XE2/WD9EWK - 29 August to 1 September 2003
Updated 8 February 2006
I'm back from Mexico, after a nice long weekend with friends in northern Baja
California. Few HF QSOs, but still an enjoyable trip. As with many
of my trips, I stayed at the QTH of my good amigo Alex
XE2BSS and his
family. On one day, we crossed back into the USA to visit another friend
(Bruce WB7RHTi (now
N7TY), and I had a brief opportunity to work HF from Bruce's house as WD9EWK/6
for the first time. Also, we made a trip east of Mexicali to visit
another friend, Antonio XE2SIV, just across the Colorado River in San Luis Rio
Colorado, Sonora - and I operated briefly from there as well.
Getting the XE amateur permit...
I made another trek to the Mexican Communications Ministry office in Mexicali,
and filed for another 6-month permit. The permit fee was 887 pesos, about
US$ 82 (the exchange rate was at 10.87 Mexican pesos for 1 US dollar, when I
paid my permit fee). I have more details on that process on another set
of web pages related to obtaining a Mexican ham
permit.
My HF activity this weekend...
HF conditions were OK, not great, but adequate. Part of the weekend,
there was nice propagation on the 10-meter band, but very few stations were up
there to take advantage of it. Except for 2 QSOs made as WD9EWK/6 on
Sunday (31 August) afternoon, I operated exclusively PSK31. There was a
RTTY contest for part of the weekend, which I had to avoid to comply with the
Mexican amateur permit conditions. I made 17 PSK31 QSOs from the shack of
XE2BSS, and 3 more from the shack of XE2SIV, and those were done using my
Mexican "call" XE2/WD9EWK.
XE2/WD9EWK from San Luis Rio Colorado...
A few hours after arriving in Mexicali, and filing the necessary paperwork for
my radio permit, Alex and I went to visit Antonio XE2SIV. San Luis Rio
Colorado is in the Mexican state of Sonora, at the Colorado River near the
borders with the US states of Arizona and California and the Mexican state of
Baja California. It is about 60km (37 miles) east of Mexicali on route 2,
a 45-minute drive for Alex and me. Alex and I went to Antonio's house for
some carne asada (grilled beef - Sonoran beef, the best in all of
Mexico), and Antonio invited me to operate from his station (IC-707 HF
transceiver, HyGain AV-18VS vertical, MixW software for PSK31 and other digital
modes), which I did.
I made one QSO before sitting down for dinner, with Clair
K7IE in Oregon, ate
dinner, then made 2 more QSOs after dinner - with Terry
WB5ZCX in
Oklahoma and Jerry WB7DX in Oregon. All 3 were made on the 20-meter
band. After sunset, Alex and I returned to Mexicali.
XE2/WD9EWK from Mexicali...
From the shack of XE2BSS, I made 17 more QSOs over this weekend as XE2/WD9EWK,
all in PSK31. Two QSOs were on 15 meters, two on 40 meters, and the other
13 on 20 meters. I worked stations in 10 USA states, two Canadian
provinces (Saskatchewan and British Columbia), Cuba, and Antonio XE2SIV down
the highway in San Luis Rio Colorado, Sonora - my only contact with a Mexican
station on HF during this trip from Baja California.
WD9EWK/6 from the "Republica Socialista de
California" :-)
On Sunday afternoon, Alex and I crossed the USA/Mexico border and drove to the
California town of Seeley, northwest of Mexicali in Imperial County. We
visited Bruce WB7RHT, spent a few hours talking with him as he showed off his
station, and for a little while I operated HF for the first time from the state
of California as WD9EWK/6.
Just after 1.30pm (2030 UTC), a little later than a normal schedule I keep with
some Mexican hams every Sunday, I went to 7.158 MHz SSB and met up with my good
friend Marco XE2TG in the Sonoran city of Hermosillo and Jorge
K5JAS in Rio
Rico, Arizona - a few km/miles north of the border city of Nogales. I
did not make any other contacts, as I was only intending on keeping my Sunday
afternoon schedule and then continue the conversation with Alex and Bruce
before returning to Mexicali later in the day. Ironically, this was the
only time I operated in SSB during this trip. Late in the afternoon, Alex
and I drove back to his house.
My log for this weekend, and QSLing...
My XE2/WD9EWK online log has been updated with my
QSOs from this weekend. Since this log is only for my QSOs in Mexico, I
did not include those two I made in my brief trek to WB7RHT's house. I
will send out QSL cards to all stations making contacts with me. DX
stations will get a card by the QSL bureau (or possibly direct, especially if I
need the other station's QSL card for some reason). Stations in the USA,
Canada, and Mexico will get a card with SASE from me, and the SASEs will have
the appropriate stamps based on where my card is going.
If you wish to send me your QSL card, please send your card
via WD9EWK - direct or through the QSL bureau
system.
Other thoughts regarding this weekend...
If I could have operated in the SCC RTTY contest this weekend, I would have
made many more QSOs - despite having a l-o-n-g Mexican "call", but to
do so would have been a violation of the terms in my Mexican permit. I do
not want to risk trouble with the Mexican authorities, nor do I want to be
pestered by some in Mexico if they heard my signals in the contest. That
probably reduced the number of stations poking around in PSK31. HF
propagation was not great, and it was disappointing not to see/hear more
stations on the 10-meter band where there were some bursts of activity during
this weekend. Oh well... I will get the XE permit from Mexico City in 6
to 8 weeks, and I can operate from down there (except for contests, and not
from Mexican islands) until the end of February 2004. Time to think about
another trip...
Questions or comments?
If you have any other questions or comments about this trip, please
contact me.
WD9EWK/VA7EWK - XE2/WD9EWK - QSL VIA WD9EWK