Sunday, December 30, 2012

PAFF-031 by PA3FYG/p quickly QRT !!!

This afternoon I was activating PAFF-031 - Speulder- en Sprielderbos.



The weather looked good, about 6 degeees an dry.

Starting at  around 1200 UTC on 40 mtr with heavy QRM, abt. 46 QSOs. After that much better on 20 m.
Best DX N3 station. Worked about 70 stations.

When pile-up was gone about 1345 UTC , I had to break down my station fast, I was attacted by hailstones !!!
In notime the bottom was white. After 1/2 hour I reached the car again, and the sun was shinning again........


PAFF-031 - Speulder- en Sprielderbos by PA3FYG/p

I will activate PAFF-031 - Speulder- en Sprielderbos this afternoon Sunday Dec. 30, starting about 12.00UTC.

Starting nr. 7.144 MHz, 14.244 later. I try 21.244 MHz also but antenna not made for this freq.

Hope to hear you.

73 de Hans PA3FYG

Saturday, December 29, 2012

PAFF-031 - Speulder- en Sprielderbos by PA3FYG/p


If weather is not to bad I activate PAFF-031 - Speulder- en Sprielderbos on Sunday 30 dec.

More info later.

73 de Hans PA3FYG/P

Friday, December 28, 2012

PAFF-044 Arkerheem" by PA3FYG/P

PAFF-044 "Arkerheem" by PA3FYG/P




Steam Pumping Station  'Hertog Reijnout'



Inside this polder in the center of The Netherlands the feet were kept dry by this
Steam Pumping Station used from 1883 to 1983.

Engine driven with coal.

Can still be used in case of emergency when new electric pump is out of order, hi hi.

Some volunteers start it up now and then for general public.







To much rain --> My first activation in a car !!!








Today  December 28th I activated PAFF-044 "Arkerheem"  with is near my home-QTH.

There was a lot of rain so I did my first activation in a car, normally always walk a bit first.

 I Used my SOTA equipment as usual including power from LiPo.

Tested my new 9,70 m antenna pole, slided in only 67 cm long and  weight of 1,3 kg only.. I can tie this pole to my backpack, leaving my hands free. ( see pictures )

I was QRV for one hour on 20 m, later one hour on 40m. Also worked  a few on 15m, but antenna is not suitable or this band.

Best DX : PHoNO in PAFF-058 "Strabant", on 20 m, also heard him on 15 m and 40 m. Distance 90 km, so very hard on all bands, just audible. !!!! ( sri no 80 m antenna ). This is only my 2nd PAFF as chaser, I activated different 25 PAFF now !!.

Aso nice to work friend  Peter PJ4NX ( ex PA3CNCX ),  and W1, N1, K1, OD5,4Z, 9K2.


Arkerheem is very important for birds, it is a international wetland.
 
DX-wire pole
 
Only 67 cm/1,3 kg

Next week  I am in in DL activating some SOTA summits, some are in DLFF.


73 de Hans



PAFF-069 Ugchelen Hoenderloo by PA3FYG/p

I try to activate PAFF-069 Ugchelen Hoenderloo on 29,30 or 31 Dec or Jan 1.

Sorry this one not in this periode, to much rain for nice trip.
73 de Hans PA3FYG/P

PH0NO will activate PAFF-058

PH0NO will be active from nature park Strabrecht (PAFF-058) this afternoon (December 28) from approx. 14:00 local time (13 UTC) until 17:30 (16:30 UTC).

PAFF-058 has not been activated before.

Saturday, December 15, 2012

PAFF-056 by PA3FYG/P


Buursezand

Not much activity from PAFF-056 ( activated before by PH0NO )

During a familytrip on Saterday December 15th to Enschede in the far east of The Netherlands I activated PAFF-056  "Buurserzand & Haaksbergseveen" this afternoon.



QRV in front off traditional farm

Location
  
The rest of the family made a short walk, so I had only 40 minutes QRV time ( 13.15-13.55 UTC )
No contest, clear frequency, good location, anouncement before, but no pile-up this time.
I was calling a long time on  14.241 MHz, but only worked 13 stations.
I worked BA7MY and 7T50I after one call, so I do not understand the lack of qsos.

Landscape



 73 de Hans PA3FYG.



 

Thursday, December 6, 2012

Activating Maarsbergen castle and PAFF-018

More than 2 hours on three bands at PA-00110 and PAFF-018

With a gap in my schedule I was able to head over to Maarsbergen last Monday. The castle near that town is situated within the nature park Utrechtse Heuvelrug. This makes activating it even more interesting (combining PAFF and COTA-PA). PAFF-018 was already activated three times before (twice by me) but I thought the combination might make it worth contacting for enough hams "out there".

Kasteel Maarsbergen
The castle is privately owned and not open to the public. It was built in 1660 and is officially registered as monument.

I did not plan this activation so I was driving around the castle grounds to find a quiet place suitable for a portable ham. To my surprise I quickly found two usable spots and chose one just outside the castle grounds (in front of a stately gate). 

PH0NO/P in the snow
This day was the first day it snowed in the area. This makes for nice views but also freezing hands when you try to set up an inverted V. My phone told me there was activity on 15m so I decided to start there using my end fed set up vertically. However 15m turned out to be rather quiet. After 3 contacts I already changed the antenna to my 20m end fed. In the next 50 minutes I logged 58 contacts. Then when 20m started to slow down I went out into the snow to set up my 40m inverted V. The performance of this antenna still pleases me a great deal. It was busy but QRM was manageable. I stayed on 40m for more than an hour to log more than 120 contacts.

All in all I logged 185 contacts in just over 2 hours of radio time - which shows it was interesting enough indeed. DX was sparse due to poor conditions and came in from the W1/2 (MA, NY), 4X and R9. Graziano IW2NXI and Lada OK2PAY made the trip on two bands.

Thanks all for stopping by.

Cross posted on http://www.cotapa.org

Sunday, December 2, 2012

PH0NO at Enbertsdijksvenen (PAFF-047)

Three band busy activation of PAFF-047

Last Friday I was able to visit Enbertsdijksvenen in the north east of The Netherlands. On my way there it was very foggy. Luckily the roads aren't too busy on Friday so I had almost no delay on my route.

Last bit of the fog when I arrived at PAFF-047
Checking the conditions on my phone I saw that there was some traffic on 15m. I decided to start there using my vertical end fed. I found that the band was rather quiet. Working from 21.244 only Ukraine came through with decent signals. After 9 contacts I decided to go down to 20m, changing the vertical end fed for another one.

20m was a different story. Here conditions were reasonable to good with almost all stations between 57 and 59. I logged 88 stations in less than an hour. DX came by from PY, R9/R0 and 4X. When activity started to slow down I changed antennas yet again. This time I set up my inverted V that I used for the first time during the previous activity. I don't know how much the antenna helped and how much the propagations but signals were very loud (almost half of the reports I gave were 9+10 or more) even though the band was not overly crowded.

Inverted V for 40m at PAFF-047

The inverted V takes a bit more time to set up and take down (5 minute change from 15m to 20m and 15 minute change from 20m to 40m) but I am pleased with the results so far. I logged 83 contacts in 45 minutes.

Luciano I5FLN and Axel, DL1EBR made the trip on all three bands.