The task of the radio sportsman is to establish communication on short waves with as many countries as possible and from different places (preferably from uninhabited islands). Elena Boychenko is 41 years old, and she is the first woman in the country – an international master of sports in radio sports. The Daily Poster asked Elena about the Soviet radio opera, SOS signals and wild elephants.
“I took three boxes with antennas to the Caribbean”: the story of the main radio sports in Russia
Once my mother brought me and sister to the house of pioneers – mostly sister to write her down for singing or dancing. There was a presentation of circles: leaders laid out notebooks with a description of the sections in which they taught. I saw the pamphlet Collective Radio Plant, where it was written: You will conduct radio communications with the whole world. It immediately interested me. But they took only from the age of 12 to radio sports, and I was 10. The leader first suggested signing up for a radio telegraph circle to study the ABC Morse, and I went. But since the cabinets were opposite, we all turned together from telegraph keys to the radio station. In this set, I was the only girl.
At the radio station we were taught to accept the call sign. The ether was specific: not everyone will be able to hear something among the noise the first time. I had the first connection with Yaroslavl, then the geography expanded, we began to contact radio amateurs from all over the world: Germans, Americans, Japanese. I can’t say that there were many children on the air.
Thanks to the hobby, I managed to go to the Ocean Pioneer camp in Vladivostok. There was a change of young technicians, they recruited various thematic detachments. Our detachment of radio engineers was collected from all over the Soviet Union. The boys arrived honestly: there were only those who went in a radio-housing. And from girls, only three had an attitude to the radio. The rest was just lucky with tickets. Competitions were held in the shift: we put the antenna and worked at the radio station. This is one of my most striking memories associated with the radio -Octoral.
Of the guys with whom we started to deal with, only I remained by the end of school. No one continued again. And the process tightened me. Now this allows you to combine travel and ether. It is interesting not just to go to a new place, but to work there on the air. And my circle of acquaintances was mainly from the radio amateurs.
Diplomas, competitions, range and other features of radio sports
To work on the air, you need to obtain permission and call sign (for this you need to pass an exam on the rules of working on the air and safety precautions, as well as on the basics of radio engineering and, in some cases, the ability to use the ABC Morsa. – Approx. Ed.). My call sign is RC5A. I call it when I get in touch.After that, the exchange of reports occurs, the name, city, country is called. You can also talk about the weather and equipment.
On the air, they communicate with the alphabet of Morse and the voice – as on the phone. In the process, a hardware journal is held where contacts are recorded. Then these contacts are confirmed by special cards, where the following data are indicated: I got in touch with that, in such and such a range. Based on these cards, you can get a diploma.
There are diploma programs in radio sports. For example, there is a goal to conduct connections with a hundred countries or with one hundred islands. I spent – you get a diploma. The diploma does not give material wealth, but is appreciated in the world of radio amateurs. According to our program, there are about 350 countries and territories in the world. If you have established contact with all points, you get authority and prestige. But this work takes many years.
The entire ethereal spectrum is divided between professional radio, radio amateurs, military and so on. We work on VHF and short waves – from 1 to 30 MHz.
Then it was controlled, but as now – I do not know. At one time in Russia there were about forty thousand licenses issued to radio amateurs. Now our radio is actively working three to four thousand fans. Someone is broadcast to chat with friends, someone collects diplomas, someone participates in competitions and travels on an expedition. Someone generally likes to simply design equipment. I know several pairs that found each other according to the call sign. But, of course, now people are much less engaged in radio sports than before. The average age of radio amateurs is about fifty years. There are young people, but it is not enough.
The family belongs positively to my hobby. In ordinary life, I work as a programmer. Decent money goes to equipment and trips. Some believe that this is happening at someone's account-as if someone is paying for the expedition to us, and for victory in the competition we get some money. No, everything is wrong. But I can afford it – and I allow myself it.
Excitement, competitions and a woman's place in radio antennane
We have an absentee sport. The winner is the one who will conduct more connections in a certain time. It is now difficult to take the air from Moscow – a very large level of interference. The signal is interfered with electricity and Chinese technique, which is phonit. For example, noise is created by telephone charges, TVs. Our team has a suburban position. Usually we go to compete there. There are several antennas, a house, equipment. Now many people put a remote antenna somewhere in the country and get access to the signal via the Internet: you sit at home and make contact from a suburban position.
Now the radio amateurs have become easier to catch unique expedition signals. There is Internet, information about the air from interesting places publishes. He went, shouted – and that’s it. The main problem is to get in the crowd of other calling. At my first competitions, we spent 600 ties in two days.It seemed a lot. Then a radio station appeared in my house – I worked myself and conducted 1000 connections. Now we are participating in the World Cup, we have a position in the Canary Islands. Over two days we conduct 12,000 ties, and this no longer seems incredible. But here, equipment and location plays a huge role.
Among the radio amateurs, many know me, and no one is surprised that the woman is doing this. I became the first woman in Russia – an international -class master of sports in radio sports: I won prestigious competitions and received a discharge. In the core of the team, I am usually the only woman, although wives often go with my colleagues. They can help: hold the strains, level. On air, of course, they do not work. If the team is large, I also do not perform hard physical work – so, I’ll hold a rope. But the three of us went to the Philippines, there we raised the antenna together. But the equipment was taken compact.
Galapagos, Maldives, Nicaragua and other radio access
In hardware magazines, among other things, are recorded by popular and rare islands. Basically, everyone, of course, strives to go to uninhabited islands, where there was no one before. But I don’t go to such: because of my work, I can’t afford to be without the Internet. I have to choose rare islands, but with civilization, and I put the uninigned to retirement.
I choose the island in Google Maps. I look at what part of the world I want, then I check if there are interesting places there to travel, and not just sit on the air for two weeks and not go anywhere. If there is the Internet, then there is a hotel and civilization. But other criteria are important. In order to go to another country, you need to get permission to go on air, but this is not always simple. Each state has its own organization, which is responsible for telecommunications, it gives out licenses to radio amateurs. Sometimes you have to go to some country and get a license already on the spot. But most often you need to find the website of the ministry on the Internet, send a letter there and get permission. Once on the Galapagos we submitted documents in advance, and received a license the day before the arrival. You can, of course, piracy, but without a license, your work will not be counted and in general they can arrest and select equipment.
When I come up with an expedition, I send information on my friends: “The next goal is such and such. Who wants to – join. ” The circle is limited. I would like to choose a team so that there are no problems. Sometimes someone announces: there are three of us, there are two vacant places, join. All this, as a rule, is not very budget, but there are also difficulties with baggage. The three of us to take away and put so much antennas is almost unrealistic.
Before the trip, we have to negotiate with the hotel in advance that we will put the antenna. If this is an island, then there should be a beach. If not an island, there should be a lawn. This is all discussed from home.Usually hotels react normally to this. Once we gathered in the Maldives, and I found several islands, wrote it to them, and from some hotel they answered me: “No, we cannot allow you.” Well, no and no, we found another hotel. And another time I wrote to the owners of the hotel whether it was possible to put the antenna. And they answered: Yes, of course, we even have a radio amateur. We arrive, sitting at the hotel, and the antenna of the local radio amateur is visible from our window. He worked at the hotel with a locksmith and lived nearby. We met him, went to visit.
The last and most unusual journey was in Nicaragua. We went there at the end of November to work on the island. Actually, I really wanted to be on the Caribbean, but I scared the price of tickets. I began to study the map and found in the Caribbean an island belonging to Nicaragua. We decided to go there. The island is rare, there were no radio amateurs for a long time. We gathered ten people: five radio amateurs, the rest are wives and sympathetic.
Baggage weighed more than a hundred kilograms. Only one of the pins of the antenna is 18 meters, and this is a lightweight option. We carry equipment in disassembled form, and in place we collect and raise. We usually scatter the cost of additional baggage on everyone, otherwise some crazy money is obtained.
Upon arrival in Nicaragua, it turned out that our licenses were not enough to import equipment, and we arrested antennas. Customs officers could not believe that the antenna could be in three boxes. We tried to convince that there are masts, there are elements of the antenna, there are ropes. But nothing helped. We had to go to their responsible body and receive additional permits. Fortunately, the organization was in the same city, and we had a guide. Without a guide, we would not have decided anything: we are in Spanish at all in any way, and they almost do not know English there. The guide explained everything, and, surprisingly, in just four hours we received the necessary papers.
Then another problem arose: small aircraft for thirteen people fly on the island, in which our boxes simply do not fit. As a result, we managed to send the equipment with a rare large airplane, but we took everything out in a ferry, because there was no big aircraft. I took with me three boxes with antennas, a suitcase with equipment and two hand luggage backpacks. Plus, a friend from America flew with three equipment suitcases. Friends went with two suitcases: one with personal things, the other with equipment.
Our team lives in different cities. We met one person at a conference on radio sports in Finland. I learned another through a colleague with whom we flew to the Galapagos Islands. All sorts of festivals of radio amateurs are held, we also get acquainted with them.
In Nicaragua, we combined the pleasant with useful: we worked on the air, and looked at the country, and they ran on the beach. At first, they traveled around the country for five days.Then our acquaintances flew, and together we moved to the island of Bolshaya corn. The next day they installed the antenna, dismantled the equipment and began to work on the air. True, the rainy season has not yet ended there, and while we put the antenna, we watered us with might and main. Then the weather was excellent. On the island we were ten days. We rested, sunbathed and parallel to contact. We had five operators, and almost always someone was present on the air. Usually in the air from expeditions we exchange reports, but if you suddenly get to a friend, you can just talk about your own with him.
Usually everyone reacts to our antennas with interest. Locals start walking, watching. Children are curious. In Nicaragua, three days before leaving for us, the police arrived. There is now a tense political situation. Honestly, I thought that as soon as we erect an antenna, the police would come. But the police arrived a week later, photographed our licenses, checked passports and left.
So far, I have only one continent – Australia, who is unknown. I have already visited everyone else. I don’t take into account the Arctic and Antarctic – I don’t like the cold, and technically it is not easy to arrange: you need to fly, then swim, but the vacation is still not rubber. Now I have about twenty islands: Big Birch in the Baltic, Kuril Islands, Sakhalin, Maldives, Madeira, Jersey, Bolshaya corn, Galapagos …
But we go not only to the islands, sometimes to continental countries. Recently there was an expedition to Botswana – they visited Africa, looked at wild animals and went to Victoria's waterfall. We had a house with a fence, and every evening elephants walked past our windows to the river. And we needed to throw a wire outside our territory to hear better. I tried to agree with the hostess to give us accompanied by boys. The boys flatly refused: There are elephants! We were surprised: Where are the elephants? We looked closely – and there is a bush, and it really always has elephants. We had to agree with a special guide. The feeling, when a wild elephant came to us, was not pleasant. And mostly there were mothers with elephants. For us, an elephant is an elephant in a zoo, it is so cool. But in fact these are terrible animals. From there we complained to friends that we could not stretch the rope, because elephants. We were advised: Well, you are not pulling through the air, but on the ground. As if if we are not pulling through the air, but on the ground, the elephants will not trample us!