Motivation
A heatwave was forecasted in Spain and we decided to spend a few days near the beach, looking for a better environment at lower temperatures.
It is very sad to notice that several european countries are suffering this increasing phenomenon. Here in Spain firefighters are struggling with forest fires while UK government announced their first-ever extreme red heat warning. It is obvious we should do something to stop our climate inaction.
We headed the beach by the North of Spain, where we had about 31 Celsius max. Much better than the existing 41 C (106 F) burning in Pamplona!
I grabbed my (tr)uSDX just in case and I took the chance of activating a new one for me, which was a complete as well, Mt. Brusco, EA1/CT-102.
Activation date: July 19th 2022.
The climb
- Trail length (one way) : 2,3 km
- Elevation gain: 230 m.
- Mountain elevation: 234 m a.s.l.
- Climb time: 40 minutes
I approached the mountain from the near town of Noja. This is a touristic area with large golden sand beaches.
This mountain seats just by the sea, right besides the Tregandin beach. See the panorama from the seashore:
A detailed view reveals two SOTA at sight, being the target Mt. Brusco the one at right hand side:
The start of the path is a bit tricky as there is little indication of the trail and there is no space for a car in the entrance to the forest located by the very side of a road:
A closer look at the panel with coments about wild life shows a tiny mark with the other name of this mountain: “Mt. Mijedo”.
The climb is easy, passing by a eucalyptus forest the most part. It’s good to have a proper shade in the way up today. Every now and then there are some signs pointing to the summit of Mijedo (Brusco).
Once in the summit I enjoyed with a nice sight over the Cantabric sea, the beach and the city of Noja, despite some trees obstruct the full view.
In the highest point, surrounded by trees and the grassy plateau, there is a geodetic vertex.
The activation
My setup today was the (tr)uSDX, 3 x 18650 LiIon cell, and an inverted vee EFHW antenna.
In order to check SWR I used the built-in USB port to power the rig, this way it produces about 0,5 watts, making the tuning of the antenna safer. Once SWR was okay I switched to the main power port to get 5 w out. I did this procedure for every band change.
I ran first in 10 MHz CW, then 14 MHz SSB and last 7 MHz CW. My reports were okay, with some sporadic QSB.
I logged a total of 46 qso, not bad for such a compact rig.
Thanks Marko S57MS/P who was patient calling me repeatedly in 20m SSB to be able to complete this S2S. My (tr)uSDX produces some hiss noise in SSB and it is difficult to hear well the little incoming signals. In the other hand I confirmed the rig is better when working CW.
I got 4 S2S. Thanks also to Alejandro & Elena EA4DON / EA4DOS for the S2S, and David G0EVV/P.
After 1h 15 minutes on air I called it a day and went QRT. The battery shows 12,15 volt after returning home so the current draw is really reduced (12,4 Volt when fully loaded at the start of the activation).
I enjoyed the way down with a nice view over Noja and the marsland.
Spending a few days on the beach, do some SOTA and walk in a lovely environment is a relaxing holiday.
See you soon, 73 de Ignacio
