CQ Phillipines

[flintstone mop]

Has there ever been any Hams checking into AMFONE from SE Asia?
What kind of activity from this neck of the World?

Fred

[W3SLK]

Brain said:

God.., that’s the last thing I want to hear because I have CQ from the Philippines here everyday. My wife speaks Tagalog constantly. On the phone, when her friends come over, ENOUGH..

Well, if you ever get tired of lumpia, send it this way! I never met a lumpia I didn't like. MMMMM

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

Do you speak English every day?

Has there ever been any Hams checking into AMFONE from SE Asia?
What kind of activity from this neck of the World?

Fred

God.., that’s the last thing I want to hear because I have CQ from the Philippines here everyday. My wife speaks Tagalog constantly. On the phone, when her friends come over, ENOUGH..

[WA1QHQ]

I was setting up a microwave link in Manilla about 10 years ago. One end was on the roof of a two-way radio shop. To get access to the roof I had to go through a back storage room. The shelves were filled with dead Yeasu 757s and Kenwood TS430s probably most met their maker from lightning strikes. I don't know if these rigs belonged to hams who brought them there for repair or whether they were used by commercial services. I also got to visit the Phillipine version of the FCC and helped their enforcement division track down some bootleg microwave links that were on our channels; that was a memorable day.

A long time ago there was a Japanese magazine called CQ JA it was about 300 pages of mostly adds for some of the coolest radio gear that you would never see exported to the rest of the world, the Japanese often keep the latest best technology for their own market and then eventually export it once they have better stuff. In my latest travels to Asia I have not been able to find CQ JA anymore; I wonder if it is still published.

[Pete, WA2CWA]

I was setting up a microwave link in Manilla about 10 years ago. One end was on the roof of a two-way radio shop. To get access to the roof I had to go through a back storage room. The shelves were filled with dead Yeasu 757s and Kenwood TS430s probably most met their maker from lightning strikes. I don't know if these rigs belonged to hams who brought them there for repair or whether they were used by commercial services. I also got to visit the Phillipine version of the FCC and helped their enforcement division track down some bootleg microwave links that were on our channels; that was a memorable day.

A long time ago there was a Japanese magazine called CQ JA it was about 300 pages of mostly adds for some of the coolest radio gear that you would never see exported to the rest of the world, the Japanese often keep the latest best technology for their own market and then eventually export it once they have better stuff. In my latest travels to Asia I have not been able to find CQ JA anymore; I wonder if it is still published.

Maybe it was this magazine:

                 

[Pete, WA2CWA]

My wife says I speak mumble. 

[Steve - WB3HUZ]

What?

My wife says I speak mumble. 

[w3jn]

Putang ina na man!

Lived in Manila 3 years.  Wild west as far as RF is concerned.  Before cellphones every well to do family had a set of cheap 2 meter HTs to keep track of each other - of course, none of 'em were licensed.  I met a number of hams during my 3 years there, most have since died.  One, who's no longer active, introduced me to my wife.

The RF noise in Manila was so bad (when the electricity was on) I gave up on HF.

We really take 24/7 electricity for granted in this country.  My first 2 years in Manila we were lucky to have 8 hours of electricity a day.  Before I got married I lived on the 11th floor of a high rise apartment; the building generator ran the elevators and the water pump - nothing else.  Then one day the generator crapped out from over work.  I got to walk up 11 flights of stairs in the stifling heat, and couldn't even take a shower to cool off once I got to my apartment due to no water.   

We had a wicked typhoon in '94; blew down flame trees that had been planted at the American Club in 1905.  No electricity for 3 weeks, and no generator either.  However that pales in comparison to the typhoon that struck Manila in the mid-1960s - ships ended up on Roxas Boulevard, and my wife's house (4 miles inland) was flooded to the 2nd floor.

The only good thing about typhoons was that the couple days afterwards were the only relatively cool temperatures in that city.

[flintstone mop]

Well gang, I met my wife through my cousin, who married her couisin. And she is from Cebu. So, the dialect is Visayen. And my wife can really put out some chatter. The lumpia and other foods are pretty yummy.
When I visited in 2004 the electrcity was on 24/7 and was out for two hours for "maintenance"
It sounds like electrical hell over there. We're thinking of moving there in 5 yrs and building a house on 500 sq Meters. It's on top of a hill, by her parents, prolly 300 feet high and we'll have a nice view of the city and the China sea. Hopefully we'll neet with contractors and have the house and electrical system built right.

A lucious place that comes close to USA temps is Baguio City, Norhern Luzon. On some sort of a plateu about 5100 feet above sea level. Pine trees and nice WX, etc, etc.

I'll contact the ARRL and ask how to correspond with any Hams in the Phils. Meanwhile, our next visit in JUN 2010, I'll bring a loop antenna and either a shortwave radio or my TS440 and give an ear for radio activity. I won't operate, I'll listen for the atmospheric and manmade noises.

BTW the typhoons seem to miss Cebu. They head NW and hit square on Manila. Usually the tail end of a storm will give some healthy down pours and wind. That's why they build the roofs like a commercial building with a steel  structure.  I'm gettin tired of the rat race here and the thought of never living in a paid off house.

The island of Mindanao is where there is danger. Cebu is considered very safe.
Fred

[W3SLK]

Phred sed:

I'm gettin tired of the rat race here and the thought of never living in a paid off house.

Wow! Now that's some food for thought. I wouldn't mind that myself but regardless of all the BS, I still think the USofA is the finest place on the planet. But to each his own.

Now where's my swimming trunks.........

[w3jn]

There's no problem with operating, Fred.  If' you're gonna bring a rig, might as well get on the air.  Just sign /DU1 or 3 or whatever region you're in.  I think Cebu is in Region 3 but I could be wrong.

Cebu is NOT Manila; my Manila experiences might differ vastly from what you might find in Cebu.

[flintstone mop]

Thanks always John. You have good info for the Phils. It's a leap I'll have to consider carefully.
And Mike, I will certainly miss the USA way of life. It is still very good living here. That's why there are long lines waiting to get into the USA. 15 yr waiting period typically. ( The legal way) In their eyes WE are millionaires.
My pension and SS benefits will go much further in the Phils than it does here.

Phred

[flintstone mop]

YUP
We are on the same channel. PARA is the equivalent to the ARRL. I'm emailing with the webmaster and going through some info to get a reciprocal license. 100W limit though. After I get a "local DU license" the legal limit in some areas of the islands is 2KW P.E.P. You have to grease some hands at the NTC, equivalent to our FCC.
The challenge will be all of the 110VAC stuff I have. There are shops there that will rewind transformers for 220. And then my 220VAC linear will need some thinking to adapt to their method of 220vac.



Fred