Doing the same SOTA Winter Tour every year gets a bit boring after a while, so this year I decided to do the tour in reverse. And to have some more time on each summit, I left out ON/ON-006 La Croix Scaille. I will probably visit this summit anyway later this year, during a family holiday.
Also I took my KX3 GO-box this time, with the trusted random endfed antenna, with two lengths of wire (9.15m and 22.30m).
DAY 1 : Thursday, Feb 20, 2025
The parking spot at 50.033045, 5.422340 is actually already in the activation zone for SOTA and POTA, but I still went a little into the forest, to find a quiet place to operate.
Not the most scenic view, I just operated from the parking lot at 50.253847, 5.732054
Temperature was only 4°C here, and it was rather damp and foggy.
Result here : 29 QSO's with 1 S2S, here the map:
ON/ON-011, Sur Clair Fa - 601m, 8 points
I didn't stay long at the trig point, there was a strong wind. Just took the time to take some pictures.
I had booked a nice apartment in a small village called Amel near Sankt-Vith, in the German speaking part of Belgium. It was more than what I needed, but it was the only place available which suited my intended route. So after unpacking, and having my dinner, I still needed to make a few radio contacts ... because on this evening it was also time for the ...
It was already dark and cold outside, so I didn't feel going on the road again to operate /P, instead I draped my antenna wire from the kitchen , through the living room, the bedroom and finally into the bathroom, in a kind of zigzag setup ... and it worked !
Now, I always participate in the mechanical keying section of this QSO Party, but I forgot my travel cootie in the car. So I had to use the Palm Pico paddle on its' side, as a straight key, which did the job just as well. I made another 10 contacts in the QSO Party, not bad for 15W and an indoor random wire.
I arrived at 09:20 local time, and parked at my regular spot, GPS pos 50.408333, 6.369756
I had put up the longer wire again, so had more contacts on 80m and 60m first, followed by a nice pile-up on 30m CW.
I had a short stop for lunch at the OldSMUGGLER Café & Brotshop (GPS pos 50.352977, 6.384090), in nearby Losheim, after which it was time for my last summit:
I arrived at the parking (pos 50.501208, 6.093355) at 12:45 local time, the sun was shining and the temperature was a pleasant 12°C. By the time I left it was already 18°C.
I worked 15 US stations on 10m and 15m, and had also 3 S2S. One of those was EA8/WN2G, who was on EA8/GC-011, Montaña de Tauro, where I was in 2018, nice !
LoRa APRS Tracker
and Day 2 positions:
My impression is that the LoRa tracker even works better than the 2m APRS station in my car, which uses 25W on the mobile quarterwave antenna
Not much to report abbout that, except that it was a long ride, with heavy traffic, especially taking the ring around Brussels took me a long time. I left the last summit at 14:50, and arrived home only at 18:50. Tired but happy ... and so was the XYL, she was glad to see me back home in one piece!
I left my QTH Ostend at 05:10 local time, had my breakfast along the highway, then went to my first stop, where I arrived at 08:35.
ON/ON-004, Bois de Hazeille - 586m, 6 Points + POTA BE-0453
The parking spot at 50.033045, 5.422340 is actually already in the activation zone for SOTA and POTA, but I still went a little into the forest, to find a quiet place to operate.
Since I started using the IC-705 I hadn't used my KX3 much. I had forgotten how easy it is to set up my station, just open the box, connect the antenna, put on the headphones and start operating, all within a few minutes time (see a video of my setup procedure here).
The weather was dry but still cold at 5°C, can you tell from the picture ?
When driving to the parking spot, I had passed a large white pickup truck, and sure enough, after some 15 minutes that truck passed by on the main road, and then came driving into the forest to where I was. It was a young park ranger, checking out what I was doing. But after a short talk, and assuring that I would stay on the roads, all was OK and he left.
Since I used the longer wire for this activation, I could make a few QSO's on 80m and 60m, followed by big pile-ups on 40m and 20m. Result : 79 QSO's in just under 55 minutes, great !
This included 1 S2S and 2 P2P.
Here a map of my contacts:
ON/ON-010 Baraque Fraiture - 651m, 8 points
Not the most scenic view, I just operated from the parking lot at 50.253847, 5.732054
Temperature was only 4°C here, and it was rather damp and foggy.
Result : 45 QSO's here, including 6 S2S. Here the QSO map:
ON/ON-013, Bois de Hodinfosse - 568m, 6 points
Parking spot as usual, at 50.316070, 5.841752
Only change here, there used to be a patch of forest that was cleared, which gave a nice panoramic view over the valley to the south. But new trees were planted a few years ago, and have now grown to the point where the nice view is obscured ...
There was also a strong wind, so I went up the hill into the forest where the wind was a bit less.
Since there is a little walking involved on this summit, I took my light aluminium table, and a "kids camping chair", that I found in a sports store for only 6€, you can still see the price tag in the picture, hi.
The label says it can withstand 100kg, so it should be ok for my "lightweight 75 kg".
It was perfect for my activation, so I am satisfied with my purchase.
Result here : 29 QSO's with 1 S2S, here the map:
ON/ON-011, Sur Clair Fa - 601m, 8 points
Drive up summit now !
Last year, I tried to find a new approach for this summit, from the small village of Logbiermé.
But coming from the East, Google Maps tried to send me over some forest roads, and eventually I had to return and take my ususal parking spot near the horse riding school of Mont-Le-Soie.
See last years' report here
Since I reversed my tour this time, I had more luck, and found the correct route to Logbiermé, coming from the West, via Vielsalm > Grand-Halleux > Vau > Logbiermé.
The ride over there is quite scenic, so an adventure in itself.
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| From ON/ON-013 tot ON/ON-011 |
Now the last part of the road can be viewed in Google Streetview up to position 50.341552, 5.966317
There is no forbidden sign there, so I drove further on the gravel road, and was glad to find a parking spot where that roads takes a bend to the left, in a side road at position 50.337468, 5.972298
I saw several cars also taking this road.
The side road is leading straight to the trig point, but is not possible to drive with a regular car, maybe it can be done with a 4x4, there is nothing that forbids it ...
The parking spot is in the activation zone (altitude is 580m there), so I set up a short distance from my car.
Result : 71 QSO's with 3 S2S, here the map:
I was a bit ahead on my schedule, and had never walked to the real summit, so I put away my radio stuff, and walked to the trig point. As you can see, not a road for a normal car.
I didn't stay long at the trig point, there was a strong wind. Just took the time to take some pictures.
It must be a nice place when the sun is shining ...
The road to my AirBnb in Amel near Sankt-Vith took me along another worthwile stop, the monument for Eddy Merkckx (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eddy_Merckx) near Stavelot.
Merkckx, nicknamed "The Cannibal", was Belgiums' most famous cyclist.
The monument is at position 50.383278, 5.937278
I had booked a nice apartment in a small village called Amel near Sankt-Vith, in the German speaking part of Belgium. It was more than what I needed, but it was the only place available which suited my intended route. So after unpacking, and having my dinner, I still needed to make a few radio contacts ... because on this evening it was also time for the ...
NTC QSO Party
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| Temporary /P shack for the NTC QSO Party |
It was already dark and cold outside, so I didn't feel going on the road again to operate /P, instead I draped my antenna wire from the kitchen , through the living room, the bedroom and finally into the bathroom, in a kind of zigzag setup ... and it worked !
 |
| Zig-Zag random wire |
Now, I always participate in the mechanical keying section of this QSO Party, but I forgot my travel cootie in the car. So I had to use the Palm Pico paddle on its' side, as a straight key, which did the job just as well. I made another 10 contacts in the QSO Party, not bad for 15W and an indoor random wire.
DAY 2 : Friday Feb 21, 2025
I had only planned two summits on this day, since it was still a long drive home in the afternoon.
First stop was along the German border, at ...
ON/ON-009, Iverst - 693m, 8 points
I arrived at 09:20 local time, and parked at my regular spot, GPS pos 50.408333, 6.369756
It was foggy and there was a light drizzle, so had to take my umbrella, and started operating in my simple 'tent'.
I had put up the longer wire again, so had more contacts on 80m and 60m first, followed by a nice pile-up on 30m CW.
I ended the activation with 37 QSO's in the log, including 6 S2S. Here is the map:
ON/ON-001 Signal de Botrange
I arrived at the parking (pos 50.501208, 6.093355) at 12:45 local time, the sun was shining and the temperature was a pleasant 12°C. By the time I left it was already 18°C.
The nice weather attracted many walkers, so I decided not to operate next to the parking lot, but walk a little to the forest road past the trig point, and set up along it.
Using the short random wire, I had a real blast : 73 (!) QSO's in the log in 1 hour and 15 minutes.
I worked 15 US stations on 10m and 15m, and had also 3 S2S. One of those was EA8/WN2G, who was on EA8/GC-011, Montaña de Tauro, where I was in 2018, nice !
Here the map of all QSO's (I don't know why the EA8 station doesn't show on the map):
LoRa APRS Tracker
On each summit (except the first, where I forgot it), I switched on the little LoRa APRS Tracker that I built (see this post about it). I t seems LoRa coverage is quite acceptable in those areas, so a very useful device.
Amazing if you consider it is only 100mW and a rubber duck antenna at ground level.
Day 1 positions:
and Day 2 positions:
My impression is that the LoRa tracker even works better than the 2m APRS station in my car, which uses 25W on the mobile quarterwave antenna
(compare ON7DQ (car) to ON7DQ-7 (LoRA) for the dates of my trip).
Going home
Not much to report abbout that, except that it was a long ride, with heavy traffic, especially taking the ring around Brussels took me a long time. I left the last summit at 14:50, and arrived home only at 18:50. Tired but happy ... and so was the XYL, she was glad to see me back home in one piece!
Some statistics :
- total number of QSO's : 334 (+ 10 in the NTCQP)
- activator points : +62
- chaser points : +107
- S2S points : +151
- Total distance driven : 696.6 km
Thanks for reading, 73 and see you on another tour !
Luc ON7DQ
