IARU 2013 SN0HQ
The IARU HF Championship is the most social international contest because of the HQ category. The
most social contest in the USA is of course The ARRL Field Day, attracting probably more
participants than the IARU HF Championship, but on the other hand it is not a real contest. I had the
pleasure of visiting a few Field Day stations in California, and a few HQ stations during
the July world-wide event. This year I was cruising central Poland in July and dropped in to Jeremi,
SP7JQQ. He has been a member of the SN0HQ team for a few years now in spite of not having
a Big Gun station. Actually, his equipment is average and the antennas have always been modest and
of own construction.
The QTH of SP7JQQ is in a small village east of Kielce, the new hub of industry and trade in Central
Poland. The antennas are visible from the main road, if you know what you are looking for.
Coming closer, the antennas disappear behind the fruit trees. The highest item of the antenna farm is
a vertical pipe, the core of a 4-square array. There are antennas for all bands here, but
Jeremi has the best experience and greatest potential on 80 meters CW. So this was the "80 CW" main
station of the SN0HQ network in 2013. Single-band and single-mode contest entry is suitable
for a single operator as well. But this is also a social event so Jeremi always invites some friends to
join him. Some are more experienced, some are less experienced so gettting together is
also an opportunity to learn something.
Here are some pictures showing the informal and human atmosphere. Old fashioned approach to
contesting vs. computerized, efficiency-focused, maximized-score, robot-style modern competing.
Fortunately, there is place for both.
Saturday afternoon, one operator at the rig and three in the field.
SN0HQ 2013 80 CW at SP7JQQ. Operator Jeremi, SP7JQQ, second operator Pawel, SP7AH.
Operator shuffle at SN0HQ 2013 80 CW. From left: Andrzej, SP8LBK; Pawel, SP7AH; Darek, SQ7FPD.
The radio room of SP7JQQ is extremely small and narrow.
Sunday morning, still calling CQ but the rate is very, very low.
After the contest the team inspects the switching box of the 4SQ array. From left: SP7JQQ, SP8LBK,
SP7AH, SQ7FPD.
I have built many antennas here since I got my licence in 1976 - Jeremi, SP7JQQ.
Henryk Kotowski, SM0JHF
�2013
