The Hong Kong Six Metre Scene
Neil Carr, G0JHC

It is eight years since my last visit to Hong Kong and much has changed, including the six metre scene.  Those active during cycle 22 might remember VS6BI, VS6WV and VS6XMQ.  Now there are upwards of ten six metre operators in Hong Kong, who regularly give this rare DXCC to ‘the deserving’.

Charlie, VR2XMT needs no introduction to the majority of us and was kind enough, along with his wife Pansy, to offer his time and hospitality during my recent visit over the New Year.

50MHz in Hong Kong follows the same licensing conditions as the UK.  However due to ‘local conditions’ the majority of operators struggle to install QRO equipment.  Dipoles and verticals are much more the norm.

Hong-Kong isn’t the DXer’s dream QTH due to the high mountains and vast tower blocks, which often block whole continents.  Few stations talk about having a good site, it’s more a case of finding a QTH which has at least two good directions!

The table shows a list of the top Hong-Kong six metre stations and their DXCC scores as of 7^th January 2002.

Charlie, VR2XMT (#1) lives in the New Territories, well away from the majority of QRM, and Ken, VR2LC (#2) lives at the top of a tower block with a six-element beam.  If you chase IOTA you need to work Sing, VR2IL who is the only active operator on AS-006 right now.  Steve, VR2XMQ is also on Hong Kong Island, but has rarely found time to be QRV this cycle; the rest are situated on the mainland. 

All current operators live in OL72, but a small part of Hong Kong, called ‘The Gold Coast’  is located in OL62.  Charlie, VR2XMT took me on a drive to this lovely area which is about 45 minutes drive from Hong Kong Island.  A number of years ago there was a six metre operator from OL62, but he went QRT before this cycle started.

 
Photographed on the roof of BG7OH's QTH, Front (left to right): VR2IL-Sing, VR2XRW-Logan, VR2ZYW-Ying, G0JHC-Neil, BG7OH-Liu, VR2PM-Koo, VR2ZKG,Cheung; Standing on tower: VR2LC-Ken (left), VR2XMT-CHarlie.

Mainland China

It was also arranged for me to visit the QTH of Liu BG7OH, just over the Chinese border.  Members of the Hong Kong Amateur Radio DX Association, including VR2XMT (tour leader), Logan VR2XRW, Ying VR2ZYW, Cheung VR2ZKG, Ken VR2LC and Koo VR2PM joined me and my wife Cathy on the one-hour train journey north to the border near Shenzhen.  Custom formalities, although tedious, were completed after about half an hour of much duplicate form filling.  Liu, BG7OH was awaiting the group’s arrival on the other side.

The only obstacle now seemed to be finding a taxi to drive us the 2 km to Liu’s QTH.  No one seemed interested out of the hundreds of taxis lined up to take us on this short journey.  Taxi drivers don’t seem to want to move in this part of China unless you want to travel over 200km and take a day tour, so in the end Liu took us to a bus stop and we joined the locals.

Liu’s flat is on the 7^th floor of an apartment block.  I was told there was no lift as lifts can only be built into blocks of more than eight floors (don’t ask me why).  Luckily it was only 21C but I wouldn’t like to run up and down to the shack in 33C during the summer!

Liu, BG7OH and Neil, G0JHC pictured in Liu's shack.

On the rooftop a small tower has a four-element beam for six metres and a three-element beam for ten metres.  The shack has a nice JST-245 and an Icom 706 mkII on display.  I was surprised when tuning around 49MHz that I found a quieter band than when at home.  Liu advised that there are no television transmitters anywhere in southern China on 49MHz, as UHF is now widely in use and all the 49MHz offsets are much further north.

Liu’s nearest six metre station is BD7NI in OL63, around 170km away; he doesn’t think there are any more QRV at all from call area 7.  Congratulations to BG7OH on his recent achievement of the first 100 countries worked on Six from China - he is eagerly awaiting the last few QSLs.  The next time you hear him on the band don’t be surprised if the call is BD7OH, he has just upgraded after passing the CW exam.
 

Thanks

Finally I’d like to say a big “thank you” to Charlie, VR2XMT and the members of the Hong Kong DX Association for their generosity and super hospitality during my recent stay.  A great bunch of lads, who know how to party!

UKSMG Six News issue 72, February 2002