[Moon] ET3AA QSL info ... and a request.

[Bob Sutton]

Dear EMEers,

After many months and fruitless visits to "telecom"
and "security" to obtain an amateur radio licence in
Ethiopia, it was with great pleasure that I received
the kind permission of the Ethiopian Amateur Radio
Society (EARS!) to use their club station callsign
ET3AA to operate on EME.

In just a few days following this news I built up a
small EME station in my residence garden and finally
started operation this weekend.  Despite the small
system (2 x 11 element YU7EF11B yagis and a Mirage
B3016 150W PA), it appears to be working fairly well
... in fact, well beyond my expectations!  So far, 57
contacts in 16 hours of operating on Saturday and
Sunday!

There are some photos and information at:

www.df2zc.de/et3aa

QSL info.  You can make your QSL request directly to
EARS at the following address:

ETHIOPIAN AMATEUR RADIO SOCIETY 
P.O.BOX: 60258
ADDIS ABABA 
ETHIOPIA

The club has ZERO funds for return postage, so an SAE
and GS (or something to cover postage, but I think
IRC's are useless here ... ) will be essential if you
want a reply.  

If this is beyond your means, or philosophy, or for
some reason it doesn't work out, please feel free to
QSL direct via ZL1RS (address in QRZ.com) and I will
make sure you do get a return card in July or August
when I return to ZL and have the time.

In this note I will also make a small promotion for
the Ethiopian Amateur Radio Society (ET3AA radio club)
...

EARS was formed by Mr Sid May ET3SID, a UK expat who
has been in Ethiopia for 15 years and has retired here
5 years ago on his UK pension.  In this time Sid has
promoted Amateur Radio in Ethiopia and has trained
several Ethiopians to get their own amateur radio
licence.  Unfortunately most of these guys have since
left the country for better opportunities elsewhere in
the world, but Sid continues with his selfless
interest in the Ethiopian Amateur Radio scene by
fostering new hams at the club.

Presently there are about 10 budding young hams
(including 2 YLs) keenly learning radio theory, Morse
code, amateur radio operating techniques, and
operating the ET3AA club station on HF under Sid's
guidance.

The club premises are in a disused building at a
school in Addis Ababa that has been refurbished in a
very modest way by the club member's own efforts. 
They have two rooms and a small lattice tower with an
HF tribander thanks to the benevolent help of some
individuals and organisations working in Addis.  

I recently facilitated the donation of an old computer
and an HF dipole from the "obsolete stock" of the
organisation I work for.  The computer was a 5 year
old P3/500 which I was almost ashamed to hand over,
but it was a vast improvement over the antiquated 286
DOS machine they had been using!  The "new" computer
came loaded with Amateur Radio training guides,
electronic handbooks, and various ham softwares from
my "archives",  and was enthusiastically received by
the club.

The club's interest is mainly in HF, but they also
have a functioning VHF weather sat receiving system
and were active on the amateur satellites a few years
ago.  They will soon receive a VHF and EME primer from
yours truly during a planned "shack visit" to my
residence!!  You never know where it might go ...

OK, so this is clearly leading somewhere and I take
the opportunity to make a shameless bid for any small
donation to EARS that you may care to include in your
EME QSL envelope ... even a extra dollar will go a
long way in this country.

I have not done this before, and will probably not do
it again, but you can consider this to be a genuine
worthy cause to help out the budding amateur radio
operators at ET3AA who do not have the financial means
to improve their club station further by themselves
... and an opportunity to show your appreciation to
them for allowing me the chance to provide you with
another "new one" on EME!

In fact, your contribution need not be financial ...
just a small letter of encouragement, a photo of your
station, a radio club "sticker", or something similar
with your QSL request would be appreciated by the
ET3AA team!

Thanks for your consideration!

73,  Bob  ET3AA / ZL1RS


zl1rs at yahoo.com
web site updated 07 Oct
http://www.qsl.net/zl1rs


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