Expeditions - general information

The aim of this programme is to encourage interest in beautiful hills and mountains among radio amateurs and, of course, to make contacts from summits.

In Estonia, this programme has been less popular than WWFF and COTA because only three summits qualify according to the original article. SOTA resources: summit directory.

Our team was the first to activate Suur-Munamägi, ES/ES-001. You can read about the trip in the Expeditions section.

The international World Castles Award (WCA) is a historical amateur radio award programme dedicated to operation from castles, fortresses and other defensive structures around the world. It was founded on 14 January 2009 by a group of Russian radio amateurs, the RZ1CWC radio club, under the auspices of the international Castles On The Air (COTA) organisation.

The programme brings together radio amateurs from different countries to activate and promote historical sites. Its aims include studying and preserving our countries’ historical heritage and architectural monuments associated with fortifications.

The original description lists 11 award certificates, one plaque and a series of electronic certificates for contacts and reception reports involving stations operating from castles, fortresses and other defensive structures worldwide.

According to the original description, the historical sites directory includes monuments and buildings on six continents in more than 100 countries.

Castles and fortresses are valuable cultural monuments and pages of our history. Each can tell us about the period in which it was built and the character and tastes of its creators. Many have great historical significance. Some are being restored, a demanding and painstaking task.

An early castle award and a series of castle-themed QSL cards appeared in the last century: the Hungarian Castle Series (HSC), with contacts counting from 1 January 1968. These QSL cards became familiar to radio amateurs worldwide and helped establish this historical branch of the hobby.

The subject has become increasingly popular. Stations operating from castles and fortresses are heard on the air, and award schemes, clubs and websites bring castle activators together.

WCA offers a way to discover castles and fortresses, enjoy excursions to ancient ruins and organise expeditions to outstanding monuments of castle architecture.

The official WCA website began operating in April 2009. Its purposes include:

• Providing information and announcing forthcoming expeditions.
• Collecting awards and links related to fortifications.
• Publishing articles and photographic reports from expeditions.

The programme invites amateur radio organisations, clubs and individual operators from all countries to take part, explore historical places and enjoy memorable operation from castles and fortresses around the world.

Welcome!
de RZ1CWC team.
73 & 11 from the castles and fortresses of the world!

WCA website

WWFF draws attention to the importance of protecting nature, flora and fauna. Radio amateurs set up stations in designated nature parks and protected areas, highlighting these places while giving other operators an interesting opportunity to make contact with a station in a protected area.

WWFF is an international, non-commercial programme run by the national coordinators of numerous flora and fauna programmes.

Many nature reserves and protected areas have identifying numbers, known as references. The original article gives ESFF-253 as an example, covering the Vääna River and a defined area around it. Protected-area boundaries can be consulted on the relevant environmental authority’s map.

General information about Estonia’s protected areas is available here.

 

Members of our club periodically visit protected areas to make contacts with radio amateurs around the world.

The programme offers various awards, ranging from electronic certificates to plaques and trophies. The original page refers readers to the right-hand column for reports of our trips.

About WWFF

IOTA is an international award programme created to encourage amateur radio contacts with islands around the world. It was founded in 1964 by the British shortwave listener Geoff Watts. In 1985, the Radio Society of Great Britain (RSGB) took responsibility for the programme.

The programme is based on contacts with different island groups, although some groups consist of a single island. The original description lists 18 awards of varying difficulty and the highest award, the Plaque of Excellence.

The basic award is IOTA 100. The original article describes an application procedure using the IOTA Members Application Disk (IOTAMEM), a floppy disk available from the checkpoint responsible for applications from your country. This was intended to simplify applications and checking and provide a discount on administration fees. Paper applications were also accepted.

Under that historical procedure, applicants sent the completed application or IOTAMEM disk to their checkpoint, together with QSL cards and payment. The original article describes 18 separate awards for QSL-confirmed contacts with the required number of island stations, or an equivalent number of confirmed reception reports for shortwave listeners.

Further information: award description.

Official programme website: IOTA.

The Amateur Radio Lighthouse Society (ARLHS) is devoted to maritime communications, amateur radio, lighthouses and lightships. Members travel to lighthouses around the world and operate amateur radio equipment at or near them. Collecting QSL cards from lighthouse activations is a popular interest among some radio amateurs. The original description reports more than 1,665 members worldwide.

Key aims:

• Raise public awareness of the role of amateur radio and lighthouses in supporting safety at sea.
• Preserve the heritage and history of lighthouses and navigational lights.
• Help protect lighthouses threatened with destruction.
• Recognise lighthouse keepers as maritime heroes.
• Encourage communication between nations and members of the Society.

ARLHS maintains the World List of Lights (WLOL). Its key feature is a short, easily transmitted identification number for each lighthouse. It lists lighthouses that serve, or once served, as aids to navigation and may be suitable for amateur radio operation. Former navigational lights that no longer exist can also be listed as historical sites. The original article describes more than 15,000 entries, making it one of the most comprehensive directories of its kind.

ARLHS was founded by Jim Weidner, K2JXW, in 2000.

Lighthouses of Estonia in the ARLHS directory

POTA stands for Parks on the Air, an international amateur radio programme in which participants set up and operate stations in national parks, nature reserves and other listed natural or protected areas.

Estonian parks in the site’s catalogue

How it works:

• Activators travel to a park or other area in the POTA directory, set up their stations and make contacts.
• Hunters contact activators from home or other locations.
• The original description explains that successful contacts contribute to progress in the POTA system and towards awards and certificates.

Features:

• Operation on different bands using CW, SSB and digital modes.
• Portable or QRP transceivers and lightweight antennas, such as inverted-V antennas, dipoles and verticals, are often used.
• The programme is growing, and its park directory is available through parksontheair.com.