SOTA on Ibiza - EA6/IB-011 Puig des ses Terrets

We settled in well at the Grupohotel in Cala Sant Vincent. This was an extremely fortunate choice, which we booked directly via their website. The hotel catered for mainly German guests. This we knew when we booked and from what we have found when travelling, this almost guarantees that the standard of the hotel and the food would be of a high standard, and it was.  The day before this activation was spent in Ibiza town, which is the main port for the island with a long history. When we return to Ibiza, which we surely will, we will go there again as we needed more time. We explored the fortifications and the town itself and found the whole place full of history. It was surprisingly impressive. There were also plenty of shops and good cafe bars there too.

The next day was an activation day, so boots on, rucksack ready, we travelled back to Cala Llonga for the climb up to EA6/IB-011 Puig des ses Terrets:

The GPX trace of my route can be downloaded from the Viewranger website and the SOTA Mapping Project

We parked the "jalopy" on a wide driveway leading to a hotel. From there a rough track took us through pine woodland above the cliffs as it followed the coast partway around the peninsula. We passed an old rusty quarry machine which had been dumped and left for dead by the track:

Not long after the machine a path on the right departed from the main track and we followed this to the summit of the Puig des ses Terrets, which was on the edge of an extremely steep 200m high sea cliff:

XYL Judy reads her book whilst I activate the SOTA

Adjacent to the trig point you will find the foundations of some ancient buildings. I read that these date back to when there was a Roman settlement on the summit. 

Using 10 MHz and 14 MHz I made 39 contacts. DX SOTA regular Bob AC1Z was logged but the other stations were all in Europe, including two summit to summit contacts with Fred DL8DXL/P and Rod M0JLA/P. Nine contacts were completed on SSB but sadly these were to be the last from Ibiza that were two way SSB, as (I later discovered) the insert in my Yaesu microphone went open circuit.

The writer Phil EA6/G4OBK/P is seen above on IB-011 - about to pack up and head off the next summit of Puig d'en Pep IB-009...report follows this.  

 

Postscript: Thank's to Mark EA6/M0MZM/P worked from my home on 18/04/2023 on 20m SSB and who gave me SOTA Complete!

SOTA on Ibiza - EA6/IB-010 Puig d'en Pep

After leaving IB-011 near Cala Llonga we drove towards the town of Santa Eulalia. Half way back to Santa Eulalia we turned right and climbed up a minor road passing houses and villa's until we reached the gate of the last villa at the top. This was within the activation zone but there was no where else to go and no access to the woodland and the summit at this point, so I turned round and went back downhill to the second bend bend where I parked the jalopy. From here I walked around 300m through an old quarry around the back of the top villa, and set up my station hard against the perimeter fence of the villa.

Satellite view of the summit. I operated against the perimeter fence of the top villa - the nearest point I could get to the summit

My approximate operating location 

The activation was quite fraught as I did not want to be seen or heard, so I deployed my headphones as I perched on a steep earth bank operating the radio. This has to be one of my least enjoyable activations, done in failing light. Fortunately the occupants of the villa did not appear to have a guard dog...

EA6/G4OBK/P station set up hard against the perimeter fence of the villa

A verandah or some such structure in the villa grounds above my antenna

Some sort of hippy hangout in the grounds of the villa on EA6/IB-010

An old Opel / Vauxhall dumped in the quarry to the rear of the villa

I did complete 25 contacts in CW. I cannot be sure but it is likely that it was on this summit, perched on that bank that my microphone insert expired. I did call CQ after a self spot and there were no takers. It is likely that I wasn't transmitting as on my next activation I discovered that I had no transmit signal on SSB or FM. At 1648z I worked Rich N4EX and at 1651z I worked F6EAZ for my last contact from EA6/IB-010. I won't be rushing back to activate it that's for sure!

Puig d'en Pep EA6/IB-010 seen 4 days later from the seafront in Santa Eulalia

Four days later on our last day in Ibiza we were sat at lunchtime at a seafront cafe in Santa Eulalia, enjoying a bottle of Prosecco and a sandwich. I realised then that I was looking at the north facing side of Puig d'en Pep, which is being built upon. IB-010 is the second hill at the back in the picture. Looking at Open Street Cycle Map some paths are shown going up through the woods. I would advise any future activator to try to access the summit from that side of the hill should they attempt it. 

SOTA on Ibiza - EA6/IB-007 Talaia de Sant Joan

Our first attempt at Talaia de Sant Joan came to nothing due to the weather, but at least we got the jalopy filled up with petrol at a garage in the middle of nowhere near to IB-007.  When we arrived on the Sunday the first priority was to get some lunch and then activate IB-009. At 3.00pm when we were driving on an almost empty tank the only garage we passed was closed, so it was a relief to get some fuel. After filling up we went to the likely parking place to view the summit. We had already decided that the activation was not to done that day, but it was good to at least view the summit and the parking arrangements for the next day. The summit had been activated before  - almost a year previously by Inaki EB2GKK when he made 21 SSB contacts on the 20m band. Unfortunately I did not work Inaki then - so this summit would not be SOTA Complete. 

Talaia de Sant Joan IB-007 in unfavourable weather

Returning to the same place the next day we were greeted with a fine sunny day as we set off walking up the road, which was quite rough. This was our track collected on my smartphone and uploaded to Viewranger:

What a difference a day makes.... EA6/IB-007 Talaia de Sant Joan

The walk to the summit was on a broken metalled road and every few hundred metres there was either a villa, one being built or a plot marked out for a future villa. Here a couple of guys are constructing a wall on one of the plots:

We left the metalled road (can be seen on the map) to climb up this rough track - note the blue paint on the rock suggesting this what the way up perhaps? Yes it was and there were more plots set out almost right up to the radio mast on the summit. 

Once the top was reached we had a scout round. There was a Fiat Panda rolled over lying just below the summit, several radio masts and an observation tower with a locked gate so it wasn't climbable. I also located a crumbling trig point. The views were far reaching despite the summit only being 361m high. 

I set up the station a little way down from the top and started on CW. When I changed mode to SSB to my chagrin I realised that my transceiver was faulty. When I returned home it proved to be the microphone insert that was open circuit.  Anyway my 50 minute session (with 15 minutes wasted trying to get the rig working on SSB) provided me with 47 European Morse contacts in CW on 10 and 14 MHz including a contact with Don G0RQL, who was worked cross mode - great fun! I listened on SSB and sent Morse more slowly that I normally would do to make the contact with Don. The walk back down was straightforward as we returned via the same route. I took a couple more pictures of a large Villa and an old rusty motorbike resting against a wall:

Despite the problem with my FT-817 on phone this was a most enjoyable activation. The weather remaining settled as we headed off west beyond Ibiza Airport to our next summit EA6/IB-001. 

SOTA on Ibiza - EA6/IB-001 Roca Grossa

The morning activation of IB-007 Talaia de Sant Joan was completed in CW only - due to the failure of my FT-817 microphone insert. I did however work Don G0RQL cross mode on IB-007, with me sending a message to Don in Morse and receiving a reply from Don in Phone on the 20m band. I decided therefore to warn chasers of my intention to try this technique again via a self spot on my afternoon summit of EA6/IB-001 Roca Grossa, and hoped that more stations could be worked this way.... 

Over an hours driving from EA6/IB-007 took us beyond Ibiza Airport to a car park in the village of Sant Josep de sa Talaia where we enjoyed a sandwich and beer in a village cafe garden for our lunch before climbing up the hill in the warm October sunshine. 

Activating has to be done this way when XYL Judy comes along for the ride!

We set off walking through a residential area and found a path climbing around the back of a house through woodland in the direction of the summit. It turned into a very straight forward gradual climb on a well used path, although we saw no other people until we reached the summit, where there were a few folk who had walked up via a different route to us. 

This track is available from Viewranger and from the SOTA Mapping Project website

On the way up there were clear views to the salines - the salt beds and marshes that lie between Ibiza and Formentera, where we would visit for an activation later in the week. 

There were no views on the summit - it was covered in pine trees, trig points, antennas and compounds. I chose to set up amongst some tall pollarded pine trees, and used them as tie off points for the ends of my dipole. 

It was a lovely day and it had been an enjoyable walk up from the village. Whilst Judy got out her Kindle to read in the shade of the pine trees I set up my station for a 50 minute operating session on 20m (27 Qs), 30m (G3NYY & OE7FMH only) and finally 17m (10 Q's). First station logged was my friend Roy G4SSH and best DX were contacts with four stations in the USA. Due to the failure of my microphone cross mode contacts were completed with G0VWP, G0RQL, M3FEH and M0MDA. Seemingly only these four English stations who rarely, if ever, use Morse Code in their usual operating style were desperate to give the unusual way of completing a contact a try and it worked for them! I made a single summit to summit contact with S5100ISONZO who was on the highest summit in the S5/TK region in Slovenia. 

Job done we walked back down the same way as we had come up to return to our hotel at the other end of the island in Cala San Vicence, stopping for fuel on the way back at one of the few filling stations on the island. 

Blackwood Hill GM/SS-199 and Roan Fell GM/SS-132

Blackwood Hill GM/SS-199

I was on a walking holiday with Ryedale Walking Group staying at Chollerford, near Hexham in early October 2015. I chose to take one day out for SOTA and skipped breakfast early morning on the Saturday, to drive up the road that runs beside Kielder Reservoir and on into the Scottish Borders Region.  I reached Newcastleton at 0745 am and found the Spar shop there had a Kenco coffee-to-go machine. A cappucino and a Crunchie was my breakfast....

Two summits could be comfortably accommodated in early October with the reducing daylight - so from the Spar in Newcastleton I turned the car round and drove to the parking place (NY 514932) near Steele Road for Blackwood Fell SS-199. This summit had previously been activated just ten times. 

On my way up, via Arnton Fell I avoided the trig point, which is not within the activation zone. I passed it on my way back down as you can see from my map (click to enlarge). This was a steady walk, taking 52 minutes to reach the top, with just one steep section going up to the cairn which is indicated on the map. There were no awkward fences to climb, but it was a little boggy in places between the cairn and the highest point. From past experience it has proved difficult to qualify the more remote summits in the Scottish Borders using FM on the 2m band, so today I was carrying my Yaesu FT-817 and a 3.3 Amp LiPo battery which is now 9 years old and still works well.

Only 15 stations were worked on 40m and 30m - exclusively on CW. I did not have a cellular signal to self spot and my final CQ calls failed to attract any takers on 14062 KHz so I shut down after 26 minutes air time, and made my way to Roan Fell GM/SS-132. 

Roan Fell GM/SS-132

I weighed up my options of what to do next and did consider activating two summits together - this would have been SS-114 Greatmoor Hill and then continuing on to SS-106 Cauldcleuch Head. If I went for these two though it would mean I would have a late return to Chollerford - sometime after 7.00 pm I estimated, so instead I went for the singleton Roan Fell which was across the C Class road from these two summits.  I'll bag those two on another another day. Roan Fell had previously been activated by 8 stations.

It took around half an hour to reach Twislehope where I was to park under some trees between the two farmhouses (NY 447962) at 231m ASL. I wasn't sure of my route - it was reported by Richard G3CWI that he had cycled up to Hartsgarth Fell gate in 2007. The route I took on foot was over the ford. I left the track here though and climbed up over Carlingtooth Rig. From there it was a little tussocky until I reached the track at 453943, but not too bad of a walk. When I reached Hartsgarth Fell gate it became apparent that the shooters track had been laid right over the top of Roan Fell. I climbed the locked gate and very soon reached the highest point of Roan Fell on the track for my activation which was on the 20m, 30m and 40m ham bands. The walk took exactly one hour.

A pile of stones marks the highest point on Roan Fell GM/SS-132

Conditions were better than they were earlier on SS-199 and I was able to self spot my activation on SOTAWatch using the Rucksack Radio Tool app. I made 26 QSOs in 45 minutes with the best DX being with Bob AC1Z in New Hampshire USA and Phil VE1WT in Nova Scotia Canada. 

ON6ZQ Log to Map Conversion showing location of contacts made from SS-132

With time to spare I decided to take a different route back down, once I reached the gate at Hartsgarth Fell.  I took the grassy ridge between Carlintooth Rig and Cockplay Hill down to an interesting place where three watercourses came together (444950). Like my route up there was no path to follow but it wasn't too bad. I soon reached the sheepfold and made my way back to the car after an enjoyable 2nd activation - and I hadn't seen a soul all day. 

SOTA Tour to Czech Republic in the Eagle Mountains

I am preparing for my SOTA Tour to the OK/KR Eagle Mountains region on the Polish border, where I hope to activate for four days starting on Friday. This is the first time I have travelled on a SOTA Tour in "minimalist mode" - i.e. with no hold luggage in the aircraft. This saves money and time waiting for the suitcase to arrive on the conveyor belt, and so when I reach Prague I should be able to get to the car hire desk before many other passengers! What will security think of all this gear full of wires and batteries which they do not normally see, as most of it generally goes in the hold suitcase? We will see....

I am travelling via Easyjet on Thursday evening. The good thing about Easyjet is there are no restrictions on the weight of the cabin luggage - only on size. I am carrying everything I need in a Berghaus 38+6 rucksack, which is actually oversize when packed by 9 cms in length. In my pocket I am carrying a small pack up rucksack though, so if Easyjet turn my rucksack away I can just transfer my radio gear to that, which will reduce the height of the rucksack down from 65cms to 56 cms. Then I will have to pay to have the rucksack shipped in the hold. I prefer walking with two poles these days, sadly they aren't allowed in the cabin so none can be taken. I've purchased some plastic tent pegs for my antenna guys should I needed them. I'm leaving the alloy ones I normally use at home as I believe those would also not be allowed.

Here are three pictures of what I am taking - radio gear first, clothing and shoes next and finally the packed rucksack on my back:

Here is my parts list of items inside the rucksack. A few things like camera, GPS, pack-a-rucksack and documents will travel on my person in my walking coat, and I will wear my walking boots and extra clothing when I pass through security: 38+6 Berghaus Freeflow Rucksack Contents: Emergency Pack containing:
Spare Mobile Phone (EE network)
4 spare AA Batteries
Ibuprofen - Paracetamol - Aspirin
Wound dressing
Toilet Paper
Emergency blanket
Plastic Bivvy bag
Compass
Spare boot laces + String
Personal details Main items: Torch
Yaesu FT-817ND + case + mic + Yaesu FT-270 handheld + whip + spare battery pack
Palm Key + Ultra Pico Keyer + 2 leads + Headphones
Logbook + 4 short pencils + biro
5m Travel pole + guy ring
3Ah LiPo travel battery + lead for FT-817ND
Link dipole 17m-20m-30m + 2 bungees
5 plastic tent pegs - insulation tape - choc blocks
TomTom Satnav and DC lead for car
Asus 10" Tablet
Garmin GPS62s (carried)
Foldaway rucksack (carried)

Small gents umbrella
Canon SX160 Camera (carried)
Mobile phone (Vodaphone network) (carried)
AC Chargers for:
Tablet - Phone - FT-817 - FT-270 - LiPo

Travel Documents: Car Park - Jet 2 flight tickets - Car Hire Voucher - Hotel Vouchers - Passport - Ham Licence - Maps - Czech currency - Message in a bottle personal details - Written Czech / German phrases Clothing etc: 3 pairs under socks + 1 pair hiking socks
2 hankies
2 long sleeve T shirts
1 pair walking trousers
3 pairs underpants
Slip on shoes
Washing kit soap - shampoo - toothpaste - toothbrush - Lynx stick

Size when packed = 65 x 40 x 22 cms (Permitted size for cabin luggage 56 x 45 x 25)

Total Weight = 12 Kgs

Fortunately, all this stuff will not have to be carried around on my tour. I will stay one night (Thursday) in Prague and three nights on the summit of OK/KR-069 at Masaryk Chalet at Serlich 1019m ASL. 

I hope to work many stations using Morse. If I have free time in my schedule I will operate also on 20m SSB in voice if I can. 

SOTA Tour to Czech Republic - in transit

I had no problems getting my oversized rucksack into the Easyjet aircraft at Bristol last week. As usual at security I removed all electrical items - tablet, transceiver, satnav, GPS, camera etc into the boxes provided. The camera, GPS and satnav I was carrying on my person to reduce the size of the rucksack. The liquids such as toothpaste, shampoo and sun lotion were in a clear plastic bag. Once through the scanner I repacked my rucksack which contained all the items I needed for my tour and proceeded to the gate. This process is conducted by agents acting on behalf of Easyjet so the first person I saw employed by them was when I entered the aircraft and was greeted by the air hostess, carrying my slighly oversized (by 10cm) rucksack on my back. Nothing was said and my bag fitted in the overhead locker perfectly, like the normal small suitcases which are used these days as "hand luggage". 

My Easyjet evening flight from Bristol to Prague

The flight took less than two hours and I was soon in the long queue to be photographed by the automated process at Prague airport. It took around 20 mins to get through:

I found my way to the "Rent-a-car" area next and located the Rent+ office where I signed up for my Skoda Citigo 3 door hire car, pre-booked using the excellent Holiday Autos agency, which I always use.  The Skoda had a full tank of petrol. Leaving the airport I used my TomTom Satnav to take me to the Hotel Globus which was around a 30 minute drive on the motorway to the south of Prague. On this journey in the dark (local time around 10pm) the one thing that stood out were the 100s of illuminated large signs advertising various products, such as cars etc dotted alongside the motorway on large gantry's. Something which is strictly controlled in the UK. 

I reached the Hotel Globus in around 30 minutes, here is the text of my review on booking.com:

"Located near the motorway, so excellent for onward early morning travel. An adequate and typical breakfast is served at 7.00am. The hotel and room was scrupiously clean. Room was large, basic but excellent value. Plenty of nearby free parking for my hire car. I also appreciated the late check in. Many hotels on the outskirts of Prague do not offer this". 

I was able to leave the Globus at 7.30am and proceed to the Orlicke Hory in the OK/KR region. This meant using the motorway to reach the city of Hradec Kralove. There were no tolls to pay and the motorway tax permit is provided by the the hire car company automatically. I stopped off in Hradec Kralove at a Lidl Supermarket to purchase sufficient supplies of mineral water, apple juice, fruit and energy bars to keep me going for the four days of my SOTA Tour.  I reached Destne v Orlickych horach (or Destne for short) mid to late morning and made my way to my mountain hostel / hotel called Masarykova Chata on the summit of Serlich OK/KR-069, where I spent the next three nights. I removed the items not needed on my walk from my rucksack and set out for my first of five SOTA summits of the day. Here I am about to set off on foot to my first summit OK/KR-064 Kamenny vrch, on Friday 25th September 2015:

Day One of my OK SOTA tour radio operation and walk to follow...

SOTA Tour in Czech Republic OK/G4OBK/P Day One

Leaving Masary Chata at 10.30am local time I set off on the gravel tracks of the Eagle Mountains. The 25 kilometre long ridge marks the border between the Czech Republic and Poland.  On this ridge there are 14  summits listed for Summits On The Air (SOTA) and I planned to climb and activate each one over three days. 

A gravel track took me to a hotel at Serlissky Myln from where I climbed a woodland path to join another gravel track, which was a popular cycling route. I reached a bunker and then turned left to walk through woodland right on to the summit of Kamenny vrch, KR-064.

The first bunker seen of the many I passed on my tour

Using an FT-817 and dipole on the 30m and 20m bands I made plenty of contacts around Europe, before heading off to activate Sedlonovský vrch, KR-061. As I was walking an old tractor came towards me on the track. I got a funny look from the tractor driver - presumably this was because I was taking a photo of a Czech tractor....

Soon after this I struck out and went through the wood on my right to the summit of KR-061, which was again in woodland, as most summits in this range are, despite almost all of them being 1000m above sea level. Continuing on my way after activating KR-061 I jumped down a bank to rejoin the track, and fell over ripping the left knee on my walking trousers! A slight graze was all that resulted, and I continued on my way to Polomský kopec KR-068, the summit of which was actually on the track. In this popular area for walking and cycling the waymarking by the authorities is world class, and this signpost to which I fixed my antenna to on KR-068, is typical of many in the region:

There were plenty of information boards too. A few had an English or German translation, but not this one:

By 3.00pm local time I had reached my 4th ten point summit of the day. This was the 1084m high Vrchmezi reference OK/KR-010, on the Czech - Polish border where there is a three sided marble mounument to famous people and a wooden shelter with table and chairs inside and a large mapboard. Superb facilities and a monument to admire that the Czech authorities should be proud of.

Thirty contacts were logged in Morse and Voice before I set off back towards my hotel lodge, which is within the activation zone for KR-069 Serlich, my final summit activation of the day.  The ridge must catch the snow in the winter - most of the ski runs in the area go down into Poland. I came across some chair lifts prior to finding the trig point for KR-069:

My 5th activation of the day was finished by 5.30pm and I made my way to Masarykova Chata to check in and enjoy some regional food. It had all gone very well indeed. 

Statistics

• Distance walked / ascent: 7.8 miles / 1300 feet 

• Summits activated (5): OK/KR-064-061-068-010-069

• Equipment used: Yaesu FT-817 (5 watts) link dipole 2m FM monitored - no contacts there

• Points claimed: 50

• SOTA Complete: 5/5

• QSOs made on 20m CW/SSB & 30m CW bands: 126

• Summit to Summit contacts: 7  

• Log to Map of the days contacts (thanks ON6ZQ)

More Czech Republic reports to follow... when I find the time to write