A planned meeting with SOTA around Schluchsee (DM/BW)
On Saturday, March 21, 2026, Roman @DL3TU and I, Marcel @DM3FAM planned a get-together. We wanted to spend some time together chatting and of course doing a few SOTA activations. The meeting was planned for Schluchsee. Roman had family commitments early in the morning and was already on the road. I used the time to visit Hochfirst DM/BW-015. The weather was cold and crisp, a bit sunny but no rain! The conditions weren’t great, but I was very happy to hear from the callers. After that, i go bac...
Drew a blank
Tuesday 31st March 2026 Hereford v Macclesfield in the football. Therefore Burton Hill G/WB-020 was the pre-match SOTA selection. Parked at the end of the cul-de-sac lane above Ostey Wood to the east of the summit. Longer walk-in from here but hardly any ascent. In fact the AZ is entered within yards of the parking spot, but we walked as far as the trig point (which is still shortly before the true summit that is 7m higher). I sent up with the 5-el beam vertically polarised (tends to br...
G4YSS: G/CE-002 Walton Hill, 26-03-26
G4YSS: G/CE-002 Walton Hill, 26-03-26 Issue-1. Pse rprt errors G4YSS Activation of G/CE-002 WALTON HILL on 26th of March 2026 QRO/ QRP on 2m-FM, CW &SSB QRO on 15-20-40m CW & SSB Unaccompanied All times UTC RADIO EQUIPMENT: FT817ND HF/VHF/UHF 5W Transceiver without internal batteries MX-P50M 50 Watt HF Linear Amplifier 80 thru’ 10m (& 160) HF Link dipole for 40-(30)-20-(15) Five section, 6m CFC/ Alloy HB mast with 1m end sticks Two HRB 11.1V nom, 5Ah Li-Po batteries VHF: RM TC-150V...
Burteaumont, ON/ON-025
Friday, 27/03/26. Minus 2 on the summit. No problem to find the spot after reading the blog of @ON7DQ. My last “SOTAxpedition” is already a while ago. Burteaumont, is a new start. Still 7 summits to go in my home-land. With a SOTA alert, I had 9 QSO’s in 15 minutes on 20m., with an Atas 25 vertical + Icom 705 + lin. amp. PA 500 - DIY 599, limited to 20w. for battery saving reasons + DIY battery powerpacks with 18650 li-ion cell’s. Not the most “challenging” summit, but a lot of WW2 remembran...
Activation Report: CT/MN-018 (Piorneiro) and CT/MN-025 (Picotas)
With a busy week ahead of Easter, Rui (CT7ALW) and I decided to squeeze in a Friday activation of two summits on the fringes of the Gerês National Park. Piorneiro – CT/MN-018 The day began with a brisk 2 km hike. The trig point here sits atop a massive stack of boulders, requiring some scrambling and crawling to find a workable operating position directly beneath the structure. Deployment was a struggle; while attempting to tension the wire, we unfortunately snapped and lost a brand-new...
2m Aurora QSO with GM4YXI - most probably my QSO of the year!
Dear Reflector, I wanted to share a story about a very special QSO I made on Sunday. I spent the weekend at my parents’ place, and after going for a walk with my dad on Sunday afternoon, I decided to do an activation on my way back to where I live and work. I checked the propagation again in the parking lot and, because of the high K and A values, decided to take 2m equipment only. I packed the 6-element DK7ZB Yagi that I built, using parts kindly printed for me by Michael @OE5HKT, which he ha...
Activation of Serra do Cume CU/TE-003
de Andrey RZ3EM and Sergey M0MSV When we booked our tickets from Faial to São Miguel, since there were no direct flights, the only option was a flight with a layover on the island of Terceira. With a three-hour layover, we decided to activate the summit CU/TE-003 (Serra do Cume). Thanks to the support of amateur radio operators on São Miguel and Terceira, we had previously obtained the contact information for a reliable driver who met us with a name sign at 15:20 UTC at Terceira Airport (on...
Activity from Pico da Barrosa CU/SM-002 Sao Miguel, Azores
de Andrey RZ3EM and Sergey M0MSV The idea to visit CU/SM-002, Pico da Barrosa, came to us during a conversation with our friend Paulo CU2GI, who was a great help to us during the CR26RRC expedition. The day before, on Friday, March 13, 2026, we met with him at the ARA CU2ARA radio club along with amateur radio operators from the island of São Miguel to present the activities of the Russian Robinson Club to them. On Saturday, at 12:15 UTC, we met up with Paulo and, driving along the coast and c...
Asores SOTA Activation (CU/FA-001) by Sergey M0MSV & Andrey RZ3EM
After meeting at the airport on Faial Island and picking up our rental car, we immediately followed the route on Google Maps toward the top of the caldera; the road quickly veered into the countryside, climbing significantly in elevation. As we neared the end of the route, low clouds began to roll in more frequently, but they would break up, allowing us to enjoy the sunshine. The entire drive from the airport to the parking lot near the Caldera overlook took less than 30 minutes. Since all o...
More adventures in Snowdonia on the buses
After previously suggesting I’d never get the bus again to an activation I did it again this week - not once but twice 🤣 Snowdon GW/NW-001 19/03/2026 The weather had suddenly turned very sunny this week so a day off work was hastily arranged to take advantage. I wanted to walk up the PYG track as I hadn’t been that way for nearly 20 years, so planned to get the bus to Pen Y Pass and thought I may as well get the bus for most of the way to save money (and the planet, but more on that at t...
Summits on the Air