top location is now occupied by the YU military. Ranko sees normalization coming soon and access to the facility will not be effected. The Sky Contest club is building two additional large sites, one near the Albanian border on the beach with a salt water path to EU and US. Another large station is planned at 5B4. At this writing, a 120 foot rotating tower is already on its way to that location via ship.
The Hamfest was held in a large convention center on the shoreline. They had a display area where we were given backdrops and tables to set up our displays. Other exhibitors were Yaesu, Prosis Tel(Big Boy Rotors), ON4UN books, ARRL books, Array Solutions, Sky-Sat (dealership for many ham oriented products), and SKY Contest Club. I may have omitted a few in exhibitors in this list so please forgive me.
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| Convention Center | Greeters at the door of SKYFEST 2000, also YT6A and K1ZZ just arriving |
One small corner of the exhibitor area, catches ON4UN selling Array Solutions ... thanks John! |
After each of the two days of meetings an informal dinner and social event was held each evening. The food was wonderful and and entertainment was also provided by the club. Local dancing and music was featured, and a good time was had by all. I personally enjoyed meeting all the attendees, and had many late night discussions on contesting, antennas, and some politics. I along with the other U.S. and other western European attendees learned how to do some of the traditional dancing as well.
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Dance Troop from Herceg Novi entertained us at night |
I wish to thank the SKY Contest Club, Ranko and Kele, and my many new friends from YU for inviting me to attend the SKYFEST meeting. I also wish to thank them for the honor of bestowing membership into their club to me. I know that Dave, K1ZZ and John, ON4UN feel the same.
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The SKY Contest Club 2000
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Coastal view near Herceg Novi |
I had every bit as good a time in Montenegro as Jay suggests in his article. If there are any limits to Ranko, YT6A's hospitality, they weren't in evidence during my all-too-brief visit. Pictures cannot capture the beauty of the Bay of Kotor -- it has to be experienced.
Dave K1ZZ
We are very gratefull to Jay, Dave, John, Matjaz, Mario, Gianni, and other speakers, for introducing YU hams to their excellent and very valuable presentations about various subjects. Everyone is satisfied with the way they all presented their work, and learned a lot for just one weekend. The digests will be posted soon at our web page www.ham.sky-sat.com, for more consumers. We are looking forward of seeing you too, next time. Meanwhile, you will have a chance to arrange your presentations for the next meeting, during WRTC2K in Bled, this July.
73 Kele YU1AO