Uruguay, on the southeastern coast of South America, is where you’ll find Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) member 12DA069 Fabián.

A popular and serious guy in the 11m DX community, with more than 15 years participation in the hobby, 12DA069 Fabián’s membership is sanctioned by DA-RC HQ in October 2021 via the DX Hunter Category (See http://www.delta-alfa.com/about/membership/).

Google Earth confirms that 12DA069 Fabián’s fascinating country is also South America’s second-smallest mainland DXCC entity.

The Oriental Republic of Uruguay (12 Division) is bordered by Brazil (3) and Argentina (4) and lies along the Atlantic Ocean.

Apart from its highest point — Mount Cathedral at 514m — much of the country consists of gently rolling land only a few hundred feet above sea level, along with wooded valleys.

The country has a vast wine industry and it’s said to be in the top five producers of wine in South America.

The DA-RC Membership Directory reveals that 12DA069 Fabián lives in the San José Department in the city of Ciudad del Plata.

In addition to its beaches, a popular tourist attraction here is a building constructed in the early 1900s named Teatro Macio.

Pictured above, the Teatro Macio was designed and built to pay honor to one of San Jose’s famous figures, Don Bartolome Macio.

There’s also a monument on the Plaza that’s known as the Piramide de la Paz.

Seen pictured left, this triangular construction was erected prior to 1900 and has since become an iconic tourist attraction.

The Department of San Jose Uruguay is also noted for other famous landmarks including the Cabana Paullier, the Cathedral Basílica and the Quinta del Horno which is a relaxing resort.

Ciudad del Plata is bounded by the Santa Lucía River to the east and north, and by the Río de la Plata to the south.

12DA069 Fabián is a keen fisherman and both rivers provide excellent catches of pejerreyes, barred sorubim and granulated catfish, as do the coastal beaches of the Atlantic Ocean.

12DA069 Fabián’s shack consists of a Yaesu FT-840 high-performance transceiver that provides up to 100 watts transmitter output power on all HF amateur bands, including eleven meters.

Outside his shack, high above the rooftop overlooking nearby homes and the waters of Montevideo Bay (“Bahía de la Candelaria”), is a 5.5m high Antron A-99 vertical, manufactured and sold by Solarcon Antennas in the USA.

This is a ‘1/2 wave over 1/4 wave variable mutual transductance tuned antenna with an enormous dB gain of 9.9 dBi; one that’s capable, according to Fabián, of 2000 watts.

In true dx adventure spirit, 12DA069 Fabián loves travelling with his family, hoping to combine travel with DXpedition work in the years to come.

The Isla de Tigre is a small island off the coast of his city, for example, not activated on the 11m band since 1992, that would be an exciting proposition indeed for 11m IOTA Hunters.

As too would the Isla de Flores (SA-030) (Pictured above) in the San Jose/Montevideo/Canelones Dept. IOTA group, which was last activated in 2013 by members of the Sugar Delta club.

12DA069 Fabián is professional driver who drives a National and International tourism bus, seen pictured above.

Not only does this work pay the bills, but it also allows him to see the beautiful Uruguayan countryside when he’s not busy chasing DX on the world’s premier HF band.

QSL INFOS

Ruta 1 Km 28.500 Ciudad del Plata San José Uruguay