The story of SI9AM
The first QSO with the special callsign SI9AM was on July 16, 1999 at 17.00 UTC.
The offical opening of SI9AM was on July 19, 2000.
Here you can follow what has happened since the first QSO in 1999 and until we closed down the visitor station SI9AM in December 2020.
The text (1999 to May 2012) is from the si9am.se website, which will be closed down in the summer 2021. However, some minor adjustments have been made of the original text.
Diary from June 2012 - 2020 visit www.si9am.com
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
September
October
November
December
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Present during the meeting.
From Jemtlands Radio Amateurs: SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EAE/Lars, SM3SZW/Sven-Henrik
From Sundsvalls Radio Amateurs: SM3BQC/Arne, SM3CER/Janne, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3LIV/Ulla
From Sollefteå Radio club: SM3GHE/Nils, SM3YKF/Kenth
During the meeting following was discussed/reported:
Reports
They arrived on Wednesday evening January 26 and stayed until Monday morning January 31.
During the weekend they worked the UBA DX Contest SSB
During the days in Jämtland they went dog sledding, visited Östersund and SK3JR's clubhouse and made a trip around the lake "Storsjön". During the UBA Contest they worked about 1000 QSOs from SI9AM.
During the trip from Bromma airport in Stockholm to SI9AM in Utanede they made a short visit at SK3BG, Sundsvall Radio Amateurs in Sundsvall. SM3FJF/Jörgen and SM3JOS/René show them the club station and served coffee and sandwiches. Also on the return trip they made a stop at the radio club in Sundsvall for breakfast.
Present during the meeting.
From Jemtlands Radio Amateurs: SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EAE/Lars
From Sundsvalls Radio Amateurs: SM3BQC/Arne, SM3CER/Janne, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3LIV/Ulla
From Sollefteå Radio club: SM3GHE/Nils, SM3YKF/Kenth
During the meeting following was discussed/reported:
Reports
Present during the meeting.
From Jemtlands Radio Amateurs: SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EAE/Lars
From Sundsvalls Radio Amateurs: SM3BQC/Arne, SM3CER/Janne, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3LIV/Ulla
From Sollefteå Radio club: SM3GHE/Nils, SM3YKF/Kenth
During the meeting following was discussed/reported:
Reports
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Notice to the Annual Meeting
The day for the Annual Meeting was decided a long time ago and the notice to the Annual Meeting was sent out by mail and were also on our website.
Place and time
This year, we once again had chosen Holmstagården for the meeting and time was 09:30 local time.
Coffee and sandwiches
We started with coffee and sandwiches.
Today's guest
The president of SI9AM, SM3CVM/Lars, welcomed everyone and directed a special welcome to the council of Ragunda Municipality, Terese Bengard. Terese told us about the municipality's plans and thoughts on the development of the Thai pavilion and pavilion area.
Skype QSO
We contacted ON6UQ/Marcel via Skype and he told us about his and ON4ACA/Jef visits to SI9AM and how they appreciate the Visiting Amateur Radio station and also the surroundings and environment in Utanede.
Slide show and demonstration Visiting Amateur Radio station
We showed a slide show of last summer's 10-year anniversary for those who stayed in the meeting room.
SM3CVM/Lars, SM3FJF/Jörgen and SM3LIV/Ulla took the opportunity to show Terese Bengard the Visiting Amateur Radio station. We worked some QSOn and one of the QSOs was with HB9BHD/Erik who lives in Switzerland. The microphone was handed over to Terese who worked her first QSO with HB9BHD/Erik. Terese thought it was both funny and interesting with hamradio.
Liden Newspaper
During the demonstration for Terese Bengard, Arne Johansson arrived, he writes for the “Liden Newspaper”. In one of the next numbers of the newspaper there will be a story about SM3BQC/Arne and our Visiting Amateur Radio Station.
Lunch
At noon, we were served a delicious lunch consisting of pork and potatoes.
The annual meeting begins
At one a' clock the annual meeting started.
Elections
To chairman for the annual meeting, we elected SM3CVM/Lars, to secretary we elected SM3ESX/Christer and we elected SM3FJF/Jörgen and SM3EFS/Lennart to sign the minutes.
SM3CVM/Lars presented to activity report for 2010 and SM3LIV/Ulla presented the annual report for 2010. Then some elections for the new council was made and then the meeting was closed and SM3CVM/Lars thanked everyone for the fine work over the past year.
Lottery
We had a small lottery which was much appreciated.
The day ended with a short boarding meeting.
Present during the Annual Meeting
SM3BQC/Arne, SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EFS/Lennart, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3EXM/Erik, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3FZL/Rolf, SM3GFN/Ingvar, SM3GHE/Nils, SM3GHN/Jan-Bertil, SM3LIV/Ulla, SM5SIC/Göran, SM3SZW/Sven-Henrik, SM3YKF/Kent.
Present during the meeting.
From Jemtlands Radio Amateurs: SM3CVM/Lars, SM3SZW/Sven-Henrik
From Sundsvalls Radio Amateurs: SM3BQC/Arne, SM3EFS/Lennart, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3LIV/Ulla
From Sollefteå Radio club: SM3GHE/Nils, SM3YKF/Kenth
During the meeting following was discussed/reported:
Reports
Present during the meeting.
From Jemtlands Radio Amateurs: SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EAE/Lars
From Sundsvalls Radio Amateurs: SM3BQC/Arne, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3LIV/Ulla
From Sollefteå Radio club: SM3GHE/Nils, SM3YKF/Kenth
During the meeting following was discussed/reported:
Reports
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On Saturday, May 7th 2011, there were six hams who met in Utanede to do a Working day on SI9AM.
It was SM3CVM/Lars, SM3GHN/Jan-Bertil and SM3VRG/K-G from Östersund, SM3BQQ/Arne and SM3FJF/Jörgen from Sundsvall and SM3EAE/Lars from Hammarstrand.
The whole day they worked with the Spiderbeam. A tractor had been hired to dig four pits for the coming antenna mast.
There was a lot of work to do with Spiderbeam. They had to continue the work on Sunday, when SM3EAE/Lars, SM3FJF/Jörgen and SM3VRG/KG made the final preparations on Spiderbeam. It now remains trim work before it can be mounted on the rotor so that we finally can get the mast in place.
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This summer evening SM3BQC/Arne, SM3EAE/Lasse, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen and DB5WC/Gerd did some preparation for coming work with the Spiderbeam.
SM3ESX/Christer did SWR measuring and SM3EAE/Lasse trimmed the Spiderbeam a little, to get the perfect SWR on the frequency bands of 10-18-24 MHz.
The evening ended with a coffee break with our newly arrived German guests DB5WC/Gerd with XYL Susunne.
This Saturday SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EAE/Lasse and SM3GHN/Jan-Bertil went to Utanede and SI9AM to continue the antenna work. They prepared a 30-meter-long sheathed antenna feeder and assemble two special coaxial connectors on the feeder. They also prepared a 50-meter-long rotor cable to be mounted on the rotor and into the cabinet on the existing antenna mast.
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During June 17 and June 21, ON4AWT/Fons with XYL rent SI9AM.
ON4AWT/Fons will come back in January 2012.
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Background
On July 19, 1897, King Chulalongkorn of Siam (present-day Thailand) visited Sweden and Ragunda municipality. He had got an invitation from the Swedish/Norwegian King Oscar II to the International Art and Industry Fair in Stockholm and he accepted.
King Oscar II knew that king Chulalongkorn of Siam was interested to see the Swedish sawmill industry, he chose the middle part of northern Sweden. There was beautiful scenery with bright summer nights and impressive waterfalls. King Chulalongkorn was also interested in the modern Swedish traffic, both on water and on land.
In the middle of 1992, a Thai folk-dancing troupe visited Ragunda, and they heard about the road that had been named after their king. They visited the location and were quite fascinated. In 1993, an association was formed, Föreningen Chulalongkorns Minne (FCM) which took the first steps on the project. Ragunda municipality took the initiative and in 1994, a committee was formed to ensure the progress of the work. This committee consisted of representatives of Swedish and Thai interests. The construction work started in 1997.
The construction costs amounted to about 7,000,000 SEK. This does not include 3,000,000 SEK worth of decorations, such as the gilded scepter. The project has been financed through fund-raising and sponsorship in Thailand and Sweden. The decorations have been made by the present Thai king's own craftsmen, while the rest of the building has been projected and constructed by companies in Jämtland.
The floor-surface is 75 square meters. The internal height is 7 meters (23 ft.) and the entire building, including the scepter, rises no less than 26 meters (85 ft.) into the air. A stone wall made of Jämtlandic limestone frames the magnificent white building (each stone weighs 20 kgs or 44 lbs.). Inside the pavilion is a bronze life-size statue of King Chulalongkorn. This is the only pavilion of its kind outside Thailand.
King Chulalongkorn Day
The project laid a new foundation for the development of Thai/Swedish relationships among them political, cultural and commercial. Contacts were made on government level, in national and regional administration, defense, universities, trade and commerce. Among other things, this has led to the forming of a Thai-Swedish chamber of commerce. King Chulalongkorn Day is celebrated every year the 19th of July in Ragunda.
Celebrations
The sun was shining from a clear blue sky when the procession from the entrance building to the Thai Pavilion started. All Thai women were dressed in their beautiful costumes and most of the procession had gifts or flowers to put in front of the statue of the King. Those who had no flowers to give, got Thai paper flags to put down.
On SI9AM
This day we had "Open House" at SI9AM, to show our Visiting Amateur Radio
Station. We were active on 20 meters and worked mostly European stations.
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Saturday, September 10, Workday
This Saturday we continued our work with the Spiderbeam. At 09.00, local time, Sune, who owns a backhoe, arrives. SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3BQC/Arne, SM3EXM/Erik, SM3EAE/Lasse, SM3VRG/KG, SM3IZR/Leif, DL7ULF/Axel and DL7VMM/Peter had already arrived to Utanede.
Sune began to lift the antenna mast with the associated 30-pound mounting box and moved the parts, to where they should be installed. We dug down a antenna rod for the guy ropes. After that, Sune plowed down both the antenna cable and the rotor cable. A job which was done in a few minutes.
SM3VRG/KG were our technical advisor and gave us good advice how to raise up the antenna mast. The uprising went well and when we meet next time, the rotor will be mounted.
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Read what they wrote in a mail dated October 2, 2011.
DL7ULF and DL7VMM 8. Sep - 12. Sep 2011
On 8th of September, we arrived SI9AM.
The helping hand of Lars, SM3EAE, was a good start for our stay.
We activated the bands with the excellent equipment.
The antennas brought signals from all continents.
We participated us on WAE-SSB contest.
The total QSOs is 636.
On 10th of September, we had some eye-ball contacts with members of the club station. We were glad about
nice talks.
A visit of pagode we made on Sunday. A very beautiful site.
Also, a walk across the forest is relaxing.
The stay at SI9AM was a good event.
We recommend all hams a visit to SI9AM.
Axel and Peter
SM3CER/Janne and SM3EAE/Lars was active from SI9AM during SAC CW.
On place 9 in Scandinavian, in the class - Multi Operator, Single Transmitter - with 1.552 QSOs, 158 Multipliers and a total score of 526.456 points.
SM5SIC/Göran was active from SI9AM during SAC SSB.
On place 35 in Scandinavian, in the class - Single Operator - with 930 QSO:s, 165 Multipliers and a total score of 342.705.
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The goal this Sunday was to mount Spiderbeamen on the antenna mast. Unfortunately, we did not manage to fix some details that we needed for the work. Our technical advisor SM3VRG/KG gave us some tips on how we still could mount up Spiderbeamen on the antenna mast. It is now mounted temporarily, but in May 2012 we will rent a 15 meter Sky Lift and complete work.
This day it was SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3BQC/Arne, SM3EAE/Lasse, SM3SZW/Sven-Henrik, SM3VRG/KG and SM3IZR/Leif who was in Utanede.
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Once again, we had the pleasure to welcome DD2CW (ON4ACA)/Jef and ON6UQ/Marcel to SI9AM. It is the fourth time they rent SI9AM for about a week in October. The main reason is to work CQ WW DX Contest on SSB and of course work some ordinary QSOs. It´s a long trip but they think is fun to have work with the special call sign SI9AM.
As usual they flew from Brussels to Skavsta Airport in Sweden. This year, Wednesday October 26, ON6UQ/Marcel flew from Eindhoven to Skavsta and DD2CW/Jef from München to Arlanda Airport. Marcel rented a car and drove to Stockholm/Arlanda and picked up Jef and they started their trip north up to Njurunda and Utanede.
Early on Thursday morning they made a stop in Njurunda to meet SM3LIV/Ulla and SM3FJF/Jörgen. They got the key to the Visiting Amateur Radio Station and of course a cup of coffee and sandwiches. On their way to SI9AM they also made a short stop at supermarket to buy food for the next days.
It did not take many minutes after the arrival at SI9AM before they were QRV on the frequencies. You could follow them on the cluster, where they were spotted a lot of times.
On Saturday at 00.00 Z the CQ WW DX Contest on SSB started. During these 48 hours they worked 3019 QSOs, 99 zones, 232 country multipliers, total 1.965.120 score.
They did a very good job and now we hope that they also this year will win the first place in the class Multi Operator/Single Transmitter.
Thanks for visiting SI9AM and welcome back again Jef and Marcel!
On Friday evening, November 25, SM3BQC/Arne, SM3EAE/Lars and SM3FJF/Jörgen arrived to SI9AM. The first thing they did was to do some updates on some of the computer programs.
On Saturday morning 01:00 o'clock (00:00 UTC) the conteset started. It was good condition, so they had a "great start" on the different frequencies.
On Saturday while SM3FJF/Jörgen and SM3EAE/Lars worked in the contest, SM3BQC/Arne worked outside with antennas.
At 15:00 (14.00 UTC) on Saturday, they had to close the station because both had other commitments for the rest of the weekend. During the fourteen hour they worked 900 QSO: s of 1.8 to 28 MHz.
There were three happy guys who went to their home and they will activate SI9AM again in other contests during 2012.
Present during the meeting.
From Jemtlands Radio Amateurs: SM3CVM/Lars, SM3EAE/Lars, SM3SZW/Sven-Henrik
From Sundsvalls Radio Amateurs: SM3BQC/Arne, SM3CER/Janne, SM3ESX/Christer, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3LIV/Ulla
From Sollefteå Radio club: SM3GHE/Nils
District leader for the third district: SM3GDT/Hans
During the meeting following was discussed/reported:
Reports
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January
March
April
Read the diary From May 2012 to 2020 on www.si9am.com
We have bought a micro KEYER II and wanted it to work before our Belgian guests arrive. So, in the morning, this Saturday SM3EFS/Lennart and SM3FJF/Jörgen went to Utanede to install the micro KEYER II. On their way to Utanede they also picked up SM3BQC/Arne in Järkvissle.
They started to update some programs in the computers, which took about one hour. After that they began to install the micro KEYER II. After phone contact with SM3EAE/Lars the managed to get the radio station and micro KEYER II to work and also the computer and micro KEYER II. But when they tested contest program “WinTest” they got problem. After phone contact ON4AWT/Fons they were told that they were going to use contest program “N1MM”.
During the day SM3BQC/Arne checked the area around the antenna mast and everything seemed to be ok.
SM3EAE/Lars went to Utanede and continued during two Sundays the installation of the newly purchased "micro Keyer II" to get it to work with log program WinTest.
Lars got via phone, helped by SM5AJV/Ingemar. Ingemar gave Lars the right parameter sets in micro Keyer II. After much reading in the manuals, Lars finally had it to work, so now the voice of memory is ready to be used by the three hams from Belgium.
Once again, we could welcome ON5RZ/Raf, ON4AWT/Fons and ON7DS/Dirk to SI9AM.
One of the reasons for their visit was to work the UBA HF SSB DX Contest. And during this contest you could follow them, via Live video broadcast.
The guys landed on Skavsta Airport in Sweden on Wednesday January 25, 2012 and had a rental car waiting for them. They made a stop by SM3LIV/Ulla and SM3FJF/Jörgen in Njurunda. SM3JOS/René hade also met up by Ulla and Jörgen. After coffee and sandwiches and a lot of radio talk, they continued the trip towards SI9AM in Utanede.
They made a very good result from UBA contest from SI9AM. 990 QSOs and 880.944 points.
Besides running a lot of QSOs they made a trip to Sundsvall and visited SM3JOS/Rene. Another afternoon they visited SM3YKF/Kent.
On Monday morning January 30, 2012 they started their trip back to Belgium. They made a short stop by SM3FJF/Jörgen i Njurunda to give back the keys to SI9AM. Unfortunately, it was flight strike that day and they had to stay one night in Stockholm before they could fly back to Brussels Airport.
Welcome back next year 2013.
SM3FJF/Jörgen picked up SM3CER/Janne at eight o'clock and SM3BQC/Arne at nine o'clock in the morning and then they went to Utanede. The purpose of the day on SI9AM was to upgrade the software in the two computers as well as a general review of amateur radio equipment. A job which ended about five o'clock in the afternoon.
SA3BKF/Bengt and SM3CVM/Lars arrived to Utanede at half past nine. SM3CVM/Lars tested the amateur radio equipment and activated the signal SI9AM. SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3CER/Janne and SM3BQC/Arne joined them about one o'clock. After a lunch at SI9AM the guys discussed what needs to be done at SI9AM. Lars and Jorgen and prepared a number of cases for the upcoming SI9AM annual meeting March 31 in Östersund.
In the afternoon the guys invited Victoria and Carolina, which is the new tenant for Holmstagården. For one and a half hour they described the amateur radio hobby, and discussed the future cooperation. We are now glad that from now we will have a well-functioning restaurant which also have the possibility to offer catering.
Notice to the Annual Meeting
The date for the Annual Meeting was decided a long time ago and the notice to the Annual Meeting was sent out by mail and were also on our website.
Place
We met in Östersund and the day started with a spring meeting for hams in the third call area in Sweden. The day ended with the annual meeting for SI9AM.
Spring meeting for hams in the third call area in Sweden
SM3GDT/Hans and SK3JR/Jemtlands Radio Amateurs had invited hams in the third call area to this meeting. Before lunch we discussed District three questions.
At noon we made a break for lunch and immediately afterwards it was time for lectures and panel discussion about interference, EMC and radio operation. It was SM3KYH Lars, SM3PXO/Petter, SM3PXG/Hans and SM4UKE/Henrik who let us know a lot about these interesting things.
The annual meeting begins
At about four a' clock the annual meeting started.
Elections
To chairman for the annual meeting, we elected SM3CVM/Lars, to secretary we elected SM3FJF/Jörgen and we elected SM3EXM/Erik and SM3LIV/Ulla to sign the minutes.
SM3CVM/Lars presented to activity report for 2011 and SM3LIV/Ulla presented the annual report for 2011.
Then some elections for the new council was made and then the meeting was closed and SM3CVM/Lars thanked everyone for the fine work over the past year.
Present during the Annual Meeting
SM3LIV/Ulla, SM3SZW/Sven-Henrik, SM3GHN/Jan-Bertil, SA3BDM/Ove, SM3EXM/Erik, SM3GDT/Hans, SM3IVF/Ernst, SM3DAL/Ove, SA3BKF/Bengt, SM3FJF/Jörgen, SM3CVM/Lars, SM3GFN/Ingvar
This year SSA´s annual meeting was in Umeå, not so far from SI9AM. It is about 250 Swedish kilometers from Utaende to Umeå. It was SK2AT, The Association of Radio Amateurs in Umeå (FURA) who had arranged the ham event.
In our exhibition stand we had a computer and showed a slide show with information about SI9AM and photos from all the things we have done when we have built up SI9AM and photos from some of our visitors.
We also had the opportunity to answer a lot of questions about our visiting Amateur Radio Station. It was questions about the radio equipment and the antennas. Some wanted to know what other things you can do in the surroundings of Utanede.
Two of the prices in a lottery that was arranged by SK2AT, was a free day at SI9AM for two persons with an overnight.
We don´t know who the lucky winners are, but we say welcome to us.
It was the vice president SM3FJF/Jörgen and the treasurer SM3LIV/Ulla which were in the exhibition stand this weekend.
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Diary/Photos from June 2012 to December 2020 and information about Awards, QSL -
please visit the official website www.si9am.com
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