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Santiago de Cuba founded in 1514, is the capital city of the province of the same name. It is Cuba's second city of importance and was declared "Heroic City of the Republic of Cuba", because of its contribution to national independence.
CQ-WW-160M - SSB Contest, February 28 to March 1 The ride in the car bounced us through the streets of Santiago de Cuba, then east along the south coast. Once we turned onto big rock road, it was very obvious that we were climbing up a mountain with sharp switch-backs and steep grades that made Don drop down to first gear for much of the 17 kilometer trip. Near the top, the road follows a narrow ridge with the Valley of Santiago to the west and the Valley of Guantanamo to the east. For excitement, we came across rocks, pot holes, and sink holes, with the occasional steer, goat, or pig wandering about the roadway. Arriving at our destination, we unloaded the car. With Edil, Juan, and Victor taking the lead, I followed Don with his flashlight, past an enormous diesel generator, and down a very steep slippery narrow path... into a ravine. I was totally LOST! Climbing down nearly a hundred meters, we passed by a small dimly lit cabin. The path turned abruptly and another dwelling came into view. CQ contest, CQ contest from Tango-Four-Eight-Romeo-Alpha-Charlie came pouring through the walls. I had arrived!
At the end of one of these rooms, a pile of stone and gravel hid in a shadow indicating that some work was in progress. An open back door revealed more dark shadows.
A Kenwood TS830S transceiver was at the operating position, supported by an SWR/power meter on the feedline. A 386 computer was set up for logging contacts and controlling the packet radio TNC for forwarding the log data back to the University of Oriente and an internet tie to the Kitchener-Waterloo Radio Club web site in Waterloo Ontario. When logging activity waned, Edil insisted that I sit down at the computer and send a message back home. Something that I was only too glad to do. By 4:00 AM, contacts were few and unrelenting static crashes made operating tedious. Outside I discovered a grove of banana trees under the 160 meter uni-pole wire antenna that Don and the others had worked so hard to set in place the previous day. Above all this, with only the strangely uncommon sounds of crickets, frogs, whatever; soured a sky totally be-jeweled by the brightest stars I ever witnessed. Two hours later the sun gave me my first glimpse of where I was. A look up the ravine made me wonder how I ever made my way down in the dark. About the path were banana, guava, fern, palm, coffee, and mango trees to name a few. And plants with leaves and flowers of tropical beauty. Since I did not get any sleep that night, Don and I headed up the ravine to the car and a spectacular trip down the mountain to the resort where a comfortable bed awaited. Guess there would be no time to sip drinks by the pool or swim, as we were to head back to the big rock in the afternoon. Late Saturday afternoon, back on the mountain, the noise on the radio seemed to be too persistent and Don felt that there was a problem with the transceiver. The operators took turns at filling the log, but contacts did not come easily. About 7:00 PM, Victor announced that we were going to have supper at the house directly up the ravine from us... we were going to have a typical Cuban meal. OOh, Boy... as David likes to say when confronted by the unexpected.
Saturday night I got a little more much needed sleep at the resort and once again we set off early for the rock to help with tear-down. After a couple of trips over my now familiar path, I was getting adventurous and wanted to head up the 600 steps that take you over the last leg to "La Gran Piedra" itself. But that was in the plan for next week when Gord would be with us.
ARRL - DX - SSB Contest, March 7 and 8 With Victor's help, we telephoned the Provincial Radio club headquarters, CO8RCB, in downtown Santiago to see if we could obtain their Henry 2K linear amp. With only a busy signal for assurance that someone was there, we headed downtown with Victor and pulled up in front of an old building on a very narrow street crowded with people and cars. Victor and I walked up two flights of well worn stairs to the door. To our dismay, no one answered. Victor called over the 2 meter repeater but we were out of luck and had to head back to the university.
Don noted that we had a problem with the linear as it needed an external relay to make it functional with a transceiver. So, after much discussion, Don explained that he could modify Bismark's pride and joy and received permission to add a relay to the back of the cabinet. David and I then carried the prized linear out to the street. After returning to CO8RCI, another telephone call assured us that someone would meet us at the Provincial Radio club. We quickly unloaded the linear and took off for downtown once again. The Provincial club has meeting and fully functional operating rooms for the enjoyment of the members. Upon returning to the university club station, we found the electricity cut, as had happened the previous day and wondered if our contest operating time might be restricted on the weekend. Thankfully this was not the case.
Eduardo CO8LY and CO8UZ, Luis CO8SA, and Jose CO2JA who had arrived earlier by train from Havana to participate in the contest. About this time, someone noticed that South American stations seemed very strong on the 20 meter beam. It was obvious. We forgot to swing the beam north as it is normally used as an HF packet gateway into Central and South America. As pile-ups appeared on 20, Don completed the modification to the homebrew linear to get it functional on 40. Later we called it a night, in the early morning, and let the T48RAC crew work some magic into the wee hours. It had been one very long, hectic, but rewarding day. Early Saturday morning we drove back to the university and found that the Cuban operators had a productive night but needed relief. For some reason 15 meters was not as hot as we had hoped, but then again we were not able to get the beam functional and had to rely on a dipole wire which appeared to perform poorly. 40 meters, which produced the most nighttime contacts, was typically noisy.
Sunday evening, 15 and especially 20 meters found new Five days later, the "amigos radioaficionados" met again at the airport. This time to see us off. Gord noted that we came as strangers, but left as friends comfortably lounging in the airport restaurant with a few drinks, exchanging thoughts on our exhilarating experiences with wishes of another visit next year when the spring radio contests are in bud.
On behalf of Don, Gord, and Joe, I
73
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Don, Edil CO8KL, Juan CO8OT, and Victor CO8HF. I knew Edil, Juan, and Victor from months of e-mail message exchanges in preparation for this trip. We quickly exchanged greetings and walked to our rental car for the trip to the contest site at La Gran Piedra or the big rock; aptly named as it is a massive rock that sits atop a mountain at 1234 meters, within the beautiful Sierra Maestra.
Upon entering, contesting stopped and Don warmly introduced me to the other No-Name DX Group members; Felix CO8DD, Juan Carlos CO8TW, David CM8DC, Rafael CO8PA, and Joe VE3SDN. Joe, who lives in Ottawa spends a lot of time in Cuba and has a working knowledge of Spanish. As the radio sprang to life again, I carefully looked about the room. The building was small, of concrete block and brick construction with the brick taking over where seemingly the block ran out. Block partitions formed rooms with no doors or curtains and above it all a single fluorescent lamp hung precariously from the ceiling. The roof was fashioned of, what resembled, asbestos concrete pipe sawn lengthwise to serve as tile; supported by wooden poles as joists. Windows consisted only of shutters, now closed to keep out the chill. Two of the rooms each had a mattress lying on the floor with one sporting a child's bunk bed. The bunk's mattresses were gone and it was being used as a shelf with numerous items like transformers, capacitors, and pieces of wire about.
Since Don must have noticed my puzzled composure, he explained that the dwelling was no longer being used as a home and was owned by Rafael, who was now living in town.
After greeting our hosts, I was asked to sit at the table where a plate was piled high with rice and beans, vine (which I later learned was Yucca plant), and pork with gravy. Most likely it was the pig that had been slaughtered earlier on Friday at our contest site in preparation for our stay. After eating we sat, talked, and laughed while sipping a fine cup of Cuban coffee.
As it happened a week later, we returned to the rock for a fascinating walk to the mountain top. At the base of the massive rock, the path resembles sections of the Bruce Trail along the Niagara Escarpment on the northern part of the Bruce Peninsula in Ontario. A climb to the top rewards you with a spectacular view of the Sierra Maestra and the large radar dome and tower used by the local airport. It is said that on a clear night you can see the lights of Jamaica 74 kilometers away.
The next task was to locate a second linear for the other transceiver at CO8RCI, an FT-80C, a commercial version of the Yaesu FT-747. So, Don, David, Victor and myself headed over to the home of Bismark CO8XW. His house, a tall stately white stucco dwelling is located on a quiet side street. A rap at the door, and we were ushered inside to meet Bismark and his family. Soon the radio equipment was fired up in his shack and coffee served. Bismark's equipment consists of a Russian military receiver and a modified transmitter. His linear is homebrew and I noticed that it sat on two very old Russian military packing cases. The whole room was a time warp back to the 40's.
Friday evening we returned once again to the university to pick up Edil, our guide. Then drove over to Dr. Luis Bello's place as he would again help us with equipment donations at customs, when we arrived at the Antonio Maceo airport to meet Gord VE3NQK. Antonio Maceo, born in Santiago de Cuba in the mid eighteen hundreds, was the most important military patriot in the War of Independence against the Spanish regime in the years 1868 through 1895. He died in battle near La Havana and is a national symbol of courage and heroic deed. An impressive monument of Antonio Maceo on horseback dominates Revolution Square in the heart of the city.
Upon arrival back at the university, the contest and our special call T48RAC was in action again. Gord was introduced to the others which now included Abel CO8VN,
vitality as everyone tried to get as many stations into their logs
before the close. Gord and I got our best chance to keep a run of stations going. Since 20 was providing me with as much excitement as I could handle, I kept going as Gord traded off with David, CM8DC on 15 (see picture). This frenzy continued up until the last few minutes when I found myself calling "CQ contest" to help maintain the momentum. I checked my watch... one minute to 23:59Z. What happened to my pile-up? The alarm beeped 00:00 and a great cheer went out as we started pulling the switches. After all the thumbs-up signals and handshaking, I left the room feeling euphoric and very satisfied. Stepped out onto the third floor balcony, looked out over the city then up towards the 20 meter beam and smiled... one of those great big, once-in-a-lifetime grins.
extend heartfelt appreciation to Edil, Victor and ALL the Cuban amateurs and others that we have come to know who went out of their way to be considerate, open, and gracious to us as visitors in their beautiful land.