Introduction

In the summer of 2019 a successful one week YL gathering took place at the OK5Z contest station in Popůvky nad Jihlavou in the Czech Republic. Five years later the organizers under leadership of Eva HB9FPM decided that it was time for an even bigger event from the same location. Between 4 and 10 August 2024, 22 YLs from 11 countries Czech Republic, Germany, Japan, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Poland, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Switzerland, Turkey and United Kingdom gathered in a extremely friendly atmosphere, sharing their passion for amateur radio, using the opportunity to strengthen their friendship.

Participants OL88YL

An emotional moment occurred when Raisa R1BIG unexpectedly arrived after a complicated journey. International friendship as one of the pillars of amateur radio proved to be stronger than international conflicts.

Location

The event took place at the fantastic OK5Z contest station in Moravia not far from Brno.

Hotel Zámek Valeč

The initial plan was that all participants would stay in Hotel Restaurace na Statku in Náměšť nad Oslavou, about 7 km away from OK5Z. Due to an unexpected high number of participants a second hotel had to be found: Hotel Zámek Valeč in Valeč u Hrotovic at about 12 km from the radio station. In addition OK5Z offered simple camping space.

Opening

On Sunday 4 August most guest arrived at the OK5Z contest station. Eva HB9FPM held a short welcome speech and her OM Andreas HB9JOE led us through the program for the rest of the week.

Activities of OL88YL

Operating
The main activity during this week was operating from the top class contest station OK5Z with
6 operating positions for simultaneous operation.
Compared to five years ago there were more and better antennas. The impressive antenna farm now consists of
a vertical for 160 meters
a half square and inverted V for 80 meters
a 3 element Yagi and a vertical dipole for 40 meters
a 5 over 5 Yagi and a 4 element Yagi fro 20 meters
a 5 over 5 and 6 element Yagi for 15 meters
a 6 over 6 and 5 element Yagi for 10 meters
For receive the stations has 8 beverages covering all directions.
In addition to the classical contest bands a WARC band shack was installed and simple but effective WARC band antennas were put up.

OK5Z antennas

With their excellent operation skills the 22 participating YL’s were able to make more than17,500 QSO’s. In addition a variety of non-mandatory activities were offered to the participants.

Antenna workshop
At home most YL’s never get the chance to do antenna work themselves. This time the OM’s present had to keep their hands on their backs and were forbidden to touch wires and soldering irons. The YL's got instructed by Markus HB9HVG and Andreas HB9JOE on how to calculate antenna length, cut and strip wires, solder coax plugs and measure the performance of the antenna’s just constructed.

Antenna workshop

TA7YLY

SOTA and OKFF
During the next two days the self-constructed dipole antennas for 20 and 15 meters were used and tested with three SOTA activations from OK/JM-011 Babí Iom, OK/JM-013 Děvín and OK/VY-002 Javořice. All three SOTA summits were located in one or more Flora Fauna Parks.

Video
Professional photographer and videographer Lubomír Ovsík was invited to the station to make a video about the main activities of OL88YL. The video is available on the social networks of the participants.

Gala dinner
Because all participants were present on Wednesday we had our gala dinner on that day. A buffet with excellent traditional Czech dishes offered enough choice for everyone. Of course Czech beer does not need an introduction. Those who went for Moravian wine were not disappointed either.

During the dinner Hans PB2T, on behalf of the Yasme Foundation, presented the Yasme Excellence Award to Raisa R1BIG for actively promoting amateur radio on YouTube. Her YL Raisa YouTube channel has more than 15,800 subscribers from all over the world, showing how a newcomer experiences amateur radio activities.

R1BIG with Yasme Excellence Award

The OK5Z team held a presentation about their recent A8OK DXpedition to Liberia.

At the end of the dinner the participants exchanged small gifts, many of which were home made.

Grill party
On Thursday a surprise event was announced, and all participants eagerly anticipated what the evening had in store. The event indeed turned out to be a success! Rudolf OK2ZA invited his cousin, who prepared a delicious barbecue for our close-knit group. Additionally, guests of OK5Z, Vítek OK2ZV and Jaroslav OK2GG played live music. The YLs had the opportunity to participate in the festivities by dancing and playing tambourines. Some ladies even went fishing near the station.

The music band

Sightseeing

Sightseeing in Třebíč

The choice for a sight seeing destination was easy. The town of Třebíč, founded in 1101, at about 30 kilometers has a very rich history with St. Procopius Basilica, the Jewish Quarter and Jewish Cemetery inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List. Participants welcomed and highly appreciated to be able not only to be “on the air” but also get a flavor of the region’s history. St. Procopius Basilica offers a unique blend of Gothic and Romanesque architecture. The Jewish Quarter reminds of the long and rich history of the Jewish Community of Třebíč.

Sponsors and support

This event would not have been possible in its current form without the help of sponsors. Our gratitude goes to IARU Region 1, USKA, USKA Union Schweizerischer Kurzwellen Amateure, the Yasme Foundation, RL Radioamateurs de Luxembourg, the Moravian Contest Group OK5Z, Eva and Andreas Thiemann HB9FPM and HB9JOE, Rudolf Sedlák OK2ZA and Karel Odehnal OK2ZI.

We also should not forget to mention the efforts of the local support team Renata OK1GB and Alena OK2APY, together with the OK5Z crew with Josef OK2ARM, Ludek OK2ZC, Radek OK2NMA, Jakub OK2ZT, Rudolf OK2ZA and Karel OK2ZI and the assistance from Raisa R1BIG in designing the OL88YL award and QSL card and maintaining the QRZ.com page.

Farewell

Most participants left early Saturday. After a fantastic week participants said good-bye without shedding to many tears, already making plans for a future YL-event. If not next year then in 2026.

Participants list

Johanna DJ5YL, Janin DK1LJ, Michaela DL1TM, Karin DK2OL, Siggi DK2YL, Linda G0AJJ, Eva HB9FPM, Chantal HB9FRC, Veronika HB9HVW, Hatsumi JI1JRE, Mayumi JP3AYQ, Margreet K2XYL, June LX2DU, Arianna OK1ARI, Renata OK1GB, Martina OK1MAR, Liba OK1LYL, Alena OK2APY, Nora OM1OW, Raisa R1BIG, Halina SQ6PLH and Merzuke TA7YLY