This week has been Haunakah week in Israel. For Israeli parents of young children, the evenings are filled with the glow of Hanuakah lights, fried food and jelly doughnuts, and negotiations with in-laws to watch the grandchildren while the parents go off to work the next morning.  Kids are out of school this week while their grandparents look after them.  There are a few of these "breaks" during the year here, where the term "back to school" has a special meaning to grandparents nationwide. 

I am late publishing this message because we rushed to a holiday party just as I posted the episode with Andy Bato, HA6NN.  I made a mistake at the beginning where I said that Hungary was part of the former Soviet Union. Hungary was not "FSU" as one of the listeners pointed out.   Hungary's 1956 revolution was crushed by the Soviet Union and Soviet troops occupied Hungary until 1989.  What I mean't to say, and confirmed in this interview, individuals who sought amateur radio licenses in Hungary before 1989, did so under the Soviet run "Communist Youth" organizations and national club supervision.  As a kid growing up in the USA during the Cold War, my perception was Hungary was behind the Iron Curtain.  It was only much later did I realize how many Soviet hams that there were in the World. I hope to find a guest that can give us a better picture of ham radio then in the FSU. 

In Israel, we absorbed over a million Russians, in the 1990s,  as the Iron Curtain came down. This infusion of highly educated immigrants helped to fuel Israel's high tech revolution.  It also contributed to our fine arts and symphony orchestras as we absorbed thousands of World class musicians. And, of course, we absorbed many Russian hams who became Israeli licensees.  For me this is still an un-tapped treasure chest of ham radio experience I have yet to explore. 

My wife, Karen, tells the story of picking up a "trempest" or hitch hiker in the area where we live.  This was a woman of Russian origin, the same age as Karen.  Both speaking now in Hebrew, they compared the "duck and cover" drills we all did in our public schools during the Cold War.  By the end of the conversation they were both laughing that both had an identical experience and their perceptions of the other from opposites sides of the "curtain".  

I am happy to say that one of the benefits of the curtain coming down for QSO Today listeners is that the airwaves to most of the World are now open making QSOs with HA6NN and other hams in the East, an everyday occurrence. 

Happy New Year