4A2Q is a special callsign that was used by a group of amateur radio operators from the small town of Imuris, in the Mexican state of Sonora, between approximately 0000 UTC 3 May 2003 and 1900 UTC 4 May 2003. 4A2Q was active on HF (CW, SSB, RTTY, and PSK31), as well as 3 OSCAR satellites (UO-14 using FM, FO-20 and FO-29 using CW - but only making satellite QSOs on UO-14). HF propagation was not great, we did not work a lot of DX, but had fun with many people traveling from 4 Mexican states (Baja California, Chihuahua, Sinaloa, and Sonora) plus visitors from the USA states of Arizona and California.
Why 4A2Q?
Many hams in northwest Mexico get together for an informal gathering every
May, and for the last couple of years these gatherings have been held at
Imuris. This year, to spice up the radio operating, some of the
operators planning to be at 4A2Q thought it would be
nice to have a special callsign for this weekend. The paperwork was
filed, and thankfully we heard from CoFeTel (Mexican Federal Telecommunications
Commission) approved the request for the 4A2Q call.
There is more information on how we obtained the 4A2Q call on another page, including a copy of the actual 4A2Q permit.
Imuris?
A small town of 10000, approximately 70km/43 miles south of the USA/Mexico
border, this was our site for the 4A2Q operation. We now have
more information about Imuris, including how non-Mexicans
can travel to it from the USA, on its own page.
4A2Q operators (on the 4A2Q application)
4A2Q stations
There were several HF stations operating around Imuris with a variety of
equipment (Yaesu FT-747, Kenwood TS-450, a few Icom transceivers - IC-706Mk2,
IC-706Mk2G, IC-746PRO), and Alex XE2BSS/KG6OJZ brought his IC-821H transceiver
and "eggbeater" antennas for the satellite work. These stations
were situated at different locations at our main camp, as well as another
nearby location, to minimize interference from the other stations and also to
allow the people of Imuris to visit and see amateur radio at work. The
presidente municipal (town president, roughly equivalent to a city
mayor) paid a visit on Saturday afternoon and evening to the 4A2Q camp.
4A2Q statistics
We made 327 contacts over this weekend, including 30 through the UO-14 amateur
radio satellite. We have prepared another page with the
statistics from our logbooks.
4A2Q log and QSLs
With the exception of RTTY/PSK31/MFSK16 QSOs, logging was done on paper.
Those logbooks for the SSB/CW contacts were put into computer files in Mexico,
along with the log file for those digital-mode contacts, and sent to the 4A2Q
QSL manager (Patrick WD9EWK). If you wish to search for your contact(s),
these logs are now available through an online
4A2Q log search page.
WD9EWK will accept QSL cards sent direct or through the QSL bureau - please read this page with information on how to receive a 4A2Q QSL. If you are curious, we also have a page where you may view a sample 4A2Q QSL card.
Important!
4A2Q has been used in the past for other contests or expeditions in Mexico,
as far back as the early 1980s, however WD9EWK is the QSL manager for
ONLY the QSOs made with 4A2Q on the weekend of 3-4 May
2003. Please save your postage, "green stamps", IRCs, or
outgoing QSL bureau fees - do not send QSLs to WD9EWK for the other times 4A2Q
has been used!
Thank-yous from 4A2Q
Even though 4A2Q had no formal sponsorship, the group had help and assistance
from many people to make this weekend in Imuris a success. Please read
our other page thanking those who helped to make this
weekend a success (even if HF propagation did not help us).
Questions/Comments?
If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to
contact
4A2Q.
Updated 19 February 2007