Amateur Radio in the Land of the Thunder Dragon – No A52AA in 2024

Amateur Radio in the Land of the Thunder Dragon – No A52AA in 2024

The plan was for A52AA to be active from September 26 to October 09, 2024, and I arrived at the “base camp” in Shillong (India) a full two weeks ahead to complete the preparations in good time. The license was obtained, the hotel (and an alternate) identified, tickets blocked for the flight into Paro on Drukair, the two transceivers for the trip tested and ready. All that was left was the visa. And no problems were even remotely anticipated. The application passed the initial scrutiny, and the visa was expected to be issued the next day. Then came the bombshell. A diligent official at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs noticed that although the passport was valid for the duration of the proposed visit, it did not have the required six months of residual validity reckoned from the last date of the trip. It fell short by a mere 11 days. No visa could be issued. The travel agent valiantly tried at very high levels to have an exception approved. No dice. The trip would not happen. All reservations were canceled, at some cost. That’s the way the cookie crumbles sometimes.

So, instead of the report for this year’s trip to Bhutan, I thought I’d use some of the freed-up time to share the experiences of the 2023 trip, which I had never got around to doing after the trip last year. Here goes.

Amateur Radio in the Land of the Thunder Dragon – A52AA – 2023

Bhutan had fascinated me even before I became a ham. The Utopian Shangri-La of James Hilton’s Lost Horizon was imprinted on my mind by Ronald Colman in the movie of the same name. In the radio realm, the QSL card received from Radio NYAB, Thimphu, was one of the most prized in my collection of broadcast station QSLs.

In the first week of October 2023, when I came across a brief article on the history of amateur radio in Bhutan on the internet, I immediately did a Google search which came up with several hotels in Bhutan that catered to amateur radio. But I think the pandemic of 2020 must have done them in because my emails to them went unanswered. After two days I stumbled upon—I don’t remember exactly how—the contact email of Mr. Yeshey Dorji – A51AA was found on the Net.

Yeshey’s quick response blew my mind. He offered to get me the prized A5 license and arrange all logistics in under a week. I could not believe my good fortune! However, a week’s notice was too short to get everything ready, and we ultimately agreed to an additional week and the October 19-28 window. The multi-faceted Yeshey – photographer, ornithologist, numismatist, historian, writer, blogger – and I became fast friends.

Another surprise awaited me. I had naively imagined Bhutan to be a few thousand miles away on the Tibetan border from my VU QTH in Shillong. When I searched for flight options, I discovered that there was a Drukair (Bhutan’s national airline) flight from the next town of Guwahati in Assam. And what is more, the flight time was only 35 minutes for an as-the crow-flies distance of a mere 320 miles (500 kilometers). Sometimes nirvana is closer than we think.

So, within ten days of the germination of the idea, there I was winging my way to Paro. As we came in to land, the plane banked so sharply to fly between the hills to lineup with the runway that I was reminded of the unplanned landing of the aircraft in Lost Horizon. I need not have worried. After the smoothest of landings, the passengers rushed down the staircase to take in the astonishing view of the high hills around the airport and the amazing terminal itself.

Waiting just outside the exit gate were Yeshey himself with Dawa, the tour guide, and Chimi, the driver. After a leisurely drive of 30 miles (50 kilometers) we were at the Jambayang Resort at Thimphu. This would be my base for the duration of my stay in Bhutan.

After a trip to the hardware store to buy a galvanized iron pipe for the antenna mast and copper xxx for the ground, we came back to the hotel to set up the tri-bander rotary dipole antenna and the station. The dipole on the mast would have to be rotated using the “armstrong” method, and for each effort I would have to come down from the room upstairs.

The next morning, A52AA was in business. The first QSO was with HS, followed by CX, and PY. The start looked promising for a humble rotary dipole and 100 watts (usually less). Unfortunately, after peaking on Day 4 for a day-total of 128, the number of QSOs declined due to unexplained noise, sometimes as high as S7. After eliminating electrical interference from the hotel itself, it was suspected to be originating from a nearby transformer of the electricity department. But this was also eliminated when the noise did not decline even at another spot 15 miles away. Other possibilities were considered but the resolution was inconclusive. The conjecture was that it was most likely atmospheric noise.

A total of 491 QSOs were made in the seven days of operation, only fifty per cent of the hoped for target of a thousand. All QSOs were SSB.

Considering the cost of the trip, especially the daily governmental tax of $100 towards SDF (Sustainable Development Fee), the number of QSOs was disappointing. Nonetheless, it was a memorable first visit to a unique country. There was a war on elsewhere in the world, but not watching the news on television created the feeling that I was in another world – gentle, peaceful, and beautiful. The ethereal, fairy-tale like atmosphere with the stupas, prayer flags, prayer wheels, the “om mane peyme hum” chant, the gates of Bhutan, the Buddhist nunnery and monastery, and the towering statue of Buddha remain forever etched in my mind.

Also, the endearing but incongruous fact that all staff at the hotel and elsewhere spoke impeccable British English!

Many thanks to Yeshey who made this happen. I must go back!