Looking ahead at 2019

Discussing plans for next year with my YNOMY team brought me to ponder what radio-activities I would be going to undertake. I have rarely been in the vicinity of my radio this year and I think next year will be the same. Conditions are such that I can hardly make any interesting contacts with the setup I have at home. At the same time my work commitments limit the /P opportunities. I hope to be able to go out some more to activate some nature reserves or castles than I did this year. Perhaps I will re-use some of the special calls I used in 2017 (P*44FF). 

As I look ahead, I can see three highlights on the horizon: 

1. YNOMY expedition
LX and HB0 were so much fun that we have decided to spend another weekend in May together in some relatively remote place activating nature reserves. We have some ideas where to go to but more details will follow once we finalise our plans. 

2. COTA-PA special event
The world castle award program turns 10 years in June. The COTA-PA program - the local castle award program for PA - will participate in the festivities. I am currently organising a group of operators to use a number of special callsigns in June for the celebration.

3. Summer holiday
The summer holiday always gives me time and opportunity to go out /P. I will be in France this summer and expect to activate some nature reserves there.

No PACC
Not on this list is the PACC - our national contest. I have been participating with my YNOMY team for the last 5 years and we won the last 3 times. Looking ahead at 2019 we found that we lacked motivation to go for a fourth win. 
We did not make any changes to our field day setup - so there is nothing to test and learn. As it is a field day setup and as we enter the contest to win, it is a considerable effort. Repeating last year is just not enough fun for us to put that much effort in.
We might return to the contest in a couple of years if conditions improve - as that will change the contest dynamics and gives us an opportunity to improve on our own highscore (in points).

Perhaps the end of the year will give me an opportunity to go /P for a change. At the moment planning the May expedition is the major source of radio fun. 

Activating castle Kinkelenburg (PA-00130)

I was out near a castle (reference PA-00130 - part of the COTA-PA and WCA programs) yesterday, enjoying contacts and QSOs with more than 100 OMs on 20m and 40m.

A full report of the activity can be found on the COTA-PA website.

Overview Flora and Fauna / Castle Awards

Important Flora and Fauna and Castle Award links

• For a complete list of my activations as PH0NO/P (WWFF, PAFF, FFF, WCA, COTA-PA) click on "PH0NO activities"
• More information on the Dutch Flora and Fauna program can be found on the PAFF website
• More information on the Dutch Castles On The Air program can be found on the COTA-PA website 

Visiting Slot Zuylen

Three bands and moderate activity

With a gap in my schedule I headed over to one of the castles in the new reference list of COTA-PA: Slot Zuylen - a castle located in the small village of Oud Zuilen, bordering on the city of Utrecht.

Slot Zuylen - PA-00114

The first donjon on this location was built in the 13th century. The current castle was built in 1510. It was a "Ridderhofstad" meaning that ownership of the castle would give entrance into knighthood / nobility for the owner. More info on this castle (in Dutch) can be found here.

Slot Zuylen (Source: wikipedia)

I started on 20m working more than 50 OMs in one hour. When 20m started to slow down I went up to 15m as I saw some interesting spots on the cluster. Checking these frequencies I found that most of the DX was too weak to pick up with my modest /P setup. I did try 15m for a while and worked 6 stations in about 15 minutes. Before breaking up I went to check out 10m and worked only 2 Russian stations before I had to pack up and move on.

Operating position with view of the castle

Normally I would also use 40m, as there usually is quite a bit of traffic on there and it allows chasers that live closer by a chance to add a reference to their list. However, this time there was a lot of wind and I was operating in between trees. That combination is not very inviting. For the higher bands I can push out the mast but for 40m I use extensions, so I have to set up the sweeping 14m long fiberglass pole without getting stuck in the tree branches.

In total I worked 60 stations in 90 minutes radio time. DX came in from the east (UA9) and the west (K/VE). The maximum QRB was set to 6100km by an OM from New Jersey.
Alexander RV9UCN came by on two bands.

Thanks for stopping by.

Lars - PH0NO/P

Castle number three: Heemstede II

Acceptable conditions on 17m and 20m on a nice location

Last week I had the opportunity to visit another castle before heading home. This time it was a castle just south of Utrecht. It is know as "Heemstede II" with the WCA and COTA-NL reference PA-00742. It was built in 1645 to replace a medieval castle in its vicinity (Heemstede), that has since disappeared. This is what the castle looks like today:

Heemstede II - PA-00742

And this is what it looked like in 1698:

Heemstede II in 1698

I found an operating spot next to the canal that runs from the river Rhine up to Amsterdam and passes the castle. I was hoping that little bit of water would help my antenna (even if the effect is only psychological). The view was very pleasant anyways and the weather was good with sun and moderate temperatures (22C).

PH0NO/P

Radio conditions weren't too good. The higher bands were quiet so I started on 17m. I worked 18 stations in about 45 minutes. It was never busy but the contacts included most of the DX of this afternoon with W2, W4, RV9 and JL1.

I changed down to 20m and worked another 55 OMs in one and a half hours. Again not very busy but that leaves time to have some longer QSO's. The DX on this band consisted of KA2, VE4 and RV9. 

In total I logged 73 calls from 25 DXCCs. The maximum QRB of this activity was set by a JL1 station to 9300 km. Roberto IK1DFH, Mario IW1QEA and Alexander RV9UCN came by on both bands.

About two thirds of the callsigns logged were new to me. This shows me that the chasers of the WCA award only partily overlap with the chasers of flora and fauna references (where usually only one third of the callsigns are new).

Thanks all for giving me a call.

73,

Lars / PH0NO/P

Another day, another castle: Rosendael

Lousy conditions on second castle activation

With the nice experience yesterday and some time at the end of the day today I went over to the castle that is closest to where I live: kasteel Roosendael (PA-01487). A castle that still exists today.

This is a picture of the castle I took last fall:

Kasteel Roosendael aka PA-01487

The castle is surrounded by lots of trees, so finding an operating spot was not easy. I found one where I could just push the mast in between the branches of various trees, about 500m from the castle.

Operating position in between the trees

The conditions did not look very promising judging from the various propagation sources and the DX cluster. 17m seemed to have some openings to the east, so I tried this band first. The results were quite different from yesterday: I got only one reply from an Italian OM who was barely readable.

I changed to 20m to find that this band was suffering from strong QSB. It was never busy but I did meet quite a few new OMs and a couple of old friends. After less than an hour I decided to give 40m a try. The band was rather quiet and just like yesterday I got no answer at all. I now start to suspect the antenna - I will check it before the next activation.

I went back to 20m for another 20 minutes before breaking up and heading home.

In 90 minutes radio time I worked 63 stations from 22 DXCCs. Only four DX stations came by from UA9, VO1 and CN8. RV9UCN set the maximum QRB to 5100km.

73,

Lars / PH0NO

My first castle activation: Wageningen

Nice first experience with WCA/COTA-NL

With all sorts of ineffective discussions going on in the WFF program I decided to try something else today: activation of a castle. I know from Hans PA3FYG that castle activation from the Netherlands is rare (Hans activated Twickel this year and found out it was the first PA castle activation). I guess that would make this activity the second ever castle activation in PA land.

A lot of castles lie in crowded areas where /P activity is not feasible or are only accessible by foot / bicycle (and I did not bring my batteries). Looking at the map I compiled so far (check out my Google Maps file - still under construction) I guessed that Wageningen Castle would be suitable for a /P activity from my car.  The castle itself has disappeared, but it looked like this:

Wageningen Castle - PA-01793

Nowadays a museum "Casteelse Poort" is on the site of the old ruins.

Museum Casteelse Poort, on the site of PA-01793

I found a good operating spot just south of the castle ruins (within 1km distance) and decided to give 17m a chance first (higher bands seemed rather quiet on the cluster). I had no idea what to expect regarding the activity level. Would it be comparable to Flora and Fauna activations?

The first one to respond was the familiar voice of Luciano, I5FLN. After him followed another 19 OMs in about 25 minutes with a KB1 station from Maine and Alexander RV9UCN - who I met about 10 times before during Flora and Fauna activities - as the two DX stations on this band. The KB1 OM set the maximum QRB for this activity to 5100km.

Operating spot near PA-01793

I then changed the antenna to operate on the 20m band. There I met 53 OMs in about one hour. Activity level was just a bit lower than on a Flora and Fauna activation. Four DX stations came by on this band (UA9 and UN). Amongst them RV9UCN for the second time.

As activity slowed down I then changed to 40m - as I am used to when activating Flora and Fauna locations. The strange thing was that I got absolutely NO reply on this band. It might have been due to the high QRM level at the location (S7), but I did not copy a single soul replying my calls. Listening around I did hear a few stations - none of them with very strong signals though.

After trying some time I was ready to pack up when I saw there was some activity on 6m. I changed the antenna for the last time and tried 6m. There I worked another 7 stations (6 new grids for me).

In 90 minutes I worked 80 stations from 25 DXCCs. Igor RW3XW and Alexander RV9UCN came by on two bands.

My first castle activation was a nice experience. There were some familiar calls - OMs that also hunt for Flora and Fauna references - and quite a few new ones (more than 50% new callsigns). I will definitely activate other castles in the future.

73,

Lars / PH0NO