In Romania, calls are allocated on the basis of unique suffixes. If someone requests YO9GND, I can't request YO3GND. We refer to each other on suffix alone.
That 9GND call was not renewed and released back to the pool in Aug 2022. I picked it up in 2023. No idea I was this close - until today.
Mr. Ariciu, the previous GND lessee, as the public record states, is living in Prahova. I couldn't find anything in old contest scores, logs, or magazines. Not even a qrz page.
#hc04 Here's the YL's call, since mine was underwhelming.
1/2
YO8YL's call was leased to YO3YL, initially SWL YO3-1160, Partin Amalia. This was during the commie era, when you needed 100 SWL QSLs to earn TX privileges, and there were only 2 letter calls given. She was also the first YO woman to TX.
She RXed on the "collective rig" (huh) of Bucharest, YO3-050, and eventually YO3KPA, which still exists today. Another pointless soviet tradition, club calls' suffixes start with a K even today.
2/2 #hc04s
According to a 1957 issue, when she was 19, _tovarisch_ Partin Amalia YO3YL was studying CW. It further describes her progress from 70 to 100 LPM (14 to 20 WPM) and participation in local contests, from September 1955 to March 1957. She was hoping to become a naval comms operator and an RF technician.
Welp, that's it for digging old callsigns, 3YL is way more interesting than 9GND.
Richard
Peter DL6PL