YL/EA8DBM KO27 Latvia 13 and 23 cm

After a short ferry ride and 250 km by car, I arrived at a new location. The site is perfect for antennas and radio work: completely open to the east and west, with no buildings within 500–700 meters.

I quickly unloaded and set up the dish, but didn’t even have time to attach the septum before sudden rain and thunder rolled in. I had to drop everything and take cover. About an hour and a half later, the weather calmed down. By then the moon had already “run away,” but the sun was still visible, and within 10 minutes I had everything back in place and the azimuth aligned to the sun.

During the trip, one of the fabric fasteners on the antenna came loose near the edge, but the deflection seems minor and the aluminum tape still holds its shape. Sun noise is around 7.5 dB, which is more or less normal, but I’ll make proper repairs later.

My turning radius covers about 220 degrees, so I can operate from an azimuth when the elevation is around 20 degrees. This will be on August 20, starting at approximately 01:30 GMT.

Here’s the plan: I’ll begin in the morning on 23 cm. When the sun rises (around 06:00 GMT), I’ll switch to 13 cm. Then I’ll return to 23 cm, and if needed, I can switch back to 13 cm on request — it won’t take me more than 10 minutes.

In the evening it started raining with gusts of wind, which (as I suspected) shifted the azimuth a little. Nobody could hear my CQ, and I couldn’t see a single trace. The elevation was measured with a digital inclinometer and was fine, so I began moving the antenna left and right by 5 degrees, trying to “feel” the moon — but with no result, even at ±10 degrees. I checked the iPhone app — the direction looked correct. I opened Google Earth and estimated the azimuth by landmarks — also seemed correct. But still, nothing. At that point I was ready to throw everything aside and just go to sleep!

And then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed the frequency on the transceiver — and suddenly one very international six-letter word (starting with D and ending with Y) flashed in my mind. A cute, stubborn animal with big ears. That’s me! The transceiver wasn’t locked, and when I was twisting the cables I must have accidentally brushed the dial and ended up transmitting and listening about 10 kHz off. I corrected it — and then everything started working!

2025-08-20,02:02:00,2025-08-20,02:06:00,JJ3JHP,PM75,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,02:10:00,2025-08-20,02:14:00,VK2JDS,QF46,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,02:14:00,2025-08-20,02:18:00,JQ3JWF,PM75,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,02:20:00,2025-08-20,02:24:00,JA4LJB,PM74,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,02:38:00,2025-08-20,02:42:00,UN6PD,MN69,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,03:30:00,2025-08-20,03:34:00,JS6UJS,PL24,1296.103000,Q65,-23,-14,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,03:42:00,2025-08-20,03:46:00,PA3EXV,JO32,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,03:46:00,2025-08-20,03:50:00,ZS4TX,KG30,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,03:50:00,2025-08-20,03:54:00,DL8FBD,JO40,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-19,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,04:00:00,2025-08-20,04:03:10,ZS6JON,KG33,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-18,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,04:00:00,2025-08-20,04:04:00,VK3NFI,QF31,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-22,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,04:04:00,2025-08-20,04:08:00,YU1DA,KN03,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,04:10:00,2025-08-20,04:14:00,PA3DZL,JO21,1296.101000,Q65,-11,-11,,,,,,,

After working VK and JA, it was time to switch to 13 cm. I quickly changed the septum,
tuned in on 2320.100 with anticipation… and here’s what I heard:

Just a couple of kilometers from me there turned out to be an LTE base station operating in the 2300–2330 MHz range. The same nightmare on these frequencies as I have back home in Lithuania :-((

Ухожу на 2304 - там чисто, быстро и легко в логе 4 QSO:

2025-08-20,04:52:00,2025-08-20,04:56:00,OK1DFC,JN79,2304.101000,Q65,-17,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,05:08:00,2025-08-20,05:12:00,HB9Q,JN47,2304.101000,Q65,-06,-13,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,05:12:00,2025-08-20,05:16:00,OK1KIR,JN79,2304.101000,Q65,-17,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,05:16:00,2025-08-20,05:20:00,OH3LWP,KP11,2304.101000,Q65,-17,-21,,,,,,,

Back to 23 cm – everything looks good there, the weather is fine and the antenna seems to be working perfectly.

2025-08-20,06:12:00,2025-08-20,06:16:00,OE9ERC,JN47,1296.101000,Q65,-05,-05,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:16:00,2025-08-20,06:20:00,OH3LWP,KP11,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-20,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:20:00,2025-08-20,06:24:00,JH3AZC,PM85,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-22,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:24:00,2025-08-20,06:28:00,DL1SUZ,JO53,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-19,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:32:00,2025-08-20,06:36:00,BA7NQ,OL63,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:36:00,2025-08-20,06:40:00,DF2VJ,JN39,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:40:00,2025-08-20,06:44:00,HB9Q,JN47,1296.101000,Q65,-03,-07,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:44:00,2025-08-20,06:48:00,IK7EZN,,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:48:00,2025-08-20,06:52:00,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:53:00,2025-08-20,06:58:00,OK1IL,JN69,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-18,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,06:58:00,2025-08-20,07:02:00,IK5VLS,JN53,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:02:00,2025-08-20,07:06:00,DK3WG,JO72,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-19,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:06:00,2025-08-20,07:10:00,I2FAK,JN45,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:10:00,2025-08-20,07:14:00,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:16:00,2025-08-20,07:20:00,F5KUG,JN03,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:20:00,2025-08-20,07:24:00,OZ5TG,JO45,1296.101000,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:26:00,2025-08-20,07:30:00,G4KLX,IO90,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-22,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:32:00,2025-08-20,07:36:00,DK5AI,JO51,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-22,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:36:00,2025-08-20,07:40:00,DJ2DY,JN39,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-20,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,07:40:00,2025-08-20,07:44:00,G0LBK,,1296.101000,Q65,-18,-16,,,,,,,

I worked everyone who was there without any difficulty, and since there were no more callers — and I hadn’t slept during the night — I lay down to rest. A couple of hours later I woke up to the sound of whistling wind — the weather had drastically worsened, and I barely managed to make a few QSOs:

2025-08-20,10:42:00,2025-08-20,10:46:00,NC1I,FN32,1296.101000,Q65,--09,-08,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,10:50:00,2025-08-20,10:54:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-22,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,11:00:00,2025-08-20,11:04:00,PE1L,,1296.101774,Q65,-22,-20,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,11:09:00,2025-08-20,11:10:55,ON4AOI,JO21,1296.101000,Q65,-19,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,11:10:00,2025-08-20,11:14:00,W2HRO,FN20,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-26,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,11:14:00,2025-08-20,11:18:00,PA0BAT,,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,11:18:00,2025-08-20,11:22:00,UA9FAD,LO88,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-18,,,,,,,

And I realized I had to take the antenna down, otherwise it would break the rotator — or even fly away completely (which has already happened more than once). Time to take a break.

Right then the power went out in the house, along with the internet… so I just had to wait.

Nearby there’s an abandoned farmstead where, according to the owner of the place I’m renting, nobody has lived for a long time. I decided to take a walk. By the roadside near the farmstead stands an old apple tree, with the ground completely covered in fallen apples. Without hesitation, I pulled out a bag and picked up about a dozen (there must be a million of them lying around). A little snack for now — and something for the road tomorrow.

I called the power company to report the outage. The wind seemed to be calming down, so I thought I could continue operating. Then a minivan pulled up — I happily assumed it was the electricians arriving, so I went out to meet them.

Instead, a man came running toward me, shouting that I had robbed him and stolen a bag of apples, and that he would take my touring bicycle as compensation. At first I was stunned, then I apologized, explaining that I thought the tree was abandoned and offered to return the apples (though I had already eaten a couple) or pay him whatever he wanted. But no — he didn’t want anything except my bike.

“Well, fine,” I said, “take it, but I’m calling the police and we’ll sort it out there.” That seemed to have an effect, and in the end I was able to refocus on my QSOs :-))

Since the antenna was still shaking a lot, I started on 23 cm (the beam is wider there).

2025-08-20,14:08:00,2025-08-20,14:12:00,SM5DGX,JO89,1296.101000,Q65,-10,-18,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,14:20:00,2025-08-20,14:22:00,KG0D,CN88,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-23,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,14:30:00,2025-08-20,14:34:14,DG0FE,,1296.101000,Q65,-15,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,14:36:00,2025-08-20,14:40:00,K6FOD,DM04,1296.101000,Q65,-22,-23,,,,,,,

Then a short session on 13 cm – some countries are allowed to operate at 2300. Logged three rare QSOs:

2025-08-20,15:07:00,2025-08-20,15:16:00,OE9ERC,JN47,2304.101000,Q65,-11,-20,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,15:20:00,2025-08-20,15:24:00,G4CCH,IO93,2300.101000,Q65,-17,-23,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,15:30:00,2025-08-20,15:34:00,W5LUA,EM13,2304.101000,Q65,-18,-25,,,,,,,

and then back to 23 cm:

2025-08-20,15:52:00,2025-08-20,15:56:00,KH6FA,BK29,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-19,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,16:00:00,2025-08-20,16:04:00,W1FKF,FN43,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-19,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,16:04:00,2025-08-20,16:08:00,AC2AC,EL96,1296.101000,Q65,-23,-21,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,16:16:00,2025-08-20,16:20:00,NC1I,FN32,1296.101000,Q65,-09,-08,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,16:23:00,2025-08-20,16:26:00,OK1VUM,JN79,1296.101000,Q65,-20,-17,,,,,,,

2025-08-20,16:28:00,2025-08-20,16:32:00,KB2SA,DM13,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-25,,,,,,,

Total : 56 inits - 49 QSO on 23 cm and 7QSO on 13 cm

Tomorrow, August 21, starting around 05:00 GMT, I’ll be active for a couple more hours.

more 8 QSO:

2025-08-21,04:26:00,2025-08-21,04:30:00,VK2JDS,QF46,1296.101000,Q65,-17,-13,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,04:52:00,2025-08-21,04:56:00,DF3RU,JN59,1296.101000,Q65,-09,-08,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,05:04:00,2025-08-21,05:08:00,9H1BN,JM75,1296.101000,Q65,-25,-18,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,05:10:00,2025-08-21,05:14:07,OK2AQ,JN89,1296.101000,Q65,-24,-22,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,05:58:00,2025-08-21,06:02:00,SP7EXY,,1296.101000,Q65,-26,-16,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,06:02:00,2025-08-21,06:06:00,DL7UDA,JO62,1296.101000,Q65,-14,-15,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,06:32:00,2025-08-21,06:36:00,OE5JFL,JN68,1296.101000,Q65,-16,-14,,,,,,,

2025-08-21,06:50:00,2025-08-21,06:54:00,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.101000,Q65,-09,-14,,,,,,,

Total : 63 inits - 56 QSO on 23 cm and 7QSO on 13 cm

A big thank you to everyone who supported me with donations:

OE9ERC, DF2VJ