HB/SZ-019 – Grosser Mythen – 1898m

Abstract

October 1st, 2021  10:00 – 12:35 UTC
My first activation of Gross Mythen.

Wx: Sunny, approx. 15°C, no clouds, no winds
Walking time: approx 1:20 up, 1:10 down
Ascent/ descent: approx. 500 vertical metres; additional 150 vertical metres from Rotenflue

Rig: KX3 / 5W, 2.5 Ah Li-Ion battery (4S), Palm Mini Paddle, FT-3D / 5W for VHF
Ant: EFHW dipole as inverted Vee on a 10m squid pole, MFJ1714 for VHF

Condx seemed to be good with k = 2, SFI = 95

31 QSOs on 40m CW, 7 x S2S
1   QSO  on 40m SSB, 1 x S2S
22 QSOs on 30m CW, 2 x S2s, 1 x DX
6  QSOs on 20m CW
1   QSO  on  2m   FM

Highlight:
– A great daytrip with friends
– Operating from a very famous Swiss summit

Lowlight:
– none

How to get there?

By cable car from Rickenbach (Schwyz, 600m) to Rotenflue (1550m). Then on an easy trail down to Holzegg (1400m). From there on a well prepared alpine trail (T3) to the top (1898m).

Gross Mythen (HB/SZ-019) seen from Rotenflue. The hike starts with a descent of approx. 150 vertical metres at the col on the right.

Activation report:

For the second day of my trip, the weather forecast had announced excellent conditions. It was still foggy along rivers and lakes in the morning but later the sky was cloudless and the sun was shining all day. We were a little worried that there might be too many people around, because Gross Mythen is a very popular destination. But the concern remained unfounded.

HB9DIZ had taken the day off and we set off together. Our hike started at the cable car station Rotenflueh in Rickenbach, part of Schwyz. The gondola took us to the Rotenflue top station in just a few minutes. From there we first had to descend 150 vertical metres before we started to climb along a very well maintained alpine hiking trail. From a distance, Gross Mythen appears to have no easy access to the summit, but the ascent is not particularly difficult.

There wasn’t much room at the top to set up, but we managed to get the antenna up in a way that didn’t interfere with other hikers. To save space, we agreed to operate in turns with only one antenna. In blocks of about 30 minutes each we worked alternately in SSB and CW. The conditions were good and lots of contacts went into the log. In between there was enough time to take pictures, have lunch or provide short explanations about SOTA to interested hikers.

We probably could have kept on operating all afternoon, but the descent was still ahead of us. That‘ s why we took down the antenna at about 2.30 p.m. local and started our descent and the return to the valley.

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Conclusion

• Perfect weather and a great trip
• The summit was bustling, but not overcrowded
• Magnificent mountain scenery of central Switzerland in view while operating
• The SWR of HB9DIZ’s antenna was good when tuning with 5 watts. But when operating with 10 watts, the SWR rised significantly. The effect was reproducible, probably a saturation effect of the tiny T50-43 toroid in the UnUn. Hence, I operated with 5 watts where the effect could not be observed.

QSOs during the activation on HB/SZ-019.

 

It was a great day and lots of fun operating from this special summit. Thanks for the QSOs!