Trip to Europe (Part 1)
You may have caught Helen’s (M0YHB) reports on the start of our Lakeland/Scotland adventure where we had an enjoyable two weeks activating SOTA summits and geocaching along the way. The trip was planned to coincide with two Mega-caching events at the racecourses at Cartmel and Ayr. Mega events have to have a minimum of 500 people attending and so far we have been to every one of the UK Mega events, one of only six teams to have done so.
So it may come as no surprise that our European expedition was planned around the world’s very first Giga-caching event in the Olympic Park in Munich, Germany; to go Giga it needed a minimum of 5000 people attending. The plan was to have a gentle three day drive down to Munich stopping off to activate summits and visit geocaches, then after the event go down to a campsite in Lindau near Lake Constance which would give us a good base to sightsee (read geocache) and SOTA in Germany, Austria and Liechtenstein.
Before we left the most northern part of our previous journey and returning home from Scotland, the campervan started its countdown to a service and it was immediately obvious we were not going to be able to get home and then get to Germany and back without it being done; high speed runs on the autobahns need a looked after vehicle. We both had a busy week between trips going to our respective offices, getting the van booked in for service and getting things ready for the next adventure. The time went very quickly.
The journey down from the Midlands to Dover was uneventful with only the usual morning M25 traffic to contend with, getting to the ferry with plenty of time to spare. With a quick dash across Belgium, our first stop was in the Netherlands at a campsite we visited before called Vinkenhof. This is located in a small village called Schin op Geul in the little finger of the Netherlands surrounded by Belgium and Germany. The campsite happened to be very close to Vrouwenheide (PA/PA-002), a summit which was not a SOTA on our previous stay. The first day was finished off by going to the site’s BBQ evening where a selection of Dutch-style meats and salads were on offer, washed down with some nice dark beers.
An early start the next morning had us on Vrouwenheide looking for the true summit and then a suitable activating position. The hill has on-road parking just outside the activation zone nearby to a gentle grassy slope up to the tree line and the summit. The summit itself is heavily wooded (marked by a concrete pillar) with a couple of small tree-less areas within the activation zone. The one we chose to activate from had a bench to sit on. Rain was threatening and it started just as we were setting up. Huddled under a large brolly trying to keep everything dry we quickly qualified the summit with 4 contacts each on 40 metres. I continued the activation until I began to struggle with lack of callers and QRN from the rain. 31 contacts made it into my log including a s2s with G4AFI on G/SP-017. I had planned to do at least 2 bands from most summits so sticking to my promise I reconfigured the antenna for 17 metres adding only 5 more contacts before it was time to pack things away and continue with our journey.
Activating from the seat in a clearing on Vrouwenheide (PA/PA-002) and the windmill just along the road
Our next stop was only a few miles away across the border in Belgium onto the large ridge of Le Mont d’Henri-Chapelle (ON/ON-026). The summit has a main road running across the ridge with many private properties along its length. There is a large field at the highest point but not wanting to get into any discussions with locals about what we were doing, we activated from the bench and table recommended by ON4UP down a track just to the north of the summit. I think it is the first time I have activated below the place I parked. The morning rain had cleared by the time we arrived at the summit so a dry activation ensued. 40 metres was in slightly better condition and 36 calls were quickly logged including 3 s2s. After qualifying Helen went off to look for caches nearby, a pattern of operating we continued for almost all the activations. 17 metres was still poor with only another 5 contacts. It was now time to travel across Germany to our stopover but via another SOTA summit.
The luxurious activation site (read picnic bench) on Le Mont d’Henri-Chapelle (ON/ON-026) from above and below
The journey along the A4 and A3 via Cologne was punctuated by extremely heavy downpours which slowed the autobahn to a crawl a few times but we still made good time when the roads were clear. I always find it takes a little while to get used to cruising at 80 mph+ then having vehicles pass you as if standing still!
The third summit for the day was Großer Feldberg (DM/HE-003) which is a very easy drive on 10 pointer with the added attraction of geocaches (including a web-cam cache) and a restaurant. The top of the hill is dominated by a 40 metre high observation tower and transmitter mast. As it was getting quite late in the afternoon with plenty of heavy showers still around the summit was quiet; I understand it can be a very busy hill in both summer and winter. I set up the station on a bench adjacent to the children’s play area in full view of the summit web-cam. In hindsight I could have mentioned that I could be seen on the ‘net. Luckily the weather was being kind with blue skies when we started. After Helen made her obligatory 5 contacts she wandered off to geocache while I remained to work as many people as I could despite the poor radio conditions. Struggling with the high static noise from the nearby storms I managed to log 36 on 40 metres, 7 on 17 metres and 9 on 20 metres before the mizzles started. I had just finished packing things away when Helen returned. The rain then started properly requiring a hasty retreat to the restaurant.
The webcam image on Großer Feldberg (DM/HE-003) as Helen returned with the tablet to save it
Looking back towards the webcam on Großer Feldberg (DM/HE-003) and a view of the transmitter towers that dominate the summit
We had some nice food while enjoying the intermittent views and the odd rainbow. Helen had a Jaeger Schnitzel (Wien Schnitzel with a mushroom sauce), I had meatballs in a German source with cold potato salad. Our bed for the night was in the Ramada Hotel Micador near Niedernhausen, less than 10 miles from the summit. Helen chose this as it was cheaper than staying in a campsite for one night and got a good deal on the usual websites. We also had fast free internet in our room which was an extra bonus.
The sculpture on Großer Feldberg (DM/HE-003) containing a piece of local rock and the rainbow from the restaurant when the rain set in
Now we had to drive across Germany to Munich. Since we were passing near to Schwanberg (DM/BM-102) and it was a summit I had chased, we had to take a look. Parking at the top again, but this time with a whole village by the obligatory transmitter towers. We set up in the shadow of these on a grassy field and watched the visitors walking by from under our brolly (only light rain this time) as we made our calls. There was still plenty of static around but I operated on three bands, this time with 20 contacts on 40 metres (including a s2s with GW4VPX on Waun Fach, GW/SW-002), 8 contacts on 17 metres and 7 QSOs on 20 metres.
More food on the summit in the nice restaurant and winery; the hill and surrounding area is covered with rows of well-tended vines. We both had salads (mine with ham and cheese, Helen’s had sausage), but then ruined our calorie counting by having some of the scrummy cakes that were on display. It was funny to hear a couple of French girls talking with the waitress, both in broken English, it being their common language. To be fair, their English was better then our German.
Activating on the summit of Schwanberg (DM/BM-102) and a view of the vines on the slopes
Third day over, 4 activations in three countries (three new associations for me), over 600 miles travelled and plenty of caches found. A successful few days and we had only just started.
See more pictures on my flickr pages
Carolyn (PA/G6WRW/P; ON/G6WRW/P; DL/G6WRW/P)