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After few weeks absence from WWFF, I had time to hit the road again. On the 20th of October 2018, Saturday, my first area was OHFF-0275 Lavijärven-Palojärven kalliot. It is a kind of hill view place in the border of former Lavia (now a part of Pori) and Suodenniemi.

Operation took place at Pirulanvuori (=Devil’s Mountain) next to the observation tower on it. There is a parking lot next to road 259. Then you need to take a path up to the tower. It is maybe 200 meters hike uphill. I set up my station next to the tower near the cliff with takeoff to the Palojärvi lake toward the west. I also climbed to the tower, it has outstanding view to the lakes of Palojärvi, Lavijärvi and Miekkajärvi. This scenery is used in the backside of Finnish 1 euro coin! Certainly one of the finest sceneries where I have operated.

We had nice sunny weather, very cold: +2C but early morning propagation was super good. I operated a bit longer than usual as pileups were so good, so I ended to 258 qsos with 218 different stations in 2 hours 10 minutes. It is so far (as 04/2019) my personal record and hard to beat!

During the Easter I will activate my new Estonian ham radio call ES1NOA. The plan is also to activate several Estonian WWFF (ESFF) references for the first time. I am currently Estonian WWFF manager. I will use about 70 watts and EFHW (41m long) and 40/30/20m link dipole as a reserve. Modes are CW&SSB. Bands available: 80/40/30/20/17/15/12/10m. Times are just rough estimations and references are subject to change. Weather forecast shows warm and sunny weather.

Friday 19th April

1430-1630 ESFF-0278 Paljassaare, call: ES1NOA/1

Saturday 20th April

0630-0830 ESFF-0283 Suurupi ES1NOA/2

1000-1200 ESFF-0287 Vääna MKA ES1NOA/2

1400-1600 ESFF-0160 Niitvälja ES1NOA/2

Sunday 21st April

0600-0800 ESFF-0198 Rahumäe ES1NOA/1

0930-1130 ESFF-0239 Vansi ES1NOA/2

1330-1530 ESFF-0195 Rabivere ES1NOA/3

Monday 22nd April

It is possible that I will activate some OHFF-reference on the way back to home (OH2 or OH3 district). Call: OH1NOA/p

Now when I write this, I have activated 26 Finnish WWFF-references. Equipment I am using “in the bushes” and having with me on the road is as follows:

• TS-2000E Radio + mic + Bencher-keyer (total about 9 kg). Now I have used 75 W out, perhaps will reduce power a bit more.
• 12V 26Ah VRLA-battery (about 7 kg), I have two of them (identical). Ideally I can operate from 2 references (3-3,5 hrs) with one battery. Cables.
• 41m End-Fed-antenna 80-10m
• SOTABeams 40/30/20m link dipole, I am able to tune it to 80 meters but it doesn’t work very well there. This acts like a reserve antenna. My EFHW stopped to tune last time! The dipole is also ideal in the place where I don’t have enough room for 41m wire.
• Fiberglass fishing pole 7 m – I need to buy another one. Fortunately these cost only 10-15 euros. I have also a set of guy ropes (2 ropes) for it. I attach my dipole from the feeding point just by using electric tape. It is very light antenna, so it is very easy and quick to erect but I need to lower the wires for band change. For EFHW I have one kind of shackle on top of pole, wire goes through it and guy ropes keep the mast still. So EFHW setup is like upside down letter V. For dipole I don’t need guy ropes as dipole itself has supporting wires.
• Mount for pole – I use fence post mount which is very handy especially if you have soft ground.
• Cable ties to attach EFHW matching unit to tree.
• Travel chair.
• Plastic box for random stuff + acting as a table for rig. I will have a light travel table soon.
• Light cheap plastic tarp for ground – it keeps operating area cleaner and dry.
• DD Hammock 3x3m tarp for rainy weather + Paracord for attaching, I also have one smaller tarp for quicker rain cover.
• Plastic IKEA chopping board where I write my log + logbooks (light notebooks) + pencils.
• Some tools like wire cutters and Mora knife, some electric tape and Gorilla tape (a must!).
• Thermos for coffee + random food and water
• two backbags for carrying

These are carried by two people. Total weight about 20 kgs. Usually I don’t have DD Hammock tarp with me if there is no rain. I also leave another battery to car.

OH1NOA/P will be active from the several OHFFs during the weekend Saturday 6th and Sunday 7th of April 2019.

Preliminary schedule:

Saturday 6th:

0730-0900 Kivijärven metsät OHFF-0682 NEW ONE!

1000-1130 Laajoen suiston luonnonsuojelualue OHFF-0058 (last activation in 2014)

1330-1500 Ruissalon lehdot OHFF-0190 (last activation in 2017)

Sunday 7th:

0730-0900 Kurjenrahkan kansallispuisto OHFF-0009 (national park, last activation in 2017)

1100-1230 Himmaistenrahkan luonnonsuojelualue OHFF-0686 NEW ONE!

Times are just estimations as I have 1,5h drive from home to the first reference and the length of operation depends how much pileup I have. Also it depends on how much time it takes to erect the antenna. Fortunately now we have already enough light to operate all the way till 1700 Z if needed.

Equipment is my normal: TS-2000E running about 75 watts with 2x25aH batteries and 41m long EFHW (and 40/30/20m linked dipole as a backup). I use 7m long fishing pole to support the wire.

I will operate around these frequencies: 3544, 3690, 7024, 7144, 10124, 14044, 14244, 18084, 18144 but especially SSB QRGs change often because of QRM. I will also selfspot everytime I change band/mode but your spots are also much appreciated.

QSL via OH1NOA via LOTW and bureau.

73, 44 Timo OH1NOA, ES1NOA