LA/OL-200 Segalstadsæterkampen

On July 8 and 9, I had planned four activations. For all of them I used a FT-817 ND and a quarter wave GP for 20 M (a wire on a 6 meter fiberglass pole). LA/OL-200 was the first. It is quite easy the reach the summit and the view is beautiful. The conditions were fine. Somehow, I had managed to reduce the power to 2.5 W. Nevertheless, I ended up with 23 QSOs from 10 DXCCs, two of them were S2S.

DXCC: DL, EA, F, G, GI, GW, HB9, OE, S5, SP.

 

LB/OL-002 Larvehei

 

A short evening activation to nearby summit from our cabin. The conditions were quite poor, but I ended up with five QSOs in the log.

DXCC: F, ON, SP. 

LA/AH-006 Mistberget

 

I visited LA/AH-006 Mistberget for the first time on May 16. Beautiful weather and temperature around 20 C made this activation to a pleasure. 

I parked at 60.4042 N, 011.1439 E. From the parking it was 3.7 km to walk and 255 meter to climb on an excellent forest road.

200-300 meter away from the commercial installation, it is a beautiful viewing point, and easy to erect a (linked) dipole. It ‘s also a 16 meter high old fire watch tower at this position. 

As usual I used mu FT-817 ND and a linked dipole. The conditions were really good. My 5 watts signal was copied from 4Z and SV in the east to K4 (NC) in the west. I also got a new record. As much as 80 QSOs (20 on SSB, 60 on CW) from 20 DXCCs came in the log, all on 20 meter. When studying the log, I wonder if parts of these QSOs were due to a misunderstanding. Some of them belong to chasers who are not registered as SOTA- or GMA-chasers. Instead it looks like they are active WWFF-chasers. What might have happened is that someone has misunderstood my reference and spotted me on the WWFF-cluster. I experienced such a mistake some years ago while activating LA/OL-100, and I was put on the WWFF-cluster as activating LAFF-100. However, it really doesn't matter. Every QSO is valid wheter or not the chaser is registered in the SOTA database.

DXCC: DL, EA, F, G, GM, GW, HA, HB9, I, OE, Ok, OM, PA, S5, SP, SV, W, YO, YU, 4Z.

LA/OS-003 Tryvannshøgda

 

Now, it has been many months without any SOTA activations. Fun to be back on a summit. LA/OLS-003 must be the most easy “winter-bonus friendly” summit in LA.

Today, I had a short activation before work. I started around 07:00 UTC on 40 meter SSB. Ten minutes later, only one QSO was in the log. Was it a little early for the SSB chasers, perhaps? Anyway, I QSYed to CW on 40 meter, and 18 stations from 10 DXCCs were logged in a relatively short time. It was then time to go QRT, and then go to work.

DXCC: DL, EA, F, G, OK, ON, SM, SP, SV, 9A.

LB/OL-002 Larvehei

I took a little hike to a nearby summit from my cabin. It’s within walking distance. However, it doesn’t fulfill the primary-factor requirement for neither SOTA nor HEMA. Fortunately, it can be activated under the Global Mountain Activity (GMA) program.

The weather could definitely have been better; it was a cold wind, cloudy, and a little fog from time to time. I tried to call on 40 meter CW. One QSO came in the log. I then tried 40 meter SSB with no success. The conds weren’t good enough for QRP SSB on 40 meter. I the QSYed to 30 meter, and 5 QSOs were logged. When all chasers were worked on 30, I went QRT. It was still quite cold, so I didn’t try to make any calls on 20 meter. Hopefully next time…

DXCC: DL, OK.

LA/OL-067 Blåhøe

I have for some time wanted to activate LA/OL-067 Blåhøe (called so in Vågå, Jetta is its name in Dovre). Pictures I’ve seen show a magnificent view of the valley and nearby mountains. Today, I had a chance. However, the weather did not collaborate. It was foggy, more or less no visibility, cold (temperature around 1 C), and a freezing and icing wind (after my 40-45 minutes long activation, it was 2-4 mm ice around the antenna wire). So, I really need to come back on a nice summer day.

The antenna was quickly erected, and I was soon QRV. The conds on 20 meter was quite good. Total 23 QSOs, 10 on CW, 13 on SSB. Due to the cold and unpleasant weather, I did not try any other HF band. However, I had brought with me a vertical dipole for 2 meter with a hope to achieve a QSO or two on that band. But it ended as usual, no replies. SOTA activations on VHF or higher in LA is waste of time.

DXCC: DL, EA, F, HB9, IS, OE, OK, S5, UA0, YO.

LB/OS-001 Grønliåsen

 

On September 7, I participated in the first hour of the 2 meter activation test. The conds were not great, and my 50 Watts and a 3 el yagi was insufficient. Nevertheless it was fun to be out and participate. I ended up with 6 QSOs, all from LA.