Amateur Radio Island

OH73ELK Transceiver

Welcome to Finland, Savonlinna - the heart of the largest lake district in Europe!

Spend a relaxing vacation with family or friends in this beautiful location with the bonus of a fully equipped radio shack!

OH73ELK@gmail.com
OH73ELK Radio Shack Equipment

Ham Radio

The OH73ELK Ham Holiday Shack located in the quietness of Finnish woods.  You will enjoy a relaxing time with your hobby in a stress free and QRM free environment

Antennas:
- Fullsize yagi beam 20-15-10m bands, built and installed by OH7RM

- Kelemen 160/80, Inv-V 80; Kelemen 40/20, GP 40/20, GP 40 elevated, Inv-V 30, DX Commander (WARC)

Installation of own antennas is possible for your experiments. Hoisting ropes are already installed.

Radio Shack​:
- transceiver  IC-7300, all HF bands, digital interface included, IC-2725 Dual band FM (donated by DG5NGS)

- ICOM SM30, Headsets : HEIL PROSET IC, HEIL  BM-10 iC, footswitch HEIL FS-3,  RigExpert ANT analyzer

- CW Key (OH73ELK special edition) made by RA1AOM : base is made out of Ural stone, the mechanism has a magnetic return

- SWR&Power Meter Daiwa CN-501H2, antenna switch RQUAD for 8 antennas; rotator Yaesu G-1000DXA

- ACOM 2000A amplifier 1.5 kW : on special agreement

Contest Call: OG7Z

OH73ELK Island - QRM free

Yagi 20/15/10 for DX

HEIL PROSET IC

Our new CW Paddle

In the heart of OH73ELK

Ham Radio Amplifier R-140

Jukka OH2BR

to sleep in the Shack ;-)

Fullsize yagi beam

Installation of InvV

Hoisting ropes prepared for your ANT experiments

Antenna switcher outsides the house

YL RAISA with our new QSL

OE5NRF Maxi in the Shack

Icom SM 30

The Region of Saimaa

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Lake Saimaa: Kolovesi national park
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Savonlinna - the pearl of Lake Saimaa
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The charms of small Finnish lakes
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The biggest rainbow I've ever seen

The region of Savonlinna is the heart of Lake Saimaa. This labyrinth of lakes and islands is the perfect place to relax and be at one with nature.

It is ideal for those who want to enjoy peace and tranquility. Watch the morning sun as it rises above the lush green woodland and sets in the evening over crystal clear water.
Imagine swimming in water that is pure enough to drink! 

QRA OH73ELK:  KP42NG 

Savonranta (nearest village) =13 km : local supermarket (food and household items), restaurant, pharmacy, petrol station.

Savonlinna (Capital of Saimaa Lake District) = 67 km

Other nearest places of interest 

The Island

You will have complete privacy offered by the generous 4.5 hectare lot in the tip of the island with its own 800 m shoreline as well as trails in the woods.

For Amateur Radio Tourism there are very interesting WWFF sites and SOTA spots near our lake or in close vicinity.

After a day On Air, you can relax in a traditional Finnish wooden sauna located only 10 m from the lake.

Every season in Finland has its own charm. Take a look at the photographs and see for yourself, beginning with winter!

Here you will have an unforgettable Ham Radio Holiday!

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Northern lights over Elk
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OH73ELK cottage in winter
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Enjoy the silence of winter
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Finnish outdoor activity
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The dry climate doesn’t feel as cold
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After the great Pile-Up you can relaxe in Finnish sauna
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Barbeque is possible year round - also during winter!
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Spring in Finland! The ice is melting and birds are chirping.
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Endless summer days
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Water so pure you can drink it!
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keep balance is not easy
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Local strawberries ...
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Midsummer is one of Finland’s major holidays.
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The local boletus edulis is the most popular mushroom in this region
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You can barbeque a few meters from the lake.
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During sunrise or sunset you can work with DX or … go swimming!!!
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Autumn from the window of Ham holiday cottage
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Autumn is a quiet season, but not on Ham Radio bands
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Cozy evenings......

The Cottage

A lovely traditional wooden holiday cottage built by Honka with all modern conveniences.

This rental QTH is available all year round. 

Sleeping areas: downstairs - 2 separate bedrooms + sofa bed in the huge livingroom . 

Upstairs - one more separate bedroom with Radio Shack.

The price of the cottage rental changes depending on the duration and time of year of your stay and how many guests you have.

Unlimited Wi-Fi (50 Mbps), Smart TV, use of the separate sauna, Grill-Pavillon, firewood, Boat (Yamaha motor on agreement), SUP board, fishing poles and other perks are included in the price.

No additional charge for the use of Ham Shack. 

Please send any questions (GER/ENG) to OH73ELK@gmail.com 

If you have not received a response to your request within 24 hours, please check your spam. You can also write to us on WhatsApp or just call !

3D virtual tour  (made by Gert-Jan, PE2W)

The living room

Double height spacious living area and kitchen

Here you can relax in front of the fireplace

The kitchen

The bathroom

The first bedroom downstairs

The second bedroom downstairs

The second bedroom downstairs

The stairs to the second floor

The third bedroom upstairs (here also Radio Shack)

The Finnish original fireplace

Video tour of Amateur Radio rental QTH

News

F4ETG & Family explores surroundings of the ELK Island
23 October 2024
HAM guests from France again. This time it's Olivier F4ETG with his family. They just came to visit the ELK island during the Golden Autumn, which is especially good to watch from the lake. And from OH73ELK Shack Olivier takes part in CQ WW SSB - the largest Amateur Radio Contest
The first 6m band QSO
01 August 2024
Vlad OK2WX made the first QSO on the 6 m Band. This Band had not been used before, we did not have an antenna. TNX Vlad, who brought a Yagi to ELK. This antenna is not permanently installed, but each guest can do it. The mast and place for it are available
UHV antennas ELK SHACK UPGRADE
02 April 2024
OH73ELK it is now equipped with VHF rig, antennas and accessories, TNX to Ralf DG5NGS! Will it be possible to use Aurora for VHF QSOs ? TNX to all our guests who are helping ELK become better and reflecting more aspects of our great hobby
Contesting despite 60+ cm of snow
26 February 2024
"never had so much snow in my life",said Michael DL6MHW who came with XYL Andrea DL3ABL. Despite the snowdrifts, they managed to hang their own 160m ant, to take part in CQ WW 160 (our own 160m InvV is only for CW). Now Michael&Andrea plan to participate in ARRL DX with our Contest Call OG7Z
QRZ on Ice made by Raisa QRZ? de OH73ELK
12 January 2024
A QRZ picture "drawn" on ice by YL Raisa is from last winter. But nature looks the same now: frost and snow. For all questions about visiting ELK in 2024, you can contact us at: OH73ELK@gmail.com ! Welcome to the Lakeland in South-Eastern Finland!
Rene DL2JRM & Anett DO6XX in ELK again
12 September 2023
They enjoy the sunny and warm weather. Also space weather did not disappoint - they saw the Northern Lights above the lake. Rene did more than 3000 CW QSO as OH73ELK and plans to take part in Scandinavian Activity Contest as OG7Z
the case when DX is visiting you
15 August 2023
During the last QSO with him from Antarctica, he said that he missed the trees :) Now they are enough! Sebastian (Seba) SQ1SGB who often works from Antarctica visited ELK cottage with his brother for a week.
OH73ELK in IARU World Championship
09 July 2023
Our guest Bruno F4JIK spontaneously decided to take part in the IARU HF World Championship 2023 from ELK Shack. The conditions were not easy due to the thunderstorm. But still: Bruno managed 622 QSO on 20/15/10 with our Yagi.
A new Kelemen wire antenna 40/20 m
03 April 2023
TNX to Ric DL2VFR we have one more Kelemen antenna now. For 40/20 - as additional antenna for these important bands. The SWR immediately settled in the center of both bands at 1.05-1.1, no adjustment was required. The picture shows an updated general plan of ELK antennas.
K5MSK - our guest from Texas
11 February 2023
For the first time in his life Michael saw a FROZEN LAKE, went out on the ICE, experienced FINNISH SAUNA and Finnish KICKSLEDDING. He will work on 20/15/10m SSB 14.02-19.02. This is a good time for ELK AWARD ;-)
ELK DX Commander - for WARC bands and more
05 December 2022
This well-known antenna from Callum M0MCX, modified by Jens DG1OAM is installed in "experimental mode" first of all for WARC, since we have different antennas for all other bands. Let's see how it behaves in the Finnish snowdrift
Who will receive the 300th ELK AWARD?
08 September 2022
This week our friend Jens DG1OAM is actively QRV in ELK Shack using FT8. TNX his activities the ELK Award founder/manager YL Raisa received a lot of new applications. She has already sent (for free) almost three hundred Awards to hams from 40 countries! Raisa tells soon who will be the 300th
WiRES-X ALL JA CQ ROOM
31 August 2022
Our Japanese friends JE1ABU Mario@Yukari JK1OBZ visited the ELK Island for the third time.This summer we were finally able to shortly meet them in person and Mario showed Raisa how WiRES-X ALL JA CQ ROOM works. Raisa made several QSO in Japanese via this unusual system
First Polish ELK guests: Rafal and Karolina
10 July 2022
Rafal SQ9CNN took part with our Contest Call OG7Z in IARU HF Championship (CW) with 100 W from the ELK Shack. He BROKE the current record for OH in IARU Contest SOU CW. ( 811 QSO, claimed score 735,840). After the Contest was over they started exploring our lake by boat.
The heat is not only in the Sauna
03 July 2022
maybe you thought that Finland is a cold country? It has been over 30 C in the shade every day for a week here, and the water in our lake has reached + 26.5 C (!) at a depth of 1m. The sun shines almost round the clock. But still: the hottest place is our OH73ELK Shack ;-)
The youngest OH73ELK operator ever
15 April 2022
First guests from beautiful Slovenia - a young family - Nejc S56NE is a ham and parents came just for rest. You wouldn't guess from his voice in SSB-Nejc is 12 years old and got his Aclass in 2021.We are delighted with his operator skills. Big respect to Ljubljana radio clubs where Nejc made first steps in Ham Radio!
Kelemen antenna 160/80 m A new Kelemen wire antenna 160/80 m
06 April 2022
Our friend Ric DL2VFR brought us a new very well made Kelemen 160/80 antenna. Today, despite the winter weather, Ric and his son Ole (13) raised the antenna 18m high on a pine instead of our old 160m mono band dipole. VY TNX Ric&Ole! Next goal is to install an additional vertical for WARC bands! 
Northern lights+the constellation Cassiopeia
29 March 2022
This photo does not show very well, but recently the sky above Elk's house was lit up with Aurora. And on the air there was a nice auroral propagation with a its hissing CW tone and hoarse SSB voices. 10 m band Aurora QSO with local Finnish stations and US west coast were surprising!
1213 QSO in WAG Contest 2021
17 October 2021
Congratulation to our current German guests - multi operator team: Ric DL2VFR, Friedrich DL4BBH and Klaus DL7UXG. They participated from the ELK Shack with our contest call OG7Z! WAG Contest means "Worked All Germany" . Waiting for the official results!
DX holiday in Finland for the second time
01 October 2021
Our regular guests Mario JE1ABU & Yukari made the long journey from Tokyo to OH73ELK again. This time, they not only drank coffee in the boat, but also mastered swimming on the sup board :-) Now all vaccinated people from any country can enter Finland without tests/restrictions !
The ELK is On the Air again!
28 July 2021
Since July 27, 2021, Finland has removed most of the border restrictions (there are practically no restrictions for vaccinated tourists at all)! We are pleased with the third visit of Ric DL2VFR and his son Ole to the ELK-land. Ric will be QRV from 40m to 10m until the end of July
Finland made it much easier for tourists to enter
02 July 2021
Finland lifted most of the travel restrictions from July 1 for European tourists. Also for some other countries with a good epidemic situation. We hope our Yagi will start rotating regularly again soon. Ham guests from Germany, Japan and the Czech Republic are expected in the coming weeks.
The ELK-island remains uninhabited.
08 May 2021
The situation is improving, in Finland a third of the population has already been vaccinated, and 70% of immunization is expected by August 2021. We hope that Finland will soon open to tourists. In the meantime, our local Finnish friends are watching the house, everything is in order, but they say that the birds have built a nest on the Yagi antenna ;-)
OH73ELK QSL Version 2020-2021
10 April 2021
We apologize to everyone who sent us a QSL and did not receive our answer. All cards are stored in the Finnish QSL bureau and will be answered by us as soon as the restrictions are lifted. Here you see the current OH73ELK QSL (Version 2.0)
First Guests from JAPAN discover ELK-island
15 September 2020
Thanks to Mario (JE1ABU) & Yukari the way to our island is laid not only from the West, but also from the East. Our DX-guests spent 10 days on the island in complete natural "isolation" (swimming, boating, sauna, barbeque, picking and cooking mushrooms and berries), and of course, working On The Air. You can look at their very detailed feedback in REVIEWS section in Japanese ;-)
OH73ELK is QRV again !
17 July 2020
Finally, ham guests at our island! After a long covid-break came Ric DL2VFR with family. He will be QRV until the end of July on all bands as OH73ELK and OH/DL2VFR, including, portable activating several new Flora Fauna points nearby! Everyone, who needs a QSO with our station for the ELK-AWARD - catch Ric! He will mostly work CW.
ELK-DEBUT in the CQ DX SSB CONTEST 2019
03 April 2020
It was a challenge for YL Raisa to work in this Contest as Single Operator Low Power with the "difficult" Call OH73ELK. Our short Call OG7Z would match better but she likes Elks ;-) Hopefully before the next CQ WW Contests 2020 all Corona Virus restrictions will be canceled and our station will take part again, may be still as OG7Z ;-)
On Air from Finnish Sauna ?!
28 February 2020
SAUNA SHACK? A new idea and future option for our Ham Guests! In the Sauna building there is a separate isolated room, where we plan to install an additional small Shack, with a folding sofa for those who (in summer) want to sleep there at night. We will do next steps to implement this idea in Summer 2020 (installation of antennas and equipment there).
Our new "thickened" GP for 40 meter band
08 February 2020
This special Ground Plane antenna consists of eight wires vertical element 20 cm diameter and 12 m. long, capacitor for reactive compensation in series with the vertical element; 4 wires horizontally symmetrical resonant counterpoises 3 m. above ground. So that Elks can freely pass under it :-) SWR less than 1:1.1 in the range 7.0 to 7.3 MHz. Thanks to RA1AMO for help.
Our Site's Сhef is preparing for new challenges
28 December 2019
This is our friend and a very brave man Yuri Zagranichny. It was he who made this main site of OH73ELK! And after hard work, he cooled a little in the lake directly opposite the ELK's Sauna. By the way, in 2020, Yuri plans to manage it so that everyone can see here online when YL Raisa or our Ham guests go On Air from OH73ELK Shack and on what frequency!
The second run of ELK-AWARDs available
20 November 2019
The First print run (100 pieces) of ELK AWARD was sent to Radio Amateurs in 27 countries within a few months! The new run of Awards with a hologram on the Callsign is received from the printing house. The Award Manager YL Raisa continues to process new applications. Take a look for more details in the "ELK AWARD" section of our site.
A new exclusive ELK-paddle in our Shack
08 November 2019
Now our guests CW Lovers can taste the new paddle. This special "ELK-edition" is produced for us by RA1AOM in St.Petersburg. He used 50 hours for this work. Everything is made of stainless steel and polished by hand. The base is made of jasper.
HEIL PROSET IC - a new option for our ham guests
02 November 2019
now each of our guests has a choice: to work with microphones or with headsets: light Headset HEIL BM-10 or a new one: HEIL PROSET IC
New desktop mic Icom SM 30
10 October 2019
For more comfort during prolonged Pile-Ups in OH73ELK Shack in addition to the standard Icom microphone we have now the new desktop mic SM 30! With this microphone we have got an excellent modulation quality!
Ahr-Rotwein Diplom for our Shack
29 September 2019
A nice surprise from our Ham Guests DG1FN Peter and DF1PY Stephan. Working for a week from OH73ELK Shack, they fulfilled the conditions of an unusual diploma - "Ahr-Rotwein Diplom"! This is the First German Award of our young station! We will celebrate this event with an attached bottle of wine: "Ahr-Rotwein"!
The youngest Operator of OH73ELK Shack
25 September 2019
OE6PGM Gerhard with family was staying at OH73ELK island for a week as First OM from Austria. He took also OE5NRF Maximilian (14) with him. Despite his age, Maxi is very deeply versed in all the technical details of our hobby and he was very active On Air. For now it is the youngest Ham Operator of our Shack!
CQ WPX SSB 2019 Results
05 September 2019
WPX SSB 2019 was the First Contest for our Team! We are happy with this result, although now we know how we could get more QSO and points. At WPX 2020 our Station OH73ELK will be presented as follow: SSB: Rudi ON7CL & Team; CW: G4DBL Tim & Team ! We will cheer for our guests!
Rene DL2JRM and XYL Anett DO6XX On Air
30 August 2019
Our current guests Rene DL2JRM with XYL Anett DO6XX added something new to the history of OH73ELK Radio Cottage : First time in RTTY, First time on 24 MHz... and tomorrow, Anett will take part in the HSW Contest with our brand new Сall OG7Z in SSB mode. (Rene will run CW). This Contest Call will be for the First time On Air!
OG7Z - Our New Vanity Contest Call !!!
21 August 2019
We are pleased to announce: our QTH received an additional Short Contest Call: OG7Z ! Welcome to use it !
The First OM from France came to visit our island
30 July 2019
David, F4EPU with his family is staying at OH73ELK now. They left France just when it was 43 degrees Celsius there!!! David is On Air (mostly 20m) as OH73ELK Second Operator and he has already added some rare DXs to our general log ;-)
Brothers OH2BR+OH2BAD visiting Elk
16 July 2019
Miika OH2BAD with XYL Raili and his brother Jukka OH2BR with XYL Loretta OH2BG are staying at Amateur Radio Island for a week. OH73ELK will be on Air with theirs voices in the coming days.
Ham Radio Friedrichshafen 2019
25 June 2019
They visited the Amateur Radio Island at different times, but they all met together at the OH73ELK Stand in Friedrichshafen! On the photo: OH2BR, UB1AOA, DL2VFR, PE2W ! Thank you for your support at the exhibition! It was amazing atmosphere there!
New classy CW key at the OH73ELK Shack
15 June 2019
A nice gift from our guest from Belgium, OO7J. Thank you, Christoph!
News from our Shack Library
23 April 2019
Thanks to our German Guest Ric DL2VFR for the great present - all his famous books about Ham Radio (DARC Verlag)! These books will be available in OH73ELK Shack forever!
First Time in СQ WPX CONTEST as "MULTI-ONE"!
06 April 2019
Our goal was to make 1000 QSO and we did it right before the end of time limit.Thanks to Gert-Jan PE2W for his idea about WPX and for joining our team! Here is a short movie report from YL RAISA : https://youtu.be/WFXKrG3b94o
Mini Music Studio of OH73ELK
05 February 2019
For our guests who want to make some music in between Work On the Air ;-)
Elks1 ELKs come for a visit OH73ELK
26 November 2018
Three unlicensed Elks wanted to work on the Air as DX operators of OH73ELK !

YL Raisa made a video, how they are swimmimg to our island 

GP for 40/20 m GP 20/40 m
20 September 2018
GP 40/20 m is installed as an alternative to the Inv. V for 40 m and as survey antenna for 20 m, SWR is under 1.5 in whole band. Compared with Inv V this new GP 40 m should be better for DX stations. We will check it ;-)
Boletus Edulis at OH73ELK Boletus edulis
04 September 2018
Many Boletus Edulis ( (English: penny bun, cep, porcino or porcini)) have grown in our forest! And some grew right near the pier! It was possible to observe the growth rate of the fungus every day :-)
Incredible Summer 2018
29 August 2018
The second half of the summer of 2018 in Finland was so warm that the water in our lake warmed up to 25 degrees and 26.5 near the shorline! And even at the end of August it was possible to swim for a long time.

Reviews

Dem Alltag auf Wiedersehen sagen…

Dem Alltag auf Wiedersehen sagen und in den Norden fahren. Das war die Idee für erholsame Ferien. Mit Erstaunen haben wir festgestellt, dass sich dies auch mit Amateurfunk verbinden lässt. Auf Elk-Island fehlt es an Nichts. Das wunderschöne Haus direkt am See lädt förmlich dazu ein, mehrere Gänge runterzuschalten. Wir genossen die Herbststimmung während den hellen Stunden auf dem See beim Fischen. Nach

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DG5NGS

OH73ELK – Urlaub am Ende der Welt

Ich lernte Raisa und Alex 2018 per Funk kennen, woraus sich ein reger Emailaustausch und weitere Kontakte entwickelten. Im letzten Jahr war es nun so weit, wir verbrachten einen wunderschönen zweiwöchigen Familienurlaub in OH73ELK Ferienhaus, das sie liebevoll und auch nicht ganz zu Unrecht als „Radio Cottage“ (Funkhütte) bezeichnenZu dem Ferienhaus mitten im Wald gehören neben einem 800 m langen Privatstrand mit Bootssteg auch eine Sauna und

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visiting OH73ELK in winter

Im Februar zu OH73ELK zu fahren, war eine gute Idee. Wir haben die weiße Stille und Einsamkeit genossen. Der Schnee war so tief, dass nicht alle Antennen besucht werden konnten. Den Weg zur Sauna haben wir am ersten Tag frei gegraben. Trotz bedeckten Himmels war es weiß und hell. Wenn die Sonne schien wurde es noch schöner. Die Funkstation funktioniert tadellos. Etwas über 3500 QSOs gelangen in knapp 12 Tagen, der Großteil in CW und

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Wild life is amazing for photographers here

I spent one week in OH73ELK with my brother. This is the place when you can charge batteries and chill out. Quiet (also noise level has  Z-E-R-O dB) and remote. First time in 10 years we could feel silence. Lots of pikes in the lake that we also enjoyed:) We used a boat a lot to see the beautiful lakes! That was a wonderful time that shows that Ham Radio can connect people (because we met together when we made QSO between Raisa and me from Antarctica)! Seba SQ1SGB also VP8/SQ1SGB and brother

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SUPing in the middle of nowhere

This year we came to the ELK in summer instead of early spring and it was amazing. Because the lakes were not frozen this year, we were able to do sports like swimming and SUPing which was very nice. I think that nothing can compare to SUPing on a very still lake in the middle of nowhere. As for the Hamradio part, I believe there are very few stations comparable to the ELK of course the S0 noise and quite good equipment. At the time the propagation to NA was

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Unplanned contest at OH73ELK Shack

During my roadtrip in Finland in July 2023, there was a mandatory stop that I had planned, OH73ELK!
What an amazing experience ! These few days in ELK has been beyond my expectations. Living here in the middle of nature, in this sublime environment, was pure happiness. I really enjoyed it.
And of course the ELK radio shack with its sublime antennas. Very hard to resist making radio in these conditions ! After few QSOs, I realized that the bands was

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Vacation of a Lifetime

My friends thought I was crazy to go to Finland in winter, but I must disagree. Finland (and OH73ELK) in winter is amazing and beautiful! As you see in their photos, OH73ELK is a beautifully constructed cabin on a small island. The cabin is warm and cozy and the workmanship is exemplary. What you don't see in the photos is

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A perfect two week holiday

Incredibly beautiful is this place on an island in the middle of the endless forest of the southern Finnish lake district. We spent two unforgettable weeks in this magical place. The house including shack and antennas offer all the luxury to have a really good time and still be able to experience the beauty of nature up close. There is an easy-to-understand manual in the house and the sauna. Alex & Raisa were always available via Whatsapp. We did a lot of things besides Ham Radio like

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Beautiful cottage in a magic forest near a mesmerizing lake. 
We came to this beautiful place from the US with my family. It offers not only a well-equipped radioshack with eight (!) various antennas but much more activities for a family vacation. In the summer, the water in the lake is warm enough for swimming, and the daily temperature can reach 86 degrees. Fishing is excellent; you can use the boat, but we didn't need it. It was the season of blueberries, and we picked lots of them within 50 feet of

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IARU HF 2022 Contest from ELK SHACK

It was a spontaneous idea to visit OH73ELK and use the ELK station and its Contest Call OG7Z for IARU HF 2022 Contest. I contact Raisa and Alex just a week before the contest. Luckily the station was available for rent for a weekend, what more the owners were there just before our (me and my daughter Karolina) arrival, so we had a chance to meet R&A on the road. All was superb, including the Contest results (at least for me) 

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White Nights​ Vacation on "ELK ISLAND" -  ideal for switching off

Just before Midsummer, YL Dani and OM Michael DL5LCR spent 8 days in June 2022 at OH73ELK's cottage. The days didn't seem to end (White Nights!) and there was so much to see and do. We were lucky with the weather (air 22°C and water 18°C) and so we were able to explore the lake landscape by boat, have a barbecue, go for long walks, set up the DX Commander antenna and use the great Finnish sauna. Day trips to Savonlinna with

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Time to visit Sauna

We experienced varied and relaxing days there. While my XYL Maria explored the area and tried fishing, I was able to enjoy IC7300 with the excellent RA1AOM Morse key and the 3-3-5 element Yagi  - big pleasure. The remaining antenna park was also used. When the weather got worse, it was time to visit the sauna. This is also a special experience. Birch wood brought the heat, the partly ice-covered lake brought the cooling down. It was also nice to be able to experience breathtaking nature without

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The best cottage in Finland!

My parents and I were there for three full days (two days of travelling and three in the cottage). The trip from Helsinki airport to the cottage was very scenic. The island and the cottage itself are awesome. The nature is outstanding. There are lakes everywhere and because we were there in April the lakes were still frozen which in my opinion, is even better :)  On the HAM side of the vacation, the OB 11-3 and 100w allowed me to do 1700 QSO in 3 days, which i did as follows:

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85 DXCC Countries in 6 days

The stay is a unique experience, we spent a week with XYL in the ELK cottage and it is an ideal choice for anyone who loves peace, solitude and beautiful nature. Ham radio equipment is the dream of every radioamateur, 3-3-5 el yagi, vertical and inverted vee antennas  with a 1.5 kW PA allowed me to do 85 DXCC Countries in 6 days ! 

We can highly recommend. 73 de Vlad, OK2WX

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OH73ELK, syncing the nature and QSO

CQ, CQ, CQ, dear fellow hams! OH73ELK holiday was my dream come true.

This QTH has a crystal clear reception, QRM is unbelievably low if at all. Even without the power amp I was responded from several countries and continents by the first call; after sauna & lake, with very good reports.

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ここは、フィンランドで最高のコテージだと思います。このコテージの敷地だけでも、神宮球場2つ分以上の広さがあり、家具や設備が整った3ベッドルームのメインハウス、サウナ小屋、湖畔のバーベキュー小屋、ボート、釣り道具など、家族全員で楽しめます。薪で焚いたサウナに入ったり、そのまま湖に入って泳いだりできて、日本人が描くフィンランドのイメージそのままです。
 私にとって、ここは、まさにパラダイスです。

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Funkerparadies im Winter in Finnland

Zwei Wochen Ferien in Finnland bei OH73ELK, Traumferien im finnischen Winter, ein gemütliches, warmes Haus, bestens eingerichtete Küche und noch viel schöner: eine traumhafte Funkstation. 

Bei klirrender Kälte und zugefrorenem See genossen wir zwei Wochen in der Abgeschiedenheit von Finnland, auf einer Insel, alleine!

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What a week!

Have 100% fell in love with this place! The cottage is just fantastic and its location is stunning!! Both Alex and Raisa have thought of everything and nothing is too much hassle. Great place to get away from it all, and has an amazing Amature Radio station to communicate to the world for those who have a licence. This place would be great for winter or a summer stay, so is really an all year destination. We are already looking at dates to come back. As they say '73' for now..... But we will be back soon!! 73, M0BLH

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Scandinavian Activity Contest SSB 2019

For the Scandinavian Activity Contest SSB 2019 Guenther DG7EE, Daniel DJ4MF and Rene DL2JRM went to OH73ELK in October.

Just for an Extended Weekend but with a lot of fun. We enjoyed the Autumn in Finland and the Sauna beside the Contest. With the Contest Callsign OG7Z we hopefully got a good place in the competition with all the Big Gun!

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The Station became not cold ​

We spent Two Wonderful Weeks in the most Beautiful Cottage @ OH73ELK.

Silence, mushrooms, swimming, fishing and the perfect Environment made everything to a relaxed hollyday.

The Station became not cold and a few more contacts has been taken.

For sure we will come back soon!

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An idyllic place that inspires calm and tranquility 

(s."read more" for the Spanish version)

Location, house itself and radio equipment are spectacular! The cottage is located in a forest, witch is on an island in a huge area with hundreds
of lakes... An idyllyc place that inspires calm and tranquility, as well as beauty wherever you look. The house is perfectly prepared for living and I
have to say it is very welcoming. You can see it in the photos, but in reality it is even better and more beautiful!

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Ein (Funk-) Paradies im Norden Europas: OH73ELK

Statt im 40m-Band mit S7 bis S9 QRM Pegel im Linzer Industriegebiet nun doch nur unterhalb von S1 das Rauschen zu hören ist ein tolles Empfangserlebnis auf der Insel in Finnland bei OH73ELK. Auch Maximilian (14) vom vergangenen Amateurfunkkurs konnte mitfahren. Derzeit ist OE5NRF der jüngste Funkamateur Österreichs und auch der jüngste Funkamateur an der Station von OH73ELK. Eine SOTA Aktivierung durfte in OH nicht fehlen: OH/JS-053, Pekkolanmäki – 202m   73! OE6PGM Gerhard

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Privater HAM Contest von ELK aus

Das Erste was uns überrascht hat beim ELK, ist die Ruhe! Nach dem Alltagstress und Hamburg-Tempo, konnte sich meine Familie wundern und freuen! Eine weitere Überraschung - fast gleiche Ruhe, wenn man Transceiver hört (kein QRM). Was mich noch in Finnland wundert, dass solche Ecken mit jungfräulicher Natur immer noch auf der Erde existieren! Noch vor der Reise kam ich zu Idee von ELK aus einen kleinen privaten Contest mit den OMs aus meinem Amateurfunkclub (DL0AT E13) zu machen.Gesagt - getan!

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CQ from the Elks

Earlier this year, I stumbled over a rather unique and funny call-sign, OH73ELK. After a quick research on the net it became clear that this is a station located in the beautiful Lake District of Finland, in the Savonlinna region, and that this station can be rented for a DX holiday. I quickly contact the owners, Alex and Raisa (home call: UB1AOA), and, after checking holiday possibilities with QRL, we quickly agreed on a week in late April 2019, and Alex and Raisa added that they would be happy to have the First ham operator visiting from Belgium

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We hear just the noise of trees...

We have pass one funny week in Finland. The cottage of Raisa and Alex is located inside the wood outside the village.
It a very quiet place. We hear just the noise of trees leaf and the wind noise, nothing else. The region is touristic and lot of stuffs are to be discover.The Ham shack is well appointed and you don't miss to make nice QSO. 

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Message from Miika, OH2BAD and XYL Raili:

Recovering from the annual Finnish SRAL national Field Day is always a big challenge. This year (2019) we were 857 people present at OH3W, trying to remember faces and connect them with names and voices. In 58 years of active participation it has become almost a stress and you deserve a total relaxation after such a week-end! 

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6 wonderful days at OH73ELK cottage

I have been hamradio operator for almost 33 years and have never thought to operate on such beautiful scenery and station in my life.

My wife and I arrived on the 5th July to OH73ELK cottage and for us was our first time in Scandinavia, first time in Finland and first time we rented a car (I do not like to drive, that’s the reason that I mention it here).

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Fantastic opportunity to combine my love of exploring the world and my lifelong interest in radio 

Thanks to Alex and Raisa, OH73ELK Radio Island has giving me a fantastic opportunity to combine my love of exploring parts of the world that I have not visited before and my lifelong interest in radio. Their holiday home is amazing. The forest and lakeside location is breathtaking and the relaxed and peaceful way of life is a million miles away from what I'm used to back in England. It is truly fantastic.

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World Wide Flora & Fauna near OH73ELK-island: first ever activity from OHFF-0091

When I booked my vacation at the OH73ELK-QTH I was focused on having some holidays right in the middle of nowhere together with my 10 years old son Ole. Planning what to do I could not resist to have a look on spots to activate with my radio gear. Nowadays in all dense populated areas and even a bit outside you are faced to any kind of disturbances on the radio bands. Beside the chance to work from an area that would be almost free of man-made or any industrial noise I became interested in if there would be any spot to activate

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My DX experience as Dutch ham station PA3FTP

And then it's that time again, the holiday expedition to Finland is over. OH73ELK was a great experience. Both as a holiday destination but especially a new experience as a radio amateur. From 20 to 26 May I have been QRV almost daily for one or more hours at 10, 20 and 40 meter SSB. I worked in many new countries that I found in NL much more difficult or possibly just not working, such as Australia, Japan, Taiwan or Uruguay to name but a few, also 5 or 10 watt QRP stations that just arrive in Finland 5-9 +. If the frequency is empty noise less than 1 s point, delicious.

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My family loves Finland very much. We love for pristine nature and special atmosphere, which is only here. In Finland I “charge my batteries” for Moscow bustle..We know Alex and Raisa because we take part in international ARDF competitions together. During our last trip to Finland, I was glad to have to visit the hospitable Ham Radio Shack and to work On The Air with the Prefix OH/R2AOI  and also as OH73ELK. There is also a great place to train in ARDF, it remains to draw a map :). This, apparently, is Alex’s next step in popularizing the radiosport.

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This year I wanted a special holiday. I was looking for an holiday that could combine my OM needs as well as the needs of my family.

I wanted to be able to play with Hamradio because at my QTH condition are not great, because during the year personal impediment did not allow me to be an active OM.

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OH73ELK is a wonderful amateur station! Thanks to the hospitality, we (PE2W and YL) spend a couple of nights and enjoyed the environment and the radio station and the fabulous antenna's. Made some nice DX's Japan, South Cook Islands, Ascension Island, South Korea. If you wanna enjoy the silence, nature and enjoy the HAM radio, this is the place to be! P.S. I made a 3D virtual tour about the place of our Ham holiday 73, de PE2W

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We have visited holiday cottage OH73ELK twice during 2018. The first time was in June. In instance we fell in love with the cottage and the surrounding nature where main elements are pure water lake and peninsula of an island. The radio station with its tower and antennas has been professionally built having in mind maximum comfort for the licensed guests. More antennas and accessories are in the works :)

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About us and this project

Alex-бегу
YL Raisa

Hi, we are Raisa and Alex. We would be happy to help you with any information you might need about your stay in Finland. 

Please send any questions (GER/ENG) to OH73ELK@gmail.com

If you have not received a response to your request within 24 hours, please check your spam. You can also write to us on WhatsApp or just call !

We both are Radio Amateurs and specialize also in ARDF - an adventurous Radiosport combining technical knowledge and fitness.

Take a look at:

RAISA.blog - a personal project of YL Raisa to demonstrate that our hobby is not only for men.

OH73ELK Facebook - a Community Page of Amateur Radio Island.
73 from the Land of Elks and Lakes!

P.S.  Elk is one of the national symbols of Finland. The new сallsign OH73ELK symbolizes this beautiful animal ;-)