LZ2KSQ - amateur club in the town of Svishtov

LZ2KSQ — History and Engineering Milestones of the Svishtov Radio Club

Organized amateur radio activity in the historic town of Svishtov dates back to prior to 1960. Early operations used a homebrew transmitter built at the Veliko Tarnovo regional club paired with a modified commercial receiver (later moved to Alekovo village in 1968 to revive station LZ2KAL). Shortly thereafter, a 3-tier transmitter utilizing a GU-50 final tube was built for club station LZ2KSQ, paired with a communications receiver.

Initial Morse code classes for youth were taught by schoolmaster Todor Kolev (sk). Station operations were managed by Todor Kolchev (LZ2TK – sk), a professional riverboat radio operator for Bulgarian River Shipping, famed for his precise keying on a semi-automatic „Vibroplex“ mechanical bug.

Stefan Nenkov — Manager of the official Svishtov Radio Club after 1970

1. Establishment as a Full-Scale Club and Expansion

In early 1970, the Svishtov Radio Club achieved official full-time status under station manager Stefan Nenkov (later succeeded by Stefan Hristov). Dedicated classrooms for Morse code telegraphy, radio construction, and military signal corps pre-conscription training were established. Between 1970 and 1972, operators built 50W and 250W HF transmitters alongside an SSB transceiver that claimed 2nd place in national engineering reviews.

In 1974, a dedicated contest station center was built near Svishtov, serving as a hub for HF and VHF competitions. Club operators logged their first VHF contacts via Meteorscatter and amateur radio satellites. By 1975, satellite branch clubs were opened in Tsarevets village (LZ2KCT led by Dimitar Blazhev) and Gorna Studena village (led by Iliya Zhelev).

Angel Gugov (LZ1CY), Iliya Kirilov (LZ1IKY), and Stefan Nenkov

2. Homebrew Engineering Chronicle (TNTM)

The Svishtov Radio Club became recognized as one of Bulgaria’s premier technical design centers for amateur radio equipment:

• 1970: 50W HF transmitter built by Nikola Stoyanov.
• 1971: 250W HF transmitter built by Stefan Hristov.
• 1972–1973: HF SSB transceivers built by Stefan Hristov and Bozhidar Atanasov.
• 1974–1975: VHF converters and SSB transceivers designed by Petar Angelov (LZ4PA) and Dimitar Blazhev.
• 1976: 4x 10-element VHF phased array antenna (mounted at 45m AGL), 250W VHF amplifier, and HF 2-element Quad antenna.
• 1978: Slow-Scan Television (SSTV) station built by Petar Angelov (LZ4PA); 1 kW HF linear amplifier built by Krasimir Lazarov (LZ4SU – sk); 5-meter parabolic dish antenna for 432 MHz with auto-tracking system.
• 1979: 144/432 MHz VHF radio by Stefan Hristov (1st place National Engineering Award).
• 1982: HF SSB Transceiver by Petar Angelov (LZ4PA) (1st place National Engineering Award); massive 16×32 element 432 MHz array for Moonbounce (EME).
• 1984: 1 kW 432 MHz power amplifier built specifically for Earth-Moon-Earth (EME) communications.

Petar Angelov (LZ4PA) and Iliya Kirilov (LZ1IKY) during contest operating and at the UW3DI station

3. Operating Milestones: First Bulgarian 432 MHz EME Contact

Club station LZ2KSQ achieved top-tier operating contest results on HF/VHF led by operators Iliya Kirilov (LZ1IKY), Ivan Pavlov, Petar Angelov (LZ4PA), Krasimir Lazarov (LZ4SU – sk), and university student teams:

• Historical Breakthrough (EME 1984): Completed Bulgaria’s first-ever 432 MHz Earth-Moon-Earth (Moonbounce) QSO connecting LZ2KSQ with legendary station DL9KR! Subsequent EME contacts were logged with YU, F, G, SM, and PA.
• Athletic Titles: 7 club operators were awarded the title „Master of Sports“. The university High-Speed Telegraphy team won 2 national championships.
• Awards: Accumulated a total of 134 gold, silver, and bronze medals and 22 international certificates and plaques from competitive events and national technical expos.

Krasimir Lazarov (LZ4SU – sk) at the station controls and custom radio gear built by Petar Angelov (LZ4PA)

4. Individual Callsigns in Svishtov

• LZ2AKW — Krasimir Vasilev Kiselov
• LZ2DS — Atanas Ivanov Slavev
• LZ2SSB — Petar Sashev Petrov
• LZ2TK (sk) — Todor Kolev
• LZ2BZ — Zdravko Todorov Petkov
• LZ4PA — Petar Nikolov Angelov
• LZ4SU (sk) — Krasimir Lazarov Lazarov
• LZ2AGA — Andrey Georgiev Andreev