EA8/TF Tenerife January 2025

Activation Reports Pre-Planning
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Greetings Everyone!

I’ll be bringing some radio gear with me to Tenerife next week on what will mainly be a family holiday and thought I may as well get some SOTA activations pencilled in. Tenerife appears to be a popular destination and in doing some preliminary research I see the same callsigns popping up time and time again, so I’m hoping that this brief pre-planning post will draw comments / guidance / warnings from the many people who are better at this than I. Let’s see. The salient points:

  • Dates: 10 - 24 January 2025
  • Staying: Costa Adaje
  • Transport: Hire car
  • Radios: Icom IC-705 with AH-705 tuner, Icom ID-52
  • Antennas: 40/20/10 EFHW on 6m Tactical Mini, 40/20 Bandhopper for backup
  • Miscellaneous: Bioenno 6Ah battery, RigExpert Stick Pro, Garmin GPSMap 66
  • Connectivity: iPhone with EU eSIM, portable SHARI Allstar node
  • Logging: iPad mini running PoLo

My usual approach is to cart along far more gear than I ultimately need, leave some key part behind then do the best with what I can each day, though I’m hoping that this time I’ll be a little bit more organised. Just thinking out loud …

Access

Preliminary research suggests that some (most? all?) trails and SOTA peaks require a permit, which in turn requires pre-booking and therefore a small amount of planning. This might be a problem. Being a family holiday we tend to take each day as it comes and I’m not going to win many brownie points if I start drawing up a schedule. I’m also used to being surrounded by miles of beautiful scenery which I can enjoy any time, and the thought of booking a slot to enjoy nature rankles me a bit. My bad. Wonder how much SOTA I can get done ad-hoc without a permit?

Antennas

Is it worth me taking a 2m Slim Jim along? I note that 2m is a popular band for some of the summits I’ve looked at in detail, but my Spanish is appalling and it seems unfair to expect locals to speak English or German.

I’m also wondering if it’s worth me packing my JPC-12 vertical for those occasions when I haven’t enough space for a long wire and a pole. The JPC-12 is OK on 20 and 40, probably others with tuner, but it relies on soft ground into which to drive the spike and I don’t see there being much of that around.

Actually, speaking of terrain, I wonder if there’s some accepted best way of securing guy lines to rocks? I prefer to support my Tactical Mini without relying on trees and bushes, normally with a collar and three lines & pegs. With so much of Tenerife being rocky there may be merit in bringing along some lightweight canvas bags (harnesses? nets?) which could be filled with rocks and act as anchors for the guy lines.

Navigating

I’m a seasoned user of Garmin devices and Basecamp software, and like to keep a virtual folder of useful waypoints, tracks, etc whenever I venture into the great outdoors with a purpose. So far I’ve collected all 19 SOTA peaks in EA8/TF but not found many GPX routes, though admittedly I only started searching yesterday. Any pointers to GPS resources always gratefully received.

Right, think that’s enough for now. There’s probably a dozen things I’ve forgotten but this opening post is long enough already. Cheers for reading, and many thanks in advance for any comments!

73 de GD5MUP
Mark, Douglas IOM

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Sotamaps and therefor sotl.as has track for (almost) every sota summit in EA8/TF. So I guess you were looking at the wrong spot…
On the same pages you can also find comments on permits and access.
The local activators take it very liberal with some of the rules. Those don’t have gpx tracks like EA8/TF-004 … YMMW

73 Joe

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Hi Mark,

Access

Preliminary research suggests that some (most? all?) trails and SOTA peaks require a permit,

As far as I know only Teide, EA8/TF-001 and the summits in the northeast (such as Chinobre, EA8/TF-012), which are in a protected natural area, require a permit.

From Costa Adeje, there are several summits within reach that are easily accessible. Best have a look at SOTL.AS. I have added tracks and a brief description to some of the summits. TF-010, TF-014, TF-016 might be of particular interest to you, or the summits along the coast line: TF-018 and TF-019. The later two are easy to access and have plenty of parking. For TF-010 and TF-014 it is difficult to find a parking spot.

Wishing you a nice vacation and successfull SOTA!

73 Heinz

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Got it, thanks @OE5JFE Joe. I was indeed looking in the wrong spot - expected the KML file (on sotadata.org) where I found the waypoints to also contain the tracks. My mistake.

Cheers @OE5EEP Heinz, that’s good to see. I think I must have clicked on those peaks within the nature reserve and thought wow, a permit for everything here?!? Your recommendations for activations close to Adeje are very welcome indeed and I appreciate the detailed reply.

Proßt!

Mark GD5MUP

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I’ve been out there two years running in November.

I’m only aware of two.

There are a couple with no formal access at all. If caught you might face a hefty fine, I’ve seen signs indicating up to 600 Euros.

Absolutely loads!

Personally I didn’t bother. I’ve tried 2m FM in various countries and had precisely zero success. I’m sadly strictly English only… which I know is my fault.

40m and 20m SSB on my KX2 and EFHW sufficed perfectly.

Not had that issue. A couple have been tricky - antenna rather low under the trees - but I have managed everywhere.

I use a similar guying system. I just tie the ends around smallish boulders. Again, I’ve managed everywhere.

Happy for you to PM me if needed. Although keeping it public here might help others in future.

73
Gerald

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Mark, I would encourage you to bring some 15m/12m antennas. I had a blast on those bands from EA8

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Thanks @MW0WML Gerald, always good to hear that view from multiple angles. I’ll be sure to read all feedback on SOTl.as and expect those peaks with restricted access will be clearly called out, and if not then I’m free to approach until I see some local signs. I’m all in favour of respecting private property BTW - here on the Isle of Man we’re regularly overrun with people who think they’ve a right to wander everywhere, damaging fences and leaving behind litter.

Thanks for the guidance on antennas. I’m inclined to leave the Slim Jim at home then and just have a go with the ID-52 Rubber Duckie. Good to hear the wire won’t be a problem too, and that your experience with ‘rock guying’ is positive.

That’s exactly why I’m taking the tuner along. My EFHW is great on 40/20/15/10 but the AH-705 opens up a few more bands quite nicely, despite being a bit of a lump.

Cheers!
Mark GD5MUP

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And yes take a 2m Antenna with u! There are a lot of OPs on 2m band.
73
Julian

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Hi Mark

What a coincidence, I will also be on Tenerife from 18-25 January (activation period: 19-24) and have also organised a rental car, but have not yet planned which summits I will activate (apart from the five complete candidates :wink:).

I’ll be staying further north of you in Puerto de la Cruz. Maybe you want to join me for an activation, if your family schedule allows it (I’m not alone as well)?
I’ll PM you my Signal and Threema links, just in case.

I’ve never been to Tenerife before, but I was on Gran Canaria last year around the same time and I can’t remember doing a single QSO on 2m FM, but I did have several local ground-wave contacts, including to Tenerife, on HF.
Anyway, I always carry a HT with APRS capabilities, just in case… and for longer distances, I always carry a telescopic RH-770 clone antenna.
But to be honest, I don’t usually rely on 2m FM, but prefer the higher HF bands with SSB that were buzzing a year ago.

On Gran Canaria I used 90% of my activations a full size vertical with ground radials for 20m-6m and 10% with my compact (12m long) EFHW, which shines on the higher HF bands. Not much going on 40m, most contacts are on higher bands.

According my references, the JPC-12 has a loading coil to make it resonant from 40m to 10m, so no tuner is needed.
I always used an earth spike on both antennas. If it was rocky (most of the time), I looked for a hole, or supported the spike with some rocks or my rucksack.
Trivia: On the drive-up summit EA8/GC-001 there was even a porcelain support (see my pictures on SOTLAS), ready to be used by an activator with an earth spike!

Have fun and 73

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Hi Mark

I will be on lanzarote from 12.01 - 21.01. Hope i will hear you for s2s. I have my kx2 and a full size vertikal antenna for 20-10m and a 2m/70cm handheld.

vy 73 de victor DD1VW

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That’s great news Stephan @HB9EAJ, it would be a shame if we didn’t get a chance to do some activations together. You will like it up in Puerto de la Cruz, got a lovely black beach IIRC and it’s not as ‘busy’ as Las Americas.

I visited the Hawaiian islands at the start of December and also failed to make a single contact on 2m, and not just because of my European radio’s band coverage, hehe. Perhaps VHF / UHF contacts are more opportunistic, most of my local activations have been during random walks here on the Isle of Man when I’ve taken a handheld along and not much else. Maybe that’s the case for Teide as well? Either way I think I may leave the Slim Jim at home but will bring my ID-52. Sadly no APRS though.

Absolutely Victor @DD1VW - we’ll be sure to put some spots out and look forward to making contact. Cheers!

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The activation zone of TF-007 is accessible via paths from the SW, only the summit area is out of bounds.
The only band that worked for me down there was 15m. 10m would probably also work well.
Sotlas provides good information on access, just make sure you read all the entries as some are starting to contradict each other. Go by the most recent, they are usually more up to date and reliable.
73 de OE6FEG
Matt

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Indeed! I’ll send you a PM and we’ll stay in touch.

Nice location! 2m FM can be tough. Some years ago, while on a Spanish summit, I realized that I forgot my HF feeder cable at home, so I tried it on VHF. It took me several hours to get 4 contacts.

I’ll listen for you as well, Victor!

Good to know Matt! This one would be a complete for me. The footpath up from SW is classified as T4, so I hope I can manage that with my low hiking boots.
Since it seems you’re the only one that accessed it from the SW, did you start at the bus stop ‘La Cumbre’ at about 28.29972,-16.82388?

73 Stephan

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Don’t worry about the T4 grade, it’s dead easy, even in trainers. Yes, I started from La Cumbre.
73

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Stephan, wie halb Europa auf Teneriffa… Der IN3ADF ist vom 22.01.25 bis 29.01.25 auch auf Teneriffa

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Hi there, i may join this group, i travel to Teneriffe the 27. January and remain until 21. March. I will do a couple of activation’s, i try to do them by public transport only.

73 de Ruedi

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auch OE5FSM der Franz ist auch dort…

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Amazing, SOTA people will infest the entire island!
I look forward to many S2S and joint activations.

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Hi stephan thats great. I hope spotting via mobile or APRS on the summit will work.

73 de Victor DD1VW

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Hi Victor,

In the past, when I had no cell coverage I also used APRS with success. But now, when I have an HF rig with SSB, I prefer SOTAmāt instead, developed by Brian, AB6D.

Once you have it properly set up, it’s so much easier to use and works also in remote locations.

On my HB9SOTA page, you can find presentations in German and English.

Have a great time in Lanzarote and I hope to hear you for a S2S!

73 Stephan

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