G4YSS: PA/PA-006 Signaal Imbosch with PA0HRM on 19-09-24
Issue-1 pse rprt errors
A Joint Activation of SIGNAAL IMBOSCH PA/PA-006 - 1 point,
On 19th September 2024; the 100th activation of this summit.
ACTIVATORS:
- PA0HRM/P Hans
Bands: 40m-30m CW - PA/M1NNN/P John (aka G4YSS)
Bands: 20m-CW, 40m-SSB & 160m
All times: CET (UTC plus 2hr, UOS as ‘z’)
EQUIPMENT:
FT817ND HF/VHF/UHF 5W Transceiver
MX-P50M, 50 Watt HF Linear Amplifier
Link dipole for 80m thru’ 10m on a 6m CFC mast with ends tied to trees
Home-brew tunable loading coils for 160m
HRB 11.1V (nom)/ 5 Ah Li-Po battery (part discharged)
UV-5R H/H. 2-Band, 5W-FM & J-Pole for 2m FM (not used)
Garmin GEKO-301 GPS
Folding stool
Pack weight approx 10kg (22 pounds)
INTRODUCTION:
Hans PA0HRM and I activated PA6 together precisely five years ago and again precisely two years ago to the day. In addition, I have activated it solo on 22-09-19 and 15-09-22.
My XYL and I were in Arnhem for a week, staying at the Bilderberg Hotel in Oosterbeek for the 80th anniversary of operation Market Garden in WW2. Denise’s father Leonard of the First Air Landing Light Regiment - Royal Artillery was involved in the mass glider landings at Wolfheze on 17th of September 1944 but the operation was mostly a failure resulting in an evacuation across the Rhine on the night of the 25-09-1944. Poor radio communications was one of the factors in the failure.
Hans PA0HRM is the SOTA manager for PA and also a volunteer at the Arnhem Bridge Museum along with his XYL Ida, so I had a good guide. I would need him again. Recent changes, in the form of further access restrictions, have taken place since we were last there in 2022. Back then you could chose between a 10 or a 20 minute walk but now it takes 30 minutes because you have to park further away.
I would be using PA/M1NNN/P today because that call, which I air for work overseas, will soon be lost to me. Unthinkable but apparently true.
EXECUTION and ROUTE:
After making plans via email and WhatsApp, I drove to pick up Hans at his home in Rheden which is about 10km to the east of Arnhem and a little more from Oosterbeek. Apart from a minor detour in Arnhem, I arrived at Hans’ house without incident. Without the assistance of the Satnav, I would still be driving round in circles.
We drove to the start point from Hans’ QTH within 10 minutes but the road, once one-way, now carries traffic both ways. After passing a large café, you turn left into the car park entrance at N52.02921 E6.02426. Today’s start point was about 2.5 km to the east of the summit but less than 25m down from it in terms of height
Into his rucksack, Hans put his folding table and chair and we walked away from the car at 15:09.
The path to PA6 starts near the café at the NW end of the car park at N52.02931 E6.02232. Further waypoints are: N52.03124 E6.01974 and N52.03320 E6.01856 which bring you to the old parking place of 2022 at N52.03479 E6.01497. You can use the road or alternatively the cycle track to cover this section. We used both for the round trip.
After this you turn right at N52.03516 E6.01324, keeping left at N52.03607 E6.01338 to go via N52.03509 E6.00859 and N52.03572 E6.00439. Just after you reach a point along the sandy path at N52.03719 E5.99838 (my operating position for this and the 2022 activation) there’s a path off to the right to take you up to the summit proper at N52.03825 E5.99877 (110m ASL). The summit is where Hans operated but the intervening 120m of distance between us didn’t prevent some cross-talk from me spreading across to Hans on 40m.
The only evidence of the wild boar that live here alongside deer, Highland cattle and latterly re-introduced wolves, were the usual small excavations along the sides of the cycle paths and tracks. Apart from the final 50m or so, you have little or no indication that you’re walking ‘up’ a SOTA. The leisurely walk-in took 37 minutes but we were to return in 31.
Setting Up:
We walked to the summit marker together and Hans deployed his 12m long end-fed single wire antenna between the trees at low-height; only about 1.5m for most of it. This connects with RG58 coax to his QRP rig via a 1:49 impedance matcher wound on a large ferrite ring and housed in a plastic box. The table and chair, combined with perfect weather, made for a comfortable and low-stress activation. Hans had offered me the summit proper but 40m of wire on a 6m mast takes some erecting in trees. Once was enough.
I had the usual radiating system with me, namely an 80m dipole on a 6m mast but for this trip, a version with links up to the 10m band. The 160m coils were carried more in hope than expectation but that doesn’t stop me trying. The sandy edge of a wide path suited me for ease of station deployment. Knowing Hans would be making himself comfortable, I too had brought along a seat in the form of a tiny folding stool, which I’ve had for years but never used.
After a few photos with ‘100’ scratched in the ground to represent the 100th activation, we both got down to work in our separate areas.
SIGNAAL IMBOSCH, PA/PA-006, 110m, 1pt. 15:46 to 17:26. 21C, 5mph wind, sunny. LOC: JO22XA. Intermittent phone coverage (EE). (Little or nil with Vodaphone in 2019 and 2022).
14.057 CW - 12 QSO’s (PA/M1NNN/P):
14.061 was busy. An earlier alert soon made the RBN wake up but I put a spot on myself before QRV. The problem was that I forgot about the use of my alternative callsign which may have caused some confusion.
Stations Worked: OE6GND Gerhard 559/ 599; SP9AMH Maruisz 579/ 579; IK3DRO Gino 599’s; EA7GV Jose 599/ 529; LZ1MG Malen 599’s; HP9DEA 599’s (not sure of this callsign); CT1DRB David 599/ 559; M0BKV Damian 599’s; G4OBK Phil 579/ 539 (QSB); I2PJF Fausto 599’s; 2I0EUV David (Lisburn) 599’s and SO6K Darek 599/ 579.
The session spanned 22 minutes with a power of 30 Watts but it was difficult to start with. Several callers merged into a single continuous tone with nothing much intelligible and when I did send back part of a callsign with a question mark, I was often getting another station over the top. After half a dozen QSO’s things sorted themselves out but a clever chaser will send a hundred or two Hz to one side!
David in Lisburn was sending on a straight key and we exchanged names and QTH’s. Whether he made much of mine is debatable but it’s not often you work a 2I0 in CW.
7.160/ 7.157 SSB – 4 QSO’s (PA/M1NNN/P):
While I was setting up for 20m, I was idly listening to a GB station on the WAB frequency of 7.160. Upon returning there, a check revealed it to be clear. Calling CQ I was called back by GB2CLS – Gordon at Caistor Lifeboat Station with a 59/ 59 exchange. I think his dog chose that moment to ‘escape’ which produced a puzzling delay. Gordon told me that he’d had 200 lookups on his web page but only three donations to the ‘privately run’ life saving facility.
Since Gordon had been using it earlier, I left him the frequency and went 3 down to find Ken G0FEX waiting. With my alternative callsign, he hadn’t known me from Adam at first but then recognized the voice enough to collect the summit. I had no WAB square to offer, not even a trig point so I feebly gave him ‘7664’ in case he collected overseas book numbers. He didn’t but as always, we had a brief chat.
Next in was ‘Old King Arthur’ G3OKA John – a well known WAB square collector in the Wirral. He too was fooled until I explained. I have been working John since the 1980’s, with my G4YSS call of course.
To round-off a pleasant activation, though I didn’t realise it at the time, came Hans PA0HRM/P from a range of 120m. 59’s of course but unusual to get Hans in voice mode.
1.832 CW/ 1.843 SSB (PA/G4YSS/P): Nil QSO’s
After fitting and tuning the Top Band coils which took nigh on 10 minutes, I tried both frequencies alternately from 14:08z to 14:18z without result. The alerted SSB freq. of 1.846 had data on it as had been the case here in 2022.
Back in 2019, with the same setup, I managed to work SOTA chaser ON7DQ Luc (Ostende) from this summit with reports 589/ 339 but for my failure today, two things are worth mentioning. I clearly heard Phil G4OBK sending ‘Nil’ at around 14:12 and while I was packing up I noticed that the 50W amp switch was in the ‘off’ position!! This was due to the extended time it had taken to get resonance to the right point with the tuning slugs. Up and down several times to alter the coil slugs for greater inductance. To read VSWR on the rig the amp must be off of course. That’s the only way the rig sees the antenna; straight through the amp’s receive path.
It’s doubtful but who knows? The extra 10dBW might just have got me through to Phil if I’d noticed the error in time. More care, less finger trouble. I briefly tried again with 50W but by then Phil would have been long gone and also Hans was standing close-by waiting to go.
Descent:
The term descent is something of a misnomer in this instance but the return walk took some 31 minutes to 17:57. Yes, we were rushing to avoid the wrath of my XYL. We were due to attend a dinner at Lebreck Hall in Oosterbeek early that evening.
I dropped Hans off at home and sped off but the rush-hour traffic was bad despite plotting a course which took me to the north on less major roads via N52.00983 E5.93262. However I made it just in time and faced no anger. Phew! I was to see Hans again the following day at the Arnhem Bridge Museum where he has been volunteering for the past 20 years.
ASCENT & DISTANCE
(Start point approx 94m ASL but dipping to 86m on the way):
Ascent 32m (105ft) / Distance 2 x 2.5km (3.1 miles in total)
Walking times:
Ascent: 37 min
Descent: 31 min
Summit time: 1hrs-40 min
PA0HRM Hans’ Log:
40m-CW: DL5CL; HB9BQU/P; G4TGJ/P
30m-CW: OK2HBY/P; DH5ST/P
PA/M1NNN/P (G4YSS)
Total: 16
12 on 20m-CW
4 on 40m-SSB
0 on 160m-CW/ SSB
COMMENTS:
The QSO count was good on 20m but 40m never really got going. The RBN network helped both Hans and myself today, which demonstrates that it’s worth alerting for CW if there’s time. I had a little phone signal today and that enabled a self spot or two but occasionally the phone announced ‘5G’ despite it not being sufficiently up market to handle more than 4G.
Propagation was good on both HF bands. Of course 160m was closed and little was expected of that. However success may barely have been within my grasp had I noticed in time that my linear was switched off! The signal I gave Phil G4OBK a 559 report for, was covering a distance of over 500km so its very doubtful he would have heard me even with the amp. It’s a credit to Phil’s ingenuity in creating a 160m setup that will go that far in broad daylight.
This summit is physically easy to do from the start point used today but the latter is getting gradually further away. Hans pointed out that much more in the way of restrictions would ruin the business of the café, so unlikely.
When driving the roads or walking on tracks in the Netherlands you have to be aware of bicycles and cycle paths down each side of most roads. The rights of cyclists are enhanced in this country and there are a great many of them. The cycleways are not disimilar to pedestrian walkways. Step onto them at your peril. Motor scooters seem to use them too, as do electrified bicycles. Both these and the pure cyclists, are capable of surprising speeds and most Dutch push bikes are substantial. You would be excused for thinking that the direction of travel would mimic that of the cars on the road but I have seen a few cyclists contra-flowing, especially in the towns. Look both ways.
The Veluwezoom National Park closes at 8pm every evening and there are more restrictions at weekends and in July and August. Wildlife is the reason and Hans mentioned that motorcycle use had been a factor.
THANKS:
To ALL STATIONS worked and to RBN hosts. Also to the Sota spotter. Many thanks to Hans PA0HRM for his excellent company and guidance on a route that was new to me.
73, John G4YSS
(Using PA/M1NNN/P and occasionally G4YSS by mistake)
Photos: 1-2-4-6-10-12-13-16-18
Above: Junction of main path and summit path looking back
Above: Summit path. 50m to go
Above: Hans PA0HRM/P about to take care of PA6’s 100th activation.
Above: No messing. Hans likes his comforts!
Above: I set up beside the main path
Above: The 80m thro’ 10m link dipole on a 6m mast
Above: Rigged for 160
Above: Hans on his way. It’s time to go.
