CQ, CQ, CQ from Kosovo

Introduction:

First of all, please allow me to introduce my self, Eliodor “Ely” TANISLAV – YO3AAS; I am a ham radio operator from Romania, licensed since 1993. Due to my profession, I had the opportunity to travel quite a lot around the world. My last duty assignment, with the United Nations, was, for 1 year and 6 months, in Kosovo. I decided to write this article not only to share with you my ham radio experience in this part of the world, but also to offer some real-time and up-dated information about how to operate from this territory.

My QSL-card from Kosovo. On the back-ground you can see pollution over Prishtina from the Obilic power-plant.

About Kosovo:

Kosovo is a province of Serbia, former Yugoslavian Republic, which has been under United Nations administration since 1999. While Serbia's sovereignty is recognized by the international community, in practice Serbian governance in the province is virtually non-existent. The province is governed by the United Nations Interim Administration Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK) with the help of the local Provisional Institutions of Self-Government (PISG), as well as security provided by the NATO-led by Kosovo Force (KFOR).

Kosovo borders Montenegro, Albania, and the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia. It has a population of just over two million people, predominantly ethnic Albanians, with smaller populations of Serbs, Turks, Bosniaks, and other ethnic groups. Prishtina is the capital and largest city.

The province is the subject of a long-running political and territorial dispute between the Serbian government and Kosovo's largely ethnic-Albanian population. International negotiations began in 2006 to determine the final status of Kosovo, as envisaged under UN Security Council Resolution 1244 which ended the Kosovo conflict of 1999. Whilst Serbia's continued sovereignty over Kosovo is recognized by the international community, a clear majority of the province's population would prefer independence. This was actually declared by the self-elected Parlament in the spring of 2008, raising an international debate over the issue.

On the job!

How to get the license:

I remember when I was getting ready to departure for Kosovo, that my search for such “intell” was limited to some brief information on the A.R.R.L. web page, posted by Jeff Baker, WK3U. It was a starting point. Later, in Kosovo, I learned that this info was out of date, since Kosovo is on a constant change and restructure of the official entities. After about 6 months of research (making phone calls, asking around etc) I managed to find out the proper authorities in order to receive a license to operate from a pilot. Since the legal status of this territory is so shallow, I didn’t want to take the chance of operating and then to find out that C.E.P.T is not valid (Member Nations of the European Conference of Postal and Telecommunications Administrations (CEPT) all have the same radio-amateur reciprocal licensing requirements. This allows Amateurs to travel and to operate from most European countries without obtaining an additional licensee or permit for each country visited. The United States currently accepts CEPT licenses within any area controlled by the Federal Communications Commission and CEPT members accept US licenses with a US passport and copy of the FCC/CEPT agreement. South African licenses are also CEPT compliant except for the entry level class.) Also, we have to keep in mind that KFOR (Kosovo International Military Force) is constantly monitoring the frequencies.

Later, I found out from military sources that during the Kosovo war, the 2 M and 70 CM bands were used by belligerents, on both sides, to communicate, since ham radio equipment was much cheaper to buy. And even nowadays, ham radio transceivers on those bands can be bought at cheap prices in the local electronic shops, but the majority of the local population have no clue what they were initially made for. For this reason, in Kosovo, the 144 MHz and 440 MHz bands are not allowed for amateur radio use. This was made very clear to me by the clerk when I got the license for Kosovo with the callsign YU8/YO3AAS (the prefix is still of Serbia). So don’t make the mistake of using you HT on this territory, at least for the moment. However, at only 45 minutes away from Pristina, in the capital city of the Former Yugoslavian Republic of Macedonia, Skopje, you can talk to a large group of hams on simplex or on a local repeater located on the mountains peaks near the border.

Here is the contact information for the license:

Fazli Shala – Chief of Frequency Management Office
E.U. Pillar UNMIK
Rilindja Container Complex
Office 21-22
Police Road, Pristina-KOSOVO
Tel: 00377-38.504.604 extension 4705 or 5805

In order to receive the license, valid for 1 year, you have to bring a copy of your original license and of your I.D. (passport, U.N., diplomatic etc). Also it’s required to fill in a form with basic information about you ham radio equipment and the location you want to use. There are no restrictions to mobile or portable operating.

Operating:

One very important thing you want to keep in mind if you decide to operate from here: you need an independent power source. The power cuts are so often here (even 2-3 times a day for several hours), so everyone has around the house either a generator (gasoline or diesel fueled) or an inverter (a device that makes 220v from 12v car batteries). For this reason, very good, but cheap, generators (3-4 KW) can be found on the local market for aprox. 200 U.S. dollars. However, since they are not intended to be used for radio communications applications, they offer no protection for electronic interferences. I used both, the generator and the inverter, with success.

The inverter

My station

The local economy is not so developed in order to be able to buy ham radio accessories, such as coaxial cable, electronic components, microphones, etc; however basic things, such as soldering tools or screwdrivers can be purchased at the supermarket.

If you decide to go portable, be aware that only a few years ago this country was a war zone and not all areas are cleared of mines or unexploded ordnances. Stay on the roads/tracks and don’t adventure into the grassy areas.

Other advise:

Don’t bring very expensive radios or equipment since foreigners are an attractive target for the local criminals and once you become a victim you have very little chances to ever recover your stolen goods.

I used an ICOM IC-706 and an antenna tuner made by MFJ – 949E. Later I have upgrade the tuner to a LDG Z-11 Pro. The antenna was an Inverted V for 14, 21 and 29 MHz at the beginning and later a vertical PRO X-1, for the same bands made by Proxel. Apparently, the local population had nothing against me raising the antennas, since I lived in a rented apartment on the second floor of a house, but this can be different from area to area. I told them that I want to see TV channels from my home country and they even helped out with the installation, hi,hi... (That was a trick I learned back home, when some on my crazy neighbours were calling the police all time because my antennas were “frying” them.)

I know that approximately 15 other people were licensed to operate in Kosovo, but I have never heard or meet any of them during my stay. Maybe I had bad luck.

Although I intended to be on air as much as possible, my job prevented me from doing so. I only managed to make just a little bit over 500 QSO’s. I know some DX-ers make this much in one weekend, but it’s better then nothing. I operated most of the time from my apartment, but occasionally I drove with my duty off-road vehicle to the Pristhina surouding hills (approximately 800 meters altitude) for some-type of “field-days”, also using this opportunity to have a barbeque with my colleagues. I would recommend as a possible location for operating the sky resort called Brezovica (approximately 1600 meters altitude), located close to the border with Macedonia and at 1 hour drive from the capital. Very cheap accommodation can be rented out and don’t hesitate to try the local cuisine. The sightseeing is great and little chances for any interference.

Although I left Kosovo in November 2007, only recently I learned that an other ham is operating from Kosovo. He is LZ1BJ, Boyan, (lz1bj@yahoo.com) from the city of Kuystandil/Bulgaria, working also for the United Nations. He is quite active in PSK31 on 20M. So please look for him on the air!

Conclusion:

I hope my information will be useful to at least one of you that, for one reason or an other, decides to visit Kosovo. For the rest of you, I wish you have enjoyed my “experience” in this part of the world. For any suggestions, comments, help with a future trip to YU8, please contact me at: yo3aas@yahoo.com

Since Kosovo will be recognized quite soon as a new DXCC entity, I plan, along with several hams to organize a DX-pedition in order to activate it. I would ask anyone who would like to participate, to sponsor or to share DX-pedition experience with us to get in touch with me. We need all the help we can get!

73 from Ely, YO3AAS

Member Comments: