ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2025 - Day 9

Trip from Friedrichshafen to Karlsruhe, 297 km

Another hot day was promised!

After I loaded all my stuff from the apartment into my car, I was already sweating like hell, despite it was "only" 24 °C. I left at 09:10 for my first summit.

DM/BW-064, Heersberg - 964m, 10 points

After a 110 km ride through heavy traffic, I arrived at the parking spot at 10:55.
The parking spot is at pos 48.237385, 8.932003, in the village of Burgfelden.

Lots of space, and some trees to let you park in the shade, the temperature was already 27°C.

The walk to a spot in the AZ takes only 15 minutes. I used the same location as suggested by Phil, G4OBK. Only difference ... I couldn't use the nice table to operate, it was simply too hot.

So I found some shade at the small building nearby.

17 QSO's in the log with 5 S2S.

Mystery object

Near the benches and table, I found this strange object. Anyone know what it is ?
Drone launcher, UFO landing platform, SOTA antenna mount ... ?

After the activation, I had a quick picnic near my car, then it was time to start driving to ...

DM/BW-147, Gespaltener Fels - 1000m, 10 points 

This summit is just 20 km to the West from Heersberg.
Being there on a Monday, I could drive up to the parking spot at pos 48.218898, 8.844863, marked on the maps as "Grillplatz".
I'm sure the good shepard would watch over my car ... so I started walking.

The first part is in the woods, but the last part goes over an open grass field, so take sun protection and enough water.
After 30 minutes I reached the summit, and found an old bench to use as an operating spot.

Again , I made 17 QSO's here, with 3 S2S.this time.

After this, it was a 100 km ride to the next one, and then another 66 to my AirBnb in Hagenbach near Karlsruhe. So I better got going ...

DM/BW-054, Hohloh - 984m, 10 points

This is an easy, almost drive up summit.
Best parking is Parking C , at pos 48.707374, 8.427898, I arrived there at 16:40.
Again, being late on a Monday afternoon, the parking was almost deserted, it may be different in a weekend. From there it's only a straight 800m walk with 45m ascent.

At the summit is a hut, which I used to set up my station, the antenna was outside the hut of course.

Several people came by to climb the tower, but nobody paid attention to my operation. 

Here my cosy indoor shack ...

I had to hurry a little, so made it a short activation. In just 15 minutes I had 13 QSO' s in the log, and just 1 S2S, still a good result.

 I left the parking at 17:30 local time, got me some food in a supermarket, and arrived at my AirBnb at  19:00. Temperature had risen to 35°C ... good that I still had that fan 😄

Continue reading on DAY 10

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2025 - Day 8

The one with the flat tyre and  ... a second Mountain Goat !

It was Sunday morning, and I had planned a day trip to Bavaria, to activate two summits that I needed for complete : DL/AL-273, Laubenberg (1 point) and DL/AL-148, Riedholzer Kugel (2 points).
With 3 points, these two summits would have brought my activator score at 1999 points, just one point short of another Mountain Goat.

But my car decided otherwise. 
The evening before I got this warning about a tyre with low pressure, so I first went to check my car.
When I looked around the tyre, I found a screw, which must have caused the drop in pressure, but it was not completely flat.

Since my car no longer has a spare tyre, I phoned the Toyota Assistance number in Belgium, and must admit they provide an excellent service. Around 10:30, a man from German ADAC came by to repair the tyre ... for free ... and on a Sunday morning, GREAT!

OK, I could drive again, but by then, it was too late to start my planned trip, and I decided to go to the nearest summit, trying to keep cool ... it was already 30°C in the shade.

DM/BW-348, Gehrenberg - 754m, 8 Points

I drove to my regular parking spot near the summit at position  47.742628, 9.423206.
I verified again : there is no forbidding sign if you follow the Hinterharresheim farm road, which starts at pos 47.747471, 9.403920 along the Gehrenbergstrasse. The small road becomes a gravel road, called Turmweg.

NOTE : I heard a few activators call CQ SOTA on 2m, telling they were on a lookout tower ...

There is no lookout tower on the summit of Gehrenberg, the tower "Gehrenbergturm" is not in the activation zone. Also the place called Gehrenberg on the maps, at pos 47.7371,9.39977 is NOT the summit. All very confusing, I know.

I found a spot to setup a bit away from the real summit, where often walkers and mountainbikers come by, it can get busy at the top !

Even being hidden somewhat, I got several visitors, hams and non-hams alike, who were interested in my setup. One of those was a mountainbiker AND a HAM, it was Yannick DO9YAN. He was recently licensed, and came to activate the summit on 2m, using an FT70 and a 4-element Anjo logperiodic antenna (the same antenna that I sometimes use).

I made 30 QSO's with an incredible 15 Summit-toSummit contacts, WOW !
That made my day , but wait ...

I hadn't been paying attention to my score, so with the 8 points of this summit, I made it to second Mountain Goat a bit unexpectedly.
The honour should go to Harald, DG1YBN, who was my fourth contact. He called me from his mobile on 2m FM.

Not knowing at the time that I was already there, I didn't make any special pictures, also no champagne ... hi.

After being on the summit for 3 hours, I decided to go to my apartment and take some rest.
It was 32°C when I arrived there. Also, I had some preparation to do for the next day : a trip from Friedrichshafen to Karlsruhe, with more summits of course!

Continue reading on DAY 9

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2025 - Day 7

I had taken my folding bike, so no car driving today ... only visiting ...

The Ham Radio fair

There is not so much to write about the fair, so I'll leave you with a few pictures.

CW keys for everyone

This was a heartwarming piece of equipment for me, I have been teaching a transmission line course for over 30 years, which includes teaching about the Smith Diagram.
Of course, you can buy a 30$ nanoVNA now, which will show the Smith Diagram as well.

In the afternoon was the SOTA meeting

Lucky that there was also the SOTA booth, where it was all about SOTA

The raflle, where some nice prizes could be won. Joe, OE5JFE is holding his hand above the 4 ON7DQ Clothespeg Paddles that I made for this edition of the raffle.

Nice to see a happy Uli, DC1UH, winning a QMX transceiver from QRP Labs

After a day at the fair, I quickly went across the street to see a Zeppelin take off, always a nice experience. Click the picture to see a short video of the Zeppelin.

And of course some good food and a beer made the day complete !

And I lied at the beginning of this post ... I did use the car to drive to a restaurant, some 10 km outside of Friedrichshafen. When returning, I got an alarming message on my display, that one of my tyres had a too low pressure. Oh boy !

But it was already getting dark, so I decided to look into that the next morning ...

Continue reading on DAY 8

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2025 - Day 6

After all the driving in the past few days, I could use a quiet day ...
I only bought a ticket for the HamRadio for the Saturday, so I had to find another activity.

POTA DA-0156 Riedlepark Park 

In the morning, I went shopping in the Bodensee Center , where you can park for free.
I parked here 47.663869, 9.482194 , in the South-West corner of the parking lot.
Why there ? From there it is only a 400m walk to an entrance of the Riedlepark, near a playground (follow the Am riedlewald, then the Ginsterweg).

Upon entering the park, I went to my right, until I found a nice bench (pos 47.662418, 9.477810) to use as my outdoor shack.

In about 1 hour , I made 12 QSO's with 3 P2P. This is the map as made by the app Ham2K PoLo

The main activity for the day was the SOTA dinner, but that was only at 18:00 local time.
So in the afternoon, I had some time to do another SOTA activation.

DM/BW-854, Höchsten - 838m, 8 Points

This was my 6th visit to this sumit, so it almost feels like home , hi.
First I set up my HF station on the grass field near the bandstand.

After making 17 QSO's on HF, with 4 S2S. I went back to the car and set up my QO-100 dish with the SatRover transverter.

This resulted in 4 more QSO's over the satellite.
Since this is a very busy summit in the days of the HamRadio, I had several visitors stop by to say hello.

Here the short man 😉next to Thomas DJ2CG, who was interested to see the QO-100 setup.

And then it was time to pack up everything and go to ...

The SOTA Dinner !

Like the last few years , the dinner was at the Gasthof Adler in Hefigkofen (Oberteuringen).

I found a spot at the table next to Marcel DM3FAM, Armin DL6GCA and Phil G4OBK (who helped me a lot when I started SOTA back in 2014). Later we were joined by Ludwig DH8WN and Uli DC1UH.

I will not try to name all the other SOTA friends I met at the dinner, there were about 60 attendants !

Here just a few more pictures to give you an idea of the pleasant atmosphere. If you want to experience it for yourself, be there next time !

As always, the food was good, the beer was better, and the company was the best !

Continue reading on DAY 7

or

Go back to overview HERE

ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2025 - Day 5

This day, I drove from Eschbach near Freiburg to Friedrichshafen, where I had booked an AirBnb apartment for 4 nights. I left at 08:30 local time, the temperature was already 25°C.
Along the road, I had planned three summits.

DM/BW-233, Buchberg - 880m, 10 points

 

Parking spot is here : 47.835652, 8.530815 , at the Friedhof Blumberg.

Right across the road starts a shortcut through the grass (yellow line), or you can just walk the Pommernweg (red line),  it doesn't make a big difference.

I wanted to follow the track by Markus, HB9BRJ from SOTL.as, but I must have been sleeping ... I missed the right turn to the Eichlerweg. So in the end I walked more than needed, but following the Buchbergweg made it less steep. I returned via the Eichlerweg.
In case you want to avoid my mistake, this is where you should go up the steeper Eichlerweg, note the three "steps".

Anyway, I made it to the summit, at the Buchberghütte, and got this nice view as a reward.

I set up my station at the picnic bench, and had a nice activation.
30 QSO's and 5 S2S made me a happy activator.

DM/BW-235, Hoher Randen - 930m, 10 points

Again, it was around noon when I arrived at my second summit, so time for lunch ... lucky that there was a nice bench in the hut at the parking spot, position 47.791913, 8.557019

Can you tell it was again getting hot that day ?

After lunch, it was a 10 minute walk to a nice spot in the activation zone. I didn't walk to the actual summit, but followed the track and advice by Markus, HB9DIZ.
Near another hut are a number of beehives, but I wasn't bothered by any bees, it must have been too hot for them as well ... hi.

The bench where I set up was in the shade when I started the activation, but after a while it became completely sunlit, so I was lucky that I brought an umbrella ... and my extra fans !

I had 19 QSO's in the log, no S2S but 1 P2P for POTA.

DM/BW-359, Stöckenloch - 698m, 6 points

Finding the road to this summit may be a bit tricky. First you have to drive to this position 47.787370, 9.013911, along the Dettelbachstrasse. There you will see a sign to the Bisonstube. Follow the forest road all the way until you see the Bisonstube, where you can park, position 47.790349, 9.029421

You can see a few bisons in the picture above.

There was a slight drizzle when I arrived, so I wanted to wait a little until it passed.
While I was making some notes in my travel logbook, someone came knocking on my window.

It was Ingo, DH5ST ! He had also just arrived to activate this summit, on his way to Friedrichshafen.

I knew Ingo from the lecture he gave at the SOTA meeting in 2022.

While we decided to activate or not, I forgot to take a "selfie" with Ingo, but you can find a picture of him somewhere in this report).

The drizzle faded away and we started walking to the sumit. We split up, and agreed to use different HF bands to avoid mutual interference. I found a nice spot in the activation zone. I had taken an umbrella but the rain had stopped completely, so no need to use it.

Because I wanted to stick to my schedule, I made it a short activation with only 5 QSO's, but 2 of those were S2S. When walking back, I looked if I could spot Ingo, but I couldn't see him. He was probably somewhere near the arrow in the picture, hi.

. 

The final part of the road goes along the Bodensee, using the B31 road.

It gives some nice views of the Bodensee, but goes through many holiday resorts (Erholungsort), where speed is limited to 30 km/h. So a slow and long drive resulted ... arriving in Friedrichshafen at 18:00 local time. It had been a long day ...

Continue reading ... go to DAY 6

or

Go back to overview HERE