I visited Europe for a couple of weeks and took my radio equipment with me to do some SOTA activations. The next few trip-reports summarize my Austrian SOTA activations. BTW, clicking onto a picture included in this trip-report will show you a larger version.

For my first activation, I was looking for a summit with easy access. I wanted to make sure I have everything with me before heading into the mountains. I found the perfect SOTA summit for my requirements during my time in Austria/Vorarlberg. OE/VB-512 was just a few miles from my temporary QTH and there even is a gondola going from Bregenz (the capital of Vorarlberg) to the very top. Bregenz is delightfully located on the shore of Lake Constance (one of Europes largest lakes) and is probably most famous for it’s summer music festival that features an opera on a open-air /floating stage. Even James Bond could not resist to visit the opera in his quest to rescue the world, in his movie ‘Quantum of Solace‘.

I decided to take the gondola – which leaves close to the lake shore – and take a short detour downhills in order to satisfy SOTA rules, instead of hiking all the way up.

Trailhead: 1374 ft / 419 m
Summit:   3491 ft / 1064 m
Elev. gain: 2117 ft / 645 m
Roundtrip: 5.5 mi / 8.9 km

Compare this summit with my other activated summits

How to get there:
Goto the harbour in Bregenz. There is a roundabout with a sign directing you to the base station of the Gondola. If you arrive by train, it’s a short 15 minute walk from the train-station.

Parking/Trailhead

View Larger Map

Red Tape:
The Pfänder cable car operates daily from 8 AM to 7 PM. It is closed however for an annual audit, so make sure you check their website or call ahead. There is a fee of about € 11.00 for a round-trip. You can check their rates on their website also.

The Ascent:
Since I took the easy way up, there is not a lot to report. The ride to the top lasts about six minutes in a large gondola with panoramic views. Make sure to get the to the window (lake facing) quickly to get the best view on your ride up the mountain.

The summit:
First of all I had to hike downhills for a while to be in line with SOTA regulations. After coming back up to the gondola station, it is a another few minutes to the very top of the Pfänder. This is not a good location for setting up the radio equipment due to its size and popularity with all the tourists/visitors. It does however provide stunning views across Lake Constance, the Swiss, Austrian, German and Lichtenstein alps (assuming clear weather). Even-though it was a week-day, it was very crowded and I started to miss the solitude of the Rocky Mountains.

The summit is quite large, providing several restaurants within a few minutes of walking and a huge radio tower!!! I started to setup my equipment about 60 m from the tower and was wondering whether all the RF flying around would even give me a chance to get out. My back-up plan was an activation on 2m and I had my little HT programmed with the Pfänder repeater frequencies to announce my presence. Unfortunately I was not able to open the repeater, which seemed strange to me at such a short distance (I learned later that the repeater was out of order). It took me unusually long  to get the antenna and radio up and ready. For the first time I carried a small antenna analyzer (IP30) with me to get the antenna resonant… but no matter what I tried I could not even get close to an SWR acceptable for transmission – at least that is what the analyzer indicated. I finally ignored the analyzer and hooked up my FT-817, which was quite happy with the antenna. I guess the RF cloud from the radio tower overwhelmed the IP30.

My first response to my CQ SOTA on 20m came from OE9HRV (Herbert) and my second contact was OE9GWI (Gerhard), both residents of Bregenz – a whopping 3 miles from my current location. As is turns out, both of them are very active SOTA activators / chasers. Both contacts turned into very reliable chasers during my time in Austria and Herbert was a very knowledgeable source for all SOTA summits ‘im Ländle‘ Vorarlberg. He even invited me to a very memorable activation of the Galinakopf (OE/VB-287) – report/video will follow. The remaining contacts were to Austria (no surprise), England, Greece, Spain and Canada (VE1WT) – 3413 mi / 5493 km on 20m with 5W into my Buddipole – not bad for the first day. I was quite happy with the results and the activation. Since the sun was slowly setting, I was packing up to take more photographs and to catch the last gondola.

The Descent:
The descent in the gondola was certainly a treat – great views across the lake and Bregenz for six minutes :)

Some video impressions:
httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uN4Bl-6NyGw

If you would like to leave questions or comments, please do so through Youtube.

 

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!! WARNING !! There are old mountaineers, and bold mountaineers... there are no old-bold mountaineers. Hiking and mountain climbing are potentially hazardous activities particularly in Colorado with its extreme elevations. I am not accepting responsibility for any death or injury resulting from activations based on my trip reports. Proper training, experience, and personal capability assessment is required - enjoy!