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.