Three weeks ago a had the chance to go to Thüringer Schiefergebirge (Thuringian schist mountains). Its a landscape with a soft profile and only four SOTA-Summits in a diameter of 60 km. For a better efficiency I planned two activities:
-
cross-country skiing around Wetzstein
-
activate Wetzstein DM/TH-027
The ski track was ok (it was the time before the lot of snow two weeks ago), the sky cloudy, temperature a bit below zero and a slight snow fall.
For the SOTA-activation I used a place inside the AZ with table and bench under a roof.
With my 20 m dipole and 30 W I managed 27 contacts in 40 minutes, 23 on 40 m and 4 on 20 m, AC1Z as the last QSO. During this time the snow fall changed to drizzle and I felt a vibration inside 
. Time to pack up. All the things outside the roof were wet and icy and the things under the roof only half wet. It was something difficult to bring down the pole, covered by a thin layer of ice.
But it was a successful activation, thanks to the chasers!
At home I unpacked the equipment to dry all things. When removing the cap from the pole it was like a water pipe. So I had to separate all segments for some days.
Overall I had more fun than by a summer activation (no heat, no mosquito, no thunderstorm, no sun on the display). Hope I can go to the next activation ASAP.
73 from Ludwig
