The "Dutch SOTA" Tour - Day 3

Day 3 of my short trip meant I had to go home, and had only time for one more summit.

ON/ON-028 Waterschei, 195m, 1 point

I had done this summit the year before, so agin , I parked at the Crystal Arena, at position 51.006741, 5.537109. This is very close to the start of the track.

Last time I had done a long walk around the summit to climb it from the North.

This time I took the more direct approach from the South.

Conclusion : this summit is steep from whatever side you come !

And the slopes are a bit dangerous, it's best to carry at least one walking stick to keep you upright.

Of course, when you make it to the top, the view is the best of all Belgian summits.

You have a 360° clear view, here some of the things you'll see.

The summit itself has very limited space, still I was able to set up my full size 40m linked dipole.

Using the big block of concrete as a support for the fishing pole, and as an operating table.

I spent almost one and a half hour on the summit, and made 30 QSO's on 40m and 20m, mixing SSB and CW. This included also 3 S2S contacts.

That activation was also the end of my trip. I still had to drive 200 km to get back home.

See you on another SOTA adventure !

73,

Luc ON7DQ

The "Dutch SOTA" Tour - Day 2

Day 2 and 3 of my short tour were not in PA land, but since I had the opportunity, I grabbed a few ON summits as well.

So I left Venlo in the morning and drove some 100 km to my first summit near the city of Liège.

ON/ON-029 St Barde et Tonne, 230m, 1 point

I found a good parking spot in the Rue Sergent Merx, at position 50.658567, 5.560872

The entrance to the track is just opposite this street, in the Rue Naniot. 

I made a better description in a later post, see

https://on7dq.blogspot.com/2017/04/short-sota-tour-and-dirage-ham-rally.html

I set up my link dipole along one of the many paths on the summit, which are all in the AZ.
There is no need to climb the black coaldust "bubbles" and get dirty, hi.

A good result again with 26 QSO's, including 3 S2S.

On to the next one ...

ON/ON-026 Henri-Chapelle, 354m, 2 points

A drive-up summit, with a nice parking spot at 50.677059, 5.920479, where you will also fnd a picknick table, and a bench with a nice view over the "Pays de Herve".

Of course, since it was already 13:00 local time, it was time to feed the operator.

Then, at the same bench, play some radio ... while enjoying the landscape in front.

Only 15 QSO's here and 1 S2S, but still not a bad result.

Time to move again ...
Last summit of the day ...

ON/ON-009 Iverst, 693m, 8 points

This was a new summit for me, it became only valid on April 1st 2016. At first I thought it was an April fools' joke, because in my local dialect "ieverst" means "somewhere" or "anywhere" ... hi.

But after I realized it was real, I had to activate it.

I found a nice parking spot on the Belgian side, at position 50.408334, 6.369737.

There is an information panel on the history of the Belgian-German borderline, and to the right it's only a few steps to a nice operating spot.

Again I had 15 QSO's in the log, and 1 S2S. ON7DQ happy, happy !

That concluded my second day, and I had booked an AirBnb room with a friendly lady in Eupen.

That evening was also the first Thursday of the month, so that meant it was time for the SKCC Eurosprint. So as if I hadn't done enough radio that day, I asked permission to set up on the terrace of the house where I stayed, and made another 3 QSO's in the SKSE.

Read the end of this story on Day 3 or go back to Day 1