2m Aurora QSO with GM4YXI - most probably my QSO of the year!

[DF7TR]

Dear Reflector,

I wanted to share a story about a very special QSO I made on Sunday. I spent the weekend at my parents’ place, and after going for a walk with my dad on Sunday afternoon, I decided to do an activation on my way back to where I live and work.

I checked the propagation again in the parking lot and, because of the high K and A values, decided to take 2m equipment only. I packed the 6-element DK7ZB Yagi that I built, using parts kindly printed for me by Michael @OE5HKT, which he had designed. Finally, I decided to carry the PA that I had recently bought as well. I arrived on OK/PL-022 at around 16z, later than I would usually activate on a Sunday.

The activation started off well with two S2S QSOs, one with Richard @OE5FFE and one with Reinhard @OE5EDR. Then I called on 2m SSB and had an amazing 2m S2S with Mathias @DH1WM over 372 km! Some time passed, and since I wasn’t in a hurry, I stayed on 2m SSB longer than I usually would, running the CQ loop on the IC-705 and enjoying the view.

But then, suddenly, Mathias texted me: “Aurora on 2m!” I instantly switched to CW and noticed a few signals in the spectrum - but no aurora sounds. These were local stations, all calling “CQ A”. The problem became clear: There’s a castle on the summit. I had set up in a spot with great takeoff to the west, south, and east, but the castle blocked the northern direction.

I changed my position as quickly as possible. I was now blocked toward the east but had a clear path to the north, and in fact, heard the first aurora signals. I found Ken OZ1HDF on the bands. He had been my first aurora QSO back in January from the university club station DK0PT, and I got him in the log quickly. This was already an amazing success: A 2m Aurora QSO from a SOTA summit!

I was then scanning the band for another signal and heard Keith GM4YXI! I had nothing to lose, so I called—even though I wasn’t expecting a response. OK/DF7TR/P isn’t the easiest callsign for such QSOs anyway. But to my surprise, he replied with “OK/?/P”. Two very exciting minutes followed. I had to repeat my callsign several times, but he finally got it right! The report was 52A both ways. Check out the SoundCloud link to enjoy the aurora sounds I received during the final part of the QSO!

Just two minutes after this QSO, the signals vanished. I heard very faint aurora signals from SM and OH, but no further QSOs were possible. I was extremely lucky to be on the summit during that short time window, equipped with the Yagi and amplifier. I am also very thankful to Mathias for letting me know about the aurora, which allowed me to change my location quickly and get a clear takeoff toward the north. I think I owe Mathias a drink if we will meet in person some day

With this story, I hope to inspire others to try 2m SSB and CW during the 2m SOTA Challenge 2026. I also wanted to show what is truly possible on 2m. For example, the S2S with Mathias on 2m SSB over 372 km would not have been possible on FM - but with the right equipment and mode, it is!

I’m really looking forward to what this year will bring on 2m. I’m already quite active chasing SOTA stations during the challenge, and maybe I’ll publish another post about it someday.

Best 73
Thomas DF7TR

[DH1WM]

When a SOTA day with bad conditions turns into the best summit at the last minute.

For me, it was the third summit of the day. The conditions were very poor all day. There were hardly any stations to work on shortwave.

1. DM/RP-432 - 3 x 2m, 4 x 40m and 3 x 20m

2. DM/RP-406 - 6 x 2m, 11 x 40m and nothing x 20m

3. DM/RP-420 - 5 x 2m, 7 x 40m and nothing x 20m so far.

I was already 30 minutes behind my schedule, but I wanted to make one last 10-minute CQ call on 2m SSB. After 2 minutes, 3-4 CW signals suddenly appeared in the waterfall.

I thought, maybe a local contest. Then there were even more, about 7 signals. Now I was really curious where they were coming from.

So I stopped my CQ loop and switched to the CW frequencies. When I reached the first signal, it only took me two seconds to know what it was, even though I’d never heard it live before. AURORA! I switched to the next signal, also Aurora. My CW isn’t particularly good; it was very difficult for me to decode the first few characters. Then I thought of Thomas DF7TR, maybe he’s still QRV. He also has a similar 2m station and is good at CW. So I sent him this short message. We were both at roughly the same latitude. I was at JN39 and Thomas at JN69. So it might work for him too.

I then picked the strongest signal and after hearing a few CQ calls, I got the call sign. It was OZ1HDF. I replied, but he didn’t hear me. I then made a short video of the signal to send to our local group. While I was doing that, the signal kept getting stronger. So I tried again, and I got “DH?” back. So I sent my call sign two more times, and then it worked. The QSO went quickly and smoothly. My first Aurora QSO was logged.

In total, about nine different stations (OH, GM, SM) could be heard via Aurora, but unfortunately, it wasn’t enough for any further QSOs. The signals disappeared as suddenly as they appeared. Now I had to hurry to pack up my station and hike back to the car, as the sun was almost set.

That one QSO saved the whole day.

My station was an IC-705 with a 50-watt amplifier and a 5-element Yagi antenna about 2.5 meters above ground.

Thanks for the SOTA 2m challenge. Without it, I probably would never have carried such a station up the mountain.

73, Mathias
DH1WM

[DL3TU]

These are truely amazing reports!
Thanks for sharing, Thomas @DF7TR and Matthias @DH1WM.

Thomas sent a message to the SOTA-BW group saying there was Aurora on 2 meters, but I had already returned from my activation in JN47 and doubt I would have heard anything, this far south.

So I guess I’ll just keep my fingers crossed for more events like this as the year goes on.
Congratulations to both of you on those very special QSOs — what a fantastic achievement!

73, Roman

[G8ADD]

This contact is even more amazing when you bear in mind that both stations were reflecting their signals from an auroral arc that was further north, so that while the distance between stations was 1300km the signals path was possibly more than 2000km.
SSB phone contacts by aurora are also possible but not easy because although the signals can be very strong they are distorted by Doppler effects and sound like a hoarse whisper.

[EI3LH]

Enjoyed listening to that aurora recording and reading the reports. Some skilled VHF/UHF operators out there!