Czech Republic
Every time I am in Prague or the North of the country in the area near Snezka mountain, I work as OK/EI6DX. The set up in Czech Republic is very modest – a set of short dipoles for WARC and low bands.
Operations from the Czech Republic are holiday style only. Activity is primarily on 80 and 40 meters CW during evening and night time.
Last year I worked from the Krkonose National part which is the largest National Park in Europe and counts towards the World Flora and Fauna programme. The following is a short OK/EI6DX write up.
Krkonose National Park, December 2009
Every winter just before Christmas our family goes skiing and this year I thought I would make our Christmas trip it a little more interesting. A few months earlier I had discovered the WFF programme and we decided to go to the mountains of the Krkonose National Park in the Czech Republic.
Location
Krkonose National Park extends on an area of the highest mountains of the Czech Republic and includes also a part of their foothills. The southern outskirts of that area and also the famous tourist centres belong to the protected zone of the national park.
Area
National park – 36.300 ha, protected zone – 18.600 ha. It is the largest national park in Europe.
History
Count Harrach was the first, who tried to protect the Krkonoše nature. He made the hillside known as “Strmá stráň” with a rich high mountain flora the heart of the future national park. The national park was proclaimed in 1963 and its present form is stated in the government regulation from 1990. It has been stated in the UNESCO Biosphere Reservation list since 1992.
Nature
Krkonoše National Park extends on a mountain, partly high mountain area, which was formed by a powerful rice of floe in several stages of Pleistocene glaciations. Due to the fact that forests are affected by strong emissions, the Krkonoše National Park is registered at the international list of most endangered national parks in the world. The rare species of fauna and flora are protected in the national park.
OK/EI6DX
We rented a house in a remote area of Krkonose near Vitkovice. The house is built in the middle of a large slope and enjoys beautiful views of the mountains. Throughout our one week stay we only saw birds and deer that came very close to the house to pick apples from the trees in the garden (imagine the kids’ excitement). There was not a single person around all week; it was very calm, snowy and positively Christmassy (except for the last two days when the temperature rose and the snow melted away overnight).
This year in the Czech Republic they registered record temperatures of as low as -26C in the Liberec region. It had also been snowing for a week. Driving on the highways and in the mountains was quite hazardous. Despite the announced operation from 18 until 26 of December I could only start operating from December 21. Finally, very early morning on Monday I hung a W3DZZ for 40 and 80 on a tree near the house. Later that evening I got to make a few calls. There was quite a bit of interest in this small activation. Stations kept calling and there were even a few mini pileups. WFF operators were very polite and supportive – it was nice to hear 44s from as far as USA and Canada. Apologies to Jacek, SP5APW and to those of you who were looking for an SSB contact. Unfortunately, the antenna did not tune above 7030 and 3650. I made many calls in SSB but my signal was just too weak. 95% of QSOs were in CW this time. Once back home I am definitely going to work from Ireland’s National parks. One of them – Wicklow mountains – is only 5 minutes drive from our house.
Thanks to all for calling and good luck with the WFF programme.
VY 73 and 44 de Stan