FR/RE-001 Piton des Neiges - 3070m ASL

Hello

Finally I think will try that mountain on next Monday morning June 11th.
3070m ASL with 1700m to climb starting from Sunday June 10th.
That’s also a personal challenge to get atop of the tallest summit of the Indian Ocean, but of course I will carry my smallest radio in my backpack !
KX2 with internal batteries and HyEnd EFHW + 10m of wire to tune on 80m too.
Will have to carry my telescopic mast too - normally 10m extended.
The question is about eBay amp 35W + 7.2 AH lead-acid battery which adds 3 KG…when weight is important for water and some clothes to face the cold.

Probably will leave it but this reduces time of operation and the power from 35W to 10W at the best
and I am working SSB and not CW.
But if I reach the summit on sunrise I might check in to the local net on 80m which would probably be enough. My solar panel will not help at this time of the day and will not stay there for long time (cold wind and time to go back are not to be underestimated).

73 Thomas de FR/F4HPX

3 Likes

It should be a wonderful adventure Thomas. I would not bother about the amp and try to reduce weight with a 3 or 4Ah LiFePo4 (if you can). A 3Kgs difference on a 1700m hike will have a huuuuge impact, you are correct. For a 1st time activation of such a special summit the chasers will be listening even if you’re only using 10W. Being in the middle of the ocean should help too. Check for water sources along the way as it may help you to save weight as well and make sure they are not spoilt upstream by some critters such as sheep etc… Too bad I will not be in Europe when you activate this summit.

Good luck and enjoy!

1 Like

It is indeed
Arrived to the mountain shelter on 2500m ASL
Tomorrow morning 4.00am local time the final hike to be on summit around the sunrise. Already pretty cold. Would be better to have rather a ski suit…

73 Thomas