When was the last time you entered the locator KN08bv in the VKV log?? Probably a little earlier. So, when choosing a portable destination for the August VKV PA, I considered such a locator, which would be attractive to other competitors. The choice fell on the King's staff, 1946 meters high hill in the Low Tatras. It is located in the locator KN08, which is a rarer multiplier for VKV PA.
You will read:
Šumiac route – King's club
Such an exit is not easy. Everything, what is necessary must be brought out. I chose the tried and tested route from the village of Šumiac from the altitude 885 meters. But 5,9 kilometer-long route has to be boarded 1066 meters high. According to tourist maps, it takes 3 hours a 5 minutes.
Radio amateur material for broadcasting
However, the radio amateur also needs material for his activity, which the average tourist does not carry. I brought this up:
8-element DK7ZB yagi
5-meter folding mast
10m of coaxial cable RF240
transceiver R2CW
battery 12V 7Ah
battery 12V 14Ah
netbook Asus
anchor ropes
anchor pins
combinations
+ tourist items such as spare clothes, 2 liter water
The estimated weight of such equipment is 15 kilograms.
The journey begins…
I get up shortly after five o'clock. After breakfast, I set off on the route from Kežmark to the village of Šumiac. Behind Vernár there is a reconstruction of the road and there I take an unpleasant loss. I start from Šumiac at 7.29.
The weather looks perfect. The route has an almost constant ascent. There are not many tourists yet. Of course those, at which time they marvel at it, what am i carrying. It's pouring out of me. A crisis is coming 200 height meters below the peak, so I slow down and take a few breaks. I am coming to the King's staff 9.36, so for 2 hours a 7 minutes. Almost an hour earlier than standard time.
As broadcast from KN08bv?
There are only a few electric cyclists at the top at that time. This method is very popular and there are several e-bike rental companies in Šumiac. Grazing sheep are also a diversion. But the planned fencing is also surprising, which will pass right next to the top. The line is like this, that the bench with the map by the top stone is behind the fence.
I spread out a little sideways. It takes a while, so I can't catch the start of VKV PA. I'm also trying to connect to ON4KST, but apparently the phone can't cope with the strong field of the transmitter. So I am without this helper.
Despite the advantage of an excellent quota, but know, that is located in the direction, where other stations do not direct and it is difficult to call with QRP. Tourists and cyclists are increasing. Even cloudiness. You could tell that the tourists were listening to amateur radio operation, that when I was making the connection, so the neighborhood became quiet and they strained their ears.
But it is unpleasant, that appears from time to time roughly half a minute of massive interference. Looks like this:
The most distant signal, which I listened to was I4GHG from JN63 at distance 812 kilometers:
Although my 5W power was not enough for the connection, but it was a really nice signal. It was the summoning that proved to be the most difficult. team, that most stations were headed elsewhere and my radiated power was approx. 65W (5W minus 1dB side in connectors and coaxial cable plus 12 dBd antenna gain) it was not enough to call the stations, which had their antennae turned elsewhere (by estimation -20 dB).
In the early afternoon, a few raindrops fell from the clouds above us. Fortunately, there were only a few of them. Apparently, more stations from the south of Europe were heading here even in the last half hour than stations from Moravia and Bohemia.
There are four dozen connections in the logo. I heard a lot of stations, but I didn't pretend. I hope that at least a few stations managed to get KN08 into their logo. Damage, that it was not even possible to help through ON4KST. I believe, that even QRP performance would not be a problem when pointing the antennas. Average per connection is 253 kilometers.
Descent from KN08bv
As the clouds were increasing, so I quickly packed up the setup and quickly went to the valley, in which thunder was already heard. Except for a few more drops, I came down with almost dry feet. I met a spindly on the trail and a mushroom in the forest. The cabbage plant in the Kráľovohoľská chata before the trip home was excellent.
