Preparation:

As Dave (G4AKC) was going to be out, possibly for his last time in Cyprus, the usual culprits, Mike 2E0YYY, Ernie VK3DET, Jon VK7JON, Steve G4NVF and I decided to get on to work him from around Australia and Europe. Target activation time for me was 7:15 am local time (0615 UTC) to coincide with Dave’s plans – so my local park “Pössinger Au” was chosen for the activation and to keep things even simpler, I would head to the official car park, rather than the car parking area where 3 POTA entities come together. As per the last operations, all was packed in the car and the magnetic antenna mount was put on the car’s roof the Sunday before the Monday morning activation. One test change to the radio configuration, planned for use in Cyprus in 3 weeks was a smaller set of headphones, that would pack better for transport. Apart from that change, everything was the same – Xiegu G90, 4Ah battery and HF-PRO2-PLUS-T antenna (which I even preset to position to save time the next day).

The Activation

POTA DE-0663

The Monday morning was a little cold at -2°C as I left home at 6:55 am however the run over to the park went without issue and I was the first in what is a walkers car park. As soon as I mounted the antenna and took a few photos, I already got a message from Dave saying he was set up and ready for calls. On tuning to his frequency, I found Ernie VK3DET calling Dave and after a couple of minutes, we had a three-way QSO going. While I had expected to hear Dave, Ernie from Victoria, Australia coming in with a strong signal so early in the morning was a surprise. Apparently, it is normal once Spring starts that the long path opens earlier.

A few minutes later we were joined by Jon VK7JON/M in Tasmania. He had a good signal but also local S6 noise so he could not hear me. Later when the local noise had died down we managed a contact. Over the next hour, the stations from the UK joined, however, I could not hear them – which is not unusual on 20 metres at that time of day. Later however I also got contacts with Steve G4NVF-Byclcle Mobile and Mike 2E0YYY/P.

Just to be able to qualify the park with at least 10 contacts, I left the group and hunted for an available frequency to call CQ POTA. It was not easy and only after trying three different frequencies, the first two gaining QRM after I had been on them for 15 minutes, did I get some calls and was in the end able to have 11 in the log.

Photos:

Equipment taken:

• Xiegu G-90 radio.
• Komunica Power HF-PRO2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna.
• OPEK single-magnet car roof antenna mount.
• 4 Ah LifePO4 battery.
• 2Ah Eremit LifePO4 battery (not used).
• Super small headphones.
• Smartphone for spotting.

Log:

POTA DE-0663

Conclusions:

The fact that the VK stations came though about an hour earlier than expected, indicates that the Ionosphere has switched into “Spring-mode” and these early morning contacts should continue to be possible – probably still once I am in Cyprus for my holiday in a few weeks. The equipment now seems to be behaving itself again, which is a relief.

73 ’til the next activation!