ON7DQ Friedrichshafen 2026 - Day 2

From Bitche to Bühl, 132 km

I left my Bnb in Bitche at 08:30, with a "cool" 25°C. Driving to my first summit was only 9km.

FL/VO-197, Hochkopf - 429m, 2 points

I approached the parking spot at Col du Widerschall (pos 49.01666, 7.44883) from the East, from the village of Stockbronn. That forest road is called Route Forestière de Hochkopf. At some point there was a sign that the road would be blocked, but I continued and could drive to the parking spot without problems.

Later on, I saw some big trucks going into the part of the road that I had come through. 

So when leaving the summit, I took the road to the West, going in the direction of  Mouterhouse. 

The track to the summit is not difficult, but take care to start at the correct point, it starts very close to the road. I took me less than 15 minutes to reach the summit.

A nice bench was partly in the shade, so I set up my station there. Temperature was rising ... 26.3°C.

 

Result : 44 QSO's in just over 50 minutes, with 5 S2S, so a very good activation! 

FL/VO-191, Helfenstein - 363m, 2 points

Names of summits can be confusing at times, but this one beats them all.

On the maps this summit is called Schlossberg, but for SOTA it is called Helfenstein. On the top are the ruins of a castle called Falkenstein, not to be confused with ... Falkenberg, which is another SOTA summit, only 1.5 km away. Anyone still folowing ? 😕

Near the summit, but outside the AZ, are more ruins of the "Château du Helfenstein", which is actually just some pile of rocks. Well, it has at least the name of the SOTA summit.

Parking is at pos 49.00613, 7.57462, along the road D87.
At the start of the track is a bunker, that can be activated at the same time as your SOTA activation.

The track to the summit is steep at some places, and rather streneous on a hot day, it was already 29°C when I started, and at the summit it was a scorching 34 °C!
But as a reward, you get a wonderful view over the area, from the top of the castle.

There was a nice picnic bench, but it was fully in the sunshine, no way I would sit there. Lucky for me, there was also another bench in the shade, where I could set up my station.

I got 29 QSO's here, with 3 S2S. Also several ON friends could be logged, nice!

For my third summit, I had originally planned Wasenkoepfel  FL/VO-075, but with this heat, I replaced it with an old firend, an easy drive up summit.

FL/VO-048, Grand Wintersberg - 581m, 4 points

I was on this summit in 2019, so I knew I could drive all the way to the top.

First find the Chalet du Wintersberg at the Col de la Liese, setting the GPS to 48.981856, 7.614153
From there a narrow road, going South-West, brings you to the summit at 48.978479, 7.614486

I found a nice place in the shade, temperatur 29°C ... rising to 31°C when I left the summit.

I had a nice run of 27 QSO's, with 3 S2S.
I was surprise to work Jean-Pierre ON7ZM who was on FL/VO-016 also on a summit. Normally he is only chasing me from his home station. 
Also 3 nice 2m CW QSO's with the Hourglass Antenna from this summit, best DX was 326 km.

Then it was time to start driving again, and find my second Bnb in Bühl, Germany, where I arrived with a temperatur of 35°C ... hot hot hot!

Continue reading ... go to DAY 3

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