Preparation:

Having seen that I had been awarded the Rover Warthog (5 parks in a day) award for my activations 3 months ago, I started looking into the Rover Awards. Given that they also work with locations that are in multiple POTA entities, getting to the next (Rhino – 10 parks in a day) should also be possible. For that attempt (using the fewest “PLOTA” stops), I need POTA sites with multiple codes. Looking at the maps for Bavaria, I found two spots near the village of Rottenbuch that have FIVE POTA entities in one spot. As I had not activated in Rottenbuch before (but driven through it many, many times to HEMA and SOTA activations), this activation was to be a test for a later attempt to get the Rhino, and possibly even higher Rover awards. As the forecast said that Tuesday morning, at least, was going to be dry, I decided on May 19th and as usual, loaded the radio gear into the car for an early start.

The Activation

POTA DE-0594 Münchner Jakobsweg DE-0641 Via Romea NHT DE-0797 KönigLudwigweg DE-0968 Romantische Straße DE-1059 Ammer von Alpenrand zum Vogelfrei Ammersee Südufer

The 40-minute drive down started earlier than planned, as I was ready and the weather was fine. I had programmed both possible locations into Google Maps, and when we approached Rottenbuch, before entering the village, the GPS navi told me to turn off the main road. I thought I must have selected the wrong option, as indeed one option was in that direction. I carried on along the route I had seen on the map. My first possible location was near the sewage works, behind the town hall. When I got to what I expected to be a drivable track, it turned out to be a pedestrian/cycle way and had been changed to this sometime, many years ago. It would, of course, have been possible to park in the village square and walk into the spot with my portable radio gear, but rather than do that, I decided to check out my second PLOTA spot, which indeed took me down the road on the outskirts of the village that the GPS had chosen previously. Off this road is a track to the sewage works from the other side. Continuing on to the second location (driving around pot holes on a road that was only wide enough for one car, but was a proper tarmacced road, I eventually found somewhere to park, next to a holy cross and direction signs for the various tracks. So that is where I parked.

I had intended to start on 20 metres as usual; however, when I turned the radio on, it was still on 40 metres from the last activation, and there was a strong signal from an IOTA station. I re-adjusted the antenna for 40m and called and worked them. Rather than switch then to 20 metres, I had a tune around and found a nice band with not too much atmospheric or man-made noise. Having spotted myself on the POTA cluster, I received 11 calls in 12 minutes. Once the calls dried up, I decided to go back to 20 metres, but got no calls on that band. That is despite hearing several VK stations easily and one HS0 (Thailand) station. Before packing up, I found and worked a Youth Sports special event station, TC19TC from Turkey.

Photos:

Equipment taken:

• Xiegu G-90 radio.
• Komunica Power HF-PRO2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna.
• 3-magnet car roof mount and single magnet mount (single not used).
• 8 Ah LifePO4 battery.
• 2 x 4Ah Eremit LifePO4 batteries (not used).
• Lightweight headphones.
• Smartphone for spotting.

Log:

POTA DE-0594/DE-0641/DE-0797/DE-0968/DE-1059

Conclusions:

This was a successful activation and a lovely RF quiet location. Setting up, operating, and shutting down from the PLOTA configuration makes it ideal as part of my “RHINO” attempt. All equipment worked well. Next time, I may check out the other location (same park and trails) for comparison.

73 ’til the next activation!