LZ2KGO — High School Amateur Radio Club at TET „M. V. Lomonosov“ in Gorna Oryahovitsa
The amateur radio club at the Technical School of Electrical Engineering (TET) „M. V. Lomonosov“ in Gorna Oryahovitsa was founded in 1962. Its creator was legendary electronics teacher Boncho Vasilev (LZ2AS – sk).
The club station LZ2KGO officially went on the air in 1963.
1. Technical Equipment and Homebrew Transmitters
The station’s transmitter was custom-built by students under the supervision of Boncho Vasilev. The design followed a classic tube topology: VFO – BU – FD – FD – FD – PA (utilizing GU-50 and GK-71 tubes running at 1500V anode voltage), delivering 150 Watts RF output.
Receiving was handled by a specialized PKV-45 communications receiver. This was a modified military KVM receiver featuring an integrated goniometer and 4 antenna switch inputs oriented to the four cardinal directions.
Military KVM receiver PKV-45 with goniometer used at station LZ2KGO
2. Public Displays and Contest Milestones
The radio club played an active role in school traditions. During the May 24th parade in 1964, students showcased their homebrew station equipment to the public.
Public display of the TET radio club at the May 24 parade in 1964. Operating at the key is Kiril Iliev (LZ2JA)
Operators from LZ2KGO competed regularly in national HF contests:
- 1966: In the National YL/XYL Contest, Liliya Kalushkova claimed 6th place overall.
- 1967: Operators E. Todorova and Liliya Kalushkova took 17th place, securing 3rd place nationally for the Veliko Tarnovo region.
In front of TET high school (1966), left to right: Neno (LZ2AJ), Nick, Boncho Vasilev (LZ2AS – sk), Stefan (LZ2DB – sk), and Kiril (LZ2JA). Right: Founder Boncho Vasilev (LZ2AS – sk)
3. Station Managers and Notable Alumni
Following Boncho Vasilev (LZ2AS – sk), station trustee duties passed to his son, Ivanchko Bonchev Vasilev (LZ4WJ).
Dozens of young students passed through LZ2KGO, later forming the core of the local amateur radio community:
- Kiril Iliev (
LZ2JA) - Rumen (
LZ2CR) - Nasko (
LZ1YE) - Ivan (
LZ1YP) - Toni (
LZ2AU) - Svetla (
LZ2FI) - Tsetso (
LZ2FV) - Ivan Vasilev (
LZ4WJ), among many others.
