Exploring POTA NL-UT part 7: NL-0210 and NL-0199

 It's one of the last sunny days. The wind is turning east and temperatures have dropped considerably. This morning it was only 8 degrees C. So I put on some extra clothing and a beanie and cycled to the first POTA park: Boswachterij Austerlitz Park. 

This park is known for the remains of the French period from the beginning of the 19th century. I found an open space inside the forest with a bench where I put up my QRP station.

 I started in 40 meters, loud signals from England and Germany but also worked Poland, Sweden and Czech Republic. Because I wanted to do another activation I stopped at 14 QSO's. 

 

  After packing up a 30 minute trip took me to NL-0199:  Leersumse veld Nature Reserve. A different landscape with a variation of drift sand, heath and forest. 

 Propagation on 40 meters was a bit better this time. Worked 2 stations from Italy and one from Norway. All other stations were from Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands.

 

A hamalert took me to 17 meters where I worked E77SR, a nice park-to-park QSO, although it took a bit of effort. I stopped after 14 QSO's and it took me another hour to get home.

19 NL-UT parks done, 16 to go! 

Exploring POTA NL-UT part 6: NL-0258 and NL-0259

 Weather was looking nice, a bicycle ride along the river Lek and then a ferry crossing brought me too NL-0258: Plantage Willem III. This used to be a tobacco plantation in the 19th century and is now a nature reserve grazed by cattle, horses and deer. A friendly forest ranger pointed me to a nice spot inside the park where I started my activation. 24 QSO's on 40 meters in about 20 minutes. A nice QSO with the North of Spain (EA1PJ), one with Poland and I was also contacted by HB75HSC, a call which celebrates 75 years of the High Speed Club.

 From this park it's only a short ride to NL-0259: Elster Buitenwaarden. I parked my bike outside the park and found a bench where I set up my QRP station. A couple of park-to-park contacts with G4ISJ/P, F4ILK and SN5WLF on 40 meters and then some nice EU traffic and a DX QSO with KE1J on 20. A total of 28 QSO's in 25 minutes. 

I have now activated 50% of all NL-UT parks. More to come! 

Exploring POTA NL-UT part 5: NL-0265

 A gray day but I decided to try a POTA activation anyway. A 30 km bicycle ride along the river Lek took me to NL-0265: Island de Bol. This used to be an island in the river but you can reach it over a dam. I arrived around 10:30 local time and at this point the weather started to look grim.

 I quickly set up my station and it already started to drizzle. Luckily 40 meters was wide open with loud signals. With my QRP setup I worked stations from Poland, Latvia, Finland, Denmark and Spain. Contacts with 22 stations in just over 14 minutes. Then I had to stop because the rain got worse. 15 NL-UT parks done, 19 to go!

Exploring POTA NL-UT part 4: NL-0075

 A 30 minute train ride and a 20 minute bicycle ride took me to NL-0075: Grebbeberg Provincial Park. This is also a Flora and Fauna park: PAFF-0087. The battle at the Grebbeberg played an important role in the second world war. There also is a large cemetry where 800 Dutch soldiers are buried. A short walk through the park took me to the highest point at 52 meters with magnificent views over the river Rhine.

 Propagation on 40 meters was excellent, I worked 48 stations in 45 minutes. Loud signals coming in from Spain, Italy, Croatia, Poland and Scotland. One P2P QSO with F6EOC. Next I moved to 20 meters for another 8 QSO's, amongst them Portugal, and Romania. Power used was just 5 Watts from a QRP-labs QMX transceiver. 14 POTA parks done from the Utrecht area, 20 to go!

Exploring POTA NL-UT part 3: NL-0091, NL-0200 and NL-0198

 My first park for this day was NL-0091: Rijntakken. I have activated this park before, but not the Utrecht side of the park. It's a 10 km bicycle ride to the ferry across the river and then to a small marina at the river Nederrijn. Arrived around 11 local time and found a bench close to the river. Propagation was excellent on 40 meters: 20 QSO's in 11 minutes with 12 different countries.

  The next park involved a climb to the highest point of Utrecht: Amerongse Berg, NL-0200. For my activation I selected an open space inside the forest at the lonely oak. This tree was planted in the 18th century and is at a 61 meter high spot. I was expecting some nice propagation at this height but only 12 contacts on 40 meters, most stations with a radius of 500 km. 

 After having a quick lunch I drove to NL-0198: Landgoed Broekhuizen.

 This landscape park of 6 hectares has some large grassy fields, perfect for setting up a station. I had a nice view of the 18th century caste from my chair. It was now around 3 o'clock in the afternoon so I started on 20 meters, hoping for some high band propagation. Sadly, only one QSO with OH6MML. So I moved to 40 meters again and worked 13 stations in 20 minutes. Next I tried 30 meters and with some effort made a QSO with F5JKK and I2CZQ.

Not a very good day for good propagation I guess, but 3 new NL-UT parks activated! I arrived home at around 5 o'clock in the afternoon after having biked 60 km.

Exploring POTA NL-UT part 2: NL-0261 and NL-0268

 Another 2 fortresses in the province of Utrecht on a nice and sunny day. It took a short train ride to the station of Houten and then a 10 minute trip on the bicycle to NL-0261: Fort bij ’t Hemeltje. This fortress is restored in recent years and repurposed for office space. Lots of activity going on here today. A large group of workers were doing maintenance with noisy equipment, so this would be a short activation. I quickly set up my equipment and made 12 CW QSO's on 40 meters in about 15 minutes.

 You can see me being quite annoyed by the noise machinery... 

From here it's a 10 minute ride to NL-0268: Fort bij Vechten. This is one of the largest fortresses in The Netherlands with 22 buildings and extensive waterworks. Plenty of activity here also, they seemed to be preparing for a large event: the Business Summer Festival with about 1500 guests. I Still could find a nice and quiet spot on one of the slopes of the fortress.

Propagation on 40 meters was quite good again with 2 park-to-park contacts: G0ANV/P and SM0IKC/P. I tried 30, 20 and 17 meters but activity seemed low. Just a nice QSO with Robert KD1CT on 20. After 45 minutes I had 25 contacts in the log and left. 10 POTA sites done, 24 to go!

Exploring POTA NL-UT part 1: NL-0269 and NL-0280

After doing a POTA activation close to my hometown last Saturday as a test, I am going to try and activate all of the POTA sites in the province of Utrecht. There are 34 of which I have done six already. The goal is to do these activations by bicycle and train or by hiking.

The landscape in the province of Utrecht is littered with fortresses dating from the end of the 19th century and the first world war. Some of these are POTA sites. I left around 10 o'clock in the morning and after an hour of biking arrived at NL-0269: Werk aan de Waalse Wetering. This fortress was part of a 200 km long defense line coming from the south to defend the western part of The Netherlands and the cities of Utrecht and Amsterdam. It dates from around 1875.  

 

Luckily the entrance gate was open and I set up my QRP station on the lower slope at the back of the fortress with great views at the surrounding landscape. I wanted to make this a quick one and made 11 CW QSO's in 11 minutes in 40 meters, best DX: SM5ELV from the middle of Sweden.

From this site it is only a 4 km ride to NL-0280: Werk aan de Groeneweg. It's a massive earthwork from the first world war with around 50 bunkers and hundred of meters of trenches. I set up my station on top of one of the slopes. Starting at 40 meters with 12 contacts I moved to 30 meters next and made 2 park-to-park QSO's with OH2BNC/P and M0UDB. Then another 9 contacts on 20 meters with a nice DX QSO with a Russian station at 2300 km. A total of 23 QSO's in 40 minutes time.

It took another hour to arrive home at around 3 o'clock in the afternoon, after biking a total of 40 km. 8 POTA sites done, 26 to go!

Activation of PAFF-0079 Broekvelden, Vettenbroek and Polder Stein

From my home town I boarded a direct train to Gouda Goverwelle, taking my folding bike with me. From there it's a 10 minute ride to PAFF-0079, another area with large pastures and plenty of lakes. Right in the middle of the park there is a parking spot 2 pick-nick tables, a great spot for a QRP operation.

I arrived at 11 o'clock local time, already late for 80 and 60 meters. Not a single RBN spot on those bands. 40 meters was a lot better. Propagation not great, all contacts were short distance, but plenty of hunters. 30 meters also went fine, in the meantime I had my log filled with 30 QSO's. I could complete the 44 after moving to 20 meters.

 Two P2P contacts with LZ2AF on 20 and DD1LD/p on 40 meters. Nice to work Enno CT7BTL from Portugal on 20 and Frank PA7F on 40 meters. Both with loud signals.

Activation of PAFF-0109 Oostelijke Vechtplassen

 Another sunny day with temperatures reaching 10 degrees! I took the train to the suburbs of Utrecht. From there it is a long walk amongst high rise buildings until I finally reached the countryside. The landscape North of Utrecht consists of forest patches, lakes created by turf diggers and large pastures. I set up my station on one of these pastures.

 Total operating time was 75 minutes with 47 QSO's. I had to switch between 40, 30 and 20 meters several times to keep stations from coming in. A nice DX QSO on 20m with KG8P and 2 park to park QSO's with OH8NW/p on 20 and F6EOC on 40 meters. This was another QRP operation with about 5 Watts output.

Activation of PAFF-0048, Ooypolder en Millingerwaard

 We were expecting a some nice weather this week with temperatures up to 10 degrees, so time to dust off my backpack and do a short WWFF activation. At 10:30 on the morning I took the train to the city of Nijmegen. From the train station it's a short walk to the river Waal and the activation zone, PAFF-0048. I found a nice spot close to the water with views to the bridge and the city in the distance. 

I had a good start on 40 meters with more than 20 contacts in the log in a short time. Then on to 30 and 20 meters. Propagation on 20 seemed very good, QSO's with 4Z4DX, AE1T en WK2S with only 5 Watts output. 48 QSO's in the log after one hour! My antenna was 14 meters of wire attached to a 7 meter Spiderbeam pole with 2 ground radials of 5 meter long.