Adding to our high-profile team in the second-largest country in Western Europe is world class DX Hunter and experienced dx adventurist 30DA030 Rafael.
From the Kingdom of Spain, 30DA030 Rafael (See pictured above) brings an abundance of DX-perience and hobby know-how to our Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) when he connects in late November, 2023.
At first glance, through efforts on several bands as a licensed ham radio operator, Rafael has accumulated some impressive feats…
“Sporadically, you can find me on the HF Bands in which I’m operational in Phonía and in Digital Modes such as FT-4 and FT-8,” he explains.
“I’m also active for voice and data transmission in Digital Mobile Radio (DMR) in non-public radio networks…”
It’s the eleven meter band, however, where 30DA030 Rafael’s true passion lies.
“I was born in San Cristóbal de la Laguna, province of Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands,” he explains.
“My beginnings and my love for this world of radio was in October 1989 in La Cuesta, Tenerife. I was on 27 MHz in the 11 meter band when I was only 15 years old.”
History reveals that the love of 11m DX has stayed with him since this day, through a period of membership with the Sugar Delta club and transmissions as an independent station also.
A rugged, mountainous country, 30DA030 Rafael’s DXCC, Spain, is located on the Iberian Peninsula, in the southwest corner of Europe.
The world atlas shows that it shares the peninsula with Portugal (31 Division), however Spain does occupy the lion’s share—about five-sixths.
Mainland Spain has Portugal to the west and France (14 Division) to the north, while the rest of the country borders on water…and often on beach!
Spain’s northwest border is the Bay of Biscay, while to the east and southeast is the Mediterranean, and to the southwest, past Gibraltar, is the Atlantic Ocean.
In addition to hunting DX on Freeband frequencies, 30DA030 Rafael enjoys activations from castles, hermitages, inland water islands (IWI), and V/IOTA islands.
For these dx adventures, 30DA030 Rafael employs an impressive portable station.
His choice of transceivers is either the Yaesu FT-857D or an Anytone 6666 supercharged with a 200 watt Zetagi amplifier and a modified 5/8 vertical antenna for elite omnidirectional performance
In the comfort of his home shack, however, Raf’s selection of dx weaponry consists of a Kenwood TS-50 and Yaesu FT-450D.
30DA030 Rafael’s QTH lies in Soria, a municipality and city located in the eastern part of the autonomous community of Castilla y León.
As shown in the map pictured right, it’s located in the North Centre of Spain, about 231 km from the Spanish capital, Madrid, and is known for its medieval streets and Romanesque architecture.
Spain is the third-most popular tourist destination in the world and 30DA030 Rafael’s city, Soria, has an abundance of fantastic attractions…
For starters, the 12th-century Church of Santo Domingo (Shown below) has an intricately carved portico, while the sprawling Alameda de Cervantes park has an old hermitage and a bandstand.
Another highlight of the city is The Museo Numantino whose archaeological collection includes artifacts from ancient cemeteries, painted ceramics and the bones of an extinct species of elephant.
Other tourist hot-spots include the San Pedro Procathedral, Condes de Gómara Palace, Monastery of San Juan de Duero, Shrine of San Saturio and San Juan de Rabaneda Church.
Apart from chilling out and listening to music, 30DA030 Rafael prefers a more hectic change of pace, throwing himself at football and athletics or hiking the beautiful countryside around Soria.
He also loves spending time with his children!
When he’s active on Freeband frequencies, 30DA030 Rafael monitors the international call frequency, 27.555 MHz USB, just as he did some 35 years ago from his birthplace in 34 Division.
30DA030 Rafael is determined to add to his collection of DXCC entities and is always hunting new dxpeditions or rare stations.
His QSL cards is available with standard contribution + self-addressed envelope, via the coordinations below.
Muchas gracias por la acogida y Bienvenida!!!
Gracias.
73’s.
30DA030, Rafael