Dear Radio friend!
Welcome to the CQAfrica.net site!
For more, than four years now, I spend a great part of the year in West-Africa, where my spare-time HAM activity has yielded more than 20.000 DX QSOs. Based on my experience and proposed by many hams, I'd like to allow DX enthusiasts to work on the other side of the pileup during a DXpedition or DX holiday in West-Africa, the land of eternal summer, a few hundred meters from one of the most beautiful beaches on the world. Furthermore, our QTHs have the best available location for HF propagation, especially in the Americas and EU directions including salt-water sites and desert regions with incredibly low noise levels.
Eating and accommodations best suiting your needs and budget, international airport, the familiar choice of supplies, lovely, tolerant people and hospitality are awaiting you, should you come alone, with your family or ham friends as well.
Regarding ham activity, we are at your service with full licence administration and fully equipped QTHs. Should you ever get tired in working the huge pileups, lots of interesting attractions, wonderful nature are waiting to be discovered, and, of course the fine cool local beers as well!
73 es DX de Peter
HA3AUI
Currently, the following equipment are available at the QTH:
Transceivers:
ICOM IC-7000
ICOM IC-706Mk2G
Elecraft K3 (from 10/2009)
Amplifier:
ICOM IC-2KL (500W, w/auto. tuner)
Power supplies:
2 pc. ALINCO DM-330 (30A)
90Ah gel battery, power inverter 12/230V
Miscellaneous:
MixW Rigexpert+ USB interface
Heil ProSet+ headset, Heil FS footswitch
The following antennae are available at the QTH:
5-band SpiderBeam for 20 – 10m bands, on a 14m tower
4-band DunaX GP for 40 – 10m bands, on a 12m mast
3-band DunaX GP for the WARC bands, on a 10m mast
FD-4 for 30, 40 and 80m
Titanex V160E vertical for160 – 40m bands (from 10/2009)
Licence
Since Senegal and Bissau-Guinea are not part of the CEPT, you need to obtain a licence to operate from these countries. We provide full administration of your licences, but (as usual in Africa) it's a very long procedure, we have to commence well before the planned expedition.
In Senegal, foreigners get a temporary licence, usually valid for six months. The default callsign is 6W/homecall, but shorter, 6V2xx callsigns are also available, for contests, for example. We need the following scanned documents:
Licence
Passport
Handwritten letter in French (like this example)
If you want to bring along your own equipment, we also need its technical details.
In Bissau-Guinea, you are issued a permanent licence, valid for five years, by default, your callsign will be J5xxx, but, like in Senegal, shortened callsigns with two, or even one letter suffix are available as well. Required documents:
Licence
Passport
If you want to bring along your own equipment, we also need its technical details.
Getting There
Basically, there are two ways to reach Senegal, or rather Cap Skiring. It's faster and more comfortable by plane, but not definitely cheaper than overland. Those who don't have enough spare time for the voyage (two weeks, at least), and who don't care about the limited luggage weight, should practically come by air. For the adventurous with less limited time, taking the road is definitely the best choice.
You have three flight options to come to Cap Skiring:
Several daily flights to Dakar from a number of major cities worldwide (Paris, Milan and Lisbon being the best options from Europe). For the remaining 500km between Dakar and Cap Skiring, you can choose a domestic flight, public transport or a cab.
Weekly direct flights from some European cities (mainly Paris) to Cap Skiring. The most comfortable solution, with one single hop. Since these flights are infrequent and very popular, you should book well before the planned departure.
Since Cap Skirring is right at the border of Bissau-Guinea, a viable option is flying to it's capital, Bissau (daily flights from Europe, mostly from Lisbon), you can pass over the remaining 200km in a few hours.
Of course, we can arrange your transfer from both capitals to Cap Skiring as well.
With the overland trip, you will have an unforgettable experience, a touch of Africa without stress and serious difficulties. Since fall '05, the whole route is sealed, except a two and a 17km long section. An all-terrain vehicle is not an absolute necessity, you can go along the whole track in a 2WD as well, but you will miss a lot of interesting places. For traversing from Europe to Africa (to Morocco), you can choose Spain or France as a start, choosing the latter saves you almost 2000km of driving in Spain. Once in Africa, you take the Atlantic route, all along the coast, driving through Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal and The Gambia for about 4000km that can be accomplished in 7-10 days.
About Me
All began in early autumn '05, when my friend Tibi, HA7TM mentioned, that he had found a ready to operate QTH for rent in Senegal, and wanted to do a short DX holiday there sometimes before Christmas. Beyond ham radio, for several years, I'd been thinking of a trip to Africa, and, for some still unknown reason, had considered Senegal as a first place candidate. What a coincidence, for the first time, I didn't even take it seriously, but anyway, told Tibi that maybe we would join them at the QTH in Senegal after passing along the Atlantic route by car.
As I am an enthusiastic traveller, I cannot even imagine flying above many countries or half a continent, missing thousands of sights, the wonderful nature, all waiting along the road. The funny idea turned to be serious soon, we had some three months for planning and preparing. About ten days before Tibi's departure, we were heading south into the great unknown with my Honda CR-V, loaded up to, or even beyond its limits. The first few days in Africa were not completely unfamiliar, since some ten years ago, I'd been travelling in Morocco during a month, discovering a great part of the country. The real adventure began beyond Agadir, with landscapes, people and countries never seen before. Thanks to the thorough preparation, we arrived at the QTH at dawn of the planned day.
My affection for Senegal turned out to be reasonable, suffice to say that albeit planned for one or two months, our stay in the country lasted more, than seven months and we are returning there every year! It's a long time, meanwhile we had discovered most of the sights of the region, moved to the southern part of the country (the wonderful Casamance) and, living close to the border, even ventured into Bissau-Guinea. There, with endless efforts, I got my licence (J5UAP), the J5 callsign is still wanted a lot, none the less it's not on the most wanted toplist and in the last few years, two large-scale DX operations took place in the country as well. In the meantime, I've obtained right of abode and a permanent licence (6W2SC) in Senegal, and, finally, this website is up and running as well, with hopefully useful information.
For those who like the facts and figures:
I was born in 1970 in Budapest, but moved to the lake Balaton in 2001, still living there (at least, when not in Africa). Passed the test and got my first licence in 1986. I've never been a hardcore ham, because I have a wide range of interests and try to share my spare time among all these, and, of course, my family too. Even so, my shack is decorated with DXCCs and several other awards, and thanks to my activities in Africa, I am well known to the international ham community as well. Beyond Hungarian, I speak fluent English, German and French too.
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