ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2018 - Day 10

Two more summits ... and then going home !

The last day of my trip was just routine .. two summits I have done several times before, and then a long, boring drive home.

ON/ON-016 (Les Aisances)

I went to my regular parking spot along the Rue des Routis, position 49.767429, 5.207851

I packed all my stuff and walked a bit back South, and setup along the road, where it is in the AZ.

Since I didn't have to walk very far, I took the Spiderbeam 12m pole for a change, so my endfed could hang perfectly vertical. 

I was a damp morning, so I kept it fairly short, but still was able to log 18 qso's, and 1 S2S.

ON/ON-021 (Plantis de Mesnil)

I was a bit in shock when I arrived at my last summit.

They had been cleaning out the woods, and three large trees occupied MY parking spot ! 

No other solution than to park along the road, at position 50.177294, 4.916858 , take my stuff and walk to the cabin on the summit.

The cabin would be a nice shack, unfortunately it is always locked :-(

It must have rained a lot before I came there, the track was in very bad shape. 

And since I was going home .. I had already put on an appropriate T-shirt , hi !

This is the same summit where I ended my tour in 2017, it was "The One with the Hat", you can read that story here.

My trip ended with a good activation, 26 qso's in the log, including another 3 S2S.

The drive home went without problems, well .... with the usal traffic delays around Brussels that is !

A truck had lost its load somewhere, so I spent 2 hours driving the mere 25 km around Brussels.

I started driving at 13:45 local at my last summit, and I only arrived home at 19:00 local time !

That's all folks !

73 de Luc, ON7DQ

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2018 - Day 9

Three summits in the Saarland .. and more

I had stayed in Kindsbach (near the Ramstein Air Base), only 37 km from my first summit for the day. So I could take a good start, hoping to do 4 summits, the 3 in the Saarland region, and one in Luxemburg.

I had received lots of info from John, DK9JC, so I had no trouble finding all the summits.

DM/SR-006 (Trautzberg)

I parked here  49.551675, 7.273230 , very near to a large windmill. I had read reports of noise from the windmills making heavy QRM, but I had no problems whatsoever.

My comfy operating position, in the company of a bunch of large windmills.

I had a nice run of 20 qso's, on 7-14-18 MHz , CW & SSB. This included two S2S qso's.

DM/SR-012 (Schaumberg)

Schaumberg is a very touristic place, there is a nice info page here.

The official parking is free, and is at position 49.486934, 7.027537

You could operate from the parking lot, since it is completely in the AZ. 

But to attract less attention, I went around behind the trees at the end of the parking, and then to the left, and found a nice spot to setup, and wasn't disturbed by any visitors.

I logged 23 qso's here, on 40m and 20m, a mix of SSB and CW.

I had 5 S2S, one of which was with good friend Phil, G4OBK, who was still hanging around in the FL/VO region.

DM/SR-075 (Langensteinchen)

I drove a bit further than suggested by DK9JC, right to the end of the road ... and parked here 49.530285, 6.569698, close to a nice shelter, which is in the AZ.
So I had a nice shack in the woods ...

I fixed the endfed and 9:1 UNUN to a wooden beam in the roof, and it seemed to work ok.

And boy , what a nice operating table, all to myself !

I had only 12 qso's and no S2S. Could it be that the roof of the shelter dampened my signal a little ?
I did not care too much, and quickly packed up for my last summit.

LX/LX-002 (Grengenwald)

EDIT : this summit is no longer valid for SOTA!

This was the third time I was at this summit.
The first time I followed the route by G4OBK (see track on SMP)
The second time I tried a route from the North, which is easier and shorter.
So of course, I went "my" route again this time.
Parking spot is here 49.670817, 6.206297, and just before the gate, to the left, there is a place for one car between the trees. This is what it looks like in Google Streetview.

NOTE : if you come from the South, it is forbidden and DANGEROUS to go left to drive into the parking spot, continue driving to the next intersection at 49.6689, 6.2034. Take a turn there and return to the parking spot, which is then at your right.

Follow the forest track beyond the gate, and take the left bend, which will get you in the AZ.

This time I kept walking until I was at a picknick table, which is a nice place to setup shack.

Not a big pile-up here, but still a nice activation with 8 QSO's, and 2 S2S. A happy activator at the end of another wonderful SOTA day.

Now, the AirBnb place I had booked in Luxemburg had been canceled just the day before I would stay. In a hurry, I had to look for another place, and found one in Arlon, in Belgium. 

So I still had some driving to do, but not after filling up with cheap fuel in LX, and having a good meal in the Lunch Garden, Arlon. Whenever I go there, I have to taste the "Boulets à la Liégeoise" ... mmmm.

More info on this typical dish here

The best place to taste them would of course be the city of ... Liège !

Continue reading ... go to DAY 10

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Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2018 - Day 8

Car trouble solved ... and two more summits

In the morning, it became clear that one cell in my car battery was dead.

Still, with only 10.8 Volt on the battery, I was just able to start my car , and so I drove off to the nearest repair centre. 

Next problem : for service, I had to make an appointment, and would have lost half a day !

So I asked, what if I replace it myself ?

Ah, no problem then, and they were kind enough to lend me a wrench , and I quickly put in the new battery and off I went ... 

DM/BW-077 (Braunberg)

A new summit for me, and as it turned out, quite a long walk too ...
I drove to this parking spot 48.44922, 8.20571
From there it took me one hour to reach the summit.

There are no views from the summit, but it is a very nice and quiet place.

I found a large flat rock to use as a shack table .. and as there was no wind , I used my brandnew SOTA flag to decorate my operating position, hi.

This activation went extremely well ... 30 qso's in the log.
This included some special ones .. I worked Mike, 2E0YYY on ... 10m FM !
And at the end of my activation, which already included some S2S contacts, my phone kept spitting out spots for summits that I probably could work ... so I kept searching and calling ... and in the end I had 11 S2S qso's, a good catch.

With all that I had been 1 hour and 15 minutes on the summit.
With the car problem, I had so much delay, that I decided to cancel two of the summits that I had planned, and just do one more and take it easy ... 

DM/BW-019 (Hornisgrinde)

For this summit, I took the "back road" which leads to the SWR transmitting tower, and parked here 48.610682, 8.202058
A short walk along the windmill to the summit, and I found a nice bench to operate.
The fun didn't last long though, as soon as I started operating, it started to rain slightly.
I kept operating as long as I could, but finally had to give up and return to the car.
Only 7 qso's in the log, and no S2S, oh well ...

After that, it was still a long drive to my BnB in the Saarland area, home of 3 nice summits in the DM/SR region, which I hoped to activate the next day.

Continue reading ... go to DAY 9

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Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2018 - Day 7

Five summits in a day ... and car trouble !

This day I had to start my return trip back home, in three days.

I had planned 5 summits of 10 points, so I started early in Berg near Ravensburg, and my first trip would end in Lahr/Scharzwald, some 200 km further West.

DM/BW-156 (Lindenberg)

I was lucky that it hadn't rained over the weekend, so I could drive right to the operating position.

I parked here 47.993078, 8.674807

Your GPS probably won't guide you there because it's off-road, but study the map and you will get it.

Setup was quick and I had 15 qso's in just 15 minutes, CW and SSB on 40m and 20m.

DM/BW-195 (Zundelberg)

This summits involves a bit of walking, the parking position is here 48.052282, 8.73324 

I took the same track as described by HB9CZF, arriving at the operating position after about 10 minutes.

Now after setting up, I discovered that my trusty 5€ headset had broken again.

One side was already repaired with rubber tape. Now the other side had fallen off !

No problem if you carry some Velcro straps in your backpack (who doesn't ?).

Later at home I repaired it better, also with rubber tape, and I'm still using it because my audio reports were never better than with this cheap headset. Not the original Elecraft MH3, nor any other headset that I tried were any better. So I'll try to keep this baby as long as I can !

The activation went very well, 23 qso's in the log, and 4 were S2S.

DM/BW-228 (Hummelsberg)

This summit is near a glider airfield. The parking is here 48.112037, 8.759774
From there it's a short walk along the airfield. During your walk, you can admire the sheep .. but don't count them,you might fall asleep ;-)

Only 15 qso's here, and 1 S2S. But time to move on .. I was in bit of a hurry ...

DM/BW-042 (Rainen)

EDIT : This summit is no longer valid for SOTA!

This is another drive-up summit, I parked here : 48.179708, 8.808539

Setting up was quick again, and I made 13 qso's, all on 20m SSB.

DM/BW-046 (Plettenberg)

Last summit of the day, and also a drive-up if you go on a weekday.

Parking position was 48.20681, 8.80741

The whole place was deserted, so I installed myself at a nice bench on the playground, hi.

Only could catch 7 chasers here, but one of them was F/G4OBK/P who was "nearby" on FL/VO-070.

Strange enough, I could work him on 20m CW !

My day had been so wonderful and everything went so smooth ... this had to fail somewhere ...

After packing up , it was time to drive the last 100 km to my AirBnb in Lahr/Schwarzwald.

Surprise ... MY CAR WOULDN'T START !!!

I could try to call for help, but how long would that take ?

As if I had some feeling this would happen, I had parked my car backward on a slope near the cafetaria, nose pointing to the road.

So hoping for good luck, I let my car roll onto the road ... and after gaining some speed, I let it go in third gear ... and YES ! It started !

I drove the whole end without stopping, afraid that I would get stuck again .. and safely reached my destination ... SIGH !

The people where I stayed were very friendly, they helped me get the battery out and put it on a charger all night. I had a good shower and was offered a nice meal, and went to bed ...

To be continued in the next report  ... read on !

Continue reading ... go to DAY 8

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Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2018 - Day 6

SOTA and a Museum ...

The Sunday of my stay in Friedrichshafen, I decided to skip the Hamradio and do something else.

I found a nice summit in DL/AL region, and since I had never done a summit in DL association, this would get me one closer to the Golden Mountain Explorer Award.

DL/AL-272 (Altringenberg)

I had figured out I had to drive to a small community that is called Schweineburg. Not sure why they decided to put a plastic cow there ... hi.

I had no problem getting there, and parked at pos 47.663288, 10.007760

Across the street is an info panel, explaining all the summits you see in this wonderful panorama ... Austria and Switzerland in the distance !

Following the farmers track to the trees, and then going left and a bit in a half circle around the summit will get you to a nice operating spot in the AZ.

It was a nice and sunny day. and I took my time .. which resulted in 33 qso's, including 15 S2S contacts. Two of those were with the same summit, so only 13 counted for points. Still a very nice result.

At the fair I had bought a SOTA flag from Andy, MM0FMF, and this was the first time I could use it. But of course ... there was no wind on this summit, so it's hardly visible in the picture below, but it is on the top of my pole for sure !

Elektronik Museum Tettnang

The afternoon was spent visiting the city of Tettnang and the nice Elektronik Museum.
Their website is here http://www.emuseum-tettnang.de/
One drawback may be that the site and everything in the museum is only in German.
But then, entry is only 3 Euro, and most of the exhibits speak for themselves.
The museum is in this nice building, the entrance is the door on the left.

Lots of old radios, but also the history of calculators and computers is shown.

In those days, it was probably normal to sell boxes with the name "Radiomann", I didn't see any "Radiofrau" boxes, hi. 

And this would be what you got if you built one of those kits.

To my great joy, they even had the very same experimenters box that I started with when I was 14 years old !

And on the way back to my car, I saw this nice old house, it's near the city cemetery (in the Friedhofstrasse, where you can park for free).

Continue reading ... go to DAY 7

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Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2018 - Day 5

The Hamradio, the SOTA meeting and the Maker Faire.

Hamradio 2018

Saturday was the day of the big SOTA meeting, but first I went to see some more of the new stuff on the Hamradio. I didn't buy much, just some accessories and components to tinker with once back home.

Of course I had to stop at the Elecraft booth to say hello to Eric,WA6HHQ, who was very busy as always.

A bit further I saw the one and only Mr. Pietro Begali ... with a collection of beautiful CW keys and paddles ... alas, just a bit over my budget, hi.

On the main stage would be a demo of how to learn CW. Since I only got back into CW since 2016 (main reason being the use for SOTA), I wanted to see what they were going to show.
To my my surprise ... the girl in the picture was Laura, DL2JJ, daughter of famous "crazy" SOTA activator Emil, DL8JJ. She was not learning CW, but took a proficiency test.
And the man giving the CW test to Laura was a fellow SKCC member Marcus DF1DV.

Oh, and this had to be the best day of my life ... I got to meet Hans G0UPL, of world fame ... maker of the QCX kit (of which I have built two : a 20m and a 40m model).
I had brought my 20m model, complete with resonant endfed antenna, 9g lightweight paddle and some other stuff, all packed in a small bag (that used to contain 10 cassette tapes, remember those ?).
Hans took a bunch of pictures of my rig , and even put them on his website !
You can read that story here : https://qrp-labs.com/newsjul2018.html#c4
If you want to read again how I built this kit, that story is here :
https://on7dq.blogspot.com/2018/03/my-build-of-qcx-5w-cw-transceiver.html

Now, is Hans really that tall, or am I such a "shorty" ? Haha !

Next to the QRP-Labs booth was Palm Radio, known for their Mini and Pico paddles and keys.

Dieter of Palm Radio was showing another QCX, built into a U3S case from QRP-Labs, with built in battery and Pico Paddle, now that is a complete station, nice work !

The SOTA Meeting

At noon, it was time again for the meeting at the QSL wall, and who did I spot ? Of course it was Geert, PA7ZEE, the best known Gran Canaria activator. He helped me prepare my trip to EA8/GC with many useful tips and warnings .. except for one, as we will see in a moment ...

In the afternoon I went to the big SOTA Meeting, as always organized and perfectly timed (hmm) by Juerg, HB9BIN.
Again a nice compilation of subjects came along.
All presentations can be downloaded from the HB9SOTA websdite :
https://hb9sota.ch/hb9sota-hamradio/

Many familiar faces in the room, and on the screen ...

Andy, MM0FMF was surely telling a joke ... 

Emil DL8JJ presented a nice video called "4000 Days" ... about the ham & climbing career of his daughter Laura DL2JJ.
If you missed it, you can still watch the video here.

With the same ticket as for the Hamradio, you get also access to the Maker Faire, so I quickly went to have a look before I left  ... because I would not return on Sunday.

The Maker Faire

This fair has a bunch of strange people with strange contraptions ... here just some pictures .. without comment , hi.

I have long wanted to build one of these ... a Theremin !
But there is always something more interesting to do ... so haven't got to it yet.

That was a long day at the Hamradio ... so that beer tasted very good ! Cheers !

Continue reading ... go to DAY 6

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Go back to overview HERE