[OKDXA] OH2BH in Montenegro

[Coy Day]

The following report is from Martti, OH2BH, now in Montenegro:

WHAT DO YOU DO IF ONE MORNING YOU WAKE UP IN A NEW DXCC COUNTER?

While in Montenegro, one thing is a must. Find YU6DZ, Rajko, who
has been a
most productive local operator in the Republic of
Montenegro since its birth
and who has delighted the bands with his
solid presence.

Driving to his house through and under climbing
gravevines and honeybee
hives shows immediately that there is a ham
there spelled with a capital H
--- a 4-element quad overlooks the
property and the man himself with Mama
Margarita are there to welcome
us.

Over an expresso and cookies we talk, and we talk some more
over some
homemade brandy.  Ugh, gulping the stuff down, it is
strong like the signals
on 20M this morning.

"Life
will never be the same again now that QSOs are coming in left and
right", says Rajko, a 65-year old retired Chief Naval Security
Officer.  "My
days have got a new routine.  Yes,
there's breakfast and lunch and dinner,
but nowadays there are QSOs
in between them.  It's only some twenty days and
I have more
than 6,500 of them", Rajko muses.

He is considering on
updating his current Yaesu FT101B to more modern gear
but Mama
Margarita objects.  "If Rajko gets into this changing mode, he
may
update everything - and I may have to go as well". 
Margarita is full of
happy life and humor and nowadays even more
so.  "I have started to collect
stamps and I get a full bag
every day.  We are now seen as popular favorites
by our
mailman".  And then we open some of the letters that have
arrived
today.

"It only took a few days until I
realized that it would not work on my own
frequency but I saw that
the tubes of my separate VFO would still light up,
and I gave them
some rock and roll", Rajko continues.

But I find many
people not in the log - and we start leafing through the
pages of
Rajko's logbook filled with handwritten entries that look like
objects of art.  The QSOs go fine all the way, but then in the
final stage
people do not understand that the confirmation phase is
equally important.
It's a matter of not leaving a good affair halfway
through.  "I cross them
out - look at these... there was a
QSO but no more.  They should make a
solid one and not run
away", Rajko points out.  He tunes up the trustworthy
FT101B and lets his old electronic key sing, and sure it does.  We
realize
that he wants to be perfect on the end part - maybe even
throw in a CQ
before starting the next QSO.  Do we all remember
that CQ means "I seek
you"?  Surely Rajko does that
and then some more.

That gives us a chance to review his
logbooks and find out the first ten
that got him during his first
days.

USA: W7CB, W6LZ, W3UR, W3LPL, NG8Z, W3BGN, N4OA, N6AR,
K2VV, W5UN
JA: JJ2LPV, JA4DND, JA3FGJ, JE2LUN, JA1EOD, JA2XKM,
JG3FPD, JJ2LPV, JA2FMW,
JR2JLO
EU: YZ7AA, I2ZBX, HB9AFI, DL6KVN,
LA6CF, LX1NO, SM5DJZ, OK1TM, SP8AJR, OH2BU


But we find a
treasure there as well: with his transverter and 7 watts Rajko
has
added HI3TEJ, NL7AU/4, N4IS and W1JR to his book on 6M!

Mamma
Margarita is packing up something for us to take home, as they do in
those friendly corners of the world.  We get two jars of honey and
two
bottles of brandy made by YU6DZ from their own berries.  We
are hugging and
hoping to see again.  It's a warm feeling to
have met Rajko and Margarita in
their own element - under the
climbing grapevines and and the 4-element
cubical quad.

As
we back out, my cell phone sends a text message - it's from Bernie,
W3UR.
"I am just working Rajko on RTTY".  But Rajko is
still standing on the
driveway and waving us goodbye.  We did
not see anything looking like RTTY
in the house.  But I just
answer Bernie: "DX Is".



-- 
Coy Day,
N5OK 
20685 SW 29 
Union City, OK 73090 
405-483-5632