Having pre-arranged to do a combined activation on Monday, we met Ignacio EA2BD in Lekunberri at 11.15z. From the pictoresque village, we took a road up to San Miguel de Aralar - a IX century romanic sanctuary - where we left the cars.
The weather was glorious, sunshine, 13C and no wind with clear skies and fabolous views of all the valleys up to the Pyrenees. From there, it was brief and easy hike to the summit.
We took shelter of the slight wind by the side of a telecommunications building and promptly set up Ignacio´s âplug & playâ SOTA gear.
As soon as we powered up the radio, Ignacio spotted HB9CBR/P at HB/VD-037, and within a couple of minutes we both made it into his log. With a fresh spot a 14.063 - thanks to Tof F5UBH the party began with a large pile up on CW. Meanwhile, Ignacio took the 2m handy and his homebrew yagi and log a few local friends.
Half an hour later we QSYed to SSB and Eva EA/M0HJV/P took over, directed on the ground by Ignacio and with the help of Mike G6TUH over the air - thank you - to find a QRM free frequency, Eva happily âdispatchedâ reports and seasonal greetings to qualify the summit on 14MHz.
She handed over the VOX headset back to Ignacio who logged some more stations before we went QRT.
I was impressed by the good operating practices, at one point everybody went QRX so we were able to work DL4TO/P S2S.
As we started to go down, we heard IĂąaki at EA2/BI-010 and the three of us made the S2S on VHF with HTs and a short whip on both ends.
Views
Many thanks to Ignacio for all his hospitality - he was a wonderful host. An unforgetable activation which we hope to repeat in the future (perhaps in the UK). And hopefully next time our buddy Guru EA2IF will join us too - who this time was not able to make it due to work commitments.
Merry Christmas and a happy and SOTA fruitful 2015 to everybody
Dear Angel,
Thank you very much for the report with such beautiful pictures.
I was really very sorry for not being able to join you, not even chase you, and after having seen the great weather you had and the magnificent views youâve shared with us, Iâm even more sorry now
Iâll be looking forward to finding some other chance either here, in our beloved EA2 SOTA Paradise ;-), or up there in the UK.
Merry Christmas de Guru - EA2IF
Hello Angel,
Thanks for the report and superb photos. I was very pleased to speak with Eva and Ignacio. Ignacio seems well organised with his kit I have only been âhostâ for one activator, from Portugal, and it was great fun. I am glad you all had a great time.
Seasons greeting and good fortune for 2015.
Best wishes and night night from here.
Mike
The WX forecast for here was to be the same as your blue skies. As it was it was windy, cold, very, very misty and quite nasty to be honest. Worse SOTAwatch spots werenât working for me or GM4XQJ who tried to spot me and 40m was dead⌠I left the keyer running and couldnât raise a peep.
I managed to qualify just but I am very jealous of your WX. I definitely need to visit EA2 and I promise to leave the GM WX behind!
Hi,
thanks Angel for such nice report. We were really lucky yesterday. Today weather has been really poor: when I first looked out the window this morning I couldnât even see next house due to the dense fog in the town!
So Andy, donât get mad about it, sometimes it looks like Scotland here tooâŚ
The three of us enjoyed the activation and the views.It does worth sharing a good walk and chatting together, and as usual, you find that SOTA can get bridges between us quite easily.
I hope I will have the chance of doing more joint activations if you wish to come to EA2 land.
Then youâll understand why there are so many chasers and activators in this area.
Why not? Perhaps the MT could enlarge the Sota range by opening a âSota-holidayâ section: we offer guided Sota hikes, sun baths, and some complementary tourism here⌠Who knows? ;o)
Well, I hope to end the year with a 2014 farewell activation in the coming days together with the neighbours EA2IF & EA2BSB. Letâs look how the sky evolvesâŚ
Many thanks Angel, Eva and baby Victor. And best wishes for you frequent chasers that I like to hear regularly. Merry Christmas es VY 73 de
Ignacio.
I have only been âhostâ for one activator, from Portugal, and it was great fun. I am glad you all had a great time.