SOTA FH 2017 : Day 4

No SOTA activation on this day, but of course I met some SOTA friends at the QSL wall at noon.

But first the Ham Radio !



The fair looked the same as last year, one hall for the larger companies and clubs, the DARC taking the larger part of that section.
Two halls for the flea-market, where many smaller companies also offered new stuff, be it in kit form or completely built equipment.



Of course I had to visit the Elecraft booth, to see if there was maybe a new QRP rig ?
No nothing, the only new thing was a 1500W amplifier, the KXPA1500 (it's not for sale yet).
Not really what I needed, it is a little too heavy for my backpack, although it would make my wallet some 6000$ lighter, hi.
After a long wait I had the chance to briefly speak to Eric, WA6HHQ.
(apparently, Eric is also an avid diver, hence the wait, he was showing lots of pictures to some other ham/diver).
He remembered me showing my high-tech TicTacMic last year (see  : https://on7dq.blogspot.be/2017/04/my-kx3-tictacmic.html).
This time I brought my very "low-tech" clothespeg paddle, he seemed very amused, hooked it up to a KX2 to see if it really worked. It did , and one of the other Elecraft people made a short video of it. Not sure if they will post it anywhere.

A visit to the fleamarket is really a very tiring activity, strolling by the endless tables, full of stuff, junk for one person, a real "find" for someone else ...



It's not possible to see it all in one go, so I was glad to have a break at noon, because it was time for the SOTA meeting at the QSL wall.



In the afternoon, I went back to see the rest of the fleamarket. I saw a nice stand of a new Czech company (https://www.hamshop.cz/ , click on the English flag top right). I bought some crystals for the popular QRP frequencies, so I have something to keep me busy during winter.

After that I went to the main hall to pick up some stuff I ordered for myself and for a friend, had a yummy piece of "Apfelkuchen" with coffee at the stand outside , and went home (to my BnB that is).



(to be continued ...)

Luc - ON7DQ

SOTA FH 2017 : Day 3

The sun was shining,and the weather predictions looked good for my third day ... so full of confidence I drove to my first summit, DM/BW-018, Blauen. This should have been an easy drive-up summit but ... as I arrived at the start of the road to the summit, the L140 ... it was completely blocked, no local "Umleiting" ... it was just "Gesperrt" !

Looking on the map, I saw  a detour, but this would take another hour one way, and so I would certainly have to cancel another summit.
Also, I wasn't sure if the road from the east wasn't blocked as well ... so I went on to my second summit.

DM/BW-003, Belchen



Belchen is a very popular summit, the cable car being an attraction in itself (return ticket was €7.80 in July 2017).
I felt pretty sure that the cable could carry my weight .. hi.





After the ride, it takes only a short walk to the cross on the summit.
There was still some fog but at times there was also some sunshine , and almost no wind. So all was ok for a good activation.



There is only one bench on the summit, with seating on both sides. I was lucky, there was just one place left and I quickly put my backpack on it.
There was a lady sitting next to my spot who was of course intrigued by what I was about to do ... seeing me unpack wires, coax and a fishing pole.
Attack being the best defence, I said in German "you must be curious what I am doing, no ?"
Of course she was curious , hi, so I explained about being a "Bergfunker" etc ... and then set up my endfed antenna in the usual way, one end to the fishing pole, the other tied to the bench.



By then, the people  at the other side of the bench had turned around and were also very curious how I would make a contact with just this piece of thin wire ...
And that lady asked "how do you find these other people to talk to ?".
So I showed her my "cheating device" that we also call a smartphone.
But of course, Mr. Murphy was also there, and I got no connection on my phone ... damn !
I started calling CQ on 7.095 anyway, and proudly showed off  the use of a voice keyer to spare my vocal chords  ... but NO replies whatsoever. Not much of a demonstration ...

Finally I started tuning the 40m band to find at least one station I could talk to ... and boy did I find one !
It was HB9OME/P who was calling CQ SOTA on 7.115 .. so my demonstration was a nice S2S QSO at the same time !

Without means to selfspot, I then turned to CW and that was also the end of my demonstration, the sound of CW clearly didn't sound pleasing to the lady and the other people around me, so I took my headphones and after being spotted via the RBN, I easily got 16 more QSO's in the log.

DM/BW-015, Hochfirst



No problems to get to this summit, it is an easy drive-up, although the road through the forest is quite a long drive. Parking is easy at the Berggasthaus Hochfirst, at pos 47.901074, 8.185303.
A short walk behind the transmitting tower takes you to a magnificent view  over the slope used for paragliding, and the lake Titisee in the distance.



Benches are available for your activation, while enjoying the view ... just perfect !
I made 19 QSO's, all on 20m SSB, including a nice S2S QSO with good friend Michael, DB7MM/P who was on DM/BW-156, only 38 km away.
Sadly I had to leave this lovely place, and head for my last summit for the day.

DM/BW-193, Schächer



Another easy drive-up summit, with ample parking space at 47.888629, 8.577234.
After admiring the enormous transmitting tower, I set up my own humble piece of wire and operated from a nice "desk" at the BBQ area. I made a couple more S2S QSO's with some SOTA friends I got to know at the SOTA dinner last year : John, DK9JC on 20m, and then again Michael DB7MM and Erich, DF9IR , who were on the Lupfenturm (DM/BW-057), and were on 2m FM. For those 2m QSO's, I had to stand on the desk to get  a reliable signal, which was very strange as the line-of-sight distance between us was only 16 km ... there must have been another ... well, summit in the way , hi.



The large field at the summit is used by a ski club in winter, but it would make a nice testing ground for all kinds of antennas. Anyone want to activate on 160m ? This is your spot !

So far for day 3, I had still a long drive to my BnB in Deggenhausertal, very close to the Gehrenberg (DM/BW-348), where we would have a group activation, and the SOTA Dinner on Saturday evening.
More about that later , because first I went to the Ham Radio of course.

(to be continued ...)

Luc - ON7DQ

SOTA FH 2017 : Day 2

The weather prediction for July 12th said : RAIN RAIN RAIN

I didn't want to waste a whole day just driving to my next BnB, and not have one activation in my log ... so I set off to my first summit ...

FL/VO-089 (Haut de la Pierre de Taille)

The drive up to the parking spot was really "féerique" as the French would say.
I parked at the old building at  48.113620, 6.872443. From there it is only a short walk up the forest track into the activation zone.



There was only a slight drizzle at the time, so I took the risk.

I  took my SOTA Umbrella + Fishing Pole Table and this time I really needed it (see my earlier test of this contraption : https://on7dq.blogspot.be/2017/03/on7dq-winter-sota-tour-9-12-march-2017.html  when I just set this up for fun).

Step 1  : prepare the whole thing on the ground.

Step 2 : put it upright, and hold it in place with the link dipole

Step 3 : operate happily in the rain … (notice the bungee cord to keep the KX3 safely on the “table”)

All went well on this summit, as there was almost no wind. I did only 40m CW and made 10 QSO’s, after which it was time to go to the next summit. 

FL/VO-002 (Le Hohneck)

This was something different … strong wind and fog, but it was dry … enjoy the wonderful view from the summit ... nothing to see anywhere ...

From one side of the small summit, one could just barely see the other side, but nothing more.

The wind was terrible, so no way to put up my fishing pole there. But since I drove the whole end up in the fog, I wanted to activate anyway. So I tied my endfed wire to a fence post, about 50cm above ground. The other end was tied to my folding chair (I had to lay the chair on the ground and put my backpack on it while fixing my antenna, or it would have blown off the summit, also no time to take pictures, sorry).

The KX3 did tune up, so I could use this "WAG"-antenna (Wire-Above-Ground).

I checked the spots on my phone, and saw a chance for S2S with F6FTB/P, so I worked him first. With such a low antenna … it must have been “ground wave” communication, hi.

Then as I wanted to start calling CQ myself, rain started pouring, and together with the gale force wind, it was impossible  to stay on that summit. I was dripping wet by the time I got to my car.
So activation OK ? YES … 10 points ? NO … too bad …

Not much improvement after that either. I skipped the third summit on my list (FL/VO-080, Rothenbachkopf) because it included too much walking, and went directly to the regions highest summit.

FL/VO-001, Le Grand Ballon de Guebwiller

It was raining when I arrived, so I waited in the car (lucky that I had a full thermos of coffee …)  … and waited … and waited ... and after 1 hour and 15 minutes it finally stopped raining.

Typical view … everything in the fog. Not visible in the picture : the strong wind !

I grabbed my stuff and did the 10 minute walk to the summit … only to be disappointed, wind too strong, impossible to activate there, not even in the door shelter of the monument.

It was dangerous to get anything out of my backpack .. everything would just blow away into the distance ... so I just gave up and quickly returned to the car.

 

So that was that for my second day … 10 points instead of the 40 I had hoped for … and a lot of wet clothes and towels ...
I’ll keep those summits on my list for next year … and hope for better weather !

I stayed the night in Kingersheim near Mulhouse, and the lady where I stayed was so kind to put all my wet stuff in the dryer ... so by the morning all "wetness" was quickly forgotten, and I was ready for a day of DM/BW summits. Read on to find out how that went ....

(to be continued ... )

Luc - ON7DQ 

SOTA FH 2017 : Day 1

LX/LX-004 and LX/LX-002

I started my trip to Friedrichshafen from my home in Ostend at 5:30 on July 11th.
Being the Flemish national holiday, I didn't expect much traffic on the highway to brussels.
Indeed, that part went very well, but south of Brussels there was an accident with a truck, so I had to make a detour, which led to large delay to start my activations.

LX/LX-004, Widdierbierg

After a short stop for breakfast, my road continued into Luxembourg for my first activation.
Now to counter eventual delays , I had made up a "plan B", and because of that accident , I already had to use it !



There is an easy way to activate this summit if you are in a hurry, from a spot within the AZ, which can be reached with only a short walk. Studying the maps, I had seen that the contour line of the AZ is very wide, and one can also operate quite far from the actual summit, and still have a valid activation.
Driving along the CR-134, at position: 49.643550, 6.310495, take the small road North-East, and park here : 49.648870, 6.319931 (see picture).

It is forbidden to drive further up the forest track, so you'll have to walk the last part into the AZ, and operate somewhere around 49.650753, 6.325092.

The track is not overgrown like the other places on this summit, and maybe the fact that I got a tick bite there last time, made me look for another way of access, hi.
I made 17 QSO's in CW and SSB, most on 40m.

LX/LX-002, Grengenwald



The second summit was not so far from the first, and again I tried an alternative access.
I think it is also a little easier than the one described by Phil, G4OBK.
I parked my car a bit further East, at this position : 49.670951, 6.206298
Then I walked around the gate, and followed the forest track up to this position 49.6742, 6.2054, which is in the AZ. The summit is a long flat ridge, so you have many operating spots to choose from.
If you continue walking, you will find a nice picknick bench to use as an operating table, I used that one in a later visit, see this report.



I found a nice spot beside the track, near above information sign.
I had even brought my sandwhiches for lunch. After eating my lunch I set up for SOTA ... but the fun didn't last long. After only 10 QSO's I had to pack all my stuff because it started raining ... and it didn't stop raining for the rest of the day !
So, sorry, also no pictures of the activation ... too bad.

So I finally canceled my third summit, which would have been FL/VO-057, Côte de Drince, near the city of Amnéville, where I had booked a room for one night.
It was also getting too late for that one, since I did some shopping, and had enormous traffic jams around the city of Luxembourg.

I stayed in a nice apartment in Amnéville with a lovely terrace, but couldn't enjoy it much, because ... well, you know ... IT RAINED !

More rain to come on day 2 ... read on !

(to be continued ...)

Luc - ON7DQ

ON7DQ SOTA Tour : in 9 days to Friedrichshafen and beyond

Summary

Last year (2016) was my FIRST EVER visit to the Ham Radio in Friedrichshafen (FH). Other years I couldn't get away from my teaching job, as we were in the middle of exams ... but since I was going to retire, my director had given the permission to take a long weekend off ...

I liked it so much, with all the SOTA activities and such, I wanted to be part of it again this year.

Only problem : the friends who drove me there last year, didn’t go this time (because of the shift to mid July), and I’m not such a good driver that I could drive all the 770 km to FH in one day. There had to be a better solution.

So I planned to split the drive in three days each way, and do a bunch of SOTA activations.
This also meant I had my own car over there to do … even more SOTA activations ! hi

Results 

By the time I got back home, I had driven 2400 km, and had stayed in 5 different places (all booked via AirBnb).

In total, I activated 22 summits in 6 countries :  LX - F - DL - OE - HB0 and ON.

Here the list of activated summits :

11/Jul/2017 LX/LX-002 (Grengenwald)

11/Jul/2017 LX/LX-004 (Widderbierg)

12/Jul/2017 FL/VO-002 (Le Hohneck)

12/Jul/2017 FL/VO-089 (Haut de la Pierre de Taille)

13/Jul/2017 DM/BW-003 (Belchen)

13/Jul/2017 DM/BW-015 (Hochfirst)

13/Jul/2017 DM/BW-193 (Schächer)

15/Jul/2017 DM/BW-348 (Gehrenberg)

16/Jul/2017 OE/VB-525 (Kummenberg)

16/Jul/2017 HB0/LI-012 (Schellenberg)

17/Jul/2017 DM/BW-042 (Rainen)

17/Jul/2017 DM/BW-046 (Plettenberg)

17/Jul/2017 DM/BW-057 (Lupfen)

17/Jul/2017 DM/BW-067 (Brandenkopf)

17/Jul/2017 DM/BW-156 (Lindenberg)

18/Jul/2017 FL/VO-003 (Gazon du Faing)

18/Jul/2017 FL/VO-007 (Le Grand Brézouard)

18/Jul/2017 FL/VO-014 (Chaume de Sérichamp)

18/Jul/2017 FL/VO-016 (Le Rossberg)

19/Jul/2017 ON/ON-016 (Les Aisances)

19/Jul/2017 ON/ON-017 (Bois Haut)

19/Jul/2017 ON/ON-021 (Plantis de Mesnil)

This gained me 157 points, which brought me way over the 500 point mark (actually to 604), so that I am a “half goat” now … hi.

Also made 50 S2S qso's, raising my S2S score from 990 to 1326, which will keep me on the number 1 spot for Belgium for some time (I hope ;-).

I had planned a couple more summits but had to cancel some because of bad weather (see day 1 and 2), or blocked access roads (see day 3).

Read the day-to-day reports for more info on each summit and my other adventures at the Ham radio ...

(to be continued ...)

Luc - ON7DQ

EA6/MA-042 (Puig de Caldent)

20/May/2017    EA6/MA-042 (Puig de Caldent)

Puig de Caldent is on the left

For my last summit I wanted to do another FIRST activation, to end my trip in beauty ;-)

I had been looking at this summit at home in Belgium, and looked at the dirt road leading to the start of the track several times with Google Streetview. It seemed possible to drive, with the shortest approach coming from the north.

So, coming from my previous summit (EA6/MA-032, Santuari de Cura), I took the MA-5010 north, all the way to the city of Algaida. At 39.555735, 2.894272  I went left into the Carrer des Sol , which then becomes the Camí de son Miquel Joan, and at 39.546330, 2.886581 , a smaller road goes left to a point called "Son Roig", after which the road turns into a dirt road. 

It's in very bad state, but driving slowly will get you to the parking space for just 1 car at  position 39.5275, 2.88837

Place for just one small car

A few meters further is the start of the track (find my track on the SMP page).

Start of track

The track is not too difficult, but overgrown in places, and it has its own "limbo tree".

Another limbo tree ;-)

It took me only 10 minutes to get to the summit, and once arrived I remembered to place a marker for the return trip. This summit has no radio towers or buildings, and whichever direction you look, all rocks look the same, hi.

So it is important that you remember at which side of the summit is the path you came up along.

After setting up and activating, the sun will have moved a little and may confuse you.
So I made a "stone man"of my own ... maybe it's still there when the next activator goes there ?
Let me know ... 

Stone man ... ON7DQ style

From this summit you have a nice view of nearby summit Santuari de Cura, where I was in the morning.

Santuari de Cura nearby

I set up my antenna exactly in the middle of the summit, since no obstacles are present. Also no electrical noise there ... wonderful !

Antenna on Puig de Caldent

There are no trees on the summit, just some shrubs. So I could only find a little bit of shade for the radio and myself. And for CW ... I used the clothespeg paddle again.

Using the EA2BD style paddle for my last activation !

As for the results of the activation, I made 46 QSO's, exactly the same number as I had in the morning !

And I made 1 S2S contact ... with Belgium ! Francois ON5SWA was on ON/ON-024. 

So, as they say .... tired but very happy , I left the summit and went to my B&B to prepare for the flight back on May 21. 

View of the Serra de Tramuntana from my last summit

This was the last of my activation reports for my 2017 Mallorca trip, I hope you enjoyed reading, and that the info is useful for future activators.

73 charito charito Mallorca !

Luc, ON7DQ

EA6/MA-032 (Santuari de Cura)

20/May/2017    EA6/MA-032 (Santuari de Cura)

Approaching the summit from Llucmajor via the MA-5010

For my last day of SOTA, I selected two summits, both close to each other, but very different in difficulty.

EA6/MA-032 is another easy drive-up summit. I came from the south via Llucmajor, over the MA-5010, All is well indicated, and the road to the summit is easy. Lots of parking space too, so no problem.

The monastery and gardens are a nice tourist visit

Tourists will like the nice visit of the buildings and gardens. Read more about the history here :

http://www.santuaridecura.com/en/history/

The actual name of the summit is Puig de Randa.

Hams will of course have more admiration for the vast array of antennas on the summit, including the big radar radome.

Lots of antennas ...

Even inside the monastery, you might think you find more antennas. Doesn't this one look like a new design for a "Cross Field Antenna" ? I was tempted to connect my KX3 and see if it tuned up ... HI

New CFA design ?

After a short visit, it was time to set up for SOTA, the chasers were waiting ... and I wanted to do that second summit ! (read the final part of my Mallorca report for that).

I found a quiet spot away from the main access road, but couldn't get very far from from the radio towers, they are everywhere !
Still, I didn't experience any higher noise levels than ususal.

"Rock solid" copy from this spot ...

Antenna was the endfed, and I lifted the balun a little from ground with my backpack.

Trying to "stay under the radar" ...

I was happy to have a 2m contact with Ricardo, EA6AIF right away. After that I made a QSO on 40m SSB with Ricardo, and with his friend Lorenzo, EA6KB

They were doing a first activation of new summit EA6/MA-067, Puig de ses Vinyes. Nice !

Then I made a whole bunch of QSO's on HF, the counter stopped at 46 after approximately 90 minutes, not a bad result. Maybe this was all due to the "balun lifting" ?

Alas, it was time to move on to my next summit, so after a light meal (a tortilla and a beer), I went searching for my last summit on Mallorca ..  which would be a FIRST activation too, a nice way to end my trip !

Mmm ... food !

The restaurant is housed in the former library of the monastery, and is worth a visit by itself.

The terrace of the restaurant has a nice view over the area

(to be continued ...)

EA6/MA-035 (Puig de Sant Salvador)

19/May/2017    EA6/MA-035 (Puig de Sant Salvador)

The cross on Puig de Sant Salvador .. it's not in the AZ  though !

For some people, Puig de Sant Salvador is known for it's large statue and cross, but as a ham, you won't easily forget the enormous amount of antennas ... and then this picture only shows half of the tower !

Anyone for another tasty dish ?

A few steps down from the parking lot (at pos 39.455510, 3.186586) is a number of picknick benches, some in wood, some in stone.

I chose the stone one which was furthest from the road, it looked like a perfect "shack on a summit", and the whole place was deserted, so very quiet, at least for a while ...

Doesn't that look like a nice operating desk ?

Yes it does ! Perfect !

So I set up the endfed, and started my activation. I did some SSB and CW and even made 4 QSO's in PSK31. Bands used were 7-10-14-18 MHz. 

And a very happy operator ...

After a while, even using headphones, there was so much noise and loud music on the road above me, I could hardly hear what was sent at the other end on my radio !

When it was around noon, a whole bunch of kids came down from from the road and occupied all benches around me to have their picknick. It wasn't until after the activation, and I went to my car that I found out what was really going on. There must have been a couple of hundred kids there, gathering for a rope skipping tournament ... why had this to be on the day of my activation ??

Rope skipping competion !

(to be continued ...)