A44A Team will be active from Oman in CQ WW DX SSB Contest, 25 - 26 October 2025.
They will operate in Multi Op Category.
Recent DX Spots A44A
QSL via A47RS, LOTW.
Ads for direct QSL:
Clubstation of Royal Omani Amateur Radio Society, P.O.Box 981, Muscat 113, Oman.
Oman
Not every country considers hyena meat to be the most delicious dish, and non-Muslims need a document issued by the police to purchase alcohol.
And not everywhere does the summer air temperature attempt to break free, climbing up the thermometer, sometimes reaching 50°C.
The Sultanate of Oman is just such a country and just such a place. But there are so many interesting places in this sauna-like country that anyone visiting Oman for the first time simply forgets about such trifles as the heat.
To be fair, it should be noted that in January, for example, the temperature here is only 26 degrees Celsius, and in the mornings it is only 20 degrees. On such cool days, you can see that the sky above Oman is not gray at all, as many people think, but very blue. It is simply a veil of evaporation that hides the blue sky from the Omanis. But no one hides the white mosques, museums, palaces, fortresses, and forts on the rocky hills, parks, and hot springs from anyone.
Sur, Ash Sharqiyah, Oman. Author - Mauro.
One for all
Oman occupies the southeastern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and is an absolute monarchy.
The Sultan of Oman is an intelligent and educated man who has done a great deal for his country. It is difficult to imagine what it is like to control absolutely everything and be the head of state, the head of government, and the commander of the army and finances all at the same time. And in Oman, the sultan has been ruling for more than forty-five years!
As a young man, he studied at the Royal Military Academy in Great Britain, then the future sultan took courses in Germany, where he trained as a chief of staff, and later studied the local government system in England. As can be seen, he was successful. After traveling around the world, the young man returned to his homeland and conspired against his own father, who, as a result of a bloodless palace coup, abdicated the throne in favor of his educated and ambitious thirty-year-old son.
All these years, the sultan has been trying to do everything possible to improve the standard of living in Oman, and he has been wonderfully successful, but among the states whose economies are based almost entirely on oil exports, Oman is the poorest country. Nevertheless, there are no homeless or unemployed people in Oman, and the minimum wage is $1,000 per month, with no taxes of any kind for citizens. In other words, this “poor” country can easily compete with some of the world's leading countries in terms of living standards. Similarly, the capital mosque of Oman can be compared in splendor to the best mosques in the world.
Muscat, Oman. Author - Andy Gocher.
The main temple of Oman
The huge temple, called the Grand Mosque, built not so long ago by the sultan in the capital of Oman, Muscat, is impressive not only for its architectural forms and decoration of the halls. Compared to the chic of the handmade Persian carpet in the main hall, the gold inscriptions from the Koran and the dark marble used to decorate the hall simply fade into the background. The carpet, made by six hundred female craftsmen over a period of 1,400 days, weighs more than twenty tons.
Fifty-eight separate pieces of the carpet were joined together right in the hall of the temple. This work took two months, and the carpet turned out to be the second largest of all carpets on the planet.
The weight of the mosque's main chandelier is also quite impressive. Hanging above the heads of worshippers is no less than eight tons of fourteen-meter beauty.
The temple, the capital, and all of Oman are clean and well-maintained. But it is very hot outside.
Oman. Author - Lukasz Krawczynski.
The heat isn't the worst thing
Oman has no smell. Not in summer, not in autumn, not in winter. If the forest smells of fallen leaves in autumn, summer meadows smell of freshly cut grass, and the city smells of asphalt and exhaust fumes, then Oman is sterile in terms of smells. The heat kills both aromas and heavy spirits.
But thanks to this very heat, the coastal waters are home to countless small, large, colorful, and incredibly beautiful creatures. All this beauty swims, enjoying life in the warm and cleanest water.
Many locals wear an abaya, a long traditional Arab garment with long sleeves. But the most interesting thing is that the abaya is worn over the main clothing, and it is almost impossible to understand where the Omanis get such endurance and immunity to the heat. Women seem to be especially resilient, as their abayas, unlike the white ones worn by men, are black. And this, again, is a tradition. It turns out that when battles between Arab tribes used to take place at night, it was easier for women in black abayas to hide under the cover of darkness. Men, on the other hand, not afraid of skirmishes and serious battles, dressed in white clothes. Modern abayas, by the way, can be colorful, with patterns and even rhinestones. Fashion knows no borders, as we know.
This is how Omanis calmly walk the streets of their country in 50-degree heat, looking condescendingly at foreign guests who are wilting in the hot air. And what about the guests? After returning from Oman to somewhere closer to the north, they begin to appreciate the coolness as a kind of wealth, and their lungs, filled with fresh air, seem twice as large. But each of them will confirm without guile: it is impossible to forget how beautiful this hot country on the shores of the Arabian Sea is!
