THE HOLYLAND CONTEST 2000

On the 16^th and 17^th of this past month, the presence of our small land was felt once again on the high-frequency amateur bands. Leading up to these dates, contest manager Mark Stern 4Z4KX had been busy badgering, pleading and beseaching the 4X/4Z ham community to tweak their transceivers, muster their mikes, polish their paddles and activate their antennas.

World hamdom had been alerted in due time, and as the countdown culminated, scores of Israeli stations surfaced, and began working the pileups. This month, your faithful reporters, who both took part in this 24 hour madness, relate their personal experiences……..
 
 

from the shack of 4X1MK:

Last year I had put up a 2 element quad prior to the contest, and it had given a good accounting of itself. Sunday being a work-day, I did work the contest jockeying around my working times, but still went to the “salt mines”. This year, I decided to commit myself in a more serious manner, and arranged to take vacation leave on the Sunday of the contest.

I am still of the opinion that this contest should take place on Saturday, our one free day off work. As we had done in the Israel 40^th Anniversary Contest 12 years ago, a special category would be created for those observant Jewish hams operating only after the Sabbath. Thus we could ensure greater 4X/4Z participation since the vast majority of Israeli hams operate their stations on the Sabbath anyway, and cannot afford to take hard-earned vacation leave.

A few days prior to the contest , I measured out 160 metres of wire and stretched a long horizontal loop between the quad’s tower to three other supports. Fed with twin balanced coaxes and a homebrew tuner, I reckoned that this sky-hook would give me a fighting chance on the lower bands. I photocopied 40 blank contest-log pages (and in the course of the contest, found I had to request of Esti, my dear and tolerant wife, to go and photocopy me a few more), cleared all the debris from the operating table and got ready to roll.

With hindsight, I now realise that my lack of real contesting experience and strategy put me at a definite disadvantage. Working in the mixed category, I used CW. But alas, I employed a manual keyer, and did my logging on paper. I later learned from the serious people that the way to go is to hook up a computer to the radio. This way, you just type in your contact’s call letters once, and the computer transmits the contest exchange and logs it in. Another seasoned DXer and contester told me that he was connected to DX-cluster spots on the Internet throughout the contest. So whenever a rarer station would appear on the computer screen, he’d QSY to its frequency and snag another rmultiplier. Some will question if this is true single-operator style, as the use of a spotter person is generally considered to be part of a multi-operator effort, so this question should be resolved. But I make excuses for my lower score… let’s get on with the story……

I opened up on 10 metres SSB, worked the pile-up dry, and then went to CW, until that dried up. Then I went down to 15 metres, with the same tactic on SSB and then CW. Next was 20, and again the same pattern. Conditions were good on these higher bands, but I was itching to see how the horizontal loop faired on the lower bands. 40 metres yielded many contacts on CW but fewer on SSB. 80 metres yielded me more SSB contacts than CW. I went down to 160 a few times, but no answers to my CW CQ’s and only a few Russian-language QSOs were in progress between 1850-1900 KHz and they did not respond to my English language attempts to break in. Only after trying to spread the word to contest contacts on the higher bands, it was “arranged” to hold 160 metre QSOs at 0200 UTC. This yielded 9 QSOs, the farthest away from Norway, so I guess the loop did work on the “top band”. Returning to 20 metres for sunrise, it was a beautiful feeling being greeted “good morning” by so many stations after having been up the whole night and seeing the sunrise. But after a while, when I blinked my eyes, they didn’t open very quickly and I started missing callsigns. No choice but to go and crash out on the couch – and I was totally blacked out for 2 hours.

Making a strong Turkish coffee, it was back to the shack. 15 metres was coming back to life, and 10 metres followed suit. Plenty of contacts, but near noon, probably from the tension and lack of sleep, a throbbing headache developed, made worse by the CW clanging my cranium clamped inside the earphones. A usually strong “Acamol Forte” tablet didn’t seem to help, and I had to abandon the CW, as this was becoming real torture. Lunchtime, and then back to the shack. All the time more QSO’s, but at 3 PM I had to take a break and drive my wife into town for a doctor’s appointment. An enforced and begrudged recess, but sitting in the waiting room, I closed my eyes and began the TM relaxation technique. The drive home felt like I was flying, and back in the shack I was refreshed, wide awake, and the CW no longer bothered me, fortunately. The remaining 4 hours went smoothly, and the last hour was spent with the quad pointing to the far east looking for multipliers. Only after reviewing my log, did I realise that the 4W I worked was not Yemen (who I don’t think work Israel anyway), but the new country of East Timor.

The next day, I talked to some contest veterans, and learned the error of my ways. I had missed an incredible all-night opening on 10 metres to all parts of the USA including Hawaii. I had possibly wasted too much time digging into the noise of 160 and 80 metres for a very slow contact rate on those bands. I should have used a computer to aid in logging and CW operation, and under the present rule loopholes, the packet-cluster spotting would have definitely added multipliers easily.

Nonetheless, after eliminating the duplicate contacts, my tally was just over 1200 QSOs, I guess not all that bad for a ragchewer who doesn’t even know what his DXCC country tally is. Even though I had experienced some pain, there was a feeling of satisfaction. I knew I had done my part in creating a massive Israeli presence on the bands. Some of the stations abroad contacted gave me a QSO number of over 300 near the end of the contest, indicating that there were enough 4X/4Z stations to be worked. Band conditions had been quite good, although a minor solar flare hurt conditions to the northern latitudes half-way into the contest. A lot more North American stations were worked this time than last year. I think a lot of us asked the Europeans to stand by from time to time so we could hear farther away stations.

A few days later, pondering the deeper significance of this exercise in sleep deprivation and endurance, I wondered to whom the praise should really go. Should it be some serious DXers who pulled off some stupendous scores? Maybe.

But then it hit me, that the grand prize should go to Mark Stern 4Z4KX, the contest manager. Yes, year after year, he has been publicising the contest, collecting the logs, checking them, and presenting us with a beautiful booklet detailing the scores of all participants, as well as posting it all on the Internet. I remember all the work involoved and time spent when 4X6KJ and I co-ordinated the Israel 40^th anniversary contest. Never again, I said. Yet Mark has kept it up for years, and I wish to tip my straw hat in his diection, and say, “Kol hakavod (all the honour), Mark!”
 
 
 
 

THE HOLYLAND CONTEST AND MORE by 4X1AT

Every year, just ahead of the ‘Holyland Contest’. The big question arises: Will there be enough participation from the Israeli amateurs? Or, will there be many foreign amateurs on the bands, interested to work within the framework of this contest?

Friends told me that this is one of the very few contests were participants from all over the world have to work hams from a single country – not a big country at that and with a limited number of active radio amateurs.

But in actual fact, the number foreign participants is growing steadily and so are their Israeli counterparts. True, this particular contest gives many hams from all over the world the opportunity to work sufficient squares in the Holy Land, thus enabling them to apply for the Holyland Award. As many of you know, the Holy Land is divided, according to a special map that can be acquired, into squares of ten by ten kilometers a well as 26 different districts. To apply for the basic Holyland Award one has to have spoken to amateurs from at least 100 different squares located in a minimum of 13 districts.

It can’t be denied, this award is unique in its size and looks. In many homes of radio amateurs this most beautiful award is hanging in their living room and not in their shack . If you have seen the award at any other amateur’s home you get immediately attracted to it, thus starting to work it. It is definitely not a weekend project. One has to work this award for at least a few months to gather the required squares for the basic award. For a award, completed with the 10 additional stickers, it will take many a time more than the period of one year. But again we have to point out that this award is, as it seems. The best looking award of them all!

Coming back to the contest itself. We have to point out the various amateurs who came to Israel on the special purpose to participate from the Israeli side. There were this year three. One of them a very old friend to Israel PA3AJW, Jakob van Zoest from Aalsmeer who was here for the last four years running. This year he positioned himself near the Lake of Galilee. Then we had DF2CK, Rico Schurig from Grossroehrsdorf, a village that had been previously East Germany, who, from his own country, last year managed to the achieve highest ever score. On arrival in Israel for this event, he first received his trophy for last year’s contest, from the hands of the Israeli contest manager Mark Stern 4Z4KX. All this during the monthly session of the council of IARC were he was greeted by all the members of the ‘vaad’. Pictures were taken, hands were shook and an address was given by the chairman Joseph Obstfeld 4X6KJ. So Rico came this year to operate from ‘The other Side’. He operated from the Club station of Mikve Israel 4X4MIS with the special callsign 4Z3M. He was quite successful making over 2200 QSOs in mixed mode, CW and SSB. During his stay he managed another feat too . He succeeded to work the basic ‘Holyland Award’, mobile from his rented car! Driving criss cross through Israel, fulfilling requests from hams abroad, to access special squares, Rico worked from more than the required 100 squares in 13 districts. All in all his visit was for him the fulfillment of a dream. With him came another German Thomas Franke DL1DVE, who was the driver Rico’s car, thus also achieving the requirements for the mobile worked award . During the contest he was active too, and worked mobile from the car with the call 4X/DL1DVE.

All together more than 100 Israelis were active during the contest. The propagation conditions were very good and our hams were called from many foreign countries, previously not participating in the Holyland Contest. Thus good scores were achieved on all the bands, from 160 meters up to 10 meters. In one of the next issues of ‘HaGal International’ we will give some of the comparative results from previous and this year’s contest.

There is only one problem, if viewed by most of the Israeli amateurs, is the question of the dates and hours of contest. In Israel, as we are Jewish, the weekend is from Friday evening to Saturday evening. Therefore for many Israeli hams the operation on Sunday, a normal working day in Israel, means loosing a complete working day. The reason for the operation from Saturday night at 1800 UTC till Sunday 1800 UTC is manly a religious one. So the IARC will have to decide if this situation could be carried on. They will have to check who many religious amateurs do participate from inside Israel as well as from abroad. The council will decide.       de 4X1AT
 
 
 
 

A FEW MORE ITEMS………..

*** It turns out that a number of 4X-resident IARC members who don’t read Hebrew are dependent on this semi-official newsletter as their source of information, and we’ve been unwittingly letting them down. So…

*** To the best of our knowledge, it will be a few more months before the new licences will be ready. If you wish your photograph to appear on your plastic “credit-card” licence, please send a clear passport-type photo to 4X6KJ, and colour is fine. Bear in mind that this service is available for dues-paying IARC members, so if you’re to cheap to pay club dues, then deal with the Ministry of Communications yourself.

*** The High-Speed Packet (HSP) network continues to grow. Unfortunately we know little about it, and haven’t been able to spend the time to research the topic, but will be happy to publish any info received on the subject.

*** Coming up this Israel Independence Day --- the inland IARC VHF-UHF contest. 9 AM to 1 PM local time, Thursday May the 10^th, on 2 metres and 70 centimetres. All modes are allowed, but only one contact between stations per band. Contest exchange is signal report and Holyland square. Points are awarded as the total number kilometres spanned by all QSOs, which can be calculated by means of a neat little programme downloaded from www.iarc.org/contest. With plenty of categories – fixed UHF-VHF, fixed VHF only, fixed UHF only, portable stations, mobile stations, multi-op VHF-UHF, and SWL’s, there should be enough trophies available for almost everybody! Again, the credit goes to contest co-ordinator 4Z4KX for keeping this one going all these years.

*** Our last few rantings about piracy on the FM broadcast band would give the impression that the festivities continue undisturbed. But a small item in the newspaper reported the police closing seven illegal stations in the south. The stations sported a wide spectrum of political and ethnic content, so apparently no favourites were being played.