SOTA activation of Breamo - Christmas 2012

This is a video of the activation of Breamo (SOTA reference EA1/CR-035) to wish merry Christmas to my SOTA friends around the world. I was using an FT-897D with an internal antenna tuner and a wire antenna.

It includes a couple of QSOs with American stations. Thanks very much to everyone and Merry Christmas to all.

The United States on 15m (W2NLS)

This is a video of a QSO with Neil (W2NLS) on 15m SSB from my car, using a 4m-long military whip antenna.

His antenna is a 5-element multibander. You can see it on the picture below.

Neil was licensed first as WN2KQI and then became WB2KQI for about 47 years. When the vanity call of W2NLS came up with his initials he decided to go for it. But somedays, still, he actually will give the wrong call!

Ham Radio really shaped Neil's life. He spent many years as an editor working on magazines having to do with electronics. He first was on Elementary Electronics Magazine and then he joined Popular Mechanics as the Electronics Editor. He was with PM for more than a decade and did more than one article on ham radio.

Parque de Bens to Canada (VE2TFL)

LAst Sunday I went to a public park in my city and decided to try my kevlar wire antenna. With the help pf some eucaliptus trees, this was the result.

I was using 20W, as usual, with my FT-857 on a LiPO battery.

O Teso (EA1/LU-029)

These are some videos of my activation of the summit O Teso, SOTA reference EA1/LU-029. My first QSO was on 17m SSb with the United States immediately after I switched on the station before I had time to start the vide recording. My second QSO was with an avid SOTA chaser, Quique, EA1DFP, on 17m also.

It was getting dark so I tried the 40m band. The result was a QSO with Patrick (OM1XQ) from Bratislava, on 40m SSB.

My next QSO was with Fred, CS7/PD0HNL, from Algarve on 20m.

Here is the nice eQSL I got, which means my 72nd country confirme for my eDX award.

Before leaving I made some repeater QSOs on 2m FM with Julio (EA1UP) and Juan (EA1AQ).

By then it was completely dark.

Pedestrian mobile with Paquito, Man-Paquito

These are some videos of my new light-weight backpack radio. It is made out of a Yaesu FT-857D. The whip is 2.9m long and the antenna tuner is an SG-211. Thebattery is home made out of 4Ah NiMH cells and the power I was using was 20W.

The battery is a home-made 13.2V NiMh battery and the antenna is a 2.9m whip of military origin. My first QSO was with Canadian station VE2JCW on 20m SSB when I was tuning my antenna, before I could start the video recording.

The second QSO with IW3RUA from the North of Italy was on 17m SSB, and I was delighted to get such a good signal report.

The final QSO with the Czech Republic was slightly more difficult, but the new little manpack behaved like a champion. Test passed!

Alto de Onsolar (EA1/LU-030)

Here are a couple of videos of the SOTA activation of Alto de Onsolar (EA1/LU-030). On the first video you can see the final ascent and station setup.

On the second video you can see some quick QSOs from the summit, with the Slovak Republic, Canada and the United States.

As on other occasions I was accompanied by my friend Robi, who took care of the video recording.

Pico Ribón II (EA1 LU-028)

On Christmas Day I went with EA1AQ to activate Pico Ribón (1051m) and I made 17 QSOs on 17m SSB. On this video you can see a sample.

As you can see, it was a very productive activation. Overall, I am very satisfied with the performance of my manpack.
Special thanks to HA7UG, DL3JPN, and all the other colleagues who are always ready to help with an activation.

United States from the summit of Formigueiros (EA1/LU-002)

This is a video of a QSO with American station K8CW from the summit of Formigueiros, for the Summits On The Air (SOTA) programme. That day I was accompanied by my friend Robi, who recorded the QSO.

The weather was good but it was starting to get colder, and this was a really good QSO. Just in time before the camcorder's battery died.

United States from the summit of Pradairo (1029m)

This is the video of my QSO with Steve (N3EON) from the summit of Pradairo (EA1/LU-031) on 15m SSB.

That day I was accompanied by Ernesto (EA1LQ), who is currently the leading SOTA activator in Spain. As you can see from my GPS at the beginning of the video, we were operating from the summit, at an altitude of 1029m.

EA1LQ/P from Pradairo (EA1/LU-031)

Last Tuesday I went with Ernesto EA1LQ to activate the peak of Pradairo for the Summits on the Air programme (ref. EA1/LU-031). The height is 1029 metres, which means 4 points, plus a seasonal bonus of 3 points for the winter activation.

Ernesto is currently the leading SOTA activator not only in EA1, but also in the whole of Spain, with 13 summits and 38 points, followed by EE1URO with 4 activations and 26 points.

Virginia (W4JTE)

This is a video of a QSO with W4JTE (Jack) on 15m SSB. W4TJE is now QRV from the blue ridge mountains in southwestern VA, along the Blue Ridge Parkway. The elevation at the shack is 3000 feet with a nice take-off in most directions.

The last picture was taken in his woods by his motion activated wildlife camera. It is mama bear with her 3 cubs.

Testing the FT-897D manpack

Today I have been testing my FT-897D manpack with the help of EA1AQ. The antenna was a 2.9m military whip for which I had to create a special mount with an M10 thread.

The QSO we were listening to was so long that we didn't have a chance of making a call...

Canada from Punta Fiateira Rear Lighthouse (VO1TX)

I have just received this nice eQSL for a QSO with Canadian station VO1TX on 20m SSB when I was activating Punta Fiateira Rear Lighthouse together with EA1HNP (José Luis). That was a short but very fruitful activation.
Christopher has been a licensed Radio Amateur since April 19, 2000 and he volunteers as a Certified District Emergency Coordinator( ARES) for The Great Northern Peninsula of Newfoundland.

United States (W2AJI) on 20m

This is a video of a QSO with American station W2AJI (operator: Mike) from North Carolina on 20m SSB. First licensed in 1961, this year marks 46 years of continuous operation of W2AJI.

Mike has been associated with the wire industry for over 39 years, involved in the production of conductors from copper and copper alloys, and currently is the General Manager and Chief Operating Officer of Wheeler Industrial Corporation. Station equipment at W2AJI includes a Ten Tec Orion II with MC 60 microphone, Yaesu FT 1000MP Mark V with a MD-200 microphone, W2IHY EQPlus, and modified W2IHY noise gate, driving a Command Technologies HF 2500 or Alpha 76CA. Tower number 1 holds a five element 20 meter monoband yagi with a 44 foot boom at 75 feet. Tower number 2 holds a six element tri-band yagi with a 24 foot boom at 50 feet. Bases of the towers are 1025 feet asl. 20 meter SSB is the main mode of operation.

Canada (VE3UUH) on 15m SSB

This is a video of a QSO with Canadian station VE3UUH (operator: Bob) from Jasper, Ontario, SW of the capital city Ottawa, on the 15m band.

Bob has been licensed since 1992. He enjoys chasing the DX or a quality rag chew. He is a hobby musician. He plays the guitar, mostly rock, blues, Indie music. He also enjoys fishing, cottage life, life in general. He invites one and all to check out his music site at www.myspace.com/robcalver warning his music is not for the faint of heart!!

Dominican Republic: The country no. 71 (HI8LAM)

I have just received an eQSL from Dominican station HI8LAM (Operator: Luis) of a QSO on the 15m band when I was activating the Torre de Hercules lighthouse. This makes the country no. 71 validly confirme for my eDX100 award.
The Dominican Republic is a nation on the island of Hispaniola, part of the Greater Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean region. The western third of the island is occupied by the nation of Haiti, making Hispaniola one of two Caribbean islands that are shared by two countries. Both by area and population, the Dominican Republic is the second largest Caribbean nation (after Cuba), with 48,442 square kilometres (18,704 sq mi) and an estimated 10 million people.
Christopher Columbus arrived on Hispaniola on December 5, 1492, during the first of his four voyages to America. He claimed the island for Spain and named it La Española. In 1496 Bartholomew Columbus, Christopher's brother, built the city of Santo Domingo, Europe's first permanent settlement in the "New World". The Spaniards created a plantation economy on the island.[19] The colony was the springboard for the further Spanish conquest of America and for decades the headquarters of Spanish power in the hemisphere. Christopher was buried in Santo Domingo upon his death in 1506.

Activating Punta Fiateira Rear lighthouse (SPA 293)

Last Friday I joined José Luis (EA1HNP) in the activation of a lighthouse in the vicinity of A Coruña.
It is called Punta Fiateira Rear and together with its Front counterpart (380m away) is used to indicate the entrance in the port of A Coruña.

I made 12 QSOs on 20m SSB, all of them with North America (the US and Canada) in just 15 minutes. This gave me 2 new validly confirmed states for my eWAS award.

Canada with the 320: VE3KZ

This is the video of one of the multiple QSOs I made yesterday on the 15m band. Canadian station VE3KZ (operator Bob) gave me a sgnal report of 55.

At the end of the video you can see a good view of the radio.

Calling America with a PRC-320 manpack

This is a video of a call to American station K7KC with the PRC-320 in its manpack configuration with the standard 2.4m whip.

As you can see, it is not as easy as with the 4m vehicular whip I normally use.

CW on 15m with the PRC-320

Today I made three QSOs on 15m SSB: Germany (DL8VX), the US (AI1C, Dick) and Greece (SV2MAP, Giannis). Then Idecided to try some CW on the same band and made a QSO with DL4HG (Olaf) from Hamburg, who was using a 2-element beam. Then I received a call from HA2NEP (Peti). Finally I also got a call from K9DP (Dan) from Tennessee.
The State of Tennessee is rooted in the Watauga Association, a 1772 frontier pact generally regarded as the first constitutional government west of the Appalachians.[7] What is now Tennessee was initially part of North Carolina, and later part of the Southwest Territory. Tennessee was admitted to the Union as the 16th state on June 1, 1796. In the early 19th-century, Tennessee was home to some of American history's most colorful political figures, among them Davy Crockett, Andrew Jackson, and Sam Houston. Tennessee was the last state to leave the Union and join the Confederacy at the outbreak of the U.S. Civil War in 1861, and the first state to be readmitted to the Union at the end of the war.[8] Tennessee furnished more soldiers for the Confederate Army than any other state, and more soldiers for the Union Army than any other Southern state.[8] Tennessee has seen some of the nation's worst racial strife, from the formation of the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski in 1866 to the assassination of Martin Luther King in Memphis in 1968.
In the 20th century, Tennessee transitioned from an agrarian economy to a more diversified economy, aided at times by federal entities such as the Tennessee Valley Authority. In the early 1940s, Oak Ridge, Tennessee was established to house the Manhattan Project's uranium enrichment facilities, helping to build the world's first atomic bomb.
I think I will have to clean the morse key's contacts and adjust it somewhat but the PRC-320 seems to be well endowed for this mode, with an excellent narrow CW filter.