The weather forecast gave clear sky for the night. The moon rise time was 18:14 and sun set at 21:15 local time. I started to walk up at 19:00 from Tiocan 870 m. There were other hikers coming down from Le Reculet. The day was sunny and warm. I arrive to the summit Le Reculet 1717 m 20:45 and take some photos. The sun set starts a little earlier than I expected and I need to hurry up with the dipole. Pity that I could not enjoy fully the sun set. Nobody else on the summit.
I start to call CQ on 14058 kHz as announced at 1913 UTC. The band noise is high and sounds unusual. The “QRM” turns out to be long distance propagation and I get first reply from N4EX. After the sun set the temperature drops down rapidly and the condensing humidity makes my hands feel cold. The call signs are also unusual for me, but the chasers on the other side of the earth are good operators for these difficult conditions. The 10118 kHz has strong noise so I do not stay there long. QSY to 7032 2009 UTC. Some of the signals on 40 m are strong while others are hard to copy. Finally QRT 22:30 local time. The almost full moon gives quite good visibility. Still I need to be careful when putting everything back into my rucksack. Walking down with a head lamp and moon light is not really faster than climbing up in day light.
Thanks to HA7UG for spotting.
73, Jaakko OH7BF/F5VGL
Radio: ATS3B 8xAA alkaline, link dipole 6 m up
Photos: f5vgl | Flickr
APRS: aprs.fi - live APRS map