February 10th, 2024. For my DA20XOTA award I still had to activate the Allgäu region. It's a long drive from my QTH so the plan was to maximize the yield and fun factor. I'll probably never be a big friend of COTA. There are so many little things that make it hard to like the program. But when it comes to double activation, especially in combination with SOTA, I'm on board in a heartbeat. The Falkenstein castle and mountain offered an ideal place for a winter weekend activity with DA20XOTA.
The ruins of the hilltop castle, DL-02496 are located on the Falkenstein, DL/AL-167 (1268m) in the Falkenstein ridge near Pfronten in the Allgäu. This place is very popular and often visited. The hike is easy and not worth mentioning. To avoid the crowds of tourists, I set up my tiny radio station in the immediate vicinity of the castle around 10 a.m. With the Chinese USDX-SDR I made just over 100 QSOs in just two hours of operation. A quick 10m run resulted in two QSOs with UA. The 30m band was the winner. At midday the observation deck was filling up with curious visitors, it was the right time to go. The WX was good enough to continue with the planned tour.
The next jump was to the Salober, DL/AL-287, where I spent some more time CQing on 10m, and as a result, a mix of 15 QSOs with UA, UR and DX from NA was logged. The 10m band wasn't efficient in terms of QSO rate, but it was fun to work NA in the late afternoon with 4W and a piece of wire. A total of 65 QSOs were logged on the Salober. I could definitely spend more time playing with the radio there, but I wanted to enjoy the alpine beauty and atmosphere for a while.
The Chinese made USDX-SDR is still in its infancy, dealing with pileups and crowded bands is possible, but not easy. The intermodulation performance appears to be poor, I had some issues with distorted SSB reception, particularly on the crowded 40m band. The AGC is too slow, the signs on 10m popped up slowly like ghosts from nowhere. The rig certainly has some teething problems, and you need some experience to deal with them. However, it's a small all-mode adventure radio that's good enough for a SOTA activation, even in SSB mode. Let's see if I have time to write an extended review a little later.
On the way home I quickly checked in at the Eisenberg, DL/AL-171 with 18 CW QSOs on 30/40m. Unfortunately I didn't have much time for a longer run. It's a beautiful place, I'll definitely come here again.
What was the spoils of the day?
- 187 QSOs, 17 QSOs on 10m, DX was NA on 10/20m in CW
- 3x SOTA uniques, 19 SOTA points
- 1x COTA with DA20XOTA
Tnx es 73, 11 de Dzianis, DD1LD
