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

  • Summit height: 1663m
  • Transportation: driving + cable car
  • Rig: TH-D72E, 5W, internal battery
  • Antenna: Diamond RH770 telescopic, handheld
  • QSOs: 4 on 2m band and 1 on 70cm band, all FM

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).