Snake Island: Z35M’s 1000th Portable Operation

Lightweight gear and a rising sunspot cycle are making portable operations more and more popular. But it takes something extra-special to take your ham gear to the field 1000 times! Z35M has reached that milestone and explains that, for him, amateur radio is not just a hobby but a lifestyle.

VLADIMIR KOVACESKI

A Look Back at 14 Years of Portable Hamming On September 3, 2023, I conducted my 1000th HF portable operation using ultralight equipment, independent battery power, temporarily-deployed antennas and QRP transmitter output power. My jubilee portable activation was conducted from the uninhabited island of Golem Grad in Prespa Lake, North Macedonia (Z3), also known as Snake Island due to the high density of snakes there. This was considered the first-ever radio amateur activity from this relatively difficult to reach location (Photos A and B). I have been operating portable for the past 14 years, with 30,000 QRP QSOs with all continents. Most of these operations have included non-motorized access (walking up to 20 kilometers and cycling for 100 kilometers per day), visiting attractive locations such as mountain summits, historical fortresses,…

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CQ Amateur Radio (Digital) - 1 Issue, October 2023

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