Because of twinning between our municipality Eemsmond (were I live) and the german island Borkum (just about 10km from here) there was kind of a residents party organised in the Eemshaven. The Eemshaven is also the harbour from which there is a ferry to the island. The nice thing is that it is all nearby. As a ambassador from Borkum there would be the lightship Borkumriff visiting so we could all take a look around. Most interesting as I knew there was a amateurradio station on board which I worked back in 2009 with a broken antenna. To shorten the whole story my XYL, harmonic and I stepped aboard the Borkumriff and immidiatly there was a friendly german volunteer that showed us things around the ship. My german is not so good, but we understood most of what he told. Then we came near the radioroom and he told something like that it was the room were he was found most often. Well, I said, then you certainly are a "funkamateur". That's right.....he asked me a about my call and mentioned his as DD1BV Jakob who seemed to be also the license holder from the ships radiostation DL0BRF. Of course he let us into the radioroom were I met 2 other HAMs as well DL2LCE Steffen and DL1BFE Gregor. They showed me the nice old equipment and of course their own portable radios. Gregor worked with a TenTec 555 and it was actually the first time I saw a radio like this with changeable band units. We had a nice chat and laughter although my german language is not really that good, the radio amateur language is universal. Great to meet actually neighbourstations from another country this time...a nice experience.
In verband met een stedenband tussen de gemeente Eemsmond (waar ik woon) en het duitse eiland Borkum was er een soort van inwonersfeest georganiseerd in de Eemshaven. De Eemshaven is tevens 1 van de havens waar een veerdienst vertrekt naar Borkum. Het mooie is dat het hier allemaal vlakbij is. Als ambassadeur van Borkum zou o.a. het lichtschip Borkumriff te bezichtigen zijn naast de andere aktiviteiten. Uiteraard interesseerde mij dat omdat ik wist dat er een amateurstation op dit schip zit,
ik werkte deze in 2009 met een kapotte antenne. Om een lang verhaal kort te maken. Mijn XYL, QRP en ik zijn op de Borkumriff gestapt en werden gelijk rond geleid door een vrijwilliger die natuurlijk zeer snel duits praat. Goed, mijn duits is niet best maar begrijpen deed ik alls wel. We kwamen uiteindelijk in de buurt van de radiohut toen hij zoiets zei als dat het zijn domein was. Aha, ik zeg dan ben jij ook zendamateur? Gelijk werd naar mijn call gevraagd en het ijs was gebroken. Het bleek DD1BV Jakob te zijn, tevens de licentiehouder van DL0BRF de call van het schip station. Uiteraard mocht ik uitgebreid de radiohut bekijken waar nog 2 collega amateurs waren. Ik werd hartelijk ontvangen door DL2LCE Steffen and DL1BFE (Beste Funker von Emden ;-) Gregor. Ze lieten me de oude scheeps apparatuur zien, maar ook hun eigen portabele stations. Gregor werkte met een TenTec 555 en het is eigenlijk de eerste keer dat ik een apparaat zag met uitwisselbare band units. We hebben wat gepraat en gelachen ondanks dat mijn duits erg slecht is. De amateur taal is universeel! Leuk om eigenlijk buurtstations te ontmoeten uit Duitsland dit keer...een leuke ervaring.
Because of twinning between our municipality Eemsmond (were I live) and the german island Borkum (just about 10km from here) there was kind of a residents party organised in the Eemshaven. The Eemshaven is also the harbour from which there is a ferry to the island. The nice thing is that it is all nearby. As a ambassador from Borkum there would be the lightship Borkumriff visiting so we could all take a look around. Most interesting as I knew there was a amateurradio station on board which I worked back in 2009 with a broken antenna. To shorten the whole story my XYL, harmonic and I stepped aboard the Borkumriff and immidiatly there was a friendly german volunteer that showed us things around the ship. My german is not so good, but we understood most of what he told. Then we came near the radioroom and he told something like that it was the room were he was found most often. Well, I said, then you certainly are a "funkamateur". That's right.....he asked me a about my call and mentioned his as DD1BV Jakob who seemed to be also the license holder from the ships radiostation DL0BRF. Of course he let us into the radioroom were I met 2 other HAMs as well DL2LCE Steffen and DL1BFE Gregor. They showed me the nice old equipment and of course their own portable radios. Gregor worked with a TenTec 555 and it was actually the first time I saw a radio like this with changeable band units. We had a nice chat and laughter although my german language is not really that good, the radio amateur language is universal. Great to meet actually neighbourstations from another country this time...a nice experience.
8 comments:
hallo Bas, altijd leuk om zendamateurs tegen te komen. We zijn toch wel een apart soort. 73 Paul
Hello Bas,
Reading your entry today brings back memories for me too. Several years ago, an old Navy "LST" docked on the Ohio River near my sisters home, and I was able to use the "ships radio". I found it to be really fun!
I like your comment about Amateur Radio being a "universal language". That is very true! Ham radio is undoubtedly a hobby that brings people of all nations together in a common love for the airwaves. Thanks for another great post!
Good evening Bas, it is nice when you run into a ham there seems to be an instant bond. Once when I was one strike at my regular job I went for a temp full time job until the strike was over. The person interviewing me found out I was a ham as he was also......I was then hired and the interview was over.
Mike
Hallo Bas,
Leuk verhaal.
Zo'n lichtschip bezoeken lijkt mij machtig mooi.
Vooral de communicatieapparatuur. Je zult best wel met belangstelling de apparatuur bewonderd hebben. En mazzel dat er 2 bemanningsleden ook zendamateur zijn, dat praat toch een stuk gemakkelijker.
En je Duits, dat valt best wel mee hoor.
73 Hans
Hallo Paul, ja dat merk je op zo'n eyeball meeting wel ;-) 73, Bas
Hello John. tnx for your comment. HAM radio brings people together for shure. I have some friends that I never would have without radio. I didn't aks if I could try the radio(s) as my XYL and daughter were waiting patiently. Didn't want to let them wait to long. If I was on my own I certainly would have spend several hours with them. 73, Bas
Hello Mike, it happened to me in 2 occasions applying for a temporary job. The first time the "chief" was a radioamateur and we found out when I already did some work. Second time was via a neighbourstation. 73, Bas
Hallo Hans, ja moet je wel op rekenen. Fantastisch die apparatuur (Telefunken) soms dubbel uitgevoerd. Meeste apparatuur was van de jaren 50 maar zaten ook modules in van de jaren 70. Ze trokken zelfs modules naar voren om de stoffige binnenkant te laten zien. Ja, dat Duits heb je laatst wel gehoord ;-). Steenkolen duits haha. 73, Bas
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