I as well as you have seen numerous negative comments on FR/E on the cluster nets. Many of you have stepped up to the plate with bat to refutiate these negative comments. The FR/E Team thanks you for this.
Having been on a number of DXpeditions to this area in the early and mid 60's, let me tell you personally what the FR/E Team is up against: This time of year, daytime temperatures on Europa approach 120 - 130 Deg F in the shade. If your body is not acclamated to this heat, profuse sweating begins within an hour after sunrise and continues well past sunset. If you notice a lull in the QSO's during a pile-up, the Op is stopping to mop the sweat from his face, arms, neck and the headphones. Underclothing gets drenched with sweat, and heat rash in the groin area and under the armpits creates severe pain and itching. Continual profuse sweating depletes the body's electrolyte levels resulting in loss of energy. Compounding this problem is the loss of appetite for food that usually acompanies profuse sweating. This is also the rainy season on Europa. The rain creates many pools of water on the island. Those pools of water that are shaded by dense vegetation do not evaporate and stagnate. They become the breeding ground for a profuse amount of flies, bugs, and mosquitoes. The pain, swelling, and itching from an African Mosquitoe bite is only exceeded by that of the Alaskan Tundra Mosquitoe. 3 hours is about the maximum that any one Op can go under these conditions, as the profuse sweating causes physical fatigue and degradated mental acuity. The Europa team is camped very close to the French army compound. At least 4 times a day they have to cease operations, somtimes as long as an hour, in order for the army communications center to send and receive radio traffic between Europa and France, and between Europa and the many French territories in the Indian Ocean. This QRT is necessary to avoid interference and overloading of the French army radio receivers. These guys are operating under these conditions to give you a new one, while many of you have worked them on one or more bands, and you are complaining as you sit in your comfortable Op chair in your heated or air conditioned shack. A late Fall fly buzzing around in the shack infuriates you. I have not been able to make "the trip" yet. My upper neighbor's large two story brick house with brick wall around the pool in back sits right between Europa and my trusty homebrew vertical with a measured maximum radiation angle of 12.5 Deg. So, unless I am favored by some high angle prop from Europa, I probably will not make "the trip". I couldn't even make "the trip" to 5U4LF in Niger on 10M CW this morning for the same reason. Well, put up a tower and yagi you say. I would love to, but I an disabled. As Dave, K4SV, so aptly put it, "Walk a mile in the shoes of a DXpeditioner, or go on one yourself." After all troops, this is really just a hobby, and compared to other things in life it is really miniscule. If you do not realize this now, later on on life you will. Understanding usually comes through experience, while complaining usually comes from ignorance. Sent in Love and Not Scorn - 73, Larry K4WLS ---------------------------------------------------------- Subscribe/unsubscribe, feedback, FAQ, problems, etc DX-NEWS http://njdxa.org/dx-news DX-CHAT: http://njdxa.org/dx-chat To post a message, DX NEWS items only, [EMAIL PROTECTED] Archives http://www.mail-archive.com/dx-news%40njdxa.org ----------------------------------------------------------
