Car+cable-Car on Petru Paler

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).

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.