ZA/LY3UM JN91 Albania.

Everything went as usual—crookedly and not according to plan. As they say, “If you want to make God laugh, tell Him about your plans.”

At first, I realized that if I took the ferry to Greece, I wouldn’t have time for anything, since it arrives not at 8 a.m. but at 8 p.m.—as I later noticed. So I changed the plan on the go: leave a day earlier, get to Serbia, and then decide where to turn depending on the weather and traffic. Either head to Turkey for a couple of days, after which I’d need to go to Tirana and then another six hours further south, or, if there’s plenty of time, take the route to Tirana via Macedonia.

Since the road conditions were fine, I decided to be in Tirana by 8 a.m. to pick up the license and then immediately head via Thessaloniki to Turkey. I double-checked—no holidays in Albania, AKEP is open. From early morning I struggled through the packed center of Tirana, somehow parked on hazard lights near the AKEP office, only to be met at the entrance by a security guard who said no one was there: fiesta, come back Monday. I asked him to at least call someone, as I only needed to pick up a piece of paper—but the answer was: not a single person. Perfect—I’d arrived for nothing.

There’s no point in driving 800 km to Turkey and back in three days. So I decided to find something near Tirana for the weekend, set up, and check how everything works. I’ll operate from higher elevations (since both east and west are blocked here). On Monday morning I’ll (hopefully) pick up the license, then head over to Turkey for a couple of days before returning to southern Albania.

So, from September 5–7, I’ll be a bit active on 23 cm as ZA/LY3UM.

Setup is ready: 7 dB sun noise, 500 W at the feed. One limitation though – minimum azimuth here is 160°. So I’ll be able to catch the Moon only starting around 20:00 UTC.

After switching on, I noticed strange QRM – clicks every 9 seconds.

They added up to +7 dB to the overall noise level. A bit lower in frequency the clicks were weaker, and turning on the NB almost completely solved the problem. That’s why I started operating not on my usual 1296.100, but on 1296.060 in fast 30B mode. Later, after working the main bulk of the big guns, I switched to 60C.

2025-09-05,19:27:00,2025-09-05,19:29:00,ON4AOI,JO21,1296.061000,Q65,-14,-17,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:31:00,2025-09-05,19:33:00,OK1KIR,JN79,1296.061000,Q65,-12,-13,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:33:00,2025-09-05,19:35:00,DG5CST,JO60,1296.061000,Q65,-07,-07,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:35:00,2025-09-05,19:37:00,PA3DZL,JO21,1296.061000,Q65,-12,-11,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:37:00,2025-09-05,19:39:00,UA3PTW,,1296.061000,Q65,-10,-15,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:39:00,2025-09-05,19:41:00,DL4DTU,JO60,1296.061000,Q65,-16,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:41:00,2025-09-05,19:43:00,SP5GDM,,1296.061000,Q65,-17,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:43:00,2025-09-05,19:45:00,DF2VJ,JN39,1296.061000,Q65,-28,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:45:00,2025-09-05,19:47:00,OK1USW,,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-18,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:47:00,2025-09-05,19:49:00,G0LBK,,1296.061000,Q65,-19,-15,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:50:00,2025-09-05,19:52:00,HB9Q,JN47,1296.061000,Q65,-04,-07,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:52:00,2025-09-05,19:54:00,ZS4TX,KG30,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:54:00,2025-09-05,19:56:00,IK3COJ,JN65,1296.061000,Q65,-17,-14,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:56:00,2025-09-05,19:58:00,OK1IL,JN69,1296.061000,Q65,-17,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,19:59:00,2025-09-05,20:01:00,IZ8GGF,JN70,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:01:00,2025-09-05,20:03:00,DM2CFH,JO60,1296.061000,Q65,-13,-18,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:03:00,2025-09-05,20:05:00,YU1DA,KN03,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:07:00,2025-09-05,20:09:00,DL8FBD,JO40,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-20,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:09:00,2025-09-05,20:11:00,IK5VLS,JN53,1296.061000,Q65,-20,-15,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:11:00,2025-09-05,20:13:00,PA3EXV,JO32,1296.061000,Q65,-16,-16,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:24:00,2025-09-05,20:28:00,G4YTL,IO92,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-20,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:28:00,2025-09-05,20:32:00,DL1SUZ,JO53,1296.061000,Q65,-20,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:36:00,2025-09-05,20:40:00,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-24,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:44:00,2025-09-05,20:48:08,OE9ERC,JN47,1296.061000,Q65,-06,-11,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,20:48:00,2025-09-05,20:52:00,DF3RU,JN59,1296.061000,Q65,-12,-10,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,21:06:00,2025-09-05,21:10:00,SM6PGP,JO67,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,22:24:00,2025-09-05,22:28:00,ZS6JON,KG33,1296.061000,Q65,-17,-15,,,,,,,

2025-09-05,23:10:00,2025-09-05,23:14:00,W2HRO,FN20,1296.061000,Q65,-29,-30,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,00:30:00,2025-09-06,00:34:00,KN2K,FM18,1296.061000,Q65,-26,-23,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,00:40:00,2025-09-06,00:42:00,AC2AC,EL96,1296.061000,Q65,-25,-24,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,00:48:00,2025-09-06,00:50:00,W3TI,FN20,1296.061000,Q65,-25,-24,,,,,,,

A total of 31 QSOs.

But many active stations were absent since the Moon is still very low for a few more days.

In the morning, I adjusted the van a bit so I could start operating from at least 125° azimuth — in that case, I’ll be able to work JA and VK.

Around 18:30 UTC, I expect to see the Moon and start operating.

My calculations proved correct — I worked all the JAs within range, and at the very edge of the Moon I managed to work VK2JDS. Then came three hours of a solid pileup, adding another 28 QSOs to the log.

2025-09-06,18:40:00,2025-09-06,18:44:00,JJ3JHP,PM75,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-18,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,18:44:00,2025-09-06,18:48:00,DL7UDA,JO62,1296.061000,Q65,-19,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,18:48:00,2025-09-06,18:52:00,JQ3JWF,PM75,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,18:52:00,2025-09-06,18:56:00,VK2JDS,QF46,1296.061000,Q65,-23,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,18:56:00,2025-09-06,19:00:00,JH3AZC,PM85,1296.061000,Q65,-20,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:00:00,2025-09-06,19:04:00,OK1UGA,JO80,1296.061000,Q65,-14,-13,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:06:00,2025-09-06,19:10:00,BA7NQ,OL63,1296.061000,Q65,-24,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:20:00,2025-09-06,19:24:00,I2FAK,JN45,1296.061000,Q65,-20,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:24:00,2025-09-06,19:28:00,SM5DGX,,1296.061000,Q65,-10,-12,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:28:00,2025-09-06,19:32:00,YL2GD,,1296.061000,Q65,-23,-19,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:32:00,2025-09-06,19:36:00,DG0FE,,1296.061000,Q65,-17,-17,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:34:00,2025-09-06,19:38:00,UA9FAD,LO88,1296.061000,Q65,-17,-16,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:40:00,2025-09-06,19:44:00,DK3WG,JO72,1296.061000,Q65,-23,-24,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:44:00,2025-09-06,19:48:00,PE1L,,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-17,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,19:48:00,2025-09-06,19:52:00,ES3RF,KO29,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-22,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:00:00,2025-09-06,20:04:00,ZS5Y,KF59,1296.061000,Q65,-24,-22,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:04:00,2025-09-06,20:08:00,G4CCH,,1296.061000,Q65,-14,-14,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:08:00,2025-09-06,20:12:00,PA0BAT,,1296.061000,Q65,-19,-16,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:12:00,2025-09-06,20:16:00,RA4HL,LO43,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-12,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:16:00,2025-09-06,20:20:00,SM6CKU,,1296.061000,Q65,-14,-11,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:20:00,2025-09-06,20:24:00,OM4XA,,1296.061000,Q65,-20,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:32:00,2025-09-06,20:36:00,PA0TBR,JO21,1296.061000,Q65,-16,-18,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,20:52:00,2025-09-06,20:56:00,ON5GS,JO21,1296.061000,Q65,-18,-15,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,21:16:00,2025-09-06,21:24:04,GW4ZHI,IO82,1296.061000,Q65,-31,-25,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,21:27:00,2025-09-06,21:29:00,RD4D,,1296.061000,Q65,-13,-08,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,21:31:00,2025-09-06,21:33:00,OE9ERC,JN47,1296.061000,Q65,-11,-07,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,21:38:00,2025-09-06,21:42:00,DK5AI,JO51,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,

2025-09-06,21:47:00,2025-09-06,21:50:00,EA8DBM,IL18OH,1296.061000,Q65,-21,-23,,,,,,,

Total: 59 QSO

It seems I've already worked everyone who can manage a contact with such a low lunar declination. The rest will have to wait until September 12–14, when I return from TA1. I’ll try to find a location with an open western horizon, as so far I’ve only been able to work a few stations from the US East Coast.

As I mentioned, I plan to activate 13 cm from ZA during the ARRL contest on Saturday.

Today, Sunday, September 7, there’s no point in waiting for moonrise — it won’t clear the building until around 11 a.m. local time, and I still need to dismantle the antenna and pack everything ahead of the 800 km drive on Monday morning. On top of that, because of the morning traffic jams, I’ll have to go into downtown Tirana to pick up the license. So I’ll pack everything up today. Sorry if someone didn’t manage to work me this time — you’ll have another chance in a week.*

++++++++++++

In the morning, I phoned AKEP. Predictably, the moment they heard English, the line went dead. I wasn’t even surprised. With nothing else to do, I set off for the capital, determined to wrestle my license out of their hands in person.

What an appalling city. A sea of traffic, endless jams, and drivers behaving as if licenses were bought at the corner store rather than earned. No one lets you merge. Signal for a lane change and, instead of making room, they deliberately close the gap—as if it were some kind of national sport.

On the approach to the city, two lanes each way are split by a concrete barrier. I’m in the left lane when I spot an ambulance racing up behind me, lights flashing, siren wailing. No space to pull left, so I flick on my right blinker to edge over and clear the way. In any civilized place, traffic parts instantly for an ambulance. Here? Quite the opposite. Drivers see me trying to move aside and actually speed up to block me. Utter madness. I roll down the window, wave, shout, “Let me through for the ambulance!” In return, I get the classic vacant stare—eyes fixed straight ahead, pretending neither to see nor hear. Albanian reality, raw and unfiltered.

They say the country is on its way into the EU. Honestly, I don’t know how. To me, it feels like a third-world state that, by some geographical accident, landed in Europe. Don’t judge me—that’s just how it struck me.

The deeper into the city, the worse it became. At major intersections and roundabouts, police officers stand there, whistling and waving batons, physically coaxing traffic to move. Without them, the entire city would collapse into a self-inflicted gridlock.

Near the center, there are usually two lanes and a dedicated bus lane. The right lane is unusable—every 50–100 meters, someone simply abandons their car with the hazards on and strolls off on personal business. That leaves the left lane, where drivers will honk indignantly if you dare try to merge.

My navigation cheerfully guided me: “AKEP is just one kilometer away.” I missed a turn, no big deal—the app quickly recalculated. But the streets kept narrowing, sidewalks and every inch crammed with parked cars. Tight corners I couldn’t swing in my 5.5-meter van, mirrors folded just to squeeze through without scraping someone. “Only 200 meters to go!” chirped the navigator.

And then—the inevitable: a road dug up, construction nowhere marked on the map. No room to turn, no way forward. With horror, I realized my only option was to reverse. Mirrors folded, relying on the rear camera, inching backwards like some deranged circus act. Within minutes I was drenched in sweat, muttering every curse I know. Twenty minutes of this “Cirque du Soleil on wheels,” and I finally clawed my way out.

On my second try, I reached the right street. Parking? Forget it. I brazenly blocked an entrance. Out stormed the Friday security guard, recognized me, shook his head, and barked: “Madam Aferdita is not here. Leave. Free the way.”

But I wasn’t about to surrender. I argued, pleaded in English, waving documents, trying to explain I just needed one sheet of paper. Hopeless—he understood nothing. We shouted, gestured, a pantomime of pure futility.

And then—a miracle. Out of the office stepped a kind, beautiful woman on her lunch break. She smiled: “Are you Mr. Alexander? Your license is ready. You can pick it up in the building just across the street.”

In that moment, she was nothing less than a living angel descended from heaven. Bewitched, I asked, “Are you Aferdita?” She laughed: “No, she’s not here today, but I work in her office.”

And tell me—after that, how can anyone not believe in miracles?

I leapt into the van, zipped across the street, dashed inside, and five minutes later—license in hand! Triumph at last. Against all odds, I did it.

The plan is finally coming into focus. A quick dash to Turkey to activate TA1, then back to ZA by the weekend. A few hours in the contest on 13 cm, then switching to 23 cm. Simple enough on paper.

First, though, 200 kilometers of Albanian road “horror show,” followed by 600 kilometers across Greece. Along the way I check the news: Istanbul is boiling—opposition protests, demonstrations, even internet blackouts. That’s the capital, of course, but if border security decides to flex its muscles, who knows if I’ll even be let through. One problem at a time—I’ll face that tomorrow.

The Albanian border? A breeze. The Greek side? An hour of theater. The usual interrogation: Where from? Where to? Why? What for? Show your licenses. Why don’t you have a Greek license? You must have a Greek license. Why no Czech entry stamp in your passport if you passed through? And so on, piling nonsense upon nonsense. Why the sudden obsession with the Czech Republic—a country that’s been Schengen longer than most of us can remember—is beyond me.

In the end, they waved me on when I shrugged and said I was just transiting to Turkey.

By then, twelve hours behind the wheel had wrung me dry. So the Turkish border will have to wait until Tuesday, September 9.

+++++++++++++++

I drove 700 km, stopped for the night in Greece, tomorrow morning I leave for 2 days again to Albania. If everything goes well, then on Friday, September 12, I will be at about 20.00 utc on 23 cm, for the east. Then I will return in the morning of September 13 at about 04.00 utc, for the west and Europe who have not yet worked. Then on the evening MR, I will be on 13 cm, on request I can go to 23 cm. And again in the morning on my MS I will be on 13 and on request on 23 cm. And after that on Sunday I will pack up and finish the expedition.

+++++++++++++++++

Arrived at the location — everything looks fine. The east is blocked by a hill, though I estimate the elevation to be about 15 degrees, so it shouldn’t be a problem. The west is wide open to the ocean. I’ve prepared everything, but haven’t opened the umbrella yet to avoid unnecessary questions from the hotel guests :-)

A couple of hours after sunset MR will begin, and then I’ll reveal myself in all my glory ;-)

I’ll be working from a new square, KM09, in case anyone is interested.

+++++++ latest scary news ++++++ 12 September 21.20 utc

I’m sorry to report that while I was tensioning the antenna, the tension sleeve snapped — a complete disaster. It’s impossible to repair the antenna, at least in the dark. I’ll try to come up with something tomorrow during the day, but I’m afraid that under field conditions it may not be possible.

Update — September 13, 11:00 UTC

In the morning, after calming down and with daylight on my side, I started figuring out what had actually happened. The situation turned out to be unpleasant, but still possible to work around. The plastic sleeve itself didn’t break, but the locking screws had worked themselves loose from all the shaking on Albanian roads. They tore out and bent badly. I managed to screw one back in, and for the other I shoved in an Allen key and taped it with electrical tape. Somehow, I carefully managed to unfold the antenna.

A bigger problem is that the base, which holds both the antenna and the rotator, also lost two bolts on the road. Now it’s barely holding on and wobbling. If the wind stays calm until evening, it might survive. But if it starts to blow, I’ll have to take everything down… For now, it’s still standing.

I’ll try to start on 23 cm with my MR at about 18 degrees elevation — almost everyone there is already worked. Then I’ll switch to 13 cm. After that, I’ll take a break until morning. If anyone shows up on 13 and then later on 23, I’ll come back.

In the evening (on my MR) I managed to get on the air! I estimated the chances of the antenna collapsing at 50/50, but it held up. It was standing on just two support nuts instead of five, tied with every cord I could find in the car. Copy on my side wasn’t great – they heard me, but not very well, as the wind was shaking the antenna in both azimuth and elevation. On top of that, I constantly had to check and adjust the angle and azimuth. Still, I logged 9 QSOs with those who waited patiently and were rewarded for it. I ran around quite a bit and got tired, so I decided to leave 13 cm for the morning, especially since there’s very little activity there anyway.

2025-09-13,22:07:00,2025-09-13,22:11:56,VK2JDS,QF46,1296.100999,Q65,-25,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,22:25:00,2025-09-13,22:32:04,VK4CDI,QG63,1296.100999,Q65,-29,-22,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,22:34:00,2025-09-13,22:36:00,PA3DZL,JO21,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-16,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,22:51:00,2025-09-13,22:55:56,ES3RF,KO29,1296.100999,Q65,-26,-24,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,22:56:00,2025-09-13,23:00:00,OK1DFC,,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-12,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,23:00:00,2025-09-13,23:01:04,PA3FXB,JO33,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-21,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,23:03:00,2025-09-13,23:07:56,DL3EBJ,JO31,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-20,,,,,,,

2025-09-13,23:58:00,2025-09-14,00:02:00,JA6AHB,PM53,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-23,,,,,,,

2025-09-14,00:03:00,2025-09-14,00:06:00,SP7EXY,KO00,1296.100999,Q65,-22,-24,,,,,,,

Slept for 3 hours and quickly got back to the transceiver. The wind had died down, and things were much calmer.

I logged 18 QSOs, and after working the westernmost KB2SA, I announced that I was switching to 13 cm.

I pointed at the Moon, everything looked fine, and I could see the trace from OK1DFC – so I called…

But with only 12 watts at full drive, it was a complete fiasco. I had checked everything before leaving, so it’s unlikely the output transistor burned out. More likely, a cold solder joint came loose somewhere.

2025-09-14,05:04:00,2025-09-14,05:06:02,N0LWF,EN10,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-26,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:05:00,2025-09-14,05:09:57,NC1I,FN32,1296.100999,Q65,-10,-09,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:10:00,2025-09-14,05:14:00,YO2LAM,KN05,1296.100999,Q65,-14,-19,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:15:00,2025-09-14,05:19:56,9H1BN,JM75,1296.100999,Q65,-24,-20,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:23:00,2025-09-14,05:27:56,DK0ZAB,JO61,1296.100999,Q65,-11,-12,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:33:00,2025-09-14,05:37:59,YU1DA,KN03,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-25,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:40:00,2025-09-14,05:42:18,DM2CFH,JO61,1296.100999,Q65,-10,-10,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,05:59:00,2025-09-14,06:03:56,F5KUG,JN03,1296.100999,Q65,-15,-16,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:05:00,2025-09-14,06:07:08,DM7MA,JO61,1296.100999,Q65,-13,-10,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:06:00,2025-09-14,06:10:00,UA9YLU,MO92,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-14,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:14:00,2025-09-14,06:15:01,N5TM,EL29,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-24,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:17:00,2025-09-14,06:21:56,KA1GT,FN54,1296.100999,Q65,-18,-20,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:25:00,2025-09-14,06:29:56,PE1LWT,JO22,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-20,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:32:00,2025-09-14,06:36:00,DK3WG,JO72,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-22,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:38:00,2025-09-14,06:42:00,DA0MA,,1296.100999,Q65,-11,-12,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:41:00,2025-09-14,06:42:58,DJ2DY,JN39,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-18,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:41:00,2025-09-14,06:45:56,PA3HDG,JO31,1296.100999,Q65,-21,-22,,,,,,,
2025-09-14,06:48:00,2025-09-14,06:52:00,KB2SA,DM13,1296.100999,Q65,-19,-26,,,,,,,

I didn’t even bother switching back to 23 cm – I believe I’ve already worked everyone there.

Packing everything securely for the 3000 km trip took a couple of hours, making sure nothing rattles on the way.

This session: 27 QSOs
Total: 86 QSOs

Many thanks to everyone who supported and donated – much appreciated!

NC1I, DL4DTU, IK3COJ, DL7FBD, PA3DZL, DF2VJ, G0LBK, PA0BAT, PA3FXB, DK3WG, KB7Q

Your support covered my ferry and fuel costs – truly grateful, thank you!!!