Hello,
today Jorge EA2LU and I did a double activation.
The timing was a bit tough as the weather was forecasted degrading at midday and we planned to perform quick activations of both summits.
Therefore we just carried a single HF rig and a VHF handheld.
I feel very sorry that we had to pack and leave the second summit after a few contacts when a heavy rain suddenly arrived in Mt. Saioa EA2/NV-021. The pile up was there but we couldn’t continue and after announcing RAIN we had to QRT.
So sorry about that.
Some pics about the activation here below:
Summit nr. 1, Mt. Zuriain, EA2/NV-023
When we arrived in the first summit after a 50 minute drive from Pamplona the weather was nice. Little wind and a good temperature.
We installed the EFHW antenna and Jorge started on 7 MHz CW.
In the meantime I used my homebrew Flower pot for VHF and logged with ease 5 qso.
Jorge ended his pile up in 40m and we both worked G0WPO/P S2S. Thanks Neil!
We decided to move on to the second summit and disassembled all stuff,
Summit nr. 2, Mt Saioa, EA2/NV-021
It took us about 1 hour to walk back and climb this steep mountain. When we arrived in the summit we felt weather was degrading as forecasted but decided to give a try installing again the EFHW.
Wind was blowing hard now and we added additional cord to hold the antenna in place.
Jorge started cqing and I grabbed my handheld. No time to install my vertical antenna but used the rubber duck antenna instead. With difficulty I logged 2 stations now but my antenna was too short to log any more.
The rain arrived and I run to put a cover and keep the KX2 safe while Jorge was dealing the pile up in 7 MHz.
We were in a hurry and I had not qualified yet with my 2 qsos bagged so far.
I asked Jorge to operate on 40m CW. He had already announced RAIN so I quickly took the paddle and announced OP Change and sent EA2BD/P.
I quickly logged 3 qso, and very sadly I had to announce QRT to the pile of chasers that were still there calling us. So sorry!
We packed very quickly and started the descend in the rain. Now the mountain was foggy and took precaution not to fall or loose the path.
Now at home we have all the gear next the heater to drain all wet…
Hopefully on our next activation we’ll have time enough to work you all.
Thanks for your patience in the pile up and look forward to work you soon.
73 de Ignacio
The naked bleech forest in winter on our way down.