Two Hams (WA2USA & DL1SX) - River
Cruise
Ham radio and luxury
cruising seem like opposite sides of a vacation experience. But I was able to combine them on a recent
trip titled, “Great Rivers of
River Rhapsody
River cruising was not
new to us. We have been on two previous
cruises. But I had not taken any ham radio equipment because of concerns trying
to get through Security with a QRP radio, antenna and batteries. (And I didn’t
want to risk the wrath of my wife, who was concerned that I would get too
absorbed in making contacts.) This trip
I was determined to combine the cruise with amateur radio. My plan was to take a QRP rig complete with Lithium
Polymer batteries and an Alex Loop to operate from the deck of the ship. Based
on previous cruises, I had an idea what I could use for an antenna. I could use
bungee cords to attach a loop antenna to the railing on the Sun Deck? We did
some checking with the
Taking the advice of
Guy N7UN I packed the Alex Loop, with three 1 foot pieces of ½ inch PVC pipe
and couplings, inside the Alex Loop carry case and packed it inside my checked
bag and my radio, batteries, key and external speaker inside my backpack to
pass through Security. I put a QSL card and a copy of my license and CEPT,
Public Notice of Reciprocal Licensing agreements inside the Alex Loop carrying
case and my backpack. All went well. The
Alex Loop arrived with my checked bag and airport security allowed my radio
equipment to go through X-Ray without a hitch. Hurrah!
We arrived and boarded
our ship. The next 2 days were touring
On March 14th
we were finally underway from
Photo1. PA/WA2USA
You can see from the
smile on my face, the plan was working. With a cup of coffee close by,
compliments of River Rhapsody staff and good propagation, several contacts were
made on 20 meters using an HB1B. Seven QSO’s were conducted and one in
particular to OK/OM6TC/P from a SOTA (
The next morning, we
sailed into
It all started after
my wife and I hiked to the imposing ruins of its castle, set on a hill
overlooking the town. See Photo2.
Wertheim on the
Off in the distance on
the other side of the
DL1SX - Albrecht’s Tower - Photo3
I rang the door bell but there was no answer, a
mailbox near the door identified the name of the occupant: Albrecht Englert.
Later that afternoon on the ship, using the Internet and QRZ.COM, I found
Albrecht’s call sign DL1SX. With a few
hours of spare time before dinner, I took off from the ship to try once more to
meet Albrecht. Thoughts raced through my mind: how am I going to introduce
myself to someone I’ve never met : from a country I don’t even know the
language? I had no idea who Albrecht was based on his call; he could be young
or old working or retired. One thing I knew was that, all hams have a common
bond - the willingness to communicate. I brought my card, not my business card
mind you but my QSL card. I rang the
doorbell and low and behold an elderly woman (Albertine, Albrecht’s wife)
unlocked the door. I introduced myself as WA2USA and with that I met Albrecht
DL1SX a 90 year old retiree, who is still an active operator. The stately, yet cordial old man shook my
hand with vigor as we exchanged greetings in our native tongues. With an
infectious smile and warming manner Albrecht enthusiastically invited me into
his home and his radio room on the second floor. In the corner amongst shelves
filled with books and a table overflowing with stacks of papers was Albrecht’s
ham station, with barely enough room for two people.
But here is the bonus: At the age of 18, Albrecht
joined the German 19th Army Staff Headquarters in 1942 as a Funker
(Morse code telegraph operator) which fought the American 3rd
Infantry Division from the shores of
Photo4.
Albrecht and I
instantly became ham radio friends. We never got around to discussing amateur
radio or his station but instead we lit into his exploits as a young CW radio
operator with the 19th German Army. I discovered Albrecht made many
friends both German and American after becoming a historian for the 19th
Army. One particular friend was Staff Sergeant Al Brown who Albrecht met while
Sergeant Brown was station in Wertheim as part of the post war occupational
forces. Staff Sergeant Brown later wrote his memoirs, a book about his
experiences with the 3rd Infantry Division, which Albrecht was given
a copy. In Sergeant Brown’s book is an
anecdote told by Albrecht which I find fascinating and worth repeating.
As a radio operator in the 19th
Army Headquarters, Albrecht was privy to many historical events as they unfolded.
One story he shared with Sergeant Brown was his part in saving the lives of a
group of fairly high-ranking German Officers. This particular incident took
place a few days before the official German surrender on May 8, 1945. This
group of officers, appalled at the useless slaughter of their men, in a cause
whose outcome was inevitable, appealed to the top Generals of the 19th
Army to permit them to surrender. The appeal backfired and each officer was
court-martialed and found to be guilty of treason and sentenced to execution by
firing squad. However, because the condemned were officers, the court-martial
board did not have the authority to carry out the executions without approval
of the highest army command. Their request for execution was given to Albrecht
to transmit to the higher command. Exercising stealth, Albrecht signaled his
assistant to turn the transmitter’s power to its lowest setting. His
transmitter was capable of 1,000 watt at its highest setting and could reach
any station in
Albrecht
sent the message. The generals stood behind him waiting for a reply but when no
reply came back, they ordered Albrecht to send it again, which he did. Still
there was no reply. Several more attempts were made, but none brought a reply.
The Generals finally gave up thinking that perhaps something tragic had
happened at the high command headquarters. A few days later,
Albrecht had
more stories but unfortunately for me, Albrecht had another engagement that
evening and I needed to get back to the ship. We departed friends promising to
stay in touch. How lucky I was to meet an amateur who was a German CW radio
operator, an aging veteran from my parent’s generation, who today are literally
a dying breed. It was the highlight of
my ham radio river cruise adventures.
Later that
evening our ship set sail for southern
Our ‘Great
Rivers of Europe’ cruise was memorable having had the opportunity to operate
ham radio in