Preparation:

With band conditions good as we are very close to the top of Solar Cycle 25 and the weather seeming more like spring than winter and importantly with only light winds, I decided another activation with the wire beam was in order.

This time, however, I wanted to use my screw-in-the-ground sun umbrella post base rather than the large surveyor’s tripod. I had also received my awaited rotary switch and so had built the feed-point board with switchable directions. In this case, the mast has to be lowered before the direction the beam is “pointing” can be changed, but this is less work than re-arranging the element/guy cords and less weight to carry that the remote controllable, Bluetooth controlled, relay board.

I had initially planned to activate on Thursday morning, however as Mike in the UK (2E0YYY) was also planning to go out and rain was expected for him on Thursday, we agreed on a Friday morning activation, with Ernie VK3DET also listening to help with tests (we do call ourselves the “Comms-Testers” so this all makes sense). My weather forecast for both Thursday and Friday were good and for one (thankfully) that turned out to be the case.

As usual, all equipment was packed in the back of the car, the day before to allow for an early start. This time in addition to the radio gear I also packed an electric hand warmer “stone” that had been recommended to me after my problems with cold hands on the last few activations.

The Activation

DL/HBY-040 Rösenau Kreuz

This is one of my closest summits about 30 minutes drive away so the trip down on Friday was uneventful. On arriving at my car parking spot in the forest at the first of a series of pilgrims’ holy crosses that lead up the hill into the forest, I finished packing the rucksack. I estimate it weighed somewhere between 16 and 17 kilograms but once on my back, I just had to bear it. The road itself goes further up the hill however it is restricted to non-powered vehicles apart from those with the right of access.

My usual spot is close to the cross outside of the forest where it is, but I wanted to see if I could set up closer to the escarpment which may give a better operation of the antenna. This meant heading in the direction of Schwalbenstein (a lower summit on this ridge). Upon inspection however the flat ground where I would have liked to set up is fastened off with barbed wire, so it is obvious the owner doesn’t want people going there. The activation zone for this summit spreads a little way up and down the ridge, so the next time, I may plan to explore some other areas to see if I can get nearer to the escarpment (and the wonderful views of the River Lech over 100 metres below – as you will see from the pictures). For now, though, I would have to return to my usual activation point as Ernie and Mike would be waiting for me.

Setting up the antenna and radio was problem-free and the screw-in post certainly provided enough support for the 7-metre mast and antenna, so that was one test completed successfully.

Having quickly checked the antenna on the antenna analyser I turned the radio on and tuning around on 20m, I found Mike and Ernie chatting and broke in at the point that they were saying they needed to send me the free frequency they had found. Both stations were strong and we exchanged 5-9+10dB reports between Germany and the UK and 5-7 reports between Germany and Australia. This was on 20m and while Ernie and Mike wanted to go off and try the higher bands, I asked them to give me 5 minutes of conversation, so that I could test switch the antenna direction. Well, of course, it turned out to be ten minutes but the results were worth it! With the antenna electrically pointing West (UK and long path to VK) I took reference signal values from the S-meter and then switched to the other three directions, checking back at the radio each time and on both signals (at different signal levels), I got the following results;

• antenna 90° off – i.e. pointing North or South, signals 1-S-point down.
• antenna 180° off – i.e. pointing East, signals 2-S-points down.

So another test was completed successfully, both on the switching mechanism and the antenna in general. 

While Ernie and Mike went off to try and get successful contacts on 17, 15 & 12m, I spotted myself and worked half a dozen stations on 20m. When the callers dried up, I decided to switch to 10m and just as I was ready, I saw that Ernie and Mike had moved there, so I tried to get in contact with them again on 10m. 10m at this time was not very good and while I could hear both Mike in the UK and Ernie in Australia, I was only able to make a minimal contact with Ernie. One problem now was that I needed the beam pointing East to get the Short path to Ernie but West still for Mike. Despite this, the tests showed that again the antenna was directional but the signals were simply not strong enough to make easy contacts.

Once Ernie and Mike had finished their QSO, I asked Ernie to stick around while I changed the elements on the antenna. I suspected that the single band (10m only) elements might work better than the trapped elements, for some reason. Although Ernie was stronger after I changed the elements, 10m it appears had also improved, so this was not a valid test and is one that I will need to repeat this comparison on my next activation, where I intend to head to a summit in the early afternoon when more US stations could be on an. An early morning activation is OK for Australia but it corresponds to the middle of the night in the US and hence there are fewer people on the air.  

  All in all, this was a good activation and some good tests were completed. It was cold to start with and the electric hand warmer “stone” was used successfully a few times, so that was another successful test and will remain part of my activation “kit” at least in the winter months.

The return down the hill was uneventful, as was the drive home in time for lunch!

Photos:

DL/HBY-040 Rösenau Kreuz:

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Equipment taken:

• Mountaintop travelling 40-litre rucksack.
• Xiegu G90 radio.
• Sun umbrella Screw-in base support.
• 7 metre fibreglass mast.
• 10/20 metre 2-element wire beam (with switchable and simple feed-point boards).
• RigExpert AA-30 Antenna Analyser.
• Komunica Power HF-Pro2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna and tripod (not used)
• Lamdahalbe 6m mini-mast and new metal base peg (not used).
• SOTABeams end-fed random wire antenna (not used).
• 4 Ah Eremit LifePO4 battery.
• 4 Ah LiHV battery.
• Painter’s thick plastic sheet.
• Gardener’s kneeling pad.
• Lightweight headphones.
• Smartphone for SOTA spotting.

Log:

DL/HBY-040 Rösenau Kreuz

 

Activation Zone:

Map:

 

Conclusions:

• The antenna worked well on 20m with between 1 & 2 S-points difference in signals depending upon the direction was switched to.

• The need to lower the mast to switch the direction is inconvenient however the solution is lighter and stronger than the fully remotely switchable option that I tried on the last activation.

• The 10m section of the antenna still needs to be tested as this time, the band was changing too much to make any conclusions as to whether the elements without traps work better than the trapped section on the 20m elements.

73 ’til the next summit.