Yesterday I have been on a summit called Brocken, to make an activation. With this post I want to thank all the chasers for their patience, which really helped me to realize the activation. So here is an impression of that “bewitched” mountain.
Brocken is a summit in the heart of Germany. Maybe this is the reason the mountains, which it belongs to, are called Harz. 
Just kidding! To be honest, Brocken is not necessarily an alpine challange. There is a railway station on the summit and you can go there with an old steam engine. But you can also hike there. Yesterday I chose the Heinrich-Heine-Trail from Ilsenburg. The distance one way is round about 11 km and elevation gain is ca. 800m.
So when I arrived the summit, it was really hard to find a quiet place where I can set up my equipment. Brocken has a really big activation zone, but as you are in the middle of a national park, you are requested to stay at the trails and not to enter the meadows next to that. I respected this. Particulary when hundreds of tourists visit this summit every day, this restriction does make sense. But in the end I found a small place near the railway station, and raised my antenna.
When I was ready to start the activation, I realized that there was QRM at the whole 20m band. Sometimes only with S3 but sometimes also with S8. But I guess this is a special property of this mountain. It is the highest one, and it is easy to reach. You can imagine how many transmitting stations are located on it. You can see their antennas even when you are more than 50km away from the mountain. So I was not suprised, and started calling CQ. Half of the time I heard the anwers of the chasers, and half of the time I only heard QRM with S8. So at this point I really want to thank again all the chasers that were so patient. When Mike G6TUH put the spot on me, he also posted that there was a station transmitting at 14.286 Mhz. I have not heard it. Thanks Mike! Im so sorry that could not make a QSO, and that you did not get the 10 points of Brocken.
But maybe the reason was not only the transmitting station at the top. Brocken is a “bewitched” place. There is a popular belief that witches gather at the summit of Brocken especially at Walpurgis night on April 30th, which is not far from now. This witches are called “Brockenhexen”, you can see them everywhere you walk at that summit. In postcards, stickers, posters, restaurant menus …
Hear you on the next summit!
73 Jana DG5WU
