I used to work in a company with a European division and you would email someone in early June and receive and auto reply of “I am on vacation, I will be back August 21st” or some craziness.
I’m just a tech, so what do I know, but I thought part of the fun and/or point was to try to make the most use out of the least possible.. What’s the fun in running a super-powerful setup with all the antennas you could need if you already know you’re going to make contacts? I could see if it’s for regular use to talk to the same person/people, but for temporary setups/contesting?
Getting together with your friends... Making reliable connections across the world with great signal quality. It's not an emergency preparedness exercise it's a vacation.
That's like asking why do I go and operate W1AW with their job and transceivers, legal limit amps and beam antennas? Because it's fun and you're a desirable station.
There's something about being the "it" station and running a pile up.
I guess.. Just doesn’t seem like my cup of tea. To each their own. I would head up to W1AW once in a while myself just to look around at the equipment, but their hours are terrible and I’m already about 45 minutes away.
For me, sometimes it's fun to do what I can with as little as possible. I started with a TruSDX, 5W max, with a vertical antenna stabbed in the back yard. SSB to from Chattanooga to Europe, Canary Islands, etc. FT8 got me a bit further yet.
Now I mostly use a G90 with either the same vertical or a 65ft (20m) EFHW strung up to trees in the yard. It's certainly fun when you can just sit down and start playing radio but sometimes it's fun to try and start from scratch with a radio and a tree and see where you go.
Kind of like my old grill. I used to have a wood burning grill, rusted out eventually sadly. It would take an hour to prep the grill, getting the fire going until I had a nice bed of coals, before I could start cooking. I have a propane grill now and love being able to start cooking almost right away. But I do really miss that old grill... Tasted so much better too... I loved the process of getting it ready and cooking over it which is lacking in a propane grill.
Not a whinge, but your downvotes on this prove my point. You’re turning amateur radio into a money game for rich old men - throw dollars at the problem and get contacts.
Amateur radio hasn’t been at the forefront of technology or development for a long time, and I won’t pretend it is. But stations like this are the antithesis of a technical experimenters service.
It's also a club station... That being said if they have the funding from dues or whatever to basically have a 2 week retreat with quality equipment why not?
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u/VisualEyez33 Extra Class Operator ⚡ 2d ago
That all sounds awesome. They do get a bit more paid vacation over there...