VIDEO:
SOTA
Expedition Diary - August 11th -14th , 2019
Day 1
Our adventure began
today, Sunday morning, when we enthusiastically boarded the school bus, guided
by our teachers, well equipped for what was going to happen during the next
three days: expedition to the mountain and SOTA.
After three hours
driving by minibus, we arrived in the small town of Bălan, where we stocked up
on bread. We walked for a few minutes to the base of the Hășmaș Mountains where
we had a lunch break and met with the amateur radio specialists in SOTA: Sorin
Barbu YO2MSB and Suciu Mihai YO6SM who were going to accompany us. After that
we started the difficult route, with the heavy backpacks in the back, but also
enthusiastic about the desire to discover the mountain and nature.
We were extremely happy
when we reached the chalet, at an altitude of 1504 m, because after more than
three hours of climbing we were exhausted. We settled in the rooms, and then Sorin YO2MSB, introduced us to SOTA and the QSOs on the peaks of the
mountains, which we were going to do. We ended the day with a barbecue for
dinner, well worth it.
Day 2
This morning we woke up
around 7:30 LT, had breakfast and prepared to climb the Hășmașul Mic Mountain
(Ecem Peak), where we would make our first SOTA QSOs. The departure was
preceded by a small training.
When we arrived at the
destination, Sorin Barbu taught us how to mount the antenna and the other
equipment, then started making SOTA connections to activate the Ecem Peak on Hășmașu
Mic Mountain YO / EC-078, and we followed the microphone, the members of the
radio club YO6KGS, guided by Baciu Adrian (YO5IA), Sorin Barbu (YO2MSB) and
Mihai Suciu (YO6SM).
We gathered the equipment
and went back to the chalet, we had lunch. In the evening we watched the Perseids and then woke up at 4 in the morning to watch them in their maximum
intensity.
Day 3
This morning, after
having breakfast we set off for Hășmașu Mare Peak, at 1792m altitude. We
arrived, installed the equipment and activated the YO / EC-012 tip. Everything
went like yesterday, but this time we did much better.
We returned to the
chalet where YO2MSB and YO6SM provided us with other information about SOTA,
radio amateurism and others.
In the evening we
gathered at the campfire where we felt good dancing, singing and saying jokes,
taking advantage of the last evening of the expedition
* * *
* * *
Day 4
On the last day we woke
up, ate in the morning, packed our bags and set off at 10 o'clock, going down
the mountain that made us so difficult to climb.
We went down half the
time for the climb, and at the base of the mountain I took a short break. Later
we arrived in the city of Bălan, we bought some food, then we took the bus to
the train station in Sândominic. There we waited for the train for more than an
hour, and the trip took another four hours. However, it was four beautiful
hours, which we spent together.
We arrived in Târgu
Mureș at 21:00, from where we went by minibus to home. In half an hour we
reached Râciu, we said goodbye to each other, hoping to meet again in such
experiences in the same formula.
Authors: Covaci
Daria (YO6CDC) and Covaci Horațiu (YO6HDC)
members of
YO6KGS Radio Club.
