VHF CONTEST 2008
Knowing that this is my last chance to have some fun from the marvellous location of JO70SS, I started putting everything together a couple of days before the start of the weekend.
OK1JFH said the WX would be reasonable and so there was no major obstacle to having some more fun with my “QRP” = 85+75 watts of output. Both antennas were erected already in the evening and guarded by the KRNAP guys who serve their 24-hour duty of being “rangers” at this altitude in this area.
The following morning was pretty hectic because the worst part was still yet to come – roll out 180 meters of the “power line” – the extension cord down to the Vrbatova Bouda (the Vrbata cottage). I hate that because it takes a lot of time and physical energy to do it.
Anyways, having plugged all cables into the appropriate sockets and inlets, I hooked up the extension cord to the equipment and … guess what … it worked! 
The KRNAP guys were there to chat with me and used one of my “antenna towers” to monitor the wind speed and direction by attaching their little detector to it.
It was a truly beautiful morning! Make your own judgment. Check this out.
All the tourists obviously not just wandered but also wondered what the heck was going on up there with those weird looking things ham radio is always to stay in the world of the unknown 
Nevermind, WX was great and so was visibility.
Let’s move on. I made a few contacts before the contest to secure a clear frequency and hit it right at 14:00 UTC.
To save as much energy as possible, the paper&pencil logger was used again.
Condx were excellent. Nice DX stations kept coming back to my “CQ CONTEST” yelling and my initial worries of a screw up on my side due to improper strategy were fading away.
To my surprise, I didn’t even have a black-out at night – didn’t feel like sleeping for even a minute. The hourly rate stayed above 10 QSO’s per hour which was good. My first QSO to YL was made in this contest.
Sunday morning did not offer a lot of sunshine though. A thick cloud came from the south-west and glued itself to the top of JO70SS.
A weak cold front went by but nothing major.
DL stations kept on coming back to me the whole time which was a good sign of increased activity there.
The overall impression was very positive. I worked nearly 500 QSO’s. Again, I used two small amplifiers to feed two 10 element PA0MS Yagi’s aiming in different directions with a total of roughly 160 – 170 watts.
Here is the map of contacts.
Only one Italian station ? Yes, it was a pity! The rest was pretty standard.
Best 73’s and GUD DX:)
George