Hamradio 2018 - SOTA Activations - SOTA Dinner
Hamradio 2018
Day 4 of my trip was first spent at the Hamradio fair, visiting the fleamarket and the companies showing off and selling the new stuff.
Here an impression of the "Funkflohmarkt" as the Germans call it.
Some nice collectors item ...
And here he is, Jean-Bernard F4EOH, at his stand in Hall A3, and his xyl in the background.
He's the one I talked to from FL/VO-001 (see here).
He sells a whole assortment of BALUNS and UNUNS, and much more.
I felt a bit sorry that I didn't buy anything from him, but I build my own baluns.
So the least I can do is give him some free advertising on my blog, hi.
Visit his shop here http://f4eoh.free.fr/
The SOTA meeting at the QSL Wall
At noon, it was of course time to see some familiar faces ... I'm looking out to this meeting more and more each year.
Mike DJ5AV and Tom DL1DVE.
In the background Andy DL2DVE, Karel ON4FI and Phil G4OBK.
In the background Andy DL2DVE, Karel ON4FI and Phil G4OBK.
Ian GI0AZB and xyl Esther GI0AZA, Luc ON7DQ and Joe OE5JFE
And of course Ed DD5LP, at work ... making reports with the ICQ Podcast team, but also organizer of the SOTA dinner (see below).
Sota Activations
DM/BW-348 (Gehrenberg)
This is the third most activated summit in DM/BW.
After the visit to the fair, I went to activate the two summits close to Friedrichshafen.
Both are very easy, and the first one was the Gehrenberg, and it is almost drive up.
In Markdorf, take the road to Harresheim, which is just called "Gehrenberg".
Don't get confused by the sight of the Gehrenbergturm on your left, that is not the summit.
Continue until you are close to Harresheim and take the road "Unterharresheim" on your right, and follow it to the parking spot.
There is a "verboten" sign if you can read German, but it is not an official traffic sign (with a red border), and it is not very well visible either ... so it's open to discussion if you can drive up the forest road or not , hi.
My parking spot was here 47.742420, 9.423273 (along the "Turmweg"), and from there it's just a 5 min walk to the big rock which marks the summit.
Last year , there were some activators just before and after me, like we had it all planned to the minute ... this year I didn't see anyone else.
So I had a short activation with 14 qso's in the log.
Three of those were S2S with activators close by.
Both are very easy, and the first one was the Gehrenberg, and it is almost drive up.
In Markdorf, take the road to Harresheim, which is just called "Gehrenberg".
Don't get confused by the sight of the Gehrenbergturm on your left, that is not the summit.
Continue until you are close to Harresheim and take the road "Unterharresheim" on your right, and follow it to the parking spot.
There is a "verboten" sign if you can read German, but it is not an official traffic sign (with a red border), and it is not very well visible either ... so it's open to discussion if you can drive up the forest road or not , hi.
My parking spot was here 47.742420, 9.423273 (along the "Turmweg"), and from there it's just a 5 min walk to the big rock which marks the summit.
Last year , there were some activators just before and after me, like we had it all planned to the minute ... this year I didn't see anyone else.
So I had a short activation with 14 qso's in the log.
Three of those were S2S with activators close by.
DM/BW-854 (Höchsten)
This summit is also very easy, the road goes over the summit through the activation zone.G4OBK posted some nice pictures on the SOTA Reflector here.
If you are in a hurry, park here 47.819991, 9.401837 and it is only a few steps to the nice lookout.
I parked a little further , at position 47.818279, 9.404315 near the Berggasthof Höchsten.
Yes, you can stay the night on this summit if you like !
I then took the nice walk to the lookout, along some nice panels with German texts about food and drink, and the translation in to the local dialect " Schwabisch".
This summit was rather crowded, as we were close to SOTA Dinner Time ...
Already on the summit was Herbert, OE9HRV.
By "shouting", I found out Herbert was on 20m, so we agreed that I would get 40m, hi.
I parked a little further , at position 47.818279, 9.404315 near the Berggasthof Höchsten.
Yes, you can stay the night on this summit if you like !
I then took the nice walk to the lookout, along some nice panels with German texts about food and drink, and the translation in to the local dialect " Schwabisch".
This summit was rather crowded, as we were close to SOTA Dinner Time ...
Already on the summit was Herbert, OE9HRV.
By "shouting", I found out Herbert was on 20m, so we agreed that I would get 40m, hi.
I had setup my HF station at the watchtower, and a bit later Peter, DO4TO and his xyl showed up.
Lucky for me, Peter was only doing 2m SOTA, so no problem.
Lucky for me, Peter was only doing 2m SOTA, so no problem.
Lots of visitors there too .. and many asking questions ...
A friendly lady asked if she could take some pictures of me, no problem, but of course I made here take one with my camera too, hi
A friendly lady asked if she could take some pictures of me, no problem, but of course I made here take one with my camera too, hi
Later on, even more company !
Phil, G4OBK had already activated the summit the day before, but just stopped by to say hello, because this summit is also on the way from the Hamradio to the village of Pfrungen, where the SOTA dinner was held. Here Phil is talking to Jürg, HB9BAB.
Phil, G4OBK had already activated the summit the day before, but just stopped by to say hello, because this summit is also on the way from the Hamradio to the village of Pfrungen, where the SOTA dinner was held. Here Phil is talking to Jürg, HB9BAB.
With all the local "QRM", this was no quiet activation, and in the end, I only got 10 qso's in the log.
And just as I was ready to go .. three more hams showed up, and I was happy to give them my spot on the bench !
(Also, can't recall who they were, so if you know their calls and names ..please fill me in)
And just as I was ready to go .. three more hams showed up, and I was happy to give them my spot on the bench !
(Also, can't recall who they were, so if you know their calls and names ..please fill me in)
The SOTA Dinner
The SOTA dinner is becoming a "classic" .. around 22 people attended this year.
Here a new ham from Austria, Alex OE5LXR & xyl, our "organizer" Ed DD5LP, and Andy DL2DVE.
Some familiar faces : Fritz, OE5DUL , Heinz OE5EEP, Phil G4OBK and xyl Judy.
If you follow my blog closely, you will surely remember the SOTA dinner with "THE HAT", where I won the SOTABEAMS WsprLite prize.
This year Ed had collected no less than 15 prizes !
In the picture : Ed DD5LP, Heinz OE5EEP, Andy DL2DVE and DM Manager Michael DB7MM.
This year Ed had collected no less than 15 prizes !
In the picture : Ed DD5LP, Heinz OE5EEP, Andy DL2DVE and DM Manager Michael DB7MM.
And lo and behold, I did win another prize this year !
It's a kit for an 80m ARDF receiver, with a Chinese manual ! Luckily, there was also an English translation in the box, hi.
I have built the kit and it works ... but haven't got around to use for real foxhunting though.
It's a kit for an 80m ARDF receiver, with a Chinese manual ! Luckily, there was also an English translation in the box, hi.
I have built the kit and it works ... but haven't got around to use for real foxhunting though.
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