Family on Petru Paler

Mata Nacional do Vimeiro

Fri, 27 Sep 2024 00:00:00 +0000

First outing with the QMX — tough conditions under tree canopy.

First time using the QMX. Was planning to try FT8 first but couldn’t get a stable connection to the phone. Sat at the picnic area with the wife and kids. Antenna was completely obscured by the tree canopy and probably way too close to tree trunks. Was difficult to get a signal out even after switching to CW. Only managed one contact.

Gros Crêt

Sun, 08 Oct 2017 21:37:39 +0200

First Morse activation!

I’ve been fascinated by Morse code for a long time and remember playing with my dad’s straight key that he had from his brief stint in the army signal corps. I first learned the code as a teenager to pass the Romanian amateur radio exam. It took two attempts but I eventually managed, then promptly proceeded to forget it all – mostly due to never using it, but also due to what was likely learning it the wrong way and at too slow of a speed.

I started studying it again last year, using the very nice lcwo.net. The Koch method, Farnsworth timing, and daily practice had me knowing the alphabet within a couple months. My first CW QSO happened in April 2017, with the very nice and patient ON4IM. More followed until mid-June, though most of them were contest-style rubberstamp exchanges that didn’t improve my copy skills much. Not much other CW practice to speak of for the rest of the summer…

Last weekend, thanks to HB9DDO, I got to visit the HB9CA contest station. It was very nice, and I got to make a CQ QSO with HB9EXR helping (I handled the paddles and he did the copying :-). This whet my Morse appetite again, so I restarted practicing daily on the commute to work. I’m using Koch Morse Trainer Pro (no longer listed on Google Play) in QSO replay or top 100/1000 words mode, starting at 15 WPM with normal (not Farnsworth) timing in order to get used to what things feel like during a regular QSO. By the time the weekend came I was up to 20 WPM with 90+% accuracy on copying words (less so for QSO text) and feeling confident, so yesterday I got on the air and had a few QSOs. Since that went reasonably well, I figured I’d try to do the next SOTA activation in CW.

Said activation came quicker than I thought: today! The weather was overcast and cold but we took our chances, packed the family in the car, and drove to canton Neuchâtel. The summit is easy to reach, although one can’t drive as close to it as Google Maps would have you believe. Once there, I set up the station on a bench, spotted myself (asking for QRS due to it being my first CW activation) – and called CQ SOTA on 20m.

The chasers quickly materialized and were kind enough to take it slow. One of them was AC1Z for an unexpected transatlantic contact. After 5 QSOs nobody else was calling and we were getting cold, so we packed up (quicker with the wife’s help) and headed back to the car.

I’m surprised at how well this went: I was less nervous than I had assumed I would be, the exchanges were quick and to the point (callsigns, signal reports, gl es 73) – simple enough that I only had to write down the important bits. Activating with CW somehow feels better and more fun), and I’m hoping to do most of them like this from now on. With more practice, I also look forward to being able to have longer conversations in Morse without having to write things down.

Lessons learned:

no need to wait for perfection before practice; jumping into this was a fun experience
pay attention to the temperature in the weather forecast
CW is more sensitive to the operating position got lucky this time with a bench being available. Consider bringing along a foldable stool for other locations.
the paddle was not properly mounted to the radio and kept sliding around. Check for proper mounting and bring a small multitool along for field adjustments.

Chasseral

Sat, 16 Sep 2017 19:05:45 +0200

Shifting weather activation.

It’s the weekend: time to pack up the family and radio and activate a summit! We headed out towards HB/NW-015 but after an on-the-go change of plans to accomodate the baby sleeping schedule we ended up doing a longer drive to Chasseral instead.

The summit is on a really nice looking ridge with no trees, and fully accessible by car. It was raining quite heavily several times on the way, making me worry about the radio part. It all stopped by the time we reached the top, but between the risk of rain and the rather cold air I didn’t want to set up a HF antenna. I had thankfully thrown my VHF/UHF handleld into the backpack so I picked that up instead.

After spotting myself on SOTAwatch and calling CQ on 2m I scored a nice QSO with Beat HB9TWG/M who was somewhere on a freeway (couldn’t quite understand all of the German :). One other quickly followed then, once I managed to open up my squelch, also heard and worked DJ5AV.

Three down, one to go – but nobody else was answering. I tried the 70cm band with no success. After moving back to 2m and calling CQ for a while longer, HB9FRA/P came back and helped complete the activation.

Finishing up, we had lunch watching the clouds go by at the Hôtel Chasseral nearby then drove back home.

Aroser Weisshorn

Sat, 26 Aug 2017 19:10:55 +0200

Birthday activation with a view.

It was my birthday and nice weather, so we packed up the family in the car and headed out for a 10 point cable car accessible summit. The drive was very enjoyable, especially the section between Chur and Arosa with its stereotypically Swiss look: twisty, steep mountain road, wooden houses with little flags, and expensive cars zooming by. Arosa itself is picturesque and nestled around a small lake.

Once on the summit we first had lunch, then set up the antenna (by now a smoothly streamlined tag team activity with my wife) and got on the air. I started with an S2S by calling into an activation of the nearby HB/GR-275. Afterwards I found an open frequency on 20m, spotted and called CQ, then immediately had HB9BIN reply for another S2S. A promising start!

A bunch of contacts and 2 more S2S ones later I tried to switch to 40m. Nobody was answering my CQs but there was a high pitched QRM… which turned out to be GM8OEG/P on GM/SS-187, only 2kHz below my frequency. I noticed him on SOTAwatch, but could unfortunately not copy him well enough for a S2S. After moving to a clear frequency further away I resumed calling CQ, still with no results. Remembering the issues I had on Batzberg and the fact that I still hadn’t trimmed the antenna to resonance nor brought an analyzer, I turned on the KX2’s internal ATU and tried again. This scored one QSO, and after a few more fruitless CQs I called it a day – my head was once again warm due to forgetting the hat at home and using a hoodie instead.

Once everything was packed up we took in the nice view some more then headed back home.

Meta lesson learned: having a written checklist to go through when preparing would help avoid repeating past mistakes (no sun hat & antenna analyzer).

Batzberg

Sun, 20 Aug 2017 19:07:26 +0200

This took a few changes to complete.

Together with the wife and baby, we initially headed out to HB/ZH-015. The baby fell asleep in the car, so we changed course to HB/ZH-004 which was further out and thus would allow for a longer nap. HB/ZH-003 was even further in the same direction, so we headed to that. Once almost there, we realized that the access road is not driveable and, given that we weren’t ready for a 1h+ hike with a baby, went back to HB/ZH-004. Once there, a surprise: there was an openair cinema ongoing, which resulted in a whole lot of people and cars and nowhere to park nearby. Almost defeated, we were ready to head back home but had another look at the map and noticed that HB/ZH-020 was nearby and went to have a look.

This time there was nobody around and the summit was reachable after a short hike. We started setting up, with a different antenna as compared to the previous activation: a lighter 6m mast instead of the 10m, and a SOTAbeams Bandspringer Midi instead of the LNR endfed. Not being used to the antenna it took longer than usual to raise, although with my wife’s help it went smoothly.

Once on the air, I spotted myself and started calling CQ on 20m. Called, called, and… nothing! Similar results on 40m. It didn’t seem like anybody could hear me, and there was no way to check. I wished I had brought a Morse key – I’m not sure if my CW is good enough for an activation, but I could have at least used the reverse beacon to see if my signals were making it out.

After a few more minutes of fruitless CQs, we took the antenna down and replaced it with the trusty LNR endfed. After what felt like a long time calling CQ on 40m again, SP9AMH finally came back for the first QSO of the activation. I could barely hear him, though, and he also gave me a fairly weak signal report (44). Switching to 20m I got a second QSO with HB9BHW, who was close enough that I suspect it was groundwave propagation. A bunch more CQs later I started wondering whether this would be my first failed activation.

Switching to 40m again, I noticed that SWR was quite high. The LNR trail friendly uses a trap for 40m and needs careful length setting, which I hadn’t bothered to do so far and now it was likely costing me in efficiency. I turned on the KX2’s internal ATU, knowing that I’m just papering over the problem. However, once I started calling again SP9AMH jumped in again to say I was a 57 now, so at least things improved a little. After another half hour of persistent calling I managed to rack up 3 more QSOs, for a total of 5. Yay, success!

Despite all the back and forth, this was a fun activation and it was really enjoyable to drive through the scenic Zürcher Oberland. It’s hard to tell whether the difficulty in getting QSOs was due to the antenna setup, dense vegetation around, bad propagation conditions, a combination thereof, or something else entirely.

Lessons learned:

check road accessibility
check for events
test antennas beforehand
bring an antenna analyzer or at least trim them to size before leaving
bring a Morse key even if not planning a CW activation
persistence pays off!

Niesen

Thu, 17 Aug 2017 19:53:59 +0200

Nice despite circumspect onlookers.

After a trip to Bern with the family we took advantage of the nice weather and took a longer way back to do a SOTA activation. The Bähnli-Gipfel identified Niesen as a good candidate, so we drove to Mülenen and took the cable car up. The ride consists of 2 segments and is more than 100 years old – quite impressive.

The mountain station was shifting in and out of clouds with a breathtaking view. We got to the summit platform after a short hike and started setting up the antenna, which went much faster than usual with my wife’s help. The long telescopic pole tied to the railing got a few curious looks. A nearby lady asked what it was for and once I explained, she seemed concerned that more hams would show up later (?). I nodded, smiled, and carried on.

Once everything was ready I found an unused frequency on 20m, self spotted, and called CQ. A small pileup developed and I did my best to handle it, although my operating procedure felt a little awkward (it had been a while). Somebody called for a S2S but propagation was shifting and I missed the opportunity. 13 QSOs later it seemed like nobody was left so I tried 40m as well, with no results. My legs were getting sore from the uncomfortable crouching position and my unprotected head hot from the sun, so I packed up (again quicker than usual with the wife’s help). The lady from earlier on seemed to approve.

We headed to the nearby restaurant for lunch and then made our way down and back home. The drive through Obwalden was very enjoyable on the twisty mountain road.

Overall a nice activation and pleasant day trip with the family. Lessons learned: more practice needed for smooth operating procedure, and don’t neglect physical comfort (operating position and sun protection).

Kronberg

Thu, 29 Jun 2017 20:59:27 +0200

Short and sweet with nice views and first ever 70cm QSO.

The weather was still nice (although forecasted to worsen) while returning from Säntis so we stopped for a short activation on the way. After a nice cable car ride from Jakobsbad and a quick hike to the summit, I spotted myself and called CQ. 3 QSOs quickly followed, although the 4th took a few minutes longer.

One of the first chasers on 2m was again HB9DHA, whom I had failed to contact on 70cm from Säntis. We arranged to try again, and this time it worked very well – my first ever QSO on 70cm! He also seemed happy that his setup worked.

No other chasers seemed to be around so I wrapped up and we headed back. A nice and quick activation with a great view, with one lesson learned: VHF/UHF line of sight activations can struggle to get enough chasers. It might be worth optimizing my HF setup for quick deployment (even if at the expense of efficiency).

Säntis

Tue, 27 Jun 2017 18:00:01 +0200

First FM activation and some very nice views.

Wanting to spend a couple nights with the family to celebrate my wife’s birthday, I wondered how to best combine the occasion with a SOTA activation. Using HB9SOTA’s “Bähnli-Gipfel” list for inspiration, I picked the Säntis hotel for the very nice location and easy cable car access to the nearby 10 point summit. Wanting to keep weight down and setup time to a minimum, I only brought a Kenwood HT radio and thus planned to make this my first FM activation.

Weather was forecasted to be bad and to get worse the following day, so we headed up the cable car soon after arriving at the hotel. A cloud layer made it impossible to see the summit from the valley but thankfully the cable car lifted us above it all, presenting us with a wonderful view from the top.

I spotted myself and started calling CQ on the 2m band as soon as we got there, hoping to finish before any rain started. Chasers showed up right away, although the first few QSOs were a mess on my side: having only used the radio for APRS before, I kept turning the VFO knob while attempting to increase the audio volume! A few frustrating minutes later I figured out what I was doing wrong and things got better.

One of the chasers (HB9DHA) had asked whether I was planning to also try 70cm afterwards so I did once nobody was around on 2m anymore. The calling frequency at 433.5 MHz was busy with what sounded like a digital voice transmission, so I had a look at the band plan and tuned around. I found a free spot at 434.8 MHz and… time for the second embarassing screwup! For some reason band “A” on the radio did not allow me to transmit on that frequency (still not sure why), so I kept calling CQ without actually doing anything. It took me a few minutes to realize what was going on, switch to band “B”, and try again – with no results. Oh well, at least things worked on 2m (these were my first ever FM and VHF QSOs!).

Once all the radio stuff was done, I rejoined my wife and baby and we enjoyed the breathtaking view some more before heading back down to the hotel. It was overall a very nice activation, with one lesson learned: get to know and practice using the equipment before arriving at the summit.

Pfannenstiel

Mon, 26 Jun 2017 18:57:28 +0200

Second attempt, with 100% more radio.

Another pleasant, warm weather family SOTA outing. After a false start the day before (when we drove all the way there just to realize I forgot to take the backpack with the radio & antenna), we went again and started off with lunch at the Hochwacht restaurant.

A short hike afterwards we reached the summit, a small clearing in the forest with not much of a view. A slightly crooked tree served as antenna pole binding post, while the other end of the inverted L was strung up in a branch. After finding an empty frequency and self spotting, a small pileup quickly developed (although it later seemed as if not all of it was related to my activation). Once it cleared up I tried 40m, but nobody was there and QRN was quite high. A look at the SOTA spots showed HB9DQM/P on HB/SG-026, so I tuned up and worked a S2S with mutual 59 signal reports (I suspect the summits are in direct line of sight propagation). A final attempt on 40m netted 1 QSO with HB9AGH, who was apparently trying quite hard to dig me out from the noise (received signal report was 52!).

The crouching position, heat, and flies were getting bothersome so I wrapped up, packed everything again, and we headed back to the car enjoying the views from the path. A nice and fun activation overall!

Aeugsterberg

Sun, 18 Jun 2017 18:48:53 +0200

Nice activation close to home.

This is the second closest summit to my home and so it made for a good target to activate together with the family. We took advantage of the warm day, packed the baby and radio in the car, and headed off. It wasn’t very clear where to best start hiking through the forest but we found a good enough spot to park and started walking.

After navigating some twisty forest paths we made it to the ridge that seemed to continue all the way to the summit. By now the wind and the shade made things feel somewhat chilly, despite the sun still shining up high.

Once at the top, I quickly set up the antenna by tying its support pole to the conveniently located bench and stringing it up to a tree. After finding an empty spot on the 20m band I spotted myself with the phone and called CQ. 2 QSOs quickly followed, but then nothing. We were getting quite cold by now so I moved to 40m and spotted myself again, hoping to get the 2 more QSOs I needed. This quickly resulted in a small pileup, including a S2S with S575S/P on S5/BI-018.

With 7 QSOs in the log and almost freezing in the wind, we packed everything up and headed back towards the car. Walking and the sun warmed us again, and everything ended up well.

Overall a fun activation with one lesson learned: bring an extra layer of clothing even if it’s a hot day.