Sunny day at the river Lek in PAFF-0194

Another sunny week and today I took my chances to activate another park. A bike ride of 25 km through the countryside with a nice ride along the river going     back. At the entrance of the park there is a road which leads to the river with an open gate at the end where I set up my station close to the water.

Excellent weather but conditions not great, had to call CQ for long periods of time. After 90 minutes 51 QSO's in the log with 4 park-to-park contacts. Made a nice QSO with Saku OH2NOS/p who was in a new park and was having big pile-ups. Still, managed to get him in the log!

 

73 and 44 de Jo PG4I

First activation this year: PAFF-0018, Utrechtse Heuvelrug

Temperatures were a bit higher than usual for a couple of days, so this Sunday I jumped on the bike to activate PAFF-0018 close to Amerongen castle, which also counts for PA-00081 in the COTA-PA program. I set up my station in a field about 500 meters from the castle.

Just after 10 in the morning the activation was started and 90 minutes later I had 60 QSO's in the log. Very nice propagation on both 20 and 30 meters, best DX being UA9CEJ in Sverdlovsk.

Equipment: QCX mini with a small amp under the chair, paper logging and a palm mini paddle. 10 meter mast with a 2-band vertical. There is a short video available at spectra.video.

Succesful activation of Tichelgaten PAFF-0246

 Tichelgaten has been activated only once, so this one has been on my bucket list for a while. It's only a 10 km bicycle trip from my home QTH. A nice area with small lakes, trees and meadows with flowers and insects buzzing...

 Shortly after I started making contacts a ranger came to visit me and asked me to leave. He found my setup quite disturbing in what he called "a vulnerable piece of nature". Only 12 QSO's. So I returned the next morning and found a more suitable area near the road at the entrance of the park.

 

 

Propagation was quite good, 45 contacts in around one hour. Great to work KD1CT on 30 meters! Sorry for the boring pics, next time I will add a nice selfie...

2 activations from PAFF-0091

 It's just a short bicyle ride to the Diefdijk, part of PAFF-0091. I went to a small lake called "Wiel van Bassa" which has a tiny beach and a shady area with a bench under some apple trees.

22 QSO's during the first activation on august 6 and 28 QSO's on august 13. During the second activation my dog and wife joined me for a swim. Temperatures were almost 30 degrees C that day.

I took my trusty QCX mini on both occasions with a 35 Watt power amp. All battery operated. The antenna is a 2-band vertical on a spiderbeam pole.

Success at Rijntakken PA-0108!

 

This time I picked a spot close to the river and also brought another antenna. It's a 2-band vertical for 20 and 30 meters. Propagation was pretty good, maybe because I was much earlier than last time.

 

 

I brought a small amp which outputs 30-40 Watts, left on the picture. On the right is a 16 Volt battery pack. QSO map in the next picture.

A try at PAFF-0140 Zoommeer

 

Most of PAFF-0140 (a lake and river with some wetlands) is not accessible unless you have permission, but you can set up your station at the edge of the area. I wasn't very lucky: had to camp behind a dike under a 40m high windmill. Here's a screenshot from Google maps.

 

 

Propagation was lousy and 20 meters crowded with a contest going on. The windmill created a lot of noise on the radio. I made 8 QSO's in one hour and gave up in the end... Need to pick a better spot next time I am here!

Activation of PAFF-0108 Rijntakken

This is my first WWFF activation. It's a 12 km bicycle ride to the ferry between Rijswijk and Wijk bij Duurstede, close to PAFF-0108. I set up my station in a field on a small dike close to the river Lek.

I brought a 10 meter spiderbeam pole with an endfed antenna for 20 and 30 meters. The rig is a QCX mini with about 4 Watts output. Propagation was fairly good, got an RBN spot from WZ7I on 20 meters, but activity was low. I worked more stations on 30 meters. 

 

 

Only 14 QSO's  in the log after 90 minutes. One P2P QSO with Wilfried, DL7UWR/P from DLFF-0029, Schorfheide-Chorin. I will try to use my WWFF activations for the GoGreen XOTA program. QSO map of this activation here.

Running the SKCC weekend sprint from Brittany

We set up camp at the North Coast near Lannion. Saturday afternoon I put up the vertical near the camper van about 200 meters from the sea. Propagation was bad but managed to make 11 QSO'S during the weekend with 4 US stations: K3WW (being strong as always), KB3NSK, KF6C and N3MVX. I really liked the oldtimer theme and gave away 46 bonus points myself. The pic shows my QCX being operated from the suitcase, 25 Watts output. All contacts made with a RM31 Czech army straight key.

Another POTA at Golfe du Morbihan

Good WX here in Brittany, so I had another go at POTA F-2550. Being active later on the day, propagation was a bit better and I made 17 QSO'S including one DX with N1XV.

Really enjoyed using the QCX with amplifier. 25 Watts output using a Li-ion battery pack.

Activation of F-2505 in Bretagne

We arrived in Bretagne yesterday while on holiday and today I discovered we are in the middle of a large parc called "Golfe du Morbihan", POTA F-2505. In the afternoon sun I set up my 2-band vertical and made 12 QSO's in CW on 20 and 30 meters. It took me about an hour. So propagation wasn't great but it is the first activation of this POTA.