In the beginning of October 2026, I activated 9 summits in the FL/NO region in two days.
Most of these easy hills are drive ups, only two of them needed a short walk to the activation zone.
Here is a brief report containing the essential information on where to park and if necessary, how to get to the summit.
I had chased 4 of the 9 summits before, so these became a 'complete' for me.
As a bonus, 7 of the 9 summits were also POTA parks. Nice!
As a bonus, 7 of the 9 summits were also POTA parks. Nice!
For navigating, I used Google Maps and had no problems.
Equipment was my IC-705 Go Box, and the 9.15m non-resonant wire, tuned with the ATU-100.
These were the summits. Click the link if you want to see the summit info page.
Day 1
Day 2
I left my home in Ostend at 05:25 local time, and somewhere halfway, I had my breakfast in the car ...it was only 9°C outside ...
I arrived at the first summit at 09:05.
FL/NO-140, Montagne d'Attiche - 188m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-11207
+ POTA FR-11207
Parking spot : 49.53344, 2.88895, at the edge of a field, and near an abandoned brick building.
No walking needed, the parking spot is well in the activation zone.
No walking needed, the parking spot is well in the activation zone.
I got a visit from a local farmer who was curious at what I was doing. We had a friendly chat and he let me continue with my activation.
It was a "cool" activation, outside temperature being only 11°C. I made 17 QSO's with 1 S2S and 2 P2P.
FL/NO-121, Mont Cesar, Catenoy - 162m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-11219
Parking spot : 49.359996, 2.498287, where you can drive into the wood and find a small parking space for a couple of cars. See picture below.
I walked some 50m away from the road to avoid the noise from passing traffic, but in essence this is a drive up summit again.
I had a good run of 33 QSO's here, including 6 S2S and 2P2P.
FL/NO-025, Mont Pagnotte - 222m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-3060
Parking spot is 49.278122, 2.634911, which is the official parking for Mont Pagnotte.
If you really want to be at the actual summit, you can continue driving with care (I did!), but beware of a few big potholes in the road. Not much to see at the summit, except for this view of the radio tower.
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| Lunchtime at Mont Pagnotte ... |
Result of the activation : 24 QSO's with 4 S2S and 1 P2P.
FL/NO-105, Carrefour du Chêne Quentin - 210m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-15676
Another easy drive up summit, parking spot : 49.11954,2.33345, with space for several cars. Check it out in Google Streetview.
I walked a little into the wood, and set up along the forest track.
This was the best activation of the trip, with 44 QSO's! This included 4 S2S and 5 P2P.
After this one, it was time to find my AirBnb near Chambly, halfway between my last summit of the day, and the first one of the next day.
Day 2
FL/NO-102, Buttes de Rosne - 217m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-16470
There is a parking space right across the street, at the start of the track to the summit, pos 49.189415, 2.031825
It was quite damp and cool that morning, only 11°C again.
But it was a peaceful and quiet activation, nobody came to disturb me 😀
FL/NO-095, Bois de la Mare aux Loups - 236m, 1 point
Parking spot 49.358953, 1.958202, where you can drive a little into the track, away from the noisy road.
I could set up in the sunshine, but temperature was still only 15°C.
Not sure what happened, but I had some trouble to attract the chasers, ending the activation with only 5 QSO's. Still got a nice S2S with Manuel HB9DQM/P.
FL/NO-136, Bois de Courcelles, Savignies - 239m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-3054
Parking space 49.472404, 1.938929, at the start of the track to the summit.
WARNING : there is not much space to park a car, make sure you don't block the traffic from the forest track !
Traffic you say ? YES, during my activation at the summit, a big 4WD with a trailer passed at my operating spot. I had to move my chair and table to let them pass, they came to collect some wood.
A bit later I saw a small Fiat 500 passing by, which would need to pass my car ...
Anyway, I didn't dare to drive up to the summit, the track is in a bad shape. So I walked some 10 minutes to reach a nice spot near the summit.
Again not the best conditions it seemed, I made only 10 QSO's, including 1 S2S and 2 P2P.
I was glad to work Armin, DL6GCA, who needed this summit for a complete.
FL/NO-137, Les Dutots - 231m, 1 point
+ POTA FR-4404
Very easy drive up : parking position 49.495829, 1.580739, where you can drive a little into the forest road and park (just before a barrier blocks the track).
First I had my lunch, sitting in the sunshine, with a nice 18°C.
For my activation, I moved to a spot in the shade.
Conditions had clearly improved, I had 27 QSO's here, with 2 S2S.
Then it was time to drive to my last summit, an even easier one ...
FL/NO-131, Le Moulin de Ronchois - 247m, 1 point
Parking spot 49.703704, 1.625484, next to the water tower.
Since I still had some 3.5 hours driving home, I kept it short, with 11 QSO's in 25 minutes, with 1 S2S.
The drive home was long and boring, I arrived back home at 19:25 local time.
Thanks for reading, see you for another story soon !
73 de Luc, ON7DQ
