Hi Luc,
Thank you for the information regarding 2m FM in ON. If I do manage to get a response on 145.500, am I best staying on that frequency to complete the QSO or are you required QSY away from 145.500 to complete the QSO? Are you required to keep a log of all CQ calls in Belgium? Hopefully meet you for a joint SOTA activation when we are activating a SOTA summit in ON or LX.
Jimmy M0HGY
145.500 is a calling channel, so normally you would have to qsy after extablishing a contact. But as explained, you will be lucky to get a contact at all … so it does not matter much in this case.
No need to log your CQ’s, and even better, no need to log anything at all when /M or /P in Belgium … but of course you need to log your qso’s to get the SOTA points, hi.
Luc ON7DQ
Thank you for letting me know this Luc, this sounds very similar to the UK apart from the fact that could get away with having a QSO on the calling channel with the band being very quiet unlike the UK.
Jimmy M0HGY
Hello dr ON friends.
Can you recomend any places with activity also for kids? Like 5years old.
73 de LA1KHA Kjell
Hi Kjell,
I can recommend ON/ON-006: there is a small playground and a hughe watch tower on the summit.
73, Peter ON4UP
ON/ON-024 is near an (expensive) amusement park: Plopsa Coo , but it is not ON the summit 
Kids <85cm tall get in for free. Parking there is 10€, but “my” parking spot at the cemetery is free. There is also a nice waterfall nearby, with picknick benches.
As for logging in Belgium, it gets better all the time !
I just got confirmation that the logging requirement has been deleted altogether.
So no log required fixed, mobile or portable.
Luc ON7DQ
Does a chart like this exist for region 1?
I know the 40m band is smaller there, but I don’t know the limits of the CW portion, or where the QRP and SOTA people like to hang out. I think the 30 and 20 meter bands are the same as here in the US.
Yes-ish.
The band plans in region 1 are reasonably the same across the countries. But there are differences.
UBA is the Belgian national radio society and they have the following bandplans on their website.
https://www.uba.be/en/hf/bandplanning
VERON is the Dutch national society
ASBL for Luxembourg
I use these charts saved on my mobile, also printed double sided on A4 sheet and laminated for protection. They are for S5 but as Andy already said, band plans in Region 1 are almost the same, at least on main bands.
Thanks for the charts. Looks like I just need to stay below 7040 for 40m CW, and 30 and 20 are the same as the US.
Standard SOTA frequency for 40m CW in Europe is 7032
If occupied, just move up 7032.5, 7033, etc , or down to 7031, but avoid 7030 (QRP calling)
Enjoy your trip !
Luc ON7DQ
3 x 8 point summits for Zero walking time, plus one with a 5 minute walk. Amazing !
I spent nearly 8 hours walking and climbing yesterday to activate two 8 pointers in Scotland.
I must visit Belgium, mind you with all that good food and beer I think my waistline would expand. hi
73 Rob GM3YTS
Finally put up trip reports for all the summits I did here. I got 15 summits over 4 days in 5 associations, thanks in part to all the drive-up summits available in the region, but mostly because there are lots of chasers. Thank you chasers!
Those charts from @ON7DQ (at the beginning of the thread) were extremely useful for finding trailheads and good places to operate from. They certainly saved me lots of time looking at maps and planning routes. Thank you Luc for putting them together!
Thanks Jeff for doing these reports, will have a look at them when I am back home from work later today. It’s now only 2 weeks until myself, my dad Tom M1EYP and the rest of my family start the 2 week Benelux road trip.
Jimmy M0HGY
Great reading Jeff, and glad you could use my info.
Maybe you could slip in a link to my blog here and there, and not just to the table in this thread. There is much more info on each of he summits here:
I am surprised to see all the trees gone at the start of the trail for ON/ON-024.
And as for PA/PA-003, it is indeed a bit of a difficult road, but not forbidden to drive. Anyway, you had a nice walk… and at least on this one, the view from the top is your reward.
I’m also finalizing my schedule for next week, and will put the alerts online asap. I’m leaving on Tuesday June 18th.
I hope to bump into Jimmy and Tom here or there !
If I have a 2m radio on (car or portable), I’ll be monitoring 145.525 FM.
73,
Luc ON7DQ
Hi Luc,
Thank you for the link and the information, I have looked at the summits reports on your blog before which are very helpful and hope to work you in 2 to 3 weeks time in 2m FM and maybe meet you also.
Jimmy M0HGY
Yeah, it made following the trail difficult for the first few dozen meters. Though it was a great chance to practice your balance, as the easiest route was along fallen trees for parts.
Hi Roger,
Not fully sure yet which ON SOTA summits we will be activating, although we do have an idea of which ones to activate while we are there. Not sure if we will be activating ON/ON-019 yet, with this being a family holiday we won’t be activating all of the ON SOTA summits, but hope to activate some of these along with the 2 PA SOTA summits and 4 LX SOTA summits.
Jimmy M0HGY
OK , time for some more tables ! hi
If you read Jeffs reports, you will notice he didn’t “see” much else but trees.
This is just my personal opinion, but these ON summits at least have something for the family :
| Code | Summit | Family ToDo |
|---|---|---|
| ON/ON-001 | Signal de Botrange | walk in the “Hohes Venn” nature reserve + cafetaria (in weekends) |
| ON/ON-006 | La Croix Scaille | climb the tower + small playground |
| ON/ON-024 | Bois du Tour du Coo | nice climb to summit + waterfalls |
| ON/ON-026 | Le Mont d’Henri-Chapelle | nice view of the “Pays de Herve” |
| ON/ON-028 | Noordelijke terril Waterschei | steep climb but best 360° view |
For the technically minded, these have some nice towers:
| Code | Summit | To see |
|---|---|---|
| ON/ON-004 | Bois de Hazeille | radar tower |
| ON/ON-027 | Pottelberg | radio towers + cafetaria |
All other summits have just trees, and (almost) no views from the summit.
Luc ON7DQ
