I remember a total solar eclipse in 1976 when I was 9 years old. We used pin hole projectors made from cardboard shoe boxes to view it. It was about 3:15 in the afternoon in October.
My most vivid memory of the event was the birds. The noise of the birds was amazing as they had absolutely no idea what was going on. They were noisy as the sky darkened, then quiet during the full eclipse when all was dark, then noisy as the sun light returned.
I wasn’t able to procure a welding mask, solar filter or glasses but for most of the eclipse heavy cloud rolled across the sun mostly blocking it out on GW/NW-043.
I wasn’t able to turn the shutter speed down fast enough on my phone camera, however the eclipse was visible as a lens flare 
It was a hot walk up and the sheep were trying to hide in any bit of shade they could. There was a smell of smoke in the air, possibly from the fires down south.
No unusual propagation was noted on 60m or 6m. It didn’t help that I hadn’t realised the 60m antenna was plugged into the wrong socket on my FT817 for 20 minutes, but there was so much QRM across the band that FT8 was useless on 60m.
6m didn’t seem to do anything special. Only UK stations on SSB and the usual locations on FT8.
I packed up about 1930z and headed down, I’d taken my head torch but didn’t need it.
I remember that one as well, and also recall the birds. It was pretty amazing.
Glenn VK3YY
That was another wonderful event.
For me, it was embedded within three activations beforehand: HB/FR-028, -030, and -032… (HB/FR-032 by e-bike… I wrote something about it on the summit website - it was challenging.)
Then I visited my son in Bern, where I also stayed overnight. We observed the partial solar eclipse from a hill near Bern. The special eclipse glasses were no longer available. But I had heard an astrophysicist on the car radio suggesting that three layers of an emergency blanket from a first-aid kit would work well. So we simply cut off a strip and folded it. - It worked perfectly!
The next day, there was another activation on HB/FR-019 (together with Markus @HB9DIZ) – a bit of a sweltering affair due to the heat – finally back with @JH1MXV as the chaser (thanks for calling in).
Here are some photos from the last total solar eclipse here, on August 11, 1999.
73 Armin
A great adventure and a very special event for me.
We were in Spain for the eclipse. After some hesitation about the exact location, we decided to head towards Alto Campoo, where the chances of clear skies were higher than on the coast. We pitched our tent somewhere along the ridge of Pico Cordel (EA1/CT-013).
We had an incredible time watching the eclipse, followed by a beautiful night under a clear sky with fantastic views. The next day, we walked along the ridge and activated the summit.
We then headed west towards the Picos de Europa, where we climbed to a fantastic viewpoint: Cabeza La Mesa (EA1/AT-052).
We were completely alone on the hike, which was quite a contrast with the huge crowds filling the valley below. I still don’t understand why more people don’t head up to this peak, the views are absolutely worth it!
