Off the northwest African mainland, on the striking island of Tenerife, we welcome high profile and popular Freeband DX Hunter 34DA101 Berto into the club.
One of his country’s most active operators, Berto connects with the Dx Adventure Radio Club (DA-RC) in late 2023, thrilled at the opportunity to hunt Solar Cycle 25 DX with his new Delta-Alfa callsign.
From his stunning location in the Atlantic Ocean, 34DA101 Berto has been QRV in eleven meter radio communications since 1994.
This makes him one of the northern hemisphere’s most experienced guys!
History reveals that, during this time, he’s been involved with a few clubs that specialize in this portion of the spectrum— Tango Echo, Alfa Tango and Sugar Delta.
Impressively, it’s also a period in which our newest Canary Islands import—34DA101 Berto—racked up 215 DXCC entities, thus ensuring his membership in the DA-RC via the DX Hunter category (See https://www.delta-alfa.com/about/membership/)
As well as several exceedingly productive efforts as a Special Event Station (SES), 34DA101 Berto is also practiced in the field of portable dx work thanks for numerous efforts out and about in the field with friends.
The World Atlas indicates that Tenerife belongs to the Canary Islands (34 Division), an autonomous Spanish community and archipelago of Macaronesia.
This island shares the reference AF-004 in accordance with the World IOTA Program with others such as Alegranza, Fuerteventura, La Palma, Lanzarote and others.
For island chasers, 34DA101 Berto’s island is ideally suited for travel to other exciting lesser worked IOTA prospects in the AF-004 group, as well as smaller, more elusive D.I.F.M. referenced entities.
Another possible source of dx adventure, this time in the realm of Summits On The Air or SOTA, is Teide Mountain.
At 3715 m, this magnificent World Heritage Site is the third highest volcanic structure in the world, following Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea in Hawaii.
34DA101 Berto resides in San Cristóbal de La Laguna, a city and municipality in the northern part of the island, and the former capital city of the Canarias.
Not only is San Cristóbal de La Laguna known to be the third-most populous city of the archipelago and the second-most populous city of the island, but it’s also considered to be the cultural capital of the archipelago.
In 34DA101 Berto’s city, one finds the house of the spectre of Catalina Lercaro, as well as the incorrupt body of Sor María de Jesús, and the Cristo de La Laguna.
Another emblematic building of the city is the Cathedral of La Laguna, built in 1819, which is the Catholic cathedral of Tenerife and its diocese (Diocese of Tenerife).
Important historical figures of 34DA101 Berto’s city include Amaro Pargo, one of the famous corsairs of the Golden Age of Piracy, and José de Anchieta, Catholic saint and missionary and founder of the cities of São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.
Interestingly, San Cristóbal de La Laguna is listed as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO, because the layout of its streets has served as a model for the construction of some of the main Latin American capitals.
As shown above, there are many colonial-style buildings, with wooden balconies and magnificent tree-lined courtyards that occupy the center of the building.
The Real Santuario del Santísimo Cristo de La Laguna temple, the Salazar and Nava palaces, and the church of Santo Domingo de Guzmán which contains the tomb of the famous corsair Amaro Pargo, are other famous tourist attractions.
One of the most fascinating in 34DA101 Berto’s neighborhood is the Palacio Lercaro Museum which presents the history of the island from the 15th century to the present day.
Frightfully, the museum is also known for the alleged appearances of the ghost of Catalina Lercaro, a young woman from the 16th century who committed suicide.
As you might expect of this world class DX Man—based on the Cluster spot boards where his callsign is always linked to rare and/or bounteous DX—34DA101 Berto’s station has been compiled with Freeband domination at the forefront of his mind.
Demanding centre-stage on his radio shack benchtop, in fact, is an FT1000MP transceiver (Pictured above and left) by Japanese manufacturer Yaesu Musen Co. Ltd.
Despite its vintage this all-mode DX magnet—with its enhanced Digital Signal Processing (EDSP) technology—is regarded by many as one of the best transciever’s ever made.
Erected high above his home, overlooking the nearby neighborhood of Laguna City, 34DA101 Berto’s antenna is a 4-element Big Signal Cubical quad.
These antennas are made and sold in the Kingdom of Spain and are, reportedly, one of the best on the market.
With its full-Wavelength Elements, Low Radiation Angle, Noise Elimination, and Ultra-Robust Construction, the 4BS-11 sometimes gives the impression of an ability to create its own DX!
When he’s not in the shack chair with headphones on and listening for DX, 34DA101 Berto works as a delivery driver.
He enjoys spending time with his family and socializing with friends but of course loves to dedicate all spare moments to his favourite hobby – 11m band DX Hunting!
QSL INFOS
Avda.San Matías nº57, 38108 La Laguna, S/C de Tenerife – Canary Islands, SPAIN
Leave a Reply