Perched among the wooded ridges of the Sauerland region in western Germany, Altena might be better known for its medieval hilltop castle and as the birthplace of the youth hostel movement. But just off a narrow side road, tucked behind a school-turned-community-centre, the signals of another legacy beam quietly through the ether. This is the home of DARC Ortsverband Altena (O01)—and it pulses with surprising vitality.
The Knerling Core
It is in the Generationentreff Knerling, a former school now retrofitted for intergenerational engagement, that O01 finds its heartbeat. Every first Wednesday of the month, locals gather for the OV-Abend, exchanging not only QSL cards but decades of experience, antenna plans, and CW stories over coffee. The entrance may be unassuming—its location more often revealed through tip-offs than signage—but the signals inside tell of a group firmly embedded in Germany’s amateur radio fabric.
Peter Weber, DL4DBV, and his deputy Udo Lippert, DD7DO, are leading a quiet but sustained revival in the town of 16,000. With a steady course offering for the license class N, they are nurturing new voices in the ether. The entry is free, the community warm, and the curiosity contagious.
Peaks, Pileups, and Practical Training
For a club nestled in a mountainous region, elevation is more than metaphor. During both the May and July UKW Contests in 2024, O01 scaled local peaks for mini-field days, proving that you don’t need sprawling operations to make significant QSOs. Under the callsign DK0AL, the club logged contacts as far as the UK (689 km) and eastern Munich (478 km)—modest numbers perhaps, but delivered with homebrew heart and some clever beamwork.
More importantly, these portable contests double as live learning labs. With recent reforms in Germany’s amateur radio regulations allowing learners under supervision to operate on HF, O01 is embracing hands-on engagement. A new generation of operators got their first taste of shortwave propagation, guided by seasoned operators under tarps and between thunderclaps.
Rain, Radios, and Regional Cooperation
Even foul weather doesn’t dampen Altena’s spirit. The 2023 Fieldday in Kesbern, shared with OVs Iserlohn (O11) and Dortmund (O05), had to scale back equipment due to storm warnings. Yet HF remained alive, grills stayed hot, and the atmosphere turned campfire-collegial. In an era where virtual meetings and webinars dominate, O01 remains an advocate for mud-on-the-boots, mast-in-the-wind radio.
A Rhythm of Rounds
Communication at O01 is not limited to field days and formalities. Regular weekly rounds occur on 80m, 40m, FM, C4FM, and even their own local frequency (145.550 MHz). These sessions, beyond signal reports and net control formalities, serve as anchors in the weekly rhythm—something to rely on in a fractured digital world.
Modest, but Magnetic
DARC O01 doesn’t boast massive rosters or glitzy websites. What it offers instead is a subtle magnetism—an orbit of modest people with magnetic ideas. From teaching to contesting, mentoring to mast-building, Altena’s hams do what they’ve always done: connect.
It’s amateur radio as it was meant to be—personal, purposeful, and quietly powerful.
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