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Michael PA5M, working for the WPF of the UN has been in Khartoum, the main city of Sudan. He was active from the 23rd of May till the 10th of July 2004 on 40 till 6m.
More about Sudan::
OFFICIAL NAME: Republic of the Sudan
CAPITAL: Khartoum
SYSTEM OF GOVERNMENT: Republic
AREA: 2,505,813 Sq Km (967,500 Sq Mi)
ESTIMATED 2000 POPULATION: 29,810,600
LOCATION & GEOGRAPHY: Sudan is located in North East Africa. It is bound by Egypt to the north, Libya to the northwest, Chad to the west, the Central African Republic to the southwest, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Zaire) to the south, Uganda and Kenya to the southeast, Ethiopia and Eritrea to the east and the Red Sea to the northeast. The country has three distinct regions. (1.) A flat plain which comprises most of the country, with its center the convergence of the Blue and White Nile Rivers. Sudds or swamp lands are located in the southern part of this region. (2.) The Libyan and Nubian Deserts in the northern quarter of the country. (3.) Four mountain zones, the Red Sea Hills in the northeast, Jabal Marrah in the west, the Nuba Mountains in the center as well as the Immatong and Dongotona Ranges in the south. The principal rivers are the Blue and White Nile. Major Cities (pop. est.); Omdurman 526,300, Khartoum 476,200, Khartoum North 341,100, Port Sudan 206,700 (1983). Land Use; forested 19%, pastures 46%, agricultural-cultivated 5%, desert and other 30% (1993).
CLIMATE: Sudan's climate ranges from tropical to continental while most of the northern half of the country experiences a desert climate. The dry season ranges from three months in the humid tropical south to nine months in Khartoum with the hottest months July and August. Average annual precipitation varies from 160 mm (6.3 inches) to around 1,000 mm (39 inches) in Khartoum with most rainfall occurring between April and October. Average temperature ranges in Khartoum are from 15 to 32 degrees Celsius (59 to 90 degrees Fahrenheit) in January to 26 to 41 degrees Celsius (79 to 106 degrees Fahrenheit) in June.
PEOPLE: Sudan's ethnic composition consists of 56 groups and over 595 subgroups. The principal ethnic majority are the Arabs who constitute around 49% of the population and are located in the northern half of the country. The southern half of the country is predominantly Black African of the Nilotic and Sudanic groups as well as other minorities including Nubians.
DEMOGRAPHIC/VITAL STATISTICS: Density; 12 persons per sq km (30 persons per sq mi) (1991). Urban-Rural; 22.0% urban, 78.0% rural (1990). Sex Distribution; 50.2% male, 49.8% female (1990). Life Expectancy at Birth; 48.6 years male, 51.0 years female (1990). Age Breakdown; 45% under 15, 26% 15 to 29, 15% 30 to 44, 9% 45 to 59, 4% 60 to 74, 1% 75 and over (1990). Birth Rate; 44.6 per 1,000 (1990). Death Rate; 15.8 per 1,000 (1990). Increase Rate; 28.8 per 1,000 (1990). Infant Mortality Rate; 108.0 per 1,000 live births (1990).
Then.... ST2DX IN SUDAN
In Sudan michael was using a bit different setup as was planned before. There is a great 10 el. logperiodoc antenna available at the roof of the office wich is not in use for anything else. He has been qrv just a few times from his hotelroom with his vertical antenna but from there the bands were very noisy.
The radio he was using , Ft857 from Yeasu, without extra filtering. At the moment some extra filters are waiting for him back home. ( 2KC ssb and 500HZ CW filter ). The best chances to work him was on Friday when it's a day off of work in Sudan, or after worktime during the evenings.
Above: Office/radioshack at workqth.
One problem with the logperiodic........there's no rotator, so turning the antenna is not too easy and has to be done with a to the antenna attached rope. Therefore every time Michael needed to get up on the roof to do that.
Michael got his licence in his hand and got the callsign ST2DX First qso's have been made on the 24th of may on 30 and 20m CW from the hotel with a very qrm level. At his office the antenna at some 25m above the ground does work quite well with some qrm but much better that at the hotel.
Below : 10 elements log periodic antenna on a nice tower,some 25 meter above the ground.
Michael has been active mainly in his favorite mode ,SSB, but he did do cw but had some keyer problems. His favorite band is 50 mhz. And the logper does work although it's not perfect. On the 11the of june he had quite a good opening to europe on 6m with 39 qso's made....all cw. The second, this time VERY good 6m opening was on the 14th of June with 154 QSO's on 50Mhz in 17 different DXCC country's. Several people made some very nice recordings of the opening wich you can find on the ST2DX audio files page. For those collecting grid squares, his grid : KK65
It's not know yet what the next trip will be.....there's a small chance of going back to ST after his holliday's.
If you want your qso confirmed, pse read the QSL rules and please do take some time to sign the guestbook. Off course there will be a nice qsl card for you collection if you want. ( and have made at least one qso )
ST2DX QSL CARD
Those who still need ST om some bands...there is some activity from ST2T ( Dane,S57CQ ) from the same qth already, and soon ST2PN (Paul,LA5PN ) is expected to go to Sudan for the World Food Program of the UN for a period of 3 to 6 months .
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