Tag Archives: POTA DE-0595 SüdOstBayern Jakobsweg

DD5LP/P – November 18th 2025 – Activation of 2-fer POTA – DE-0979 OberesIsartal FF reserve and DE-0595 Südostbayern Jakobsweb

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Preparation:

This was another “fill-in” activation after dropping my wife off. I had a little more time for this one, but with radio conditions not having been very good for a couple of days, my expectations were not high.

As usual, all radio gear was put ready in the car for this PLOTA.

The Activation

POTA DE-0595 / DE-0979

After driving about 35 minutes along some roads varying in quality (Google Maps insists on taking the shortest route, without considering a slightly longer route on larger roads might be the choice the driver would prefer…) I arrived at the parking area, which I had searched out a couple of days earlier, nicely in the Oberes Isartal park, that I had not activated previously, at a spot where the South East Bavaria portion of the Jakobsweg passed through, so this was a nice “2-fer” for POTA hunters.

Set up time was short as usual, and as this was fairly early in the day, although 20 metres was a little noisy, the band was open to VK with a couple of the well-known “nets” coming in strongly. This activation consisted of spotting and calling on 20 metres to get some contacts from all around Europe, and a search and pounce operation, when I saw that VK2USH was spotted on POTA. It took a lot of calls, but eventually the pile-up quietened down and I got my contact. It’s a shame that POTA Hunters do not have the courtesy to tell the station when another park is calling (something that SOTA chasers do all the time). I guess those in POTA are a different crowd.

Once the calls dried up on 20 metres, I moved to 40 metres, where I also sat calling two French POTA activations for some time before I got those P2P contacts in the log.

Photos:

  • Billboard for rafting on the Isar
  • Park signs
  • Park signs
  • The location.
  • The location.
  • The location.
  • The location.
  • The location.
  • The location.
  • The location.
  • Station.
  • Antenna

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-0595/ DE-0979

Conclusions:

The Park-to-Park contact into NSW, Australia, was the jewel in this activation. I have made Summit-to-summit contacts into VK2 before, but using a better antenna system. I have also worked home and portable (static mobile) stations in several Australian states from POTA activations, but this P2P contact was a nice bonus in this activation.

73 ’til the next activation!

DD5LP/P – November 11th 2025 – Activation of 3-Fer POTA trails – DE-0594, 0595 and 0797 and SOTA DL/AM-001 Hoher Peißenberg.

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Preparation:

After several “PLOTA” activations (operating from within the car), I wanted to get out and do a “proper” activation with my 6m mast, linked dipole, and Xiegu G90 set up. Rather than the “usual” 20m long path to contact Ernie VK3DET in Victoria, Australia, the VOACAP HF page predicted that the Gray Line should be over Europe and at least New Zealand and possibly the east coast of Australia at 0700 UTC (8 am local since we have changed back from summer time in October). The Gray Line (the terminator between night and day – at dawn and dusk) throws a “channel” over different points on the Earth at different times of the year, this is because the Earth’s axis is not straight up and down relative to its orbit around the Sun, but rather at a bit of an angle, so different points on the earth are under the line at different times on different days of the year. November is the month for dawn in Europe to be on the same line with dusk in New Zealand and Australia. I compare the use of the Gray Line terminator to transfer radio signals as being somewhat similar to ducting on VHF in that the signals are carried along the line and, as a result, are generally stronger than if transferred by F-layer skywave propagation bouncing off the Earth and ionosphere. The result is, when it works, it produces stronger signals with lower power. It is very, very rare that Grayline works on bands above 10 MHz, and so it is normally used on 40 and 80m (60m should be fine as well; however, Australia does not have a 60m amateur radio band at the moment).

Everything was packed in the car on Monday evening, so that I could leave early on Tuesday morning without waking anyone.

The Activation

POTA DE-0594 / DE-0595 / DE-0797 SOTA DL/AM-001

I could probably drive the route to this summit with my eyes closed, and on some previous winter mornings in thick freezing fog, I had in fact effectively done that. This time, however, the weather was kind and the trip took around 45 minutes, with some delays caused by school buses as 7 am is the time the children are bused to their schools in Germany, and lots of tradesmen are on their way to their first jobs of the day.

After buying a 3-hour ticket (€2) for the car park (using all of my small change as the card reading device in the parking ticket meter was not working). I headed up to my favourite seat alongside the church, looking out over the valley. I had a bad feeling at this point as it was 0645 UTC and VOACAP had told me that Dawn would be at 0700, but the sun was already over the horizon, meaning I should have been setting up at least 30 minutes earlier. The window of use of Grayline is often an hour at best, and I confirmed after getting on to 40m that I had missed it.

After spotting myself on SOTA and POTA sites, I also sent Ernie VK3DET a message, but he could hear nothing from me. I suspect that even if I had been on time for the Gray Line he may have been too far away from the line at his end and another possibility was that other stronger home stations were blocking my signal as the 40 metre band was packed with SSB stations, A little surprising for so early on a work day, but perhaps they were also looking for Grayline propagation? In any case, after spotting myself, I had to fight to keep my frequency after other QSOs (in at least one case, two other QSOs) started up on the frequency that I was using without checking first that it was free (as I had done). Luckily, many of the calling SOTA Chasers and POTA hunters had strong S9+ signals and crushed the other QSOs. I was amazed how my 20w and low linked-dipole was receiving (true) 59 reports for the majority of my contacts. This certainly proved that the 40m portable set-up still works very well! The pile-up only paused a couple of times, and I got 41 contacts in the log in just over 45 minutes. Once the contacts finally dried up, I considered trying 20m despite the threat of incoming CMEs but decided, rather, to call it a day and head home to the warm, happy that even if I was too late for the Grayline propagation, the equipment is still working very well.

Photos:

  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • View around the site.
  • The Church.
  • The Church.
  • The Church.
  • Station.

Equipment taken:

  • Xiegu G-90 radio.
  • Linked Dipole antenna.
  • 6m lambdahalbe mast.
  • 8 Ah LifePO4 battery.
  • 2 x 4Ah Eremit LifePO4 batteries (backup not used).
  • Lightweight headphones.
  • Smartphone for spotting.

Log:

POTA DE-0594 / DE-0595 / DE-0797

SOTA DL/AM-001

Conclusions:

The activation was a failure as regards Grayline; however, I know that at the right time on the right day, this can bring good results, so hopefully, I will get out again this month to prove that contacts via Grayline are still very possible. The equipment is certainly still working very well.

73 ’til the next activation!

DD5LP/P – September 19th 2025 – Activation of 2-Fer POTA – DE-1059 Ammer von Alpenrand bis zum NSG & DE-0595 SüdOstBayern Jakobsweg.

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Preparation:

DE-1059 was another new POTA park added from the WWFF scheme (I believe), and I wanted to get my name on it as the “First activator” (#36 for me). As my wife had an appointment in Weilheim, I was able to find a spot where the POTA trail DE-0595 (that I had already activated as part of a 3fer earlier) crossed this park, right on the River Ammer. The wife’s appointment in Weilheim was at 8 am, so this meant I should arrive at my spot (a 10-15 minute drive south) in time for some long path DX into VK if propagation was favourable.

Again, given the limited time available, this would again be a “PLOTA” operating from the car. So the same radio gear as used for the last activations was packed into the car, ready to operate, the day before. There was one change, however, in that the horrible, faulty crimped PL259 plug on the coax to the 3-magnet antenna mount had now been replaced by a “real” soldered-on PL259. I also packed a backup single magnet mount.

The Activation

POTA DE-1059 / DE-0595

After dropping off my wife in Weilheim, the drive to the location was uneventful. The ideal (concreted) parking area was closed as road workers were using it to park their large machines. I had already seen a warning about this on Google Maps and found another, hidden-away parking area at the start of a trail where the locals take their dogs for a walk at the other side of the river and directly (as you will see from the pictures) on the trail. When I arrived, it was empty so I parked long-ways so that the vertical antenna would be clear of the trees. When I left, the spot was full with three other cars that I hadn’t heard while I was operating with my headphones on.

The activation itself was interrupted by a phone call, which lasted over half an hour, so I was a little rushed to get the needed 10 contacts to qualify the park and trail.

Conditions were not as good as I had hoped, and after fighting for contacts on 20 metres (albeit including 2 into VK), I moved to 40 metres to get the needed extra contacts as the time approached when I was to pick up the wife and drive another 1,5 hours to visit a friend in hospital.

I tried many times for a park-to-park with a VK4 station, operating from a beach in a park in VK2, but the pile-up was terrible – had I got enough attention, we could have made the contact. In POTA “Park-to-Park” doesn’t have the priority that “Summit-to-Summit” has in SOTA, where another chaser that hears you trying to get through will normally tell the other summit station to listen for you. The POTA hunter community seem to be more self-self-self. A real shame.

Photos:

  • Station
  • View around site
  • View around site
  • Trail signs
  • View around site
  • View around site
  • View around site
  • Antenna

Equipment taken:

  • Xiegu G-90 radio.
  • Komunica Power HF-PRO2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna.
  • 3-magnet car roof mount.
  • 8 Ah LifePO4 battery.
  • 2 x 4Ah Eremit LifePO4 batteries (one used).
  • Lightweight headphones.
  • Smartphone for spotting.

Log:

POTA DE-1059 / DE-0595

Conclusions:

it seems that I have found and fixed the antenna connector problem from the last activation. Given the relatively poor conditions, I think the work of those two VK operators speaks a lot for their efforts. I would have loved to make the DL-VK Park-to-Park contact, but thanks to the POTA Hunters, that was not possible.

73 ’til the next activation!

DD5LP/P – June 11th 2025 – Activation of 3-Fer POTA trails – DE-0594, 0595 and 0797 and SOTA DL/AM-001 Hoher Peißenberg.

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Preparation:

After several “PLOTA” activations (operating from within the car), I wanted to get out and do a “proper” activation with my 6m mast, linked dipole, and Xiegu G90 set up. As Ernie VK3DET, Mike 2E0YYY/P, Jon VK7JON/M, Helen VK7XYL/M and John VK7MD/M were planning to be on the band, this seemed to be an ideal opportunity to get back “into the field”.

As the Long Path on 20 metres has been opening around 7:30-8:00 am local time recently, this would be an early start with the alarm set for 6:15 am. The location needed to be a simple one to get to one and while I considered a HEMA/POTA location, when I realised that these three POTA trails go over the top of the SOTA DL/AM-001 summit, and this one-pointer is a drive-up, it won the choice.

Everything was packed in the car on Tuesday evening, so that I could leave early on Wednesday without waking anyone.

The Activation

POTA DE-0594 / DE-0595 / DE-0797 SOTA DL/AM-001

I could probably drive the route to this summit with my eyes closed, and on some previous winter mornings in thick freezing fog, I had in fact effectively done that. This time, however, the weather was kind (if still cold) and the trip took around 45 minutes. After buying a 3-hour ticket (€2) for the car park (it used to be free, but like many well-visited locations, someone decided they could make more money out of tourists). I headed up to my favourite seat alongside the church, looking out over the valley, on a very misty morning.

I had arranged a sked with Ernie VK3DET and Mike, and contacted them just as Ernie was finishing with Mike and packing up. I was told that Jon VK7JON/M/M, Helen VK7XYL/M and John VK7MD/M had all cancelled because of bad weather in Tasmania.

Never mind, for once, the terrestrial weather with me was good, indeed, even warm!

I set up the linked dipole set to 20 metres in my usual position and took a listen around the band. I could hear Mike 2E0YYY/P and Dave G4AKC/BM, but very little else on the band. Conditions were going to be a challenge. Ernie had just finished working Mike; however, I could hear nothing of Ernie. There was, however, another station, VK3USA, who joined Dave’s groups, and after Mike, I tried, but although we got reports across, I would not call it a real contact. The additional 10 dB loss from the UK to Southern Bavaria of the last hop, combined with my reduced power compared to Mike’s, was simply too much for a true contact to be possible.

I spotted myself separately for SOTA and POTA and had two different sessions for each award scheme, but at the end of the day, contacts were hard to get in the log with the radio conditions, the way they were.

Overall, the activation (my first SOTA of the year and first outside POTA (i.e. not PLOTA) was a success, as all the equipment worked as it should, and I got to sit out in the sunshine for 90 minutes before it started to get more crowded, and I decided to call it a day.

Photos:

  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View around Summit
  • View arView around Summitound Summit
  • View around Summit
  • Antenna
  • Station

Equipment taken:

  • Xiegu G-90 radio.
  • Linked Dipole antenna.
  • 6m lambdahalbe mast.
  • 8 Ah LifePO4 battery.
  • 2 x 4Ah Eremit LifePO4 batteries (backup not used).
  • Lightweight headphones.
  • Smartphone for spotting.

Log:

POTA DE-0594 / DE-0595 / DE-0797 SOTA DL/AM-001

Contacts Map Activation Log

Conclusions:

The activation was worthwhile to test out the equipment, even if the radio contacts were not all that they could have been. I hope the fine weather continues, and I’ll be heading to some more HEMA or SOTA summits in the next few weeks.

73 ’til the next activation!

DD5LP/P – January 27th 2025 – Activation of POTA DE-0594 Münchner Jakobsweg, DE-0595 SüdostBayen Jakobsweg & DE-0797 König Ludwig Weg (3-Fer).

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Preparation:

Following along from my POTA 3-Fer (which I didn’t realise was a 3-Fer until afterwards) on January 14th, I started checking where multiple POTA entities (parks or trails) crossed or ran together. These spots often seemed to be where large churches with a hostelry were (I guess pilgrims do need sustenance after a day’s walking). A great help in doing this is a website called pota-map-info which maps out the POTA trails and parks (and also SOTA summits) for the German-speaking countries in Europe. This must have been a major undertaking as getting the exact routes of trails and boundaries of parks in a digital mapping format from many different sources is very difficult.

Thanks to this great resource, I was able to quickly see that three trails converged on what is also a SOTA summit (DL/AM-001) at Hoher Peißenberg. In the summer, this could therefore be a good choice for a combined SOTA/POTA activation however in pouring rain/sleet, the attraction to operate from within my car (which in POTA is allowed but not in SOTA) was too great. as a second purpose for this activation was the chance to test out my recently completed portable amplifier box. Normally I operate just 20 watts of SSB from my Xiegu G90 radio but there are times when a little more (such as during the international Lighthouse and Lightship weekend) when closer to 100 watts would be useful. The “pelican-like” plastic case, not only holds the converted Chinese 20-30MHz amplifier but also a band-switchable Low Pass Filter and an Antenna matching unit – the well-known ATU-100. To power all this the case has a 12 AmpHour LifePO4 battery strapped into it and this also provides the power for whichever radio I decide to use with it, whether the G106, G90 or X6200 – all have the needed 5 watts drive to produce at least 60 watts output from the box (more on some bands). This box had been tested in the cellar into a dummy load but not yet in a real activation.

    Following the same process used on recent POTA car activations, the radio gear was set up in the car ready for use, the previous day, even down to the three-magnet base being put on the car rook (but without the HF-PRO2-PLUS-T attached, so that all would be ready for an early (8 am local time, 07:00 UTC) start the following day. As usual, Ernie VK3DET had promised to listen out for me however I expected him to be one of my later contacts as the long path on the 20 metre band to Australia had only been opening around 09:00 UTC of late.  

The Activation

POTA DE-0594 & DE-0595 & DE-0797

After an uneventful drive down to Hoher Pießenberg (a run I have made, many, many times in the past), I was happy to find the car park almost empty and drove over to the parking fee machine and emptied 10 cents coin by 10 cents coin, my weighty and unwanted small change into the machine to pay the €2 fee for up to 3 hours parking.

This summit/site has the luxury of having a publically accessible toilet house where I also left some more of my unwanted small change (this time as a contribution, there is no fee for usage).

With the car now parked looking over the rolling meadows behind the church and looking towards the Ammer Lake, I took the pre-set antenna out of the back seat of the car and extended its telescopic whip to maximum length.

I powered on the new portable amplifier box, ran the ATU, found a free frequency, posted a spot on the POTA site and sent Ernie a message informing him that I was set up and running and would you know it, my first contact was with Ernie VK3DET in Victoria, Australia at 0750 UTC about an hour earlier than expected. He simply returned to my first CQ call as if I was just down the road! He was also working “barefoot” without his amplifier and this was an easy contact and nice to have him first in the log. A few more CQ calls and I slowly got up and past the required 10 contacts for a POTA activation (finishing with 14). There was no real pile-up this time, just hunters getting on and calling me when they saw the POTA spot. Contacts came in from all directions around Europe as you will see from the map and log below.

There were no calls from the US although my signal would be passing over the southern part of the US to get to Australia but looking at the clock difference, there’s an obvious reason why I got no calls from the US – they would all be in bed sleeping!

While there were no park-to-park contacts on this activation, several of the hunters were very happy to hear that they had scored 3 POTA contacts in one.    

Photos:

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Equipment taken:

  • Xiegu G-90 radio.
  • Portable amplifier box
  • 6-metre mast and linked dipole (not used).
  • Komunica Power HF-PRO2-PLUS-T loaded vertical antenna.
  • Three magnets, car roof antenna mount.
  • 12 Ah LifePO4 battery (in portable amplifier box).
  • 2 Ah Eremit LifePO4 battery (not used).
  • Plastic painter’s sheet and seat pad (not used).
  • Lightweight headphones.
  • Smartphone for spotting.

Log (same for all three POTA entities):

DE-0594 Münchner Jakobsweg, DE-0595 SüdostBayerischer Jakobsweg & DE-0797 König Ludwigs Weg

Conclusions:

  • The Portable amplifier worked perfectly, signal reports were higher than usual and no problems (such as RF Ingres) were reported.
  • A contact between DL and VK3 at 07:50 UTC on 20m SSB was a surprise and just goes to show that you can’t trust propagation to behave as you expect and the only option is to get out and try!
  • The pota-map.info site is just what I bemoaned the lack of in my last but one activation report. Thanks to Rob DM1CM for pointing me to this great resource. It’s a shame that it only covers Germany, Switzerland, Lichtenstein and Austria but for me it’s ideal!

73 ’til the next activation!