3A2EME JN33 Monaco

Monaco

Hello friends,

After many weeks of preparation — and thanks to the incredible support of Claude Passet, 3A2LF, President of the Association des Radioamateurs de Monaco — we’ve managed to find a location and obtain permission to activate from Monaco.

The Principality of Monaco is one of the most densely populated places in Europe, where there is literally no free space. Public areas with any available room are heavily regulated.

Claude 3A2LF and Henri 3A2OD was able to secure permission from the authorities to park at an excellent spot — the public promenade near the Monaco Heliport. There are some limitations: a low parapet on the embankment slightly obstructs elevation to the east, but that’s not a major issue since the activation coincides with days when the Moon’s declination is near its maximum. To the west, however, things are more difficult — starting from an azimuth of 280°, the minimum elevation is blocked by mountains and limited to around 20°.

That said, it's not a critical problem, as even the most distant targets like California will have a moon elevation of 30–40° during this period.

Another possible limitation is that access to the site is only allowed from 7:00 AM local time. This makes the window for JA and VK contacts very short. Local moonrise is around 2:00 AM, so I’ll try to arrive at the site during the night at least once, to give a chance to stations in the Far East and Oceania.

As usual, I’ll be on 1296.100 using Q65-30B, first period. Later, for smaller stations, I’ll switch to Q65-60C. I also hope to try 13 cm — if all goes well, I’ll be on 2320.100.

I’m unsure about battery charging capacity on site, so I’ll run reduced power to preserve energy across two moon passes. If you can’t hear me, feel free to ask in chat — I can boost power by 3–4 dB for “smaller” stations.

I have a permit to operate from June 20–24, but unless something unexpected happens (like strong sea winds or technical issues), I plan to complete all contacts in three days — two days on 23 cm, one day on 13 cm — and leave on Monday, June 23.
Still ahead: 2500 km of driving.