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NIce activation on "Costone" I-AB 007

Activation Reports
#1

Today is the day in which the Republic is celebrated here in Italy and it is a day of celebration and there is no work. The temperature in Rome was again expected to be over 30 degrees and so with a friend we decided to go to the mountains to spend this day of celebration. We chose the “Costone” a summit of 2271 Mt. which is located in Abruzzo, about an hour’s drive from Rome.

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To reach it it first takes about an hour and a half to walk to the Sebastiani refuge where we drank something cold and then we left for I-AB 007 in about half an hour of walking. The top is very open and perfect for radio activity, I mounted them on my fishing rod to support a longwire antenna connected to a 9: 1 balun and the new Elecraft Xk3 rtx. The propagation does not seem to me the best, but in the end I did 15 qso with 5 S2s with HB90JU @IK2LEY @IN3ADF @HB9AFI @HB9BIN

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Given the proximity of the refuge we decided with my friend Marco to do less qso and to go down to the refuge for lunch before the kitchen was closed. And then an excellent lunch at the refuge and then we went down towards the valley and then towards Rome where the temperature was very high. Overall a beautiful day in the mountains and radio

73 And IW0HK

16 Likes
#2

Hi And,
Excellent plan. It looks like a great summit for every band. I wonder if the kitchen in the hutte might open layer in the day. Unfortunately your activation time was not good for me to chase.

1 Like
#3

Nice summit, Andrea. Very difficult to hear your signals (bad propagation) but finally got you on 20m. CU soon. Ciao
Claudio IX1IHR (My today’s programmed activation on I/PM-197 aborted because continuous rain storm).

1 Like
#4

Thanks Andrea for operating also from more southern Italian summits. Had enjoyed our contact from your James-Bond-summit, hi. Would love to work more S2S with your region.

73, Markus HB9DIZ (operating HB90JU, the Aunt Ju airplane memorial special callsign)

1 Like
#5

Hello Claudio, yes…propagation was horrible, today was much better, i activate I-UM 074 with 30 qso in ssb and cw, very funny activity from a low summit

73 And IW0HK

1 Like
#6

Sorry not have QSO but I was testing my new SW-3B in the garden. On June 13th
I hope to make a flash activation of HB/NW-011 (20 & 40m CW). Hope to contact you on 20m (I think about 0730Z),
Ciao

2 Likes
#7

Seems like a good location for VHF?

1 Like
#8

perfect location for Vhf, all open on 360° and a lot of space on the top of the summit

easy to reach e … 15 minutes from a nice “rifugio” where to eat & drink :slight_smile:

73 And IW0HK

1 Like
#9

Thanks for the report and splendid photographs.

Lunch at the rifugio:; My experience in Swiss and French alpine huts is the food is rather expensive - what did you have for lunch and roughly how much did it cost?

David

1 Like
#10

Dear David, was not expensive… was a good pasta for 11 euro and 4 euro for a beer, and also a good “polenta & meat” was there for 12 euro, so good price for a fantastic place :slight_smile:

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73 And IW0HK

3 Likes
#11

How long do you drive by car from the west of Rome to the car park at the trail head?

Tnx es 73, DIZ

1 Like
#12

Here is the full route, 1 hour e 36 minutes, from the center of Roma

maps
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73 And Iw0hk

1 Like