DVGE contest 2013

OK, I had sworn I wasnt going to do it. But I couldn't help myself, and sure enough on friday 8th June after work, I went scouting for a Trig point to actívate for the following days DVGE Trig point contest, organised by Radioclub Henares. I needed a place close to Valencia where I could just park up and operate. I liked the look of one in a paddy field, but the trig point was located on the roof of somebodys house and a chain across the driveway was not very inviting. Another one in El Saler was OK but had been activated twice before. So, I stumped for reference VGG-218, in the village of Pinedo, right next to Valencia on the south side of the river. This is not an easy one for working portable and has only been activated once, with a small number fof QSOs. So on saturday morning I rolled up early and parked up at the closest posible spot:

The trip point is on top of the building directly behind the antenna in this photo, less than 200m away

I started on 40m at 10am local time and it was slow going for a while. However I soon got into my stride and worked away until 1230, when I went up to 20m for the last half hour and got a nice surprise with the band open locally. I ended up with 150 qsos in the log, much better than last year.

By the time we finished the car park was absolutely chock a block, if I show the view from the other side you can appreciate why:

Right on the beach front on a lovely sunny day. However I couldn't stay, busy as usual doing other things. So busy in fact that I forgot to send in my log or upload the info to the web to validate the reference. Sorry for those of you who might have needed it. I might go back again when I have more time in the autumn and do a proper activation and upload the logs.