Preparation:

With HF band conditions being the worst in over 20 years the previous weekend, this activation was never going to fill several pages of the log book or deliver any “Special DX”.

Despite that, there was a break in the Terrestrial weather before the returning storms, so I decided I would activate “somewhere” on the 16th of May. As Mike 2E0YYY announced he planned to head out to Mow Cop (HEMA summit G/HSP-020) I decided to head also to a local HEMA summit with enough room for the wire beam, which I am still “fine-tuning”.

Despite the fact that I have already activated Rösenau Kreuz in February, I chose that summit as I know it, it’s about a 40-minute drive from home and normally I am not disturbed while operating there.

So the plan was to take the HF wire beam, but this time with its linked elements rather than the trapped ones, as Mike wanted to try out some of the higher HF bands and 10m was unlikely to be open (which turned out to be true).

Along with the wire beam antenna, I would also take the antenna analyser (with its new set of batteries) so that I could check each of the bands on it, before attaching it to the radio, which, as usual, would be the Xiegu G90.

Ernie (VK3DET) had said that long path propagation had been happening at around 0630 UTC – so planning for that I set my alarm for 6 am local time expecting to leave at 7 am at the latest. All radio gear was stood read in the hallway.

The Activation

DL/HBY-040 Rösenau Kreuz

I awoke before the alarm and was able to leave home at 6:30 am local time. The extra 30 minutes were useful as I had to get petrol at the local garage.

The run down was uneventful and I was on the summit with a heavily loaded rucksack by 7:30 am. I had everything set up for 20 metres by 7:50 but Ernie and Mike had already moved to the higher bands, so I spotted myself and called CQ HEMA on and off for over 10 minutes with absolutely no callers, I decided to try to catch the other two, who were now on 15m. I could not hear Mike in the UK but I managed a 3-3 contact with Ernie  VK3DET.

Following 15m, 17m was tried and with Mike’s help, I managed contacts with two more Australian stations on 17m. We then went and tried 10 & 12m – both were completely dead. Mike and I eventually managed a 3-3 both-ways contact on 20m – a “HEMA-to-HEMA” contact as Mike was on the HEMA G/HSP-020 summit.

The thought was it would be a while before 10 metres opened up, so I suggested I would go to 40 metres after taking down the beam and putting up the linked dipole.

This brought its own problem, in that the T-Piece on my linked dipole normally slots over a much thinner fibreglass mast and the top section of this mast, which I have removed. So as always, we found a way and the T-piece got taped onto the mast using electrician’s tape.

Once the 40m antenna was up, I was able to make a far easier contact with Mike 2E0YYY and went on to get three more contacts on 40 metres but then again, the band started to get noisy and I was not getting any more calls.

As it was still cold, rather than continuing on, I decided to pack up and head home, which as it turned out was a good idea, as, just as I was leaving, the farmer arrived to cut the grass for hay.

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

Photos:

DL/HBY-040 Rösenau Kreuz:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Equipment taken:

• Mountaintop travelling 40-litre rucksack.
• Xiegu G90 radio.
• Sun umbrella screw-in base support.
• 7 metre fibreglass mast.
• HF 2-element wire beam (with linked elements covering 20, 17, 15, 12 & 10m and remote (ISM) switching box).
• RigExpert AA-30 Antenna Analyser.
• Komunica Power HF-Pro2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna and tripod (not used)
• 40 metre linked dipole.
• 4 Ah Eremit LifePO4 battery.
• 4 Ah LiHV battery (not used).
• Painter’s thick plastic sheet.
• Gardener’s kneeling pad.
• Lightweight headphones.
• Smartphone for spotting.

Log:

DL/HBY-040 Rösenau Kreuz

Conclusions:

• The bands were still in a mess. There was no longer a complete HF blackout but the bands were not as good as they were 2 weeks earlier.

• The need to lower the mast to switch bands (by closing or opening links) is inconvenient however it does work when care is taken to have all four wires set the same.

• Some of the elements probably need a little adjustment for best performance but checking with the analyser all were “near enough” for any mismatch to be compensated for by the ATU in the radio.

• The control (direction switching system) box works reliably when a direction change is requested using the 4-button key fob, the switching is taking place correctly and can be heard on the radio.

73 ’til the next summit.

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:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

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.

Preparation:

As the weather here, at last, has changed from being cold and wet, to being sunny and dry and “not cold”, I decided to test the radio pack out before my planned trip to Austria in a few weeks’ time.

Rösenau Kreuz is my closest “HEMA only” summit. The high point on the small plateau does not have its own summit name (Schwalbenstein is not far away but is lower than this actual summit), so it is named after the very small metal cross on a concrete base by the track in the forest on the actual summit.

As I wanted to try for a contact with Ernie VK3DET in Australia and the Long path window appears to be getting earlier, this would be an early start so the alarm was set for 6 am and the larger rucksack put ready with the ground stake on Monday.

Rösenau Kreuz, there is a short but steep walk up a forest track to get to the summit plateau, so the weight – probably about 16 kilos of larger rucksack should be OK. In the rucksack are two 6m masts, the G90 radio, its LifePO4 and LiHV batteries, the linked-dipole, the off-centre-fed dipole and “just in case” the Komunica Power HF-Pro antenna and its tripod and radial wires. Oh and of course also, my pack-up and water bottle.

The band conditions on 20m haven’t been great for a while, so I planned to operate on 20m and 40m to make sure I get the minimum 4 contacts to qualify the summit.

Röseau Kreuz – HEMA DL/HBY-040.

Tuesday morning was dry and the sun was out but it was still quite cold at 7 am when I left home.

The drive down was uneventful and I was parked at my usual spot by the cross for St Ursula facing the walk up the track to the summit. Once unpacked I started on the trail, which passes two further religious wooden crosses.

On arrival at the spot which I found the last time I was up here (basically, turn sharp right at the Rösenau Kreuz and head through the forest and out onto the grassed area), I was surprised to find I was waist-high in the grass, given that most farmers in the area have already cut all their fodder and stored it away, this farmer seems to be a bit behind schedule, so I was hoping he didn’t decide this morning would be a good opportunity to mow the top paddock!

At least it was not waterlogged as it has been in the past.

Setting up the mast (N-S to give the best E-W radiation for long- or short-path to Australia) and the radio gear on my painter’s plastic sheet went without a problem and I sent Ernie a message via Signal. A few minutes later I could hear Ernie’s voice. Not as strong as usual but workable and he managed to pull me out of the noise at his end as well, so that was the first contact in the log. Later when Ernie was working Dave G4AKB/PM in Blackpool, he was 1 or 2 S-points stronger, so I think I may have been out a little too early.

Despite spotting myself on the HEMA cluster and Ernie and Mike spotting me on the DX Cluster and on the HEMA Facebook group, It took ages to get any callers. There was of course the usual spaltter from stations 1,2 or 3 kHz off frequency who simply ignore any low-power stations calling nearby. I think I may have someone deliberately jamming me, based on my spots on the HEMA website as a repeated on-off carrier appeared each time on my frequency as soon as I spotted on HEMA.

As well as the nice contact with Ernie, I also was called by Don G0RQL on 20m and worked one Czech Republic station and two Austrian stations on 40m. Interestingly the two Austrian stations were not far away from where I am going on holiday.

In all a good activation but a little disappointing with the number of chasers but HEMA is not nearly as large as SOTA is and I suspect most were still in bed! We’ll see if an afternoon activation is more to their liking on Thursday.

 Photos:

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Equipment used:

• Mountaintop travelling 40-litre rucksack.
• Xiegu G90.
• Komunica Power HF-Pro2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna. (not used)
• Modified mini photo tripod with clip-on radials (not used)
• Diamond RHM8B loaded vertical and tripod (not used)
• Aerial-59 404-UL 40m OCF dipole. (not used)
• Lamdahalbe 6m mini-mast (x2 – one spare).
• Screw-in sun umbrella support.
• SotaBeams linked dipole.
• 4000maH LiHV battery (not used).
• 4 Ah LifePO4 Eremit battery.
• Painter’s thick plastic sheet.
• Lightweight headphones.
• Smartphone to spot and back-channel comms. 

Log:

Rösenau Kreuz

HEMA DL/HBY-040

Conclusions:

• Band conditions at the time of this activation were not brilliant and I was a little early for the Long path to Australia but it’s always good to get through to Ernie in Victoria. Attracting chasers for a HEMA summit is a difficult task. 
• The combination of the Xiegu G90 with its 20 watts and the linked dipole even with the small (effectively 5m high) pole continues to work very well. The radio did sound a little quiet when I first turned it on, so I may need to do a factory reset of its settings before the next activation. 

73 ’til the next summit.