LA/TM-013 Vestre Vealøs

In England I purchased a SB270 SOTA beam from Richard G3CWI and I used it to activate the Cloud. Saturday the tropo forecast looked promising so I decided to give it a try from Vealøs. I parked by the gate and walked the road almost to the summit. I found a suitable spot to erect the antenna 14 meters of elevation bellow the summit.

The only SSB station I could hear was OK1MAC but I heard some stations on cw. I tried to call the OK station but he was not able to hear me. At the end I worked the usual local guys on 2m fm. Before heading home I walked to the summit and signed the book. I'm looking forward to the 2m NRAU Activity Contest next Tuesday.

144MHz: 4 QSOs
DXCCs: LA

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G/SP-015 The Cloud

The final summit on this years UK trip was the Cloud. Aage LA1ENA and I activated this summit while Halvard LA1DNA and Kjell LA1KHA did Gun.

On the summit we were accompanied by Greg 2E0RXX, Sean M0GIA and harmonics. It was nice to finally meet you Sean! I was not able to reach spotlite from my cellphone but Greg called his son Liam M3ZRY who was able to spot me from home. Thanks Liam!

I used my new SOTA-beam to do my first ever 2m SSB activation!

144MHz: 8 QSOs (2 FM, 6 SSB)
DXCCs: G, GW
Summit to summit: M/LA1DNA/P and M/LA1KHA/P on Gun G/SP-013

G/LD-054 Watch Hill

I decided to stay in Keswick while Aage activated Helvellyn and Kjell and Halvard activated High Rigg. In the evening we all did Watch Hill but all of us struggled to get contacts. It was getting dark when I finally managed to get qso number 4!

7MHz: 2 QSOs
3.5MHz: 1 QSO
14MHz: 1 QSO
DXCCs: G, EA, ON

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GM/SS-196 Calkin Rig

Halvard, Kjell and Mads had never been to Scotland so we decided to do a GM summit. We picked Calkin Rig by coincidence. I erected the 88ft doublet above a sheep fence and I think this enhanced the NVIS effect as the reports I received on 40m were very good!


7MHz: 21QSOs
DXCCs: G, GW, LA, PA, GM, DL, ON

Photo (left to right): Kjell LA1KHA, Halvard LA1DNA, Aage LA1ENA and Mads LA1TPA

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G/LD-004 Skiddaw

We decided to activate Skiddaw on our first day in the Lake District. The WX was quite good compared to what the forecast told us before we left Norway.

Photo (left to right): Aage LA1ENA, Kjell LA1KHA, Halvard LA1DNA and Mads LA1TPA

144MHz: 1 QSO
3.5MHz: 5 QSOs
DXCCs: G, GW

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Mike G4BLH

During our trip from Liverpool John Lennon Airport to the Lake District we stopped at a motorway service station by M6 to meet Mike G4BLH. We had a nice chat and a cup of coffee.


Photo: (left to right): Halvard LA1DNA, Mads, LA1TPA, Aage LA1ENA, Mike G4BLH and Kjell LA1KHA

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LA/TM-094 Braknesheia

Saturday Aage LA1ENA, Kjell LA1KHA and I LA1TPA were going to activate LA/TM-070 Brunane.

On the parking spot by the gate we were approached by a nice farmer letting us know that there were a lot of moose hunters in the area. We quickly decided not to activate the summit and instead try to climb LA/TM-069 Rønnomnipa.

We knew in advance that some parts of the track were very steep and a little scary. Aage reached the summit while Kjell and I chose to return to the lower grounds.

On our way home we all activated LA/TM-094 Braknesheia. I started to call on 14.285MHz but couldn't get any answers. Kjell was nice enough to take a break from 40m so I could work for a while to get the 4 needed contacts. At the end I tried to QSY to 80m but to the QRM from Europe was just to loud.

Lesson learned: We need wider spacing between the antennas on the summit

7MHz: 6 QSOs
DXCCs: GW, G, ON, DL

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LA/TM-049 Holtankollen

I have had some problems with high swr on the 88 feet doublet lately and decided to activate Holtankollen to check the antenna. I met Kjell LA1KHA on the summit while he was doing a lunch break activation.

After a chat with Kjell I started to erect the antenna and found out that one of the legs of the doublet had broken loose from the 300 ohm feeder. I fixed this temporarily and started to call on 14.285MHz. If I didn't get the callsign completely wrong I managed to work HL4RBR in South Korea but I didn't notice until I was logging the QSOs back home!

After QSYing to 40m I worked 7 stations, 2 of them running 10W QRP. On 80m I didn't get any answers at all.

Thanks to HA7UL for the spot on the DX Cluster!

144MHz: 2 QSOs
14MHz: 9 QSOs
7MHz: 7 QSOs
DXCCs: LA, S5, ON, G, HA, OE, EI, RX9, HL(!?), DL, F, GW, MM

LA/TM-100 Tekslefjellet

Despite of the ongoing big game hunt in LA/TM I chose to activate Tekslefjell after looking for hunters and their cars along the forest road. I couldn't see any near the summit. The path to the summit from lake Langen was easy to follow. On the summit I signed the visitors book and started to erect the 88 feet doublet. I called for a while on 14.287.5MHz but didn't get any answers so I QSYed to 7.140MHz. After a few QSOs the SWR started to get very high and the FT-817ND powered off several times. I posted the message "ant. probs. Pse qrx" on sotawatch before I corrected the problem and luckily there were still chasers waiting for me when I was back on the air.

At the end I tried some calls on 3.660MHz but the band was very noisy so I didn't bother to spot on sotawatch.

I also worked Aage LA1ENA/P and Kjell LA1KHA/P s2s from LA/TM-050.

144MHz: 2 QSOs
7MHz: 15 QSOs
DXCCs: LA, G, DL, HB, PA, ON, GW, GM, OE, S5
Summit to summit: LA1ENA/P and LA1KHA/P on LA/TM-050

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LA/TM-049 Holtankollen

On my way back home from Hestefjellet I decided to also activate Holtankollen before heading home for dinner. It was still raining so I just grabbed my logbook, the Yaesu VX-6 and a spare battery. I sent a SMS to the local chasers before I started the climb. I worked LA6GOA, LA1KHA/M and LA1DNA/M. This was my 17th activation of Holtankollen so I didn't bother to stay longer trying to get 4 QSOs.

On the car park I met Kjell LA1KHA who was about to make his daily activation of the summit.

144MHz: 3 QSOs
DXCCs: LA

LA/TM-092 Hestefjellet

The fog was thick and the rain was pouring down when I activated Hestefjell today. I accidentally left my Gore Tex back home but luckily I had an old raincoat in the trunk of my car. At the summit I made a shelter with the Helsport Mountain Tarp and started to call on 40m. I worked 12 stations before the frequency went quiet and I called for a while on 80m but didn't get any answers. I also tried some calls on 2m and managed to work Hans-Petter LA6GOA who where mobile in Skien. On my way back to Skien I had a nice chat with Kjell LA1KHA/M on our local repeater.

7MHz: 12 QSOs
144MHz: 1 QSO
DXCCs: DL, ON, G, S5, OE, HA, LA

LA/TM-037 Rognlifjellet

Today XYL and I decided to walk to LA/TM-037 Rognlifjellet. The ground was snow covered after a light snow fall last night. At the summit we signed the visitors book and struggled to erect the 88 feet doublet in the heavy wind. As usual I started on 20m but only managed to work 3 stations. I worked Aage LA1ENA/P s2s on LA/TM-072 and Svein LA1BNA on 2m before QSYing to 80m where I could hear GM7UAU calling me once. Sadly he was not able to hear me. I QSYed to 40m and worked 18 stations.

I'm terribly sorry that I had to QRT even though more stations were calling but the wind was heavy and we were cold. I hope to work you all next time.

While packing my gear I also managed to work Halvard LA1DNA/P and Kjell LA1KHA/P s2s on LA/TM-020.

Thanks to DG0JMB and ON6UU for spots on the dx cluster.

14MHz: 3 QSOs
144MHz: 4 QSOs
7MHz: 18 QSOs
DXCCs: S5, 9A, OE, LA, ON, F, DL, G, GM, SP, PA
Summit to summit: LA1ENA/P on LA/TM-072 and LA1DNA/P and LA1KHA/P on LA/TM-020

Road fee: 50 nok, coins or credit card