DM/BW-228 – Hummelsberg – 1002m (4)

Abstract

January 24, 2021  11:10 – 12:45 UTC
My fourth activation of Hummelsberg, first time during winter conditions.

Wx: Cloudy, approx. -4°C, strong, gusty winds, 30 cm of snow
Walking time: 30 min. up, 20 min. down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 30 vertical metres

Rig: KX3 / 10W,  2.5 Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle
Ant: 42 ft (12.8m) random wire as inverted Vee on a tree
Total weight of the (radio) equipment: 2647g

Condx were good according to the RBN spots.
60 metres was the most productive band, followed by 20 metres.
k = 1, SFI = 78

23 QSOs on 20m CW, 4 x DX
  7 QSOs on 30m CW, 1 x S2S
16 QSOs on 40m CW
29 QSOs on 60m CW, 2 x S2S
Weight per QSO: 35.3g

Highlight:
– A real winter adventure with very few people on the trail.

Lowlight:
– none

DM/BW-041 – Wandbühl – 1007m (2)

Abstract

January 16, 2021  11:00 – 12:35 UTC
My second activation of Wandbühl, first real winter activation.

Wx: Sunny, approx. -6°C no winds, 60 cm of snow
Walking time: 30 min. up, 25 min. down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 40 vertical metres

Rig: KX3 / 10W,  2.5 Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle
Ant: 22 m end fed wire with QRP L- Tuner as inverted Vee on a tree
Total weight of the (radio) equipment: 2439g

Condx on the higher bands were average and activity was low.
60 metres through 30 metres produced many strong signals.
k = 1, SFI = 73

2 QSOs on 20m CW, 1 x DX
12 QSOs on 30m CW, 2 x S2S, 1 x DX
18 QSOs on 40m CW
11 QSOs on 40m SSB
17 QSOs on 60m CW, 3 x S2S
Weight per QSO: 40.65g

Highlights:
– A super winter activation with an incredible amount of snow on a sunny day.
– Very well behaved pile-ups.

Lowlights:
– none

DM/BW-147 – Gespaltener Fels – 1000m (5)

Abstract

January 10, 2021  09:35 – 10:55 UTC
My fifth activation of Gespaltener Fels, but first real winter activation.

Wx: Sunny, approx. -6°C moderate but cold wind, 20 cm of snow
Walking time: 25 min. up, 20 min. down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 120 vertical metres

Rig: KX3 / 10W,  2.5 Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle
Ant: 42 ft (12.8m) random wire as inverted L on a tree
Total weight of the (radio) equipment: 2647g

Condx on the higher bands were average with QSB. 60 metres was very strong. Many QSOs on 10m groundwave. k = 1, SFI = 74

3 QSOs on 10m CW
13 QSOs on 10m SSB, 1 x S2S
6 QSOs on 20m CW
7 QSOs on 30m CW
28 QSOs on 60m CW, 2 x S2S
Weight per QSO: 46.4g

Highlights:
– A perfect winter activation with lots of QSOs, sun and snow.

Lowlights:
– Due to the poor behaviour of some individuals, the operating process on 60 metres was really slow at times

DM/BW-058 – Burg – 975m (3) and DM/BW-064 – Heersberg – 964m (4)

Abstract

January 5, 2021  11:00 – 11:40 UTC // 13:10 – 14:20 UTC
My third activation of Burg and my fourth activation of Heersberg, both first time during winter.

Wx: Cloudy, approx. -4°C light winds
Condx were average with QSB on 20 and 30 metres. k = 2, SFI = 78

Rig: KX3 / 10W,  2.5 Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle
Ant: 42 ft (12.8m) random wire as inverted L on a tree

DM/BW-058

Walking time: 20 min. up, 15 min. down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 90 vertical metres
Total weight of the (radio) equipment:  2647g

34 QSOs on 40m CW, 2 x S2S
1 QSOs on 60m SSB, 1 x S2S
Weight per QSO: 75.6g

DM/BW-064

Walking time: 25 min. up, 15 min. down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 60 vertical metres
Total weight of the (radio) equipment:  3219g

5 QSOs on 20m CW, 3 x DX
12 QSOs on 30m CW
9 QSOs on 40m CW, 1 x S2S
9 QSOs on 60m CW
Weight per QSO: 92g

Highlight:
On BW-058, after chasing two other activators for S2S-QSOs on 40 CW I didn’t even have to call CQ when I started my own activation. I went to a free frequency and asked: „QRL?“. Immediately, somone was asking: „3TU?“  It was SP9AMH (needless to say). SA4BLM followed suit. Only then the hordes arrived. Well done, my friends!

Lowlight:
The situation on the often crowded 60 metre band is spoiling the fun. Deliberate QRM is getting worse. My run on CW came to an end because a very strong DL station started a rag chew on SSB right on top of my QSOs. (Remember that we’re allowed only 15 watts EIRP!)

Happy anniversary!

The activation of DM/BW-852 (Herrenwald) was my 100th activation of a SOTA- reference. As I started activating on a regular basis back in 2015, it has been approximately 16 summits per year in average since then. The most active year was 2020, though, with 40 activations.
I’m quite happy with this achievement as I have family, job and several commitments, all with higher priority than playing radio and climbing mountains.

DM/BW-852 – Herrenwald – 910m (4)

Abstract

January 2, 2021  13:10 – 14:30 UTC
My fourth activation of Herrenwald, but first winter activation.

Wx: Cloudy, approx. -3°C light winds
Walking time: 15 min. up, 10 min. down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 70 vertical metres

Rig: KX3 / 10W,  2.5 Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle
Ant: 42 ft (12.8m) random wire as inverted L on a tree
Total weight of the (radio) equipment: 3047g

Condx were average with QSB on 20 and 30 metres. k = 1, SFI = 81

6 QSOs on 20m CW, 1 x DX
8 QSOs on 30m CW, 1 x S2S
16 QSOs on 40m CW
10 QSOs on 60m CW
Weight per QSO: 76.2g

Highlights:
– A real winter activation with 10 cm snow.

Lowlights:
– none