# 2023

# AO4YOTA - Spain Subregional Camp

# AO4YOTA

>I had previously attended a YOTA camp in 9A and was excited to experience a subregional camp in Spain. The following report details my experiences at the camp.
>
>Jules F4IEY

## Participants
The subregional camp was designed for 30-50 participants, but unfortunately, only 6 individuals attended the camp. These participants were
* 4K6VS: Valia
* DL8GM: Marcus
* EA1JAY: Mario
* EA1JBE (now EA1MZ): Dario
* EA3HUJ: Daniel
* and F4IEY: Jules.

## Antennas
Two antennas were already installed when I arrived at the campsite. One was a multi-band hexbeam linked to a 100 W Kenwood TS480, and the other was a dual-band vertical antenna. However, the vertical antenna was not used due to issues with the FT897 behaving strangely and high SWR. Therefore, we only had one HF station for all participants, which was a significant difference from the antenna farm and FlexRadio transceivers we had at the previous camp.

## Activities
Despite the limited equipment, we had fun together operating the station, attending workshops, and doing outside QRP activities. We even installed a dipole at night to use 40m. My favorite workshop was on APRS, presented by Mario EA1JAY and Dario EA1JBE. However, the other workshops were not as interesting, and the presenters relied on full textual slideshows that were barely readable.

## Station Operation
I was excited about operating the special call to make some noise on the air, and I was the only operator who could run CW. I made approximately 275 QSOs, mostly in CW and a few in SSB, including a few DX stations from Japan, Trinidad, and Australia.

## Conclusion
The YOTA subregional camp in Spain was a nice experience, despite the low number of participants and limited equipment. The weekend gave me many ideas and a clear vision of what to do next, especially if I want to organize a subregional camp in France. I enjoyed meeting the main URE members and reconnecting with Mario and Marcus, and this experience will be added to my list of great moments.

# TM45KOP

# TM45KOP Event
*For the first time ever, the French youngsters met each other in one place to make a series of amateur radio related activities around an event in Provins, for the 45th anniversary of the biggest radio club in France, F6KOP*

This 3 day weekend was not part of an official subregional camp, but more like a beta test to see what can be done in France in the near future. The team were composed of: 
* Romain F4IDF
* Jules F4IEY
* Maxime F4IQN
* Damien F4JBS
* Lucy F4JSW
* Pierre F4JJZ

The radioclub infrastructures allowed us to sleep in the bedrooms, just aside of the station, so we were definitely able to work american pileups until 4:30AM ! The main activity was, of course, activating the special call TM45KOP, using the “top gun” station.

As it is a contest focused station, they have one rig per band…Yes, one per band!

The bands worked by the youngsters went from 80m to 10m, including some QSOs on QO-100 satellite.

In total, we made more than *4000 QSOs* in SSB and CW. There was also another activity: every youngster had to prepare a “technical presentation” of a radio related topic. A subject they want to talk about or simply a project they made. It was very instructive and interesting for everyone.

For lunch and dinner, everything was set up to welcome more than 100 people on Sunday, with some stands, barnums and temporary structures.

## Conclusion
Overall, this “test camp” was a nice experience for every one of us. Some operators learned how it feels to be working in a contest station and working pileups. This was an opportunity that we do not all have every day!

### Special Thanks
We want to say a huge thank you to all the F6KOP team for animating the whole weekend and allowing us to use the whole station.