Lanzarote activations

Just a quick few pictures of the first couple of activations Helen and I have done while holidaying on Lanzarote.

The first summit Guardilama (EA8/LA-004) was chosen because there was a geocaching first to find (FTF) nearby (something coveted by geocachers especially when it is abroad) so we went on a trek to its smaller neighbour first by walking through the local agricultural style of vineyards with each vine enclosed in a lava rock wall (see picture). Parking was below the summit and then it was a walk up a loose, well-walked, zig-zag path to a rocky summit which had a view over the whole of the southern end of island and the deep caldera.



View of Guardilama (EA8/LA-004) from the summit of its closest neighbour to the southwest, Tinasoria.


C in full flow activating the summit of Guardilama (EA/LA-004) and with the view to the west of the island

Yesterday we went to an unactivated summit Montana Tehiche (EA8/LA-019) which has paths and tracks to the caldera rim and then around it to the highest point. More loose scree to climb up and down and It was very windy.



The only sheltered spot we could find on the summit during the new activation of Montana Tehiche (EA8/LA-019)


The view of Montana Tehiche (EA/LA-019) from the seaside resort of Costa Teguise while we stood on the top of a disused windmill, now viewpoint

Carolyn (EA8/G6WRW)

9 Likes

Well done Carolyn, especially for managing to guy down the support, that ground is (literally) rock hard!

I enjoyed activating Guardilama but couldn’t sit on the slope you were set up on, the wind was really really strong!

All of the additional summits got added after I visited in January, so enjoy!

73 James M0JCQ

Hi James

Fortunately the rocks, being very rough, provide enough corners for the guy-lines to hook round. The bend in the pole was caused by the wind! It is only supporting a very light weight vertical wire.

The antenna at the time was a linked 1/4 vertical for 20/17m with 3 radials laid on the ground.

1 Like

Young ladies

Lovely to work you both on air yesterday. and a pleasure to work Helen for the first time.

Seem,s the chasers were well chomping at the bit to get through as the pile up came after myself and mike got through monitoring the freq.

More sotas please and don’t forget to enjoy yourself s out there too

thanks again

Karl 73s

Tahiche looked nice and straightforward, yet even though it was only a few kms from my hotel I never got up it. What is confusing for a small bear of little brain like myself is that lumps of lava don’t weigh much. I picked up a big lump to hold one of my guy wires and I thought it was made from polystyrene!

Spanish trig columns make good bases for antennas as well.

Ahh yes of course, and roger on the vertical wire. I took a 10m mast and dipole but never used it due to wind/ground. The SuperStick MP1 vertical was self-supporting and did the business on 10m (it was in good shape when I was there).

Good luck with your other activations and enjoy the strange beauty of the island that the SOTA summits take you to :smile:

You’re right there Andy. Much more conveniently shaped than our trigs! Hope your activations went well in EA8?

Hi Karl

The pile-ups were enormous and often I was only getting one letter and if it was attached to a voice I knew I would call them back.

Most of the North American stations were very good signals once I could get Europe to stop calling who were almost all very very strong :smile:

1 Like

Thanks James, yes I got 3 opportunities to activate amongst the other things that were happening whilst we were there.

Best by far was Caldera Blanca EA8/LA-015, 19 QSOs on 20m and 63 QSOs on 10m. 10m just never stopped once my spot went up. WX was just perfect on that one and there is a nice walk in and the ascent is trivial as the slope is just right for bimbling along. The wind was usual Lanzarote constant wind and you don’t realise how hot the WX is because the wind cools you. After a few hours sat in the sun plus the effort to walk up and down, I knocked back 1.5L of water at the car then stopped and had an ice cream then got back to the hotel, drank another 1L of water then had a few scoops of Estrella Galicia (yum yum yum) and still was capable of drinking more!

Knowing Helen and Carolyn, they’ll have detailed plans, routes etc already prepared for activations and geochaches etc. But if they get the chance, LA-015 is one I would do again and again. The view across the 1.2km caldera is really splendid. The 2 summits on La Graciosa island look very desirable. I did muse with those but it would have involved switching from “I’m on holiday relaxing and bagging the odd summit” mode and into “sort of DXpedition” mode, and rushing about far too much.

Tahiche was not too bad, we did take a direct route up some scree which was entertaining but walked back round the caldera. The summit did have old fence posts on the top but I didn’t think the pole would survive the wind right on the top so found a few lumps of concrete to use.

BTW thanks for doing all the easy ones before us :stuck_out_tongue:

Great pictures Carolyn. Sorry missed the activations due to work. If that the windmill I am thinking off I stayed in the hotel right beside it - the Grand Teguise Playa.
Glyn

Interesting landscape. Some good looking summits there. Looks like an island I might actually enjoy visiting… :slight_smile:

The FTF lure I understand; it’s a looooong time since I managed one, and I think (if my notes are accurate) I only have 7 in all. My first FTF (in December 2001) was GC29E6 in Mundaring, Western Australia, and my most recent (in March 2008) was GC1A0PZ just down the road.

73, Rick M0LEP

Hi Carolyn,
Thanks for the contacts from both summits, you now saved me from a “duck” on two days!

73 Ed.

(for the non-English speaking, non-cricketting readers a duck is zero points - i.e. in this case no SOTA activator chased within a day)

I Hates that DUCK :grimacing:

Karl

1 Like

Cant find a Duck symbol, but this is pretty close! :baby_chick:

1 Like

Glad to hear it and that’s a good amount of QSOs! 10m was open almost everyday when I was there, I even managed some real QRPp SSB contacts using 100-400mW. Activating out there feels very different to activating in the UK, something to be experienced :smile:

wow what a pile up :smile:
karl

you ladies deserve this

And what a collection of prize idiots calling!

Brian

1 Like

The beauty of being at 28 degrees North - as opposed to 53 degrees or whatever.

1 Like

You should try 56N if you want to know how good 53N is!

It was your EA8 videos Steve from a while back that put Lanzarote on the map for me and the update this year confirmed it. I did like your “Cyrn-y-brain” comments :wink: