Project 2024: The Island of Pag is more than IOTA - Summary

May 18th - June 1st, 2024. The island of Pag is a great place to spend your holydays getting to know and try new things. It is the fifth largest island on the Croatian coast with a rich history and cultural heritage. We have really enjoyed everything, and we had a great time. I think two weeks is fine for a stay, but a week longer would have been better in my opinion. The island offers many opportunities for outdoor amateur radio activities and is a lot of fun. You can easily combine your XOTA activities and expeditions with exploring the island by bike, walking and hiking, canoeing, boating and swimming in the sea, sightseeing and spending great time with family and friends.   

Welcome to the island of Pag by a local reception committee. Hello?! QRZ? 😄

Unfortunately, I had to drop some activations due to very weak propagation conditions and radio blackouts, where some activations like WWFF and COTA (requiring 44 and 50 QSOs respectively) would have been a tough job, or even wouldn’t have been successful at all, especially with QRP. Under such conditions an activation in the GMA style (where a minimum of 4 QSOs is required) is a nice opportunity to collect your new XOTA references for the GMA triathlon and boost your score. However, you may not be completely satisfied with such an activation because you will be missing the majority of your known and loyal chasers, and you will not qualify these activations for the WWFF and COTA programs. A SOTA and/or GMA activation requiring only 4 QSOs to quality and get the points was an easy job, although I always tried to get more QSOs. Depending on the actual propagation conditions I had to be very flexible and decide spontaneously whether I wanted to risk an activation or whether I would rather spend time with family and friends. My wrong decision could have resulted in me being on the air for 5 hours just to collect 50 QSOs or less, as it was the case with the activation of 9AFF-0073. It was quite difficult to plan ahead, so when in doubt I decided to stay with family. All in all, I was quite satisfied with my 13 XOTA activations and 400 QRP QSOs made with 4W. Of course, I tried to activate GoGreen as often as possible. Let me start wrapping up with my main interests – SOTA and WWFF.    

SOTA. There are three easy-accessible one-pointers on the island: 9A/PH-052, Sveti Vid; 9A/PH-057, Veli Brig; 9A/PH-060, Panos. I activated them all. For SOTA point collectors, the island of Pag is not the best place, they go elsewhere. I got three uniques credited to my SOTA account, each worth one point. Not much, however, they all offer great views over the island and are worth a visit.  

WWFF. There are five valid WWFF references: 9AFF-0138, Zrce; 9AFF-0073, Kolanjsko blato; 9AFF-0023, Lun; 9AFF-0075, Rezervat Dubrava – Hanzina; 9AFF-0074, Veliko i Malo Blato. I was only able to successfully activate three of them (marked in bold), and by more than 50 QSOs. The activation of 9AFF-0073 was lengthy and tough due to an unexpected radio blackout. I planned a GoGreen activation of 9AFF-0075 a couple of times but ended up missing that activation even though it was relatively close to our QTH because the propagation conditions were very poor over the last days. 

GMA. I added and activated two new references 9A0/PH-001, Velo Tusto Celo and 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica. It was probably the first historical GMA activation in 9A ever. Both are striking mountains and worthwhile destinations (see my activation reports in May). The nice thing about the GMA program is that you can choose your favorite mountain on the island, add a new reference to the database yourself and activate it as often as you like. So I did it and chose the places I wanted to visit. The GMA expeditions were a nice addition to my cycling and hiking tours. Nothing more and nothing less. The island's mountains are low and, similar to SOTA, you don't get many points for. It’s about exploring the island and having some fun with your radio! 

COTA. There are two current references: 9A-0184, Ruin Fortica and 9A-0264, Knezev Dvor. There could be more, however, it looks like there is no official WCA/COTA Croatia group taking care about. Since I have become an opportunistic WCA/COTA participant, the very quick activation of Knezev Dvor took place in the GMA style during our visit to the town of Pag. I needed at least one more COTA activation for the GMA Triathlon Award 2024 in Gold and did not want to miss the chance 😉. 

IOTA & WLOTA. It’s a sweet combo. Each QSO out of a total of 400 made on the island counts not only for IOTA, EU-170, but also for WLOTA, LH-1796. Because WLOTA rule 2.1.1 states: “It is not necessary to be near the lighthouse but only in the same island as the lighthouse.” Well, whether this rule makes sense or not would be another debate. The demand for IOTA and WLOTA seemed to be rather low, especially compared to WWFF.

ARLHS. There are two references on the island - CRO-055, Zigljen and CRO-092, Mandre. I have never participated in ARLHS activities before. It's not my thing at all, but I activated them both. What? 😱 Yes, and do you want to know why? My youngest is fascinated by lighthouses and my oldest by FT-8 😂. Just simple like that plus poor propagation. The activations were short and purely technical in nature in the GMA style, as required for the GMA triathlon. Nothing more and nothing less. The criteria for selecting references in the ARLHS and WLOTA programs are not clear to me, there are many more interesting and attractive lighthouses on the island. And I have no idea how much demand there is for lighthouse references.

POTA. POTA is not there yet because there is no interest and no demand yet. But honestly, I am a very opportunistic POTA participant who is watching the future development of the program. And POTA is not eligible for GMA (yet?). 

BOTA. Although the island is one of those with the longest coastline and there are many beautiful hidden beaches, I had and have no interest. I only care whether it's about Beers On The Air 🍺😉😄.

My two favorite award programs – SOTA and WWFF – are the most popular outdoor amateur radio programs in 9A. The number of SOTA references is limited to three according to the summit definition per P150, whereas GMA is offering more options for mountain amateur radio enthusiasts. WWFF is a lot of fun, the local and international community is much bigger than in SOTA and GMA combined. And maybe there will be some new WWFF references on the island in the future.

National 9A SOTA and WWFF awards are a nice bonus and a good way to remember all the activities. Tnx to the 9A SOTA and 9AFF clubs and enthusiasts!

GoGreen XOTA. The island of Pag is a perfect place for cyclists and hikers of all ages and skill levels and therefore for GoGreen activities. This is where GoGreen XOTA is fun, especially when the propagation conditions are right, since every QSO counts. Each time you activate GoGreen your GoGreen points will be multiplied by at least a factor of three due to the EU-170 and LH-1796 cross references. 

You should try GoGreen by bike when you visit this island! It's really fun! 

Click on the logo to read more about GoGreen XOTA.

My personal highlights 👍 were: 

• GoGreen expeditions to 9A/PH-060, Panos and 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica. I was rewarded with great views, lonely moon-like landscapes and solitude. It is probably the most beautiful corner on the island.
• GoGreen activation of 9A0/PH-001, Velo Tusto Celo. I will always remember a mini pile-up at sunset close to the Pag Triangle, where in Croatia you can, with a bit of luck, observe UFOs 🌌😉.  I wasn't so lucky to encounter UFOs or aliens, but, given the weak propagation, I was lucky enough to enjoy each of the 70 QRP QSOs in CW in absolute solitude just before dinner.
• Exploring wonderful and weird moon-like landscapes, and discovering nice hidden beaches.
• Enjoying the food & wine and having a great time with family and friends!

And lowlights 👎 were:

• Radio blackouts and poor propagation conditions under which QRP is no longer fun.  A small team from the Croatian 9AFF club organized a WWFF expedition to the island of Pag from May 11th to 15th, just a few days before our arrival. The team had to contend with severe blackouts in radio waves propagation, and for this reason, some activations were cancelled and postponed. Their brief report is available HERE on the 9AFF site.   
• Missed [GoGreen] activations of 9AFF-0075, Rezervat Dubrava – Hanzina and 9AFF-0074, Veliko i Malo Blato. For me it would have been two new ones. 9AFF-0075 in particular would have been a nice GoGreen ride along the coast.
• There are a few more interesting and potential GMA spots that I wanted to go to but gave up due to lack of time.
• Long travel times and stress, road constructions and traffic jams, road and tunnel tolls 😠. 

I finally earned the GMA Triathlon Award in Gold in May 2024 👍💪

Do you want to try it too ? 😉🍀

All in all, a great time for the whole family and lots of fun with the outdoor radio! It never gets boring there, on the island of Pag! 

Tnx all es 73, 44, 11, 77 de Dzianis, DD1LD

X-8: 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica

 Dienstag, 28.05.2024

Gestern legte ein leichter geomagnetischer Storm (mit K=4-5) die Bänder still. Ich entschied mich für den Strand mit Familie und Freunden, und es war eine goldrichtige Entscheidung 👍. 

Während meiner Aktivierung von Panos, 9A/PH-060 vorige Woche gefiel mir die Umgebung um Metajna so sehr, dass ich die Gegend etwas weiter östlicher von Panos erkunden wollte. Ob ich meine Wanderung durch die Mondlandschaft auf dem Life on Mars Trail mit einer GMA-Aktivierung kombinieren könnte? Ich schaute mir die topographische Karte von der Gegend genauer an, und legte eine neue GMA-Referenz - 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica, 117m an. Die Prominenz/Schartenhöhe von Vela Glavica dürfte um 100m sein, die Luftlinie zum Panos ist über 2km. Es passte mir. 

Es war eine einsame und wunderschöne Wandertour. Die Bilder unten sagen mehr als Tausend Worte. 

Auf dem Weg zu 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica (im Hintergrund links). 

In der Mitte Paška Vrata / Pager Tor.

Die Aussicht von 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica. Sveti Vid, 9A/PH-052 im Hintergrund. 

Die Aussicht von 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica. Panos, 9A/PH-060 und Teplice (keine Referenz) im Hintergrund. 

Die Ausbreitungsbedingungen auf 40m waren dürftig mit viel QSB. Das 30m Band war komplett zu, das 20m Band war just OK. Das Funken war ein mühsames Unterfangen 😞. Mit viel Zeitaufwand kratze ich 30 QSOs zusammen, mit 50/50 auf 40m und 20m und verabschiedete mich mit QRT und einer gelungenen GMA-Aktivierung. 

Mein Operating Spot auf von 9A0/PH-002, Vela Glavica. 

Es wurde allmählich heiß in der Mittagssonne. Ich stieg runter zum Strand namens Slana und genoss zuerst mal eine Runde Schwimmen im kühlen Wasser. Es tat mir gut bei der Hitze. Am Strand befindet sich ein imposanter 100m langer Klettersteig, der entlang einer Felswand nur 1-2 Meter über dem Meer verläuft. Ich hatte keine Kletterausrüstung mit dabei, konnte aber den Klettersteig nicht auslassen. Es ging auch ohne 😉.  Nach einer kurzen Verschnaufpause ging's dann zügig zurück nach Zubovići . 

  Insgesamt 18 GoGreen Kilometer. Visoka Strana und Panos, 9A/PH-060 im Hintergrund.   

77 de Dzianis, 9A/DD1LD

X-4: 9AFF-0073, Kolanjsko Blato

Freitag, 24.05.2024

Kolanjsko Blato, Kolaner Sumpfgebiet, ist ein ornithologisches Reservat, welches sich durch eine üppige und vielfältige Reptilien-, Fisch- und Vogelwelt auszeichnet. Es hat etwas gedauert, einen geeigneten Betriebsort innerhalb der Grenzen des 9AFF-0073 Naturschutzgebietes zu finden. Ich probierte zuerst mal unten am Sumpf, dann entschied mich doch für einen Platz an der oberen Reservatgrenze, wo ich im Schatten der Bäume meine Station aufbaute. 

GoGreen zum 9AFF-0073, Kolanjsko Blato. Insgesamt 22 Kilometer.

Um 12:00 lokale Zeit ging's endlich in die Luft. Nach einer Stunde wollte ich die Aktivierung abbrechen. Die Ausbreitungsbedingungen waren äußerst schlecht. Nach 45 Minuten standen bloß 24 QSOs im Log. Sehr viel QSB auf 20m, 30m war komplett zu, 40m war sehr schwach. Dann ging's plötzlich nichts mehr. Ich machte zuerst mal eine lange Pause... Ich bräuchte einen neuen Plan. 

Mein Operating Spot innerhalb von 9AFF-0073.  

Eine Riesenschlange schlich an mir lässig vorbei. Die markante Form des Rumpfes und des Kopfes deutete darauf hin, dass es um eine Art Scheltopusik handeln konnte. Der Scheltopusik oder die Panzerschleiche ist eine Echsenart  der Familie der Schleichen. Zwei Meter von meinen Füßen entfernt entdeckte ich eine Griechische Landschildkröte, die ungestört und friedlich saftige Blätter äste.   

Meine reizende Begleitung beim Outdoor-Funken - Griechische Landschildkröte. 

Was soll ich denn tun? Abbrechen und nochmals herkommen? Darauf hatte ich weder Lust noch Zeit. Für eine erfolgreiche Aktivierung bräuchte ich noch mindestens 20 QSOs. Ich griff zum letzten Mittel: manueller FT-8 Betrieb mit Handmikrofon. Es ging zäh auf 14.074, aber es ging wenigstens vorwärts. Nach 18 FT-8 QSOs war auch hier Schluss. Ich versuchte nochmals in CW auf 20m und 30m. Leider vergebens, ich hörte nur Rauschen und Fasanen rufen. Ein letzter Run auf 40m brachte überraschend 14 QSOs ins Log, die Hälfte davon war mit lokalen 9A-Stationen (big tnx). Ich machte QRT. Meine reizende Begleitung, die Schildkröte verabschiedete sich leise, genauso wie sie gekommen war. Es war die höchste Zeit, zurück zu radeln!     

Es waren 56 hart erkämpfte QSOs. Wahrscheinlich werde ich nie ein Freund von FT-8 werden, jedoch hat diese Betriebsart mir dieses Mal eine weitere erfolgreiche Aktivierung ermöglicht. Das manuelle und zeitgenaue Umschalten mit dem Mikrofon machte den FT-8 Betrieb etwas spannender und mehr partizipativ. 

Kolanjsko Blato könnte ein interessantes Ausflugsziel für wahre Naturliebhaber sein. 

77, 44 de Dzianis, 9A/DD1LD

X-3: 9A0/PH-001, Velo Tusto Čelo

Mittwoch, 22.05.2024

Ich hatte einen Platten. Zwei kleine Löcher.  Ein kleiner harter Dorn bohrte sich durch den dicken Reifen in den Schlauch und blieb im Reifen feststecken. Wahrscheinlich von der letzten 9AFF-Aktivierung in Zrće.  Ich musste meine morgendliche SOTA-Tour verschieben, und mich mit allen erdenklichen Reparaturen und Familienaufgaben beschäftigen. 

Am Abend blieb genug Zeit für eine kurze Aktivierung. Ich entschied mich, die allererste GMA-Aktivierung in 9A zu wagen. Ob es gut gehen würde? 

Die Wahl für die Erstaktivierung fiel auf einen Berg namens Velo Tusto Čelo, 190m.  Der Berg erfüllte meine eigenen Kriterien für die Aufnahme in die GMA-Referenzliste. Es ist ein markanter Erhebungspunkt mit einer Schartenhöhe von ca. 100m und einer Dominanz (zu 9A/PH-060) von 8km. In der Nähe befindet sich eine Sehenswürdigkeit Pag Triangle, die jedes Jahr die Scharren an Touristen mystisch anzieht. So verpasste ich dem Berg mit ruhigen Gewissen eine Referenznummer 9A0/PH-001. 

Eine Art Mondlandschaft.

Es gibt einen markierten Pfad zum Pag Triangle, von dort ist es nur ein kurzer Sprung zum markanten Gipfel. Ich genoss die schöne Aussicht, Einsamkeit und Ruhe, warme Sonnenstrahlen, frische Luft und das Funken. In knapp über anderthalb Stunden loggte ich 69 QSOs auf 20/30/40m. Ja, es lief hervorragend, es machte Spaß, ich war sehr zufrieden!  Das Highlight war ein Anruf von HZ1 auf 20m in CW. Ein kleines Pile-Up auf 30m machte Laune. Viele bekannte Rufzeichen und XOTA-Jäger füllten das Logbuch.    

Funkbetrieb von 9A0/PH-001, V. Tusto Čelo.

Ein Stück Geschichte wurde heute geschrieben. Heute fand die erste GMA-Aktivierung in 9A DXCC statt. Der erste Stein wurde gelegt, die Insel hat einige imposante Berge, die keine SOTA Referenz aufweisen jedoch im Rahmen des GMA-Programms aktiviert werden können.  

14 GoGreen Kilometer und viel Natur hautnah. 

Tnx es 77 de Dzianis, 9A/DD1LD

Funkpause auf der Insel Pag

Dienstag, 21.05.2024

Die starken Gewitter bescherten mir heute eine Funkpause...

Unsere QTH in Zubovići auf der EU-170. Heute etwas stürmisch und regnerisch.

73 de Dzianis, 9A/DD1LD

X-2: 9AFF-0138, Zrće

Montag, 20.05.2024

Heute stand das ATNO (All Time New One) Zrće , 9AFF-0138 auf der Aktivitätsliste. Es war eine 8km-lange entspannte Radtour. Ich fand ein nettes schattiges Plätzchen auf dem Zipfel zwischen zwei Stränden und machte es mir gemütlich unter einem Feigenbaum.  Der Betriebsort war genau wie ich es mag - ruhig, abgeschieden, schattig, mit einer interessanten Aussicht. Ob die Funkwellenausbreitungsbedingungen noch stimmen würden? Nein, das taten sie nicht. Ein Einblick in die Bandaktivität ließ alle Hoffnungen verpuffen. Es war ein mühsames Unterfangen, all die QSOs zusammen zu schrubben. In zwei Stunden Betriebszeit standen 68 GoGreen QSOs im Log, davon nur zwei QSOs auf 40m mit den lokalen 9A Stationen. Der Rest war auf 20m und 30m. ODX war 1x NA.

Mein Operating Spot in Zrće.

Immerhin durfte ich die erfolgreiche Erstaktivierung dieses WWFF Gebiets auf mein Konto gutschreiben, und radelte mehr oder weniger zufrieden zurück zur QTH. 16 GoGreen Kilometer waren es heute auf dem Tacho.

Zrće, 9AFF-0138. Pure Einsamkeit.

77, 44 de Dzianis, 9A/ DD1LD

X-1: 9A/PH-060, Panos

Sonntag, 19.05.2024

Ich versuchte es, konnte aber nicht früh aufstehen. War zu müde und wollte ausschlafen. Die lange Fahrt vom Vortag saß noch in den Knochen. 

Nach einem ausgiebigen Frühstück ging's gemütlich per Fahrrad nach Metajna. Vor dort suchte ich meinen eigenen Weg zu Visoka Strana und dann zu Panos, 9A/PH-060. Eine Schlange und eine alte Schildkröte kreuzten meinen Weg nach oben. Ein paar Schafe und eine Menge lästiger Fliegen begleiteten mich bis zum SOTA-Gipfel. Ob die lästigen Fliegen mich in Ruhe funken lassen? Ja, mit dem Wind verschwanden sie allmählich, sodass ich mich voll auf das Funken konzentrieren konnte.  

Atemberaubende Aussicht von Panos 9A/PH-060.

Es war spät, 13:00 lokale Zeit, als ich am Gipfel angekommen war. Zuerst musste ich meine Antenne etwas flicken. Der Betrieb war sehr zäh. Zwei QSOs auf 10m kamen dank des Sporadic-E-Effekts ins Log. Das sonst so ergiebige 40m Band brachte nur ein paar Nahverbindungen. Ich sammelte 30 GoGreen QSOs und machte Schluss. Ich blieb noch eine kurze Weile auf dem Gipfel und genoss die atemberaubende Aussicht und die einzigartige "Mondlandschaft", dann ging's zügig runter. Der GPS-Tracker zeigte 13 GoGreen Kilometer. 

Mein Betriebsort auf Panos, 9A/PH-060.

GoGreen Aktivierung.  

Visoka Strana (keine Referenz), Panos, 9A/PH-060 und Teplice (keine Referenz) links im Hintergrund. 

77 de Dzianis, 9A/DD1LD

Projekt 2024: Eine Insel ist mehr als IOTA

Samstag, 18.05.2024

Die Fahrt war unerwartet lang, sehr lang... Wir sind auf der kroatischen Insel Pag endlich angekommen. 

Das Projekt "eine Insel ist mehr als IOTA" kann starten. Dabei geht es um zahlreiche Outdoor-Amateurfunk-Aktivitäten auf der Insel Pag. Die Insel gehört zur IOTA Gruppe EU-170 und wurde bereits mehrmals aktiviert. Jedoch bietet diese schöne, einer Mondlandschaft ähnliche Insel einiges mehr als eine IOTA Referenz. Das Ziel des Projektes ist so viele wie möglich X-beliebige Referenzen auf der Insel in die Luft zu bringen. Und es sind etliche:

• 1x IOTA (Islands On The Air): EU-170 und 1x IOCA (Islands Of Croatia): CI-082
• 1x WLOTA (World Lighthouse On The Air): LH-1796
• 3x SOTA (Summits On The Air): Sveti Vid 9A/PH-052; Veli brig  9A/PH-057; Panos 9A/PH-060
• 5x WWFF (World Wide Flora and Fauna in Amateur Radio): Zrce 9AFF-0138 ; Kolanjsko blato 9AFF-0073; Lun 9AFF-0023; Veliko i Malo Blato 9AFF-0074, Rezervat Dubrava – Hanzina 9AFF-0074
• 2x COTA (Castles On The Air): Ruine Fortica, 9A-0184;  Knežev Dvor 9A-0264
• 2x ARLHS CRO-055, Žigljen und CRO-092, Mandre
• x GMA (German Mountain Activity): ein Dutzend, noch zu referenzieren mit 9A0/PH-xxx
• 1x POTA: Stara Povljana Natura 2000, HR-0148. 

Wir haben ca. zwei Woche, um diese schöne Insel per Fahrrad zu erkunden und möglichst viele Referenzen GoGreen zu aktivieren. Es bleibt nur zu hoffen, dass das Wetter und die Wellenausbreitung mitspielen. Mal sehen...

WLOTA LH-1796 bei unserer Ankunft mit Fähre. 

73, 77, 44, 11 de Dzianis, 9A/DD1LD

Starting GoGreen Season 2024

The weather on Sunday, March 3rd, 2024 was just beautiful and invited outdoor activities. I spontaneously decided to cycle to my favorite hill Stürzerberg, DA/AV-199, which is now in POTA DE-0570. I spent about two hours in the warm spring sunshine and collected 90 QSOs and GoGreen points. It was late afternoon (~4 p.m. local time) and a little too late for the high bands. Thus, the focus was on 30 and 40m. 

DA20XOTA on air. Operating spot. Just before QRT.

So, all with 5W QRP and 20/30/40 EFHW:

• 20m: 12x CW
• 30m: 50x CW
• 40m:  21x CW + 7x SSB
• 21 countries worked
  

Wow, that was fun! I didn't expect such a good turnout for GMA/POTA 👍. I should have come a little earlier for high bands and stayed a little longer on 40m 😉. The SSB portion could be better, but there was a lot of QRM and splatter.  The nice thing about the GMA program is that you can activate the same local mountain every day and get the credit for it. Next time I would try a run on 10m for sure.  

Big tnx to all chasers es 73 de Dzianis, DD1LD

GoGreen SOTA - Crossing the Benediktenwand

September the 2nd and 3rd, 2023. GoGreen SOTA - Crossing the Benediktenwand in two days.

I've always wanted to do this tour, crossing the Benediktenwand from Lenggries to Kochel. The opportunity didn't come until the beginning of September with the nice weather. I wasn't sure whether I should run a mountain marathon and activate all five SOTA mountains in one day, or whether I should turn it into a pleasure tour. Since it was supposed to be a GoGreen activity, I was slowly leaning towards a longer tour, where I would have enough time for radio. The plan would be to achieve at least 50 QSOs which are equivalent to one GoGreen Clover from each summit. If you are not familiar with GoGreen XOTA, please take a look HERE. And I had another goal in mind, I wanted to locate the ibex population around the Benediktenwand in order to admire these rare, majestic wild animals in person. So, as a precaution, I packed a few things for bivouac and set off on the tour early the next day.

The one and a half long drive to Lenggries was pretty boring. It was a Saturday and the train to Lenggries was full. I was happy to get a seat. It was a 2km walk from the train station to the Brauneckbahn. From there to the first summit, Latschenkopf, 1711m, DL/BE-013 it was an easy 5km long jump. At 9:45 a.m. I reached the first SOTA summit. I made myself comfortable a little away from the summit cross, where 10 other mountaineers were milling about, and curiously went into the air. Would I scrape together the 50 QSOs? Yes, it worked UFB, I made 53 QSO (with 4x s2s) in CW in an hour of operation time. A few visitors watched me over my shoulder as I operated in Morse. It was fun! 

Operating from the Latschenkopf, 1711m, DL/BE-013.

The second peak, Achselköpfe, 1710m, DL/BE-015 was only 1.5km away. It is a small, narrow, and lonely peak, to which a barely visible path leads. It is very rare for a tourist to get lost here. At 12:30 I had my L-antenna up. Here I enjoyed the peace, the all-round view and the radio. I logged 54 QSOs including 9x s2s and 5x SSB in five quarters of an hour. It was fun!

Operating from the Achselköpfe, 1710m, DL/BE-015.

The third summit, Benediktenwand, 1800m, DL/BE-016 was in sight, it was only 1.5km from here. When I arrived at the summit, I took a long break to satisfy my hunger and wait for the many noisy tourists to leave the summit. I logged the first QSO at 4:40 p.m. Well, it was quite late to expect many SOTA chasers. The propagation conditions were also not particularly favorable either. It was quite though. I only logged 16 CW QSOs in half an hour!? It was enough for a valid SOTA activation, but it didn't satisfy me. I grabbed the microphone, called CQ, searched for and collected all the /P stations participating in the SSB Field Day. Once again I called CQ SOTA, then again I worked in the SSB Field Day and distributed valuable points to the /P stations. It was a tedious task scrubbing all the QSOs in SSB! I scraped together 57 QSOs (~50/50 in CW/SSB) in 2.5 hours and called it a day. The main LiPo battery was going to die, only 2.5W came out of the FT-817. It was just no fun anymore!

Operating from the Benediktenwand, 1800m, DL/BE-016.

The sun set mercilessly. It was late and I was tired. The Tutzinger hut was full. For safety reasons, I decided to spend the night in the refuge. My slight hope of having the whole shelter to myself died when I arrived at the refuge. A couple with a dog has already settled down next to my sleeping mat. They were typical Instagram/YouTube bloggers who were just keen to record the sunset and sunrise with all kinds of cameras in order to get more and more Likes on social media. Hikes for Likes 👍? No, thanks! 👎 How about enjoying the sunset in peace, savoring this peace and letting your thoughts roam freely? Nothing like that. The woman babbled loudly and incessantly… Nevertheless, the sunset was stunningly beautiful!

The sunset on the Benediktenwand was stunningly beautiful!

The night in the shelter was restless. The bloggers woke me up several times. Loud and disrespectful! It was still dusk when I slipped out of my sleeping bag and went outside to watch the sunrise. Breathing in the fresh mountain air at sunrise is a unique feeling that will stay in your memory forever!

The view from and sunrise on the Benediktenwand was fantastic!

Pure adventure. Overnight stay in the refuge close to the Benediktenwand. 

I only had three liters of water for two days, just enough. 

It was time to leave and head to the fourth summit, Glasswand, 1496m, DL/BE-017. On the way down to the Glaswandscharte I suddenly saw them - the ibexes. Two bucks were observed grazing for quite a long time and even walked along for a while until they finally disappeared into the thick mountain pines. What a blessing to see these majestic wild animals in the wild and get so close to them! A little further down I met an older ibex who was watching me curiously from a rock wall. We looked at each other respectfully, greeted each other briefly in silence, and each of us went our own way, he going up and I going further down. It was a unique experience!

Mountain Goat DD1LD meets two real mountain ibexes. 

From the col to the Glaswand, 1496m, DL/BE-017 I traveled with light luggage. Around 9 a.m. I reached the small summit cross. It is a beautiful and lonely mountain that, according to the summit book, is very rarely visited. You find peace there. I made 31 CW QSOs in 45 minutes. To get the remaining 19 QSOs I would have needed at least half an hour more. I left it be and walked quickly and smoothly back to the col (to the Glaswandscharte). 

Operating from the Glaswand, 1496m, DL/BE-017.

From the Glaswandscharte to the fifth mountain Rabenkopf, 1555m, DL/BE-018 it was 5km through the Staffelalm, which is managed during the grazing season and is located on the south side of the Rabenkopf. The tiny top of the Rabenkopf was fully packed at lunchtime. I found a suitable spot on the steep northwest slope under the summit cross and went into the air at a quarter to one. In just over an hour 37 QSOs were logged including 4x s2s. The final SSB run on 20m got me 11 QSOs in 5 minutes, and then nothing else came in. I had neither the desire nor the time for search & pounce with QRP in the SSB Field Day. Actually I could, but the small backup battery was pretty dead. It was time to go home. I packed everything up while chatting with some interested parties about SOTA.

Operating from the Rabenkopf, 1555m, DL/BE-018.

It was a 10km long and quite boring walk to the train station in Kochel am See. It took me over 3 hours to get home from the train station by alternative transport... The only downer 👎.

It was a wonderful and unforgettable GoGreen ridge crossing. I activated five SOTA mountains (two ones were Uniques for me), collected 30 SOTA points, 234 GoGreen QSOs/Points, three GoGreen Clovers and made 184 GoGreen kilometers. And I was very lucky to be able to observe the ibexes up close. My long-awaited wish had come true!

Mni tnx es 73, 77 de Dzianis, DD1LD

GoGreen High Speed Climbing & Haming

Date: September 16th, 2023, GoGreen Triple Activation by 1x WWFF and 2x SOTA 

It was a fantastic solo day tour that lasted from 5am to 9pm in total. The plan was to run the Hindelanger via ferrata from Nebelhorn to Grosser Daumen and activate DL/AL-076 (W. Wengenkopf, 2235m) and AL-077 (Grosser Daumen, 2280m) which are in DLFF-0230 (Allgäuer Hochalpen). My goal was to succeed triple activation by achieving at least 100 GoGreen QSOs/points, 50 QSOs from each peak in a very limited time. 

I very enjoyed this ridge walking, it was high speed climbing & haming, just the way I like it. The start time of the run was 9:45am at Nebelhorn and the finish time was 4:00pm at Höfatsblick, with the amateur activities lasting approximately 1.5 hours. I estimate I lost about half an hour because some climbers were stuck in traffic at the few key points. Anyway, that was pretty sporty, wasn't it? 💪😉 In total I made 107 GoGreen CW QSOs in in just over an hour on 20m and 30m bands. The propagation was good enough. No operating on other bands due to the very limited time. I still have to calculate the GoGreen Miles. The total travel time by train, including some delays, was 7 hours 😒.  Too much, the Deutsche Bahn always has problems with punctuality and reliability!? 

Ridge walking (marked in red) is a sporting challenge and always good for my soul. 

More info about the Hindelanger via ferrata.  

The Hindelanger via ferrata is pretty easy (B/C level), but quite long. The number of climbers was okay for a sunny Saturday, so I quickly arrived at Wengenkopf, DL/AL-076.

Operating from Wengenkopf, DL/AL-076. 53 CW QSOs were gathered in 30min of operating time on 20/30m. DX was EA8. Nebelhorn (deleted SOTA) is in the background. The operating spot was pretty tight, I only had to use two radials.

"Make nature your shack". Operating from Grosser Daumen, DL/AL-077. 54 CW QSOs were gathered in 40min of operating time on 20/30m. DX was TF3.  Brilliant operating spot. I would have liked to stay longer and relax a bit, but I had to hurry... 

Running back to Höfatsblick. Hochvogel, DL/AL-030 (activated by me) is in the background. 

Great weather!  Fantastic day! Mission complete!  I simply love the Allgäuer Alps 💖.

Tnx all fer QSO es 73, 77 es 44 de Dzianis, DD1LD

The 12th World Castles Weekend: GoGreen Activation of the Ismaning Palace

It has been busy times... There was just not much time for ham radio.

On the coming Sunday, June 20th, was the last chance to contribute to the 12th World Castles Weekend. The weather was nice for a family bike tour. The plan was to ride to the Ismaning Palace, where I could do a short activation while the rest of the family could relax in the park. The Ismaning Palace, WCA DL-05238, COTA OBB-104 was not activated yet, so that I was looking forward to having a nice pile-up and I was hoping to gather at least 100 GoGreen points. 

Everything just gets slower with children. We started and arrived later than I wanted. Our 4 ½ year old Kirian made the 16 km long route very easy and without any complaints. It must have been a lot of fun for him. Our 2 year old Norwin enjoyed half of the ride from the bike rack and slept the other half. He was the lucky one 😁. 

I easily found a nice operating spot in the shade close to the Ismaning Palace Pavilion.  I didn't want to set up a pole in the middle of the park and threw the antenna over a 12 meter high tree branch. I ​made myself comfortable under the tree in front of the Ismaning Palace Pavilion. Everything worked quickly and without any problems, so that 10 minutes later I was already on the air, at 12:30 PM, whereas the family was looking for a delicious meal for lunch. 

My operating spot in front of the Ismaning Palace Pavilion.

The first 20m run was short and pretty sobering.  After only 11 QSOs, I had to switch to 30m, and then to 40m.  I only logged 28 QSOs as the family came back with an Italian pizza and French fries. Some feedback in the chat at TNXQSO.com indicated bad propagation conditions with strong QSB, QRN and QRM. OK, the propagation was poor, however where were all the COTA takers 😕?  Frequent spotting didn't help much either. 

"Okay, take a break, take a deep breath, enjoy lunch in the fresh air! And then? Scrub all QSOs on all bands and in all operating modes just to gather the 50 QSOs you need", I corrected my initial plan (of 100 GoGreen points) while I was finishing the last slice of the delicious Italian pizza. So I did. The fries and sweets were eaten, the family's patience was becoming increasingly strained. With a lot of effort and an one hour more I managed to log the 52nd QSO.  "QRZ? Any more?". Since only the silence came back, I QRTed with mixed feelings.  On the one hand I managed to activate a new one, on the other hand I was not pleased with such a small number of COTA chasers in my log. I'll admit that I was glad it was over. What an arduous undertaking?!

We quickly packed everything together, paid a short visit to the Pavilion and relaxed cycling home. The real hero of the day was our Kirian. That day he covered 32 km with his little children's bike and even ran a race with a bigger boy who happened to be heading in the same direction. The ambition seized him so that we got home 20 minutes earlier than planned. I was wondering where did he get all this energy from? Bravo! 

Overall, it was a very nice family activity 👍! The radio operation was just OK😒under poor propagation conditions 👎. Well, the weather was too good, and the time wasn't ideal to expect high numbers of COTA chasers. The log has been submitted for WCA and GoGreen Awards.  

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: June 20th, 2021
• Equipment: QRP (5W) + EFHW
• Operating time: ~2 hours
• Participation time: < 3 hours
• Valid QSOs: 52
• Unique callsigns: 45
• DXCC worked: 19
• WCA reference: DL-05238
• COTA reference: OBB-104
• GoGreen: yes
• Cycled distance: ~32 km

Mni tnx all chasers and activators fer QSO!

73, 77 de Dzianis, DD1LD/P

GoGreen (Re)Activation of DLFF-0706

The original plan was to activate something new and unique far from home. And the plan had to be changed the day before. Therefore, a long story short, the best choice under new circumstances was to reactivate the DLFF-0706 and GMA DA/AV-384.

I operated from the same spot as last year.  This time I threw the EFHW antenna over a tree branch instead of using a rod. It gave me a few feet more height compared to. I made myself comfortable in front of a great view of Lake Egglburg and looked forward to a nice pile-up.  My QRP signal went on the air on 20m at ~ 9:30 UTC.

GoGreen reactivation of DLFF-0706 and DA/AV-384.

I tell you it was a tough job! Bad propagation conditions in combination with deep QSB led to a QSO number just over 100 within 2 hours of the actual operating time.  The 20m band was fairy open, I got NA, Asian Russia and a nice run series to Scandinavia and Spain in the log. And that was it!  Running 30m was a tedious undertaking.  The 40m band was probably in its worst shape I can remember?!  So the job was to scrub all sorts of QSOs. The running rate was low and I had enough time to empty my coffee thermos between CQ calls. I was happy to have passed the 100 QSO mark to claim this QSO collecting action as a paramount GoGreen activation requiring a minimum of 100 QSOs. I succeeded, but I wasn't that happy 😬.  Well, a lot of new hunters / callsigns that I haven't worked yet from this nature reserve were a good accomplishment on 20m. 

My operating spot in front of a great view of Lake Egglburg.

(Un)fortunately I was expected somewhere else and had to QRT and leave at 12:30 PM UTC. The bike ride through the Ebersberg forest was awesome as always! In the late afternoon I enjoyed some other more joyful and relaxing outdoor activities 😈. There were many WWFF and COTA activations on this sunny Sunday.  I was wondering how they were doing?! Let's see their feedback... 

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: April 25th, 2021
• Equipment: QRP (5W) + EFHW
• Operating time: ~2 hours
• Participation time: ~3 hours
• QSOs: 104 in total with 20m – 51%, 30m – 19%, 40m – 30%
• DXCC worked: 29 
• Top countries worked: UR, OH and SP 
• Continents worked: 3
• DX: KD1, RA0
• GMA reference: DA/AV-384, Kirchberg
• GMA activator points: 5
• WWFF reference: DLFF-0706, Vogelfreistätte Egglburger See.
• WWFF-valid QSOs: 102 (w/o dupes)
• Unique callsigns: 90
• WWFF activator points: 2
• GoGreen: yes, paramount activation
• Cycled distance: ~40 km

Mni tnx all chasers and activators fer QSO!

73, 77 de Dzianis, DD1LD/P 

GoGreen (Re)Activation of DLFF-0755

Our 4 year old Kirian just got a brand new mountain bike and wanted to go for a long ride with his father. This was music in my ears 😎. The distance to the bird nature reserve DLFF-0755 from our QTH and back would be a little over 20km, so I thought this would be a nice ride for the boy (actually he made this distance last year). I recently invested in some new equipment and made some changes to the mobile radio station, so it would be a good opportunity to test the setup before the GoGreen season begins. My pervious GoGreen activations of the DLFF-0755 reserve can be found HERE. 

Late in the morning, we arrived at the DLFF-0755 at the Ismaning reservoir, a large artificial lake close to Ismaning used as a source of water supply. I carefully chosen a location near a farmers road so as not to disturb the bird breeding, since some species of birds were already engaged into. For the sake of the birds, I couldn't use large trees in the middle of the reserve to stretch the antenna as high as possible, and this time too I had to use a 10m long pole. 

Pheasant roosters like royal guards patrolled their area in front of us. 

My goal was to get 100 QSOs at least. The start was quite tough due to the very poor propagation conditions on 20 and 30m. So, I had to spend most of the time on 40m.  The logbook slowly filled with QSOs so that I had enough time to watch the wildlife around us - a couple of pheasant roosters like royal guards patrolled their area in front of us, a couple of roe deer watched us curiously from a safe distance. The running rate improved noticeably in the afternoon when new waves of chasers called in. As I just passed the 170 QSO mark, the first big drops of an unannounced rain shower pattered around 😡. We were not prepared for it and had no choice but to pack and head home. Around 70% of the QSOs were on 40m, the CW to SSB ratio was ~50/50. Well, I'll probably have to focus on high bands next time to reach new chasers. The log has been submitted to both WWFF and GoGreen XOTA programs. 

The modified set-up with FT-857 and light ZS6BKW dipole worked perfectly, however, I see some room for improvement. I might need to consider some alternative options, especially for the aerial.  The homemade dipole works fine but still needs an antenna tuner to cover all of the bands.

Kirian was still full of energy when we returned. It's probably time for his first 30 km bike ride to the next XOTA. Let’s see...

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: April 11th, 2021 
• GoGreen distance: 20 km by bike
• Equipment: 50W + homemade ZS6BKW
• Participation time: 3.5 hours
• Operation time: 2.5 hours
• DXCC worked: 31
• Top countries worked:  DL, SP, I, OH
• Continents worked: 3 (EU, NA, AS)
• DX: NA
• WWFF areas: 1x reactivated
• WWFF reference: DLFF-0755
• WWFF-valid QSOs: 171
• Unique callsigns: 160
• WWFF activator points: 3 (+)
• P2P: some 
• Notes: 70% of QSOs on 40m, CW/SSB ~ 50/50. 

Mni tnx all chasers and activators fer QSO!

73, 77 de Dzianis, DD1LD/P

Our Summer Holidays 2020 in Bavaria

How it all started.

The summer holidays came along with perplexity.  The original plan was to repeat our 2018 camping tour to Austria, Slovenia and Croatia. It was great fun and I hope at some point I will have a little more time to summarize this great tour on my blog.

The critical COVID-19 situation, the changing weather and the endless traffic jams at the national borders ultimatealy demotivated us for this long tour with two small children this year. Where should we go?

Let’s stay and camp home, I suggested. Bavaria is a beautiful state with many exciting places and beautiful nature. We have large lakes, wild rivers, fairytale forests, rolling hills, and high alpine mountains and lakes as clear as sparkling crystals. Everybody agreed. 😃

We spent the first part of our camping holidays in the Isarhorn nature camping park which is located on the Isar river at the foot of the Karwendel mountain range and 3 km from Mittenwald. Due to heavy rain showers and scattered thunderstorms we had to interrupt our camping trip and return home for a few nights. Then we spent the second part of our camping holidays in the Fall village close to the Sylvenstein lake in Karwendel.  Of course, some amateur radio activities took place whenever possible.

Wednesday, August 19th, 2020. SOTA Activation.

Operating spot on the Gerstenrieder Kopf, DL/MF-103.

After rainy, cold days the weather finally got better. Kirian and I activated the Gerstenrieder Kopf (Hochalm), 1421m, DL/MF-103 with 25 QSOs in CW in 30 minutes of operating time. It was a nice workout for Kirian with an altitude of ~500 meters and a total distance of ~10 km.  It’s a very beautiful and adventurous trail through the forest. Our boy made it easy but got quite tired when we got back to the car.

The SOTA activation was business as usual. Not many chasers around 10:00 UTC. Nice view from the top. Some curious walkers and cows around. An easy and relaxed tour.

Thursday, August 20th, 2020. Arrival at the Isarhorn Nature Camping Park.

Arrival at the Isarhorn Nature Camping Park at 11:00 UTC. Building everything up. Walking around. Chatting with other campers. Jumping into the cold river. Enjoying the outdoors. Relaxing in the sun. Beer & Grill in the evening with Andy, DL2DVE and his family.

Actually, I don't really like campsites, I love wild camping, but this one is really nice and not that crowded. Thumbs up! 👍

Yesterday Andy, DL2DVE activated the W. Karwendelspitze, DL/KW-008 in 2m FM, while Kirian and I activated the Gerstenrieder head DL/MF-103 in CW. So today was a relaxing day for us.

Friday, August 21th, 2020. GoGreen SOTA and WWFF Activation.

It was a hard GoGreen activation of the Arnspitze, 2196m, DL/WS-036 in the Arnspitze nature reserve, DLFF-0760 on a very hot day. The bike ride from the campsite to the parking lot Ried took about 30 minutes, the hike to the Arnspitze from the parking lot took about 2 hours. The valley wind in the morning was unusually warm, which indicated a hot day.

I arrived at the top of the Arnspitze at 8:00 UTC. The view from the top was fantastic! I was alone for a (short) while.  What will my next route be here? I guess I know but 😶

 View from the Arnspitze towards the top of Germany, Zugspitze, DL/WS-001 (right upper corner).

The sun above my head blazed mercilessly down with all the intensity of a burning glass. After 110 QSOs in 1.5 hours of uptime and roasting in the blazing sun, I decided to QRT.  The propagation conditions were fair to good.

My operating spot on the Arnspitze, DL/WS-036 in DLFF-0760.

Although I initially toyed with the idea of activating one or the other SOTA reference that day, I said goodbye to this thought. It got too hot for me, the rather high temperature did not provide sufficient cooling for the body, and I ran out of drinking water.  I could have activated the Riedboden nature reserve DLFF-0761 on the way back, but wanted to spend as much time as possible with the family in the afternoon.

The first thing I did when I got back to the campsite was jump into the cold river. The outside temperature was close to 33°C, any kind of cooling was welcome. We spent the rest of the day relaxed at the campsite.

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: August 21th, 2020
• Equipment: high alpine QRP (5W)
• Operating time: ~ 1 and 1/2 hours
• QSOs: 110 in total, 20m – 22 QSOs, 30m – 31 QSOs, 40m – 57 QSOs
• DXCC worked: 24 
• Top countries worked: DL (27x), ON (11x), I (10x)
• Continents worked: 1
• DX: EA, SV
  

• SOTA summits: 1x unique
• SOTA reference: DL/WS-036, Arnspitze, 2196m.
• SOTA-valid QSOs: 110
• SOTA activator points: 8
• GMA activator points: 21
• S2S: 1 
  

• WWFF areas: 1x unique and NEW
• WWFF reference: DLFF-0760, Arnspitze
• WWFF-valid QSOs: 110 (w/o dupes)
• Unique callsigns: 104
• WWFF activator points: 2
• P2P: 3 
  

• Altitude difference made: > 1300m 
• Cycled distance: 20 km
• Walked distance: ~8 km
• GoGreen: yes
• GPS-track record: available on request 

Saturday, August 22nd, 2020. Quick WWFF Activation.

The Riedboden nature reserve DLFF-0761 was only 10 km away by bike. Yesterday I cycled there, the cycle path leads through a very beautiful landscape along the Isar river. Just sit on the gravel and listen to the rush of the water - a little break on the banks of the Isar is worthwhile in any aspect! However, today I decided against GoGreen in favor of family activities, but also partly because of the bad weather forecast.

Breakfast, packing, checking out in the morning. We all (Andy, DL2DVE, me and our families) arrived at the Riedboden at 10:30 UTC. I found a nice operating spot right on the Isar river and set up my tiny QRP station right on the gravel bank within 5 minutes. I was just hoping to get at least 50 QSOs before the rain shower.

Quick activation of DLFF-0761 at the Isar river. Cloudy sky with dark clouds before the thunderstorm.

I logged 60 QSOs in CW on 40m in 40 minutes of operating time, just before the first raindrops fell. What a nice short pile-up!  As soon as we left the Mittenwald municipality it rained heavily and the temperature dropped from 25 °C to 15 °C. It was absolutely the right decision to leave the campsite today and spend the next few days at home! The next three days were rainy, cold and gray…

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: August 22th, 2020
• Equipment: high alpine QRP (5W)
• Operating time: ~ 40 minutes
• QSOs: 60 in CW on 40m, 1 on 2m FM.
• DXCC worked: 17 
• Top countries worked: DL (22x)
• Continents worked: EU 
  

• WWFF areas: 1x unique and NEW
• WWFF reference: DLFF-0761, Riedboden
• WWFF-valid QSOs: 61 (w/o dupes)
• Unique callsigns: 61
• WWFF activator points: 1
• P2P: 0
• GoGreen: no

 

Tuesday, August 25th, 2020. Arrival at the Sylvenstein Lake.

It was a lazy day. Sort of wild camping. Building everything up. Swimming. SUP riding. Cooking. Relaxing. I rode the SUP from the Faller-Klamm-Brücke to the east to the Walchen river, it was about 10 km there and back.  What a gorgeous tour! 

 Our camping setup for three nights at the Fall village.

The Sylvenstein lake. The Lerchkogel, DL/KW-037 in the background (in the middle).

Wednesday, August 26th, 2020. GoGreen SOTA and WWFF Activation.

It was a lonely bike & hike GoGreen tour to the Lerchkogel, DL/KW-037, 1688m in the Karwendel nature park DLFF-073.  The Lerchkogel is technically easy to hike but requires a long distance to be covered. I cycled directly to the Lerchkogel-Hochleger, ~1550m, and then hiked the remaining height difference of 150m. 

Although the propagation conditions were poor and I had to deal with weak signal reports on all bands, I managed to log 69 QSOs on 20/30/40m in ~1 hour.  

My operating spot at the Lerchkogel, DL/KW-037.

I spent about 1.5 hours in absolute solitude on the mountain top. Just me and the mountains around, just the way I like it. The view was particularly beautiful because of the clear air. 

View from the Lerchkogel, DL/KW-037 in the morning.

The ascent took two hours and the descent only 40 minutes. The bike ride was fun, especially downhill biking was the adrenaline rush on two wheels! In a curve it almost knocked me over! Huhhh!

Short stop to enjoy the gorgeous view and to cool down the brake discs.

 

Afternoon Kirian and I rode the SUP from the Faller-Klamm bridge south to the mouth of the Dürrach river. The water level was pretty low, so we had to leave our SUP on the muddy bank and walk to the gravel bank. For Kirian it was a journey of discovery.

In the late evening (at 18:00 UTC) I was briefly at the lake again and had a short run to collect some late chasers. I could have saved myself this action because the yield was quite low, only 9 unique QSQs in 20 minutes of operating time. Well, neither the operation spot nor the time were optimal.
 

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: August 26th, 2020
• Equipment: high alpine QRP (5W)
• Operating time: ~ 1 hour
• QSOs: 69 in total, 20m – 12 QSOs, 30m – 19 QSOs, 40m – 47 QSOs
• DXCC worked: 24 
• Top countries worked: DL (10x)
• Continents worked: 2
• DX: NA
  

• SOTA summits: 1x unique
• SOTA reference: DL/KW-037, Lerchkogel, 1688m.
• SOTA-valid QSOs: 69
• SOTA activator points: 6
• GMA activator points: 16
• S2S: 2 
  

• WWFF areas: 1x non-unique (activated by myself before)
• WWFF reference: DLFF-0173, Karwendel
• WWFF-valid QSOs: 78 (w/o dupes)
• Unique callsigns: 72
• WWFF activator points: 1
• P2P: 3 
  

• Altitude difference made: > 900m 
• Walked &amp; Cycled distance: 26 km
• GoGreen: yes
• GPS-track record: available on request

Thursday, August 27th, 2020. GoGreen SOTA and WWFF Activation.

Initially I wanted to activate the eight pointer Schafreiter, DL/KW-035, 2101m from the Fall village.  However, the much lower one pointer Jägerbergl, DL/KW-046, 988m seemed to be a better choice for today’s GoGreen activities, since the height of the mountain doesn't matter for GoGreen awards and the Jägerbergl was less than 30 minutes away by bike. I just found that the GoGreen rewards program can make activating low mountains even more attractive compared to high mountains because the hiking effort is easily manageable, and you are more into radio than mountain climbing. I'm not sure if I would have even considered activating the one pointer Jägerbergl if it hadn't been GoGreen XOTA activation, where the number of QSOs mainly plays a role. By the way, that’s probably why the Jägerbergl was only activated twice compared to the Schafreiter with 13 activations. The GoGreen XOTA creates a different perspective for SOTA activations. So, the Jägerbergl became for GoGreen XOTA more attractive than for SOTA.

Anyway, I've decided to keep activating the Schafreiter DL/KW-035 for the next time as this would have taken a long time. I also wanted to spend the afternoon at the lake with my family and our friends who wanted to join us. After a rich breakfast together, I cycled to the Jägerbergl. I only stopped at a very nice waterfall to enjoy the great view for a while. 

A waterfall with pools on the way to the Jägerbergl.

The flat mountain top is quite densely forested. Today’s plan was to collect at least 100 GoGreen QSOs. I set up my portable station and went on the air at 8:30 UTC. The propagation conditions were fair. I had some troubles with my tiny TRX again, especially on 40m (!?). However, I managed to gather 101 QSOs or GoGreen points in an hour and a half of operation, but I have to overhaul my TRX on arrival at home, I thought. BTW, the TRX is now dead.😭

My operating spot at the Jägerbergl, DL/KW-046.

We spent the rest of the day on the beach and ended the day with a long and late dinner with our friends.

Short summary and statistics for DD1LD/P:

• Date: August 27th, 2020
• Equipment: high alpine QRP (5W)
• Operating time: ~ 1 and 1/2 hours
• QSOs: 101 in total, 20m – 35 QSOs, 30m – 24 QSOs, 40m – 42 QSOs
• DXCC worked: 21 
• Top countries worked: DL (20x), I (13x), ON (11x)
• Continents worked: 2
• DX: NA
  

• SOTA summits: 1x unique
• SOTA reference: DL/KW-046, Jägerbergl, 988m.
• SOTA-valid QSOs: 101
• SOTA activator points: 1
• GMA activator points: 9
• S2S: 2 
  

• WWFF areas: 1x non-unique (activated by myself before)
• WWFF reference: DLFF-0173, Karwendel
• WWFF-valid QSOs: 101 (w/o dupes)
• Unique callsigns: 90
• WWFF activator points: 2
• P2P: 3
• Altitude difference made: < 200m 
• Walked &amp; Cycled distance: 12 km
• GoGreen: yes
• GPS-track record: available on request

Friday, August 28th, 2020. Relax and pack.

On the agenda were breakfast, swimming, SUP riding, packing, driving home. I rode the SUP from the Faller-Klamm bridge to the mouth of the Isar river to explore opportunities for bushcrafting on an island. It was a beautiful morning with clear sky, bright sun and weak fresh wind accompanying me. It was a lot of fun to maneuver between small islands with the SUP.  I discovered a couple of interesting places for bushcrafting next time. The SUP ride was ~7 km.

We left the Fall village in the late afternoon when the first raindrops fell from the gray sky and arrived home in the early evening in a heavy rain shower and a temperature around 15°C. Almost perfect timing!

According to the weather forecast for the next few days, rain and cold were announced… Autumn is knocking on the door. 

Short Summary.

Although we would have wished for fewer rainy days, we all had a great time! My amateur radio activities resulted in 375 QRP QSOs in CW, four activated SOTA and three activated WWFF references.

Mni tnx all chasers and activators fer QSO!
73 de Dzianis, DD1LD/P