Hi,
does anybody have an idea, how 20m-condx will probably be on Lofoten (LA/NL) for doing some SOTA-QSOs? Is it very difficult? I will be there in early June and have no experience how condx are at such high latitudes, compared to Germany… I have 20m, CW, 10 Watts, only.
73
Axel, DF1ET
I have operated from similar Latitude (northern TF) and condx are certainly tougher than operating from central Europe.
That said with 10w of CW into a dipole I had no problem completing an activation and made quite a few non-SOTA “campsite portable” QSOs .
Good luck!
73 Gareth G0MFR
Hi Gareth,
thank you for your answer! Could you tell me, which year you where in TF? Might be a difference, where you are in the solar cycle.
Axel
Hi Axel,
It was August 2018, so in the pit of the cycle 24 doldrums!
Gareth
Hello Axel
take a vertical antenna with you.
73
Peter
I was in Henningsvaer in April 2019. Using 10 w and GP on ground. But hard to get qso.
Check my QRZ for image…
I used to live in Bodö and on Andöya in the late 50’s;
During June you will have daylight more or less 24 hours a day up in the Lofoten Islands. HF propagation will be OK on 20-17-15 mtrs depending on the state of the SUN e.g. sunspots or lack of !
Don’t forget that even if you cannot see it during the continues daylight conditions; there will be periods of Aurora conditions which more often than not will wipe out out HF propagation.
During my trip to the North Cape in 2014 I made a lot of QSO’s on 20 mtrs., but 40/80 was virtually dead.
Enjoy your trip !
73 Ken
We did 2 activations on the Lofoten in July 2018 and never had problems getting the necessary contacts. Peter OE5AUL and me worked on different bands but as he said in a previous answer - take a vertical antenna with you!
Good luck and hope to hear you in June!
73, Sylvia
OE5YYN
Be prepared that the band might open to eu not much earlier than local noon. It might sound much quieter than in central eu but with some ‘good’ signals from the south. In the rare case of a midsummer aurora you won’t hear anything if you’re in the auroral oval.
Ha det bra!
Pom
Thank you all for the infos! Sounds quite good. Thank you for pointing me to aurora, will check this before activation.
Why use a vertical antenna? Because of the low elevation angle or for another reason?
@SM7RYR, Roger, nice pictures on your qrz.com-page!
Axel
I was going to activate a summit or two in the Arctic Circle last year from Finland. I put it off as I didn’t want to make the journey and spend lots of money only to find that I could only work a few stations due to the bottom of the solar cycle and my location so far North. I decided I’d wait till the solar cycle has got going and then try.
But seeing Slyvia’s photo… well I could go there and I wouldn’t care if I didn’t make a single QSO if I could see that view on such a day 
Hi Axel,
If you activate at around noon and there’s no aurora black out, you should be able to get chasers from Europe and possibly some of the early Northamerican chasers too.
You asked about 20m, but just in case you want to consider other bands, let me tell you that 17m and even 15m will also work fine into EA and possibly other Southern EU areas.
Good luck.
73,
Guru
Yes, that’s right. The first hop might take you a bit further into more densely populated areas with a higher chance of chasers waiting for you!
73, Sylvia
Andy, that’s true, no need of SOTA to go there. Scenery alone is enough. But if possible, I’ll give it a try.
As to other bands than 20m, that’s the only rig I have. I’m waiting for the QSX-transceiver from qrplabs to be released. And regarding a vertical antenna, I consider to build one, at present I use an endfed, mounted as inverted-L.
73
Axel, DF1ET
Please do tell us about your experiences! I plan to be on the Lofoten and Northern Finland in mid-July, so I may profit from your experiences.
73 de Martin / HB9GVW
Hi Martin,
I’ll try to remember it 
Axel
