Over the last few years, I have often been out with friends on alpine peaks with restricted space and little time for an activation. I tried to address this by using vertical antennas with low footprint (which still take time to set up), or by activating with just a handheld VHF radio (which is less fun). What I really wanted was an antenna for shortwave, which could be set up in less than a minute…
CW-Skimmer @ DL3TU
Since beginning of 2024, I’m operating a CW skimmer in test mode. A fairly old STEMlab 125-14 is used as the basis, running Pavel Demin’s brilliant software and turning the Red Pitaya into a fully-fledged SDR. It allows reception of up to seven eight frequency segments with a bandwidth of 48 kHz or 96 kHz simultaneously.
RockMite ][
The RockMite is a crystal-controlled, single-frequency, direct-conversion transceiver. It is available for most shortwave bands and offers an output power of about 500mW. The original design came from Dave Benson, K1SWL, and first appeared in July 2002.
W1REX, re-designed the RockMite when he obtained the rights from Dave. Kits of the RockMite ][ are exclusively available at QRPme.com. They must not be confused with cheap clones available elsewhere.
Simple SWR indicator
On alpine trips I don’t take an SWR meter with me because of weight and space constraints. I rely on the antenna being in working order and have not been let down so far.
However, since my recently built RockMites have spare room in their case, I made a simple SWR indicator that allows the statement ‚OK‘ or ’not OK‘.
DL/AL-049 – Kuehgundkopf – 1907m
Abstract
November 2nd, 2023 10:10 – 10:30
My first activation of Kuehgundkopf.
Wx: Cloudy, 6°C, light winds, later rain and wind gusts
Walking time: 2 hours up, unknown down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 770 vertical metres
Rig: RockMite ][ @500mW, 2.5Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle
Ant: Linked 3-band EFHW on a 6m squid pole (carbon fibre laminate)
Condx seemed to be good with SFI = 159 and k = 1
25 QSOs on 30m CW
Highlight: First activation with the 30m RockMite ][
Lowlight: None
OE/TI-468 – Aggenstein – 1986m and OE/TI-457 – Brentenjoch – 2000m
Abstract
November 1st, 2023 10:10 – 11:00 UTC and 12:35 – 13:15 UTC
My first activation of Aggenstein and Brentenjoch.
Wx: Sunny, approx 5°C, light winds in the morning, later overcast and gusty winds
Walking time: approx. 1:40 h to the top of Aggenstein, 1 hour from Aggenstein to Brentenjoch and approx. 1:15 h back to the car park
Ascent/ descent: approx. 1150 vertical metres in total
Rig: MTR-3B / 5W, 1000mAh Li-Ion battery (3S), Palm Pico Single
Ant: 3-band vertical on a 6m squid pole (carbon fibre laminate) and Linked 3-band EFHW on a 6m squid pole
Condx seemed to be good with SFI = 167 k = 1
17 QSOs on 20m CW; 1 x S2S on OE/TI-468
20 QSOs on 30m CW; 5 x S2S
11 QSOs on 20m CW on OE/TI-457
19 QSOs on 40m CW; 5 x S2S
Highlight: Beautiful hike with great views
Lowlight: None
OE/TI-356 – Gaishorn– 2247m and OE/TI-360 – Rauhhorn 2241m
Abstract
October 3rd, 2023 10:30 – 10:45 UTC and 12:15 – 12:35 UTC
My first activation of Gaishorn and Rauhhorn.
Wx: Sunny, approx 20°C, light winds
Walking time: approx. 4 hours from Tannheim to the top of Gaishorn, 1 hour from Gaishorn to Rauhhorn and approx. 1 hour 40 minutes to Vilsalpsee.
Ascent/ descent: approx. 1400 vertical metres
Rig: Yaesu FT-3D@5 W
Ant: MFJ-1714 (endfed ½ wave telescopic vertical for 145 MHz)
Condx on VHF seemed to be better than average
6 QSOs on 2m FM; 1 x S2S on OE/TI-356
8 QSOs on 2m FM; 3 x S2S on OE/TI-360
Highlight:
– at least 10 QSOs across > 100 km
– ODX (and S2S) across 190 km
Lowlight:
– none
Portable 3-band vertical for 40/30/20 metres
Sometimes a summit offers little space to deploy an antenna. Either because there isn’t much room or because there are many people at the top – or both. Then an antenna with a small footprint is required.
DL/AL-046 – Ponten – 2050m and OE/TI-643 – B’schiesser 1998m
Abstract
September 2nd, 2023 09:00 – 10:15 UTC and 11:20 – 12:45 UTC
My first activation of B’schiesser and Ponten.
Wx: Sunny, 20…25°C, light winds
Walking time: approx 110 minutes from the chair lift to Ponten, 25 minutes from Ponten to B’schiesser and 40 minutes from B’schiesser back to the chair lift.
Ascent/ descent: approx. 1000 vertical metres in total
Rig: MTR-3B / 5W, 1000mAh Li-Ion battery (3S), Palm Pico Single
Ant: 3-band vertical on a 6m squid pole (carbon fibre laminate)
Condx seemed to be ok with SFI = 136 but unsettled magnetic field with k = 4
20 QSOs on 40m CW; 5 x S2S on DL/AL-046
13 QSOs on 30m CW; 1 x S2S
7 QSOs on 20m CW
18 QSOs on 40m CW; 6 x S2S on OE/TI-643
21 QSOs on 30m CW; 3 x S2S
6 QSOs on 20m CW; 3 x S2S
Highlight:
– Perfect day for hiking
– First CW-QSOs with HB9DIZ
Lowlight:
– none
F/AB-493 – Pointe de Chenevier – 1302m
Abstract
August, 24th, 2023 9:45 – 11:45 UTC
My first activation of Pointe de Chenevier
Wx: Sunny, approx. 30°C, light winds
Walking time: about 30 min – no record taken
Ascent/descent: approx. 160 vertical metres
Rig: LNR MTR-3B / 5W, 1000mAh Li-Ion battery (3S), Palm Pico Single
Ant: Linked EFHW dipole with TinyCoupler (1:64) as inverted Vee on a 6m squid pole (carbon fibre laminate)
Condx were good with k = 3, SFI = 147
17 QSOs on 40m CW; 7 x S2S
17 QSOs on 30m CW; 1 x S2S
32 QSOs on 20m CW; 1 x S2S
Highlight:
– Again spectacular views and a long stay at the summit
– 9 S2S QSOs resulting in 65 S2S points
Lowlight:
– none
dl3tu 