Although COVID-19 has by no means subsided, society is gradually returning to normal life in Japan. From October 11, the government eased entry regulations at airports and other locations for foreign tourists, based on a review of restrictions on new entries of foreigners around the world. In addition, the recent depreciation of the yen has also been a tailwind, and the number of inbound tourists is on the rise.

On November 10, Jens Uhlig, a German amateur radio operator whose call sign in DL7JU, visited the showroom of Icom's head office in Osaka. A monthly FB NEWS staff happened to be there and interviewed him.

During this family's trip to Japan, he took time out of his schedule to visit the Icom showroom. He is an enthusiastic ham who obtained his license in 1990 and is currently active on-air on almost all bands and all modes, especially FT8. I believe that many of you may have had a QSO with him.

He has an Icom IC-7610 and other radios from various companies. During the showroom tour, he was always talking about how "This rig is the same as the one I use," or "I have this one, too.” Among them, he also mentioned that he was proud of the fact that he still has a fully working IC-2E, a 2 m FM handheld transceiver that is about 40 years old.

Jens Uhlig (DL7JU) visiting the Icom headquarters showroom

We learned that his wife Christina is also a ham with the call sign DL7CAU. I heard that their 12 year old son Lars also obtained his amateur radio license last summer and is currently active on VHF with the call sign DO6LR.

By the time this news is published, he will have safely returned to Germany, and we are sure he will be reminiscing about his trip to Japan and the Icom showroom visit. We look forward to seeing you next in the sky, Jens. FB DX and 73.

<Reference>
https://www.qrz.com/db/DL7JU