This is the big day! WRTC2002 will start 1200 UTC with 52 OJ-calls on the air.
On the Bus with WRTC - #3 - 12 July 2002
Well, here I am back on the bus to Helsinki after a fast-paced couple of days at the Himos resort with all the other WRTC participants.
We are a little bit tired--some are dozing against the windows--but I think that mostly we are all anxious to get to our host's stations and get started.
The contest is now about 24 hours away.
I am a referee for the team of UA2FZ and RW3WR who will be operating from the home of OH2BAH, about 50 km northwest of Helsinki.
I have never met any of those gentlemen before. Except for many contest QSOs, of course.
The plan is for all of us to meet back at the hotel, drive to the host station, set up and then return to Helsinki.
We will then return the next morning and complete the preparations.
All of the WRTC stations have the same antennas--a triband beam for 20-10 meters with 2 elements on each band and a Windom antenna for 40-80.
The organizers have done a great job of getting 52 similar operating sites ready. They have installed antennas in addition to whatever the host may have already.
Some of the hosts have substantial stations--just as in previous WRTC's--but we will be unable to take advantage of the "Big Aluminum".
This is one of the interesting elements of the competition. Most of the competitors have done the bulk of their operating at top of the line stations or from rare QTH's.
Now they get to operate with most of the hardware- or callsign-related advantages removed.
How many will remember what it is like to operate with 100 watts and low antennas? We will see on Sunday night.
There has been a lot of discussion about the propagation we can expect and whether the "home field advantage" will tip the scales in favor of the Russian or Finnish teams.
So far, solar conditions look good, but the lack of deep darkness makes the low bands a big question to most teams.
This may be an advantage for regional competitors.
Since my team is from UA2 (between ES and SP) and Moscow, I will be watching with great interest to see if they can take advantage of their experience.
By the way, along with the WRTC participants, Himos is also home to the SRAL Summer Camp, which is roughly equivalent to an extended hamfest where hams come and camp out for many days.
Between the hotel and lake there are rows of campers and trailers, with wire antennas or verticals extending up and out into the trees.
Every cabin is either full of our WRTC group or with OH hams for the Summer Camp.
Several have trailers loaded with the same cross section of interesting equipment and--would you believe it--junk we find at US hamfests.
I suspect as we are leaving on Friday, our places are rapidly filling with Summer Camp inhabitants.
Let me describe Himos a little bit. North of Helsinki, the flat landscape begins to roll a little bit and then breaks into hills of a few hundred meters.
Lakes are everywhere and Himos is between a couple of the larger hills on the shore of a large lake. If you are looking for Himos on a map, it may be difficult to find.
Try looking for Jamsa, about 200 km directly north of Helsinki.
Himos is about 10 km northeast of Jamsa. The resort accomodates a few hundred in cabins, tents, and mobiles.
The forest and grass are deep green and not dried out in mid-summer at all. The lake water is clean and moderately cool, ideal for swimming and there are nearly always one or two Finns taking a dip.
You can also see some sauna inhabitants strolling outside to the water, cooling off, and returning to the heat. Some fish, some stroll, and in our case, some enjoy each other's company.
The final activity this morning, before lunch and breaking camp, was the selection of team callsigns and the introduction of the referees and hosts to the teams.
This is always the most dramatic moment before the contest as the referees receive a sealed envelope containing the special callsign, not to be opened until 10 minutes before the contest begins.
Each team captain was called to the front of the watching audience.
He selected an envelope from a long line laid out at the feet of the chief referee, Roger Western G3SXW.
The referee and host for the team were then announced and all three met for the first time in front of all of us. At the conclusion of 52 separate envelope selections, the competition is set. Everyone knows the who and where and when.
My next installment will come after the contest is all over. I will be monitoring each QSO of my team--all 24 hours worth. No sleeping for the referee!
We will meet back at the hotel and start the delicate process of executing "Howdjadoo?" See you then! Kiipis!
WRTC - World Radiosport Team Championship in Finland - July 9-16, 2002
© WRTC2002 Org. design: OH1NOA