The idea for ​​this expedition was born right in the first months of 2015 when my friend and travel companion IZ1DSH GerryÂ*, finally agreed to participate in a Dxpedition overseas, specifically in Cuba.
I had already been to Cuba several times, having a Cuban wife and in the past I had met Orelvis CO6LC, of whom I am now the QSL manager. So I began asking ORELVIS to try and arrange a DxpeditionÂ*.
Months went by and I got no response; the bureaucracy in Cuba is insane.Â*Meanwhile I downloaded from the Internet the rules of procedure of the FRC Federacion Radioaficionado Cubana and fortunately amongÂ* the various articles I found that only Cuban citizens can get a special callsign, but if it comes to special events such as contests or other activations of worldwide interest, you can designate a Cuban team member who will be in charge of the station and its callsign. Under these circumstances, foreign hams are allowed to operate .
Having overcome this hurdle, Â*I askedOrelvis to organize a teamÂ*for August 2015, which is typical holiday time for most Â*italians.
Speaking with Cubans, we then found out Â*that August is the worst month for propagation at those latitudes as we were to experience later !!!! They say the best months are from October to February ; in addition to better propagation, the noise is very low.
Meanwhile the months passed and I constantly urged my contact in Cuba to know whether my requested callsign had been accepted, but I got nothing, we were already in July, I urged him more and more nervously but nothing, only in late July they told me that I was assigned the callsign T46BC!Â*Hurray!!! Then I tried to get publicity also through DxCoffee, but people in Cuba told me that I had to wait .... Only on August 1st I was given permission to create the qrz.com page and inform the various Dx outlets.Â* The flight was scheduled on August 11 from Turin, Havana viaÂ*Â*Madrid. In 10 days there had already been 600 visit to the QRZ page... .not bad; there was some interest.
We arrived in Cuba really worried for our radio equipment. Â*Who knew what would have happened in Customs, you know, because of the embargo it is prohibited to import anything in Cuba. Imagine with radios that can be considered as a means of espionage.
Instead, waiting for us at the airport there was the PresidentÂ*of FRC, Mr. Pedro Rodriguez Perez CO2RP, who got us out of the customs in no time.
That was impressive when you think that no tourist except for the RussianÂ*T46RRC Team in 2013 had been able to transmit from Cuba, but they were in a 5 star hotel.
Concerning rigs, we brought an Alinco DX 70, LDG z11 pro, headphones with pedal PTT microphone, SWR meter and switching power supply only 1kg heavy!! The Cuban guys had prohibited me to bring a power supply because of the weight. They probably imagined a 30A unit of 25 kg!
Our antennas were a Spiderbeam for 10-15-20 meters, a single element VPA System Delta Loop especially built by our Polish friend for 10-15-20-17-24 6 meters bands! And two Array Solution phased vertical for 40 meters, which have turned out to be real beasts. The Cuban hams that were with us, said they had never heard such strong signals from ZL, VK, ZS, JA in 40 meters.!
The activity took place in two stages; we first got on the air from the CU 015 reference Lighthouse on an uninhabited island, where civilians had not set foot since 2008; the only people who live there are the two lighthouse watchmen who take 21 days shifts and two military guards having 16 days shifts. Cayo Bahia de Cádiz is a VERY Strategic point to minotor the nationals waters. It is actually the closest point to FLORIDA and this is why it is very supervised by the military, fearing that Cuban citizens escape to the USA !!!
Electric power was supplied only at night from 8 pm to 6 am. At daytime, we had to use generators!!! ahhh the inner part of the island can be reached only through a swampy path with a small rowing boat.
The 17 nautical mile distance from the main island is covered in 4 - 5 hours with a fishing boat !!!
From the lighthouse we also used vertical antennas, home made by the Cuban hams and dipoles for 80 and 160 meters !!
The second leg of the expedition took place right from Cayo Santa Maria NA 204 !!
Rigs, besides the Alinco DX 70, we YaesuÂ*FT 747 YaesuÂ*FT 757 GX, YaesuÂ*FT 80C !!! Old but working fine. I won't tell you how the Cuban hams admired the ALINCO; to them, it looked like one of the latest rigs, but it is indeed more than 20 years old!
We installed a real base camp with 5 tents, generators, cooking site and food, open air toilets, we were not missing anything. Except for women, we had everything!!! The sea, beautiful beaches, nature, radios, pile-ups !!!!
Ahh about the pile-ups, we used the split on one occasion, I must say that the operators were disciplined enough, best manners, Japanese nd Americans. Always patient before calling.
It goes without saying that the Americans got the lion's share, but Â*we worked more than 120 countries and Italy,Â*Â*followed by German and Spain.
A total of 7124 QSO's were made despite times when there was no propagation at all,Â* there were times when we did not hear anything.
The best experience was the brotherhood with the Cuban team that received us just like if we were long time friends,Â* true Ham Spirit, thanks to the full team of Santa Clara.
All photos are available on the qrz page and on the official facebook T46BC page, The on line Log is available on Club Log.
73 de RiccardoÂ*IZ1GDBÂ*
TRADUZIONE Fabrizion IU0BMP
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http://www.dxcoffee.com/eng/2015/10/...ba-italy-2015/