HAGAL INTERNATIONAL

July 2000 Vol. 14 No.7

 

Israel Ham News

by Ahron Kirschner 4X1AT andRon Gang 4X1MK

TO FRIEDRICHSHAFEN AND BACK

It was my 17 participation, in the last 18 years, at that great gathering of Radio Amateurs from all over the world at Friedrichshafen, at the shores of Lake Constance in South/West Germany. Only the Hamfest at Dayton in Ohio in the States can boast a larger attendance.But then theHam-Radio in Germany is ‘the’ event in Europe, with about twenty thousand visitors. It is takes place every year duringthe last weekend in June. 

Arriving in Germany, the weather surprised us with temperatures of 38 (!!!) degrees Centigrade. My car is staying, during the all of the year, in shed near the town of Duesseldorf, without number plates. A friend of mine, Eberhard Warnecke DJ8OT, brings the car, just ahead of our arrival, to the licensing authorities. Thus the first day, with that extreme temperature, I drove the car, without air conditioning, for over 600 kilometers. At the end of that journey we were really exhausted, but we were already looking for the next day and I the fair.

The Ham-Radio is held in the Halls of the ‘Bodensee-Messe’ in the town where in previous years, and now again, the well known Zeppelins were built.

At this point we have to point out that the IARC has there, for the last 10 years, a stand and visitors are invited to view the achievements of the Israeli hams and treat themselves at the same time with a little cup of Israeli wine and do taste some dates. Many a time the same visitors pay our stand a secondvisit to get another cup of our excellent wines and dates. 

This years stand was organized and put up by DL2FDP Tomy Grunfeld, with .the help of our two Dutch friends and members of IARC: PA3AJW Yacob and PA3BMQ RONALD. These two also dismantled everything at the end. The people who helped most of the time and stood behind the counter were again our friend from the Netherlands, 4X6OL Shushi (my XYL), 4X1DF Amnon and 4Z4KX Mark, 4Z5IS Eli and 4X6PZ Michael did show up every day for a few minutes but did represent our society at all the various official and unofficial meetings that are held every year in the framework of the Ham-Radio. . There also were many other Israeli amateur, some with their wives, who attend this year’s Ham Radio, and stayed behind the counter of our stand for some periods of time. (Joesph Obstfeld 4X6KJ had been to Friedrichshafen only for a few minutes and had to leave urgently for the Netherlands for a family funeral).

The Ham-Radio has changed in those 18 last years. In the main hall, most of the commercial exhibitors/dealers, we met that many years ago, are still offering their Radio Amateur equipment for sale.All the big producer of Radio Amateur equipment are still represented as well, but do not sell there goods but refer interested buyers to the dealers on site.The range of equipment is enormous and people are leaving the fair grounds packed with catalogues and goodies.

There is also a hall for a ‘Flea Market’ and one can find plenty of old, second hand equipment. There is an unbelievable interest by hams to buy parts for building equipment as well as for collectors items.

The main change are, that in recent years, the introduction of computers, who are nowadays part of our normal life. Many hams use the internet on a every-day basis. If it is the‘Packet Cluster’ or just the checking various callsigns for forwarding addresses.Even the HaGal International can be readon the Web Site of IARC. Thus one section of the fair is dedicated to this equipment. Though, that is my impression, that one of the main items on sale are substitution inks for the color-printers or clones of the entire ink cartridges but at a substantially cheaper price as the originals. 

But it is not only buying and selling at this meetings,but also very interesting lectures are held on Amateur relates subjects. Lectures that keep the ham abreast with the latest developments in Radio Communication, the way we want our fellow hams to be and are also the main ingredient of being a true Radio Amateur.

One of the highlights of this year’s Ham Radio was an reception, for officially invited guests, to a dinner, given by the directory of the Messe AG. at the Zeppelin Museum, to commemorate the 25^th anniversary of Ham-Radio being held at the fair grounds at Friedrichshafen.The guest received a guided tour through this most unorthodox built and most interesting arranged museum (which is a must for all who come to this town!), followed by an excellent dinner.There was also enough time for speeches of members of the foreign delegations, who could extend some presents to the leadership of the DARC, and some decorations by the Messe AG. to exhibitors who attended all the Ham-Radios. In the name of the IARC, and due to unfortunate absence of 4X6KJ, Amnon Bar-Giora 4X1DF presented the gift to the German Club and in his speech pointed out that if we intend that Amateur Radio will also be a hobby for the future, we all have to dedicate ourselves and educate our youth toward this hobby.

One of the aspects my wife and me for attending through so many years is using the fair as a meeting place with hams we have spoken to for many years. We are friends ‘over the air’ for long periods of time and are anxious to meet these ‘voices’ for an ‘Eyeball QSO’.So we do encounter many old time QSO partners, some for the first time or others whom we are meeting regularly and do take upon themselves very long journeys just to meet us. 

Thus the Ham-Radio is for my XYL and me like a huge magnet that is pulling us to Friedrichshafen for the last eighteen years and, who knows, for how many years to come.

A NEW WORLD RECORD ON 10 GHZ.WAS ACHIEVED FROM ISRAEL

On June 25, at 16.51 UTC, two German Radio Amateurs wrote a little piece of history, by breaking a long standing distance record for communication on 10GHz. 

DJ4AM Dieter Doerfler, staying in the upper floor of theResidence Hotel in Netanya, Israel managed to contact his friend DJ3KM Adalbert Kaufmann at that time on the Italian island of Lampedusa, in the Mediterranean Sea, 2079 kilometers away,. from the Maidenhead square KM72KH in Israel to the square JM65HM on the Africanisland of Lampedusa IOTA AF-019. The QSO lasted for about an hour.Thus they broke the previous 30.12.94 recurd of 1912 Km achieved by VK6KZ/p and VK5NY/p.who beamed their signals over the Tasmanian Sea..

The equipment used by both parties was identical, it consisted of a transverter designed by DL1RQ and built at his laboratory near Bavarian Forest. Both had dish antennas with a diameter of 60 centimeters with a calculated gain of 33db. The output power used was only 5 Watts. 

They made lengthy calculations, with the aid of maps and GPSs to get the angel to point for right. Those dishes have an opening angle of about a single degree only, so any miscalculation would result in failure. But the did succeed and their record claimed.!

DJ4AM, Dieter as well as DJ3KM Adalbert are members of a group hams dedicated entirely to SHF activities.Dieter is spending a lot of time, which he, as a pensioner, fortunately posses. In fact it is not only timebut these undertakings is also very costly, thus Dieter has to pay everything out of his own pocket. 

Back in 1997 the entire group together with others hams, were all around the western shores of the Mediterranean Sea. to checkfor possible sites and propagation patterns. One of its members, DJ8CY Guenter Koenig, gave Dieter and his colleague valuable advises for worthwhile locations and Israeli hams who could give a helping hand. That way Dieter met with Tommy Gruenfeld DL2FDP and the chairman of IARC Joseph Onstfeld 4X6KJ, who supplied Dieter with a letter for the Israeli Customs, in case that there were any questions to be answered about the equipment he brought along.

Some time back Dieter was in Israel for two weeks, looking for, and finally choosing, a specific room at a specific floor at the ‘Residence Hotel’, near the Mediterranean shore, in Netanya, about 30 km north of Tel-Aviv.He thought that only this will lead him to a successful operation, and indeed it paid off.But success does not come easily. He has now been 21 days in Israel and managed only once to establish contact. 

DJ4AM, Dieter Doerfler will be leaving for Germany on July 17.2000.He assured us that this wouldn’t be his last visit to our country, for sure he is going to aim for greater, record breaking, distances in the future.Once a bug like this has bitten a true Radio Amateur he will keep on running.Many of us do much more talking on the various bands than fiddling around with our equipment. With Dieter it is just the opposite. He does posses the true ‘Ham-Spirit’, which we all envy him for.We, the Israeli hams do wish him and his colleges more success in the future.