Songnisan for real!

[ja...@vlasak.org]

OK all,

last weekend was a wash, and I think everyone experienced bad weather.  I went out on two activations ( http://w2vla.wordpress.com ) and only managed to activate one mountain.

So, today, this morning, I will go up to Songnisan 속리산 like I wanted to last weekend, and hopefully have some more fun than last weekend.  I will probably be on the air starting 9 AM, probably with only 5 watts (HT) and a yagi antenna.  I want to keep my load light!

Listen in on 145.000 and hopefully see you on the air this morning!

73 de Jason.

On Fri, Aug 13, 2010 at 12:03 PM, HL4/W2VLA <jason....@gmail.com> wrote:

By the way, the website is http://sotawatch.org/summits.php?summit=HL/CB-014

On Aug 13, 11:58 am, "ja...@vlasak.org" <ja...@vlasak.org> wrote:
> Greetings all!
>
> Don't forget that this weekend is the SOTA QSO Party weekend, as is every
> second weekend of the month.
>
> On Sunday, I'm planning on going to 속리산 to activate.  CB-014, 8 points, will
> be calling CQ on 145.000 starting late morning (weather permitting!).
>
> Where are you going to activate?
>

> Also, a friendly reminder:  upload your logs to the SOTA database websitehttp://www.sotadata.org.uk/so I can see who the winners are for July's QSO

> Party.
>
> Thanks and see you on the air!
>
> 73 de HL4/W2VLA.
>
> --
> jason at vlasak dot org

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jason at vlasak dot org

[John Brayley]

Dear all

 

I would be grateful for advice on suitable walks to take in Korea.

 

My family and I will be in Korea in early October, visiting Jejudo, Jinju, Seoul and Busan.

 

I have obtained my reciprocal licence.

 

There are so many places to walk in Korea I am not sure which to chose.

 

I am looking for suggestions to help chose suitable walks (less than one day) which lead to a SOTA summit. 

 

In addition I also would like to know about easy walks suitable for children.

 

Thank you for any suggestions.

 

Regards

 

John VK5AJQ

 

 

[ja...@vlasak.org]

Hi John!  Good to hear from you again--

Today's activation a success!  http://w2vla.wordpress.com/2010/08/22/20100822-cb-014_songnisan/

For Jeju, the obvious choice (especially if you want to go right for the prize) is Hallasan (JJ-001)  It's 1950m, but off the top of my head I believe the trailheads start at 1300 to 1600m, so you don't have to do the whole shebang from the ocean if you don't want ;)  Might not be ideal for the kids.  There are a few other "interesting" (geologically speaking) summits on the island, but if you want to do VHF "dx" into the Korean Peninsula and have a full day of solid QSOs, Hallasan is your best bet...

In Jindo, you've got your choice amongst 15 different summits, the highest being 485m, and the majority much much lower than that (think 200-300m).  These would be your fun hikes with the kids, plus IOTA points I believe.

Seoul has got about a dozen summits, most accessible by subway, some tough, some definitely not so tough (Namsan's got a cable car, very XYL friendly) 

Busan has got two dozen summits, most of which I am not familiar with, but if you want to hit Beomunsa temple (very nice, very popular), this could be a good start for the summit there.  There are some beach cliff summits, too, which combine with touristy destinations.

Be careful with some of the more "non-park" summits, as starting in October, it is forbidden to go to some mountains because of the higher risk of forest fires.  The national park sites are usually more with it, and can't close down (spring and fall are also peak seasons for hiking) and have camera systems and the like.

This doesn't even barely scratch the surface of what you could do when you get here, but it's a start.  It may be confusing at first to look at, but download the "before points.kmz" file from the files section and open it up in Google Earth.  Poke around and familiarize yourself some more with the possibilities.  Also, if possible, let me know (if you have an idea) of the dates you'll be in each area.  Basically all of your choices are single day tours, except for the most highest (depending on where you start).  If you've already gotten yourself a Lonely Planet or something, you can also start cross-listing your wish list with some qualifying summits.  I try to do that myself, to help keep all halves happy when we do little weekend trips here and there.  It does put a hamper on actual summit time and limits the number of QSOs, but it's better than nothing.

So, keep us updated, and we'll get you on track!

73 de Jason.

HL4/W2VLA

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[John Brayley]

Thank you very much Jason.  We will definitely do Hallasan, and will look for a combination of other peaks on the mainland – some to be visited with children and perhaps one or two more difficult ones without.

 

John

[ja...@vlasak.org]

Looks like your trip is approaching!  I just realized in my last reply that I read over your itinerary too quickly and passed Jinju as Jindo....(which seems to be a popular destination anyways, more than Jinju)....immediately around Jinju the peaks are mostly lower, but there is Jirisan National Park relatively nearby to the west, as well as some other high peaks around...if you'd like to see some pretty colors with correlated information, there's:  http://www.adventureradio.de/mapview/index.php  just choose HL and go--

What do your dates look like?  Have you posted any alerts on SOTAwatch yet?  I'm sure we can arrange some S2S activity around here--and I'm planning a local (Jeonbuk) SOTA get together around the second weekend of October to get the chasers initiated to logging their QSOs, so obviously if you're around, you're more than welcome to stop by!

Later,

Jason.

http://w2vla.wordpress.com

[John Brayley]

Thank you Jason.

 

We are due to travel tomorrow.  I will keep track of activity on HL-SOTA when I can log in.

 

At this stage I am not sure if we will be doing more ‘chasing’ rather than climbing.  A few weeks back (soon after our e-mail) I managed to tear a calf muscle.  I am now walking without crutches and boot, but  I will need to consider more gentle destinations.

 

I will also have HF with me to operate from the places we stay. (5W into a loaded vertical on the back of the radio).

 

The photos on your web site look great.

 

Regards

[ja...@vlasak.org]

Ouch--that'll definitely hamper things :(

In Seoul, there's definitely Namsan (N-Tower, they call it now) which can be cable-carred up to the top...Hallasan doesn't have that kind of access, but you can get in some good chasing from the 1100 road (Jeju City-Seogwipo), BS-010 in Busan looks to have a paved road right up to the top, as well as BS-013.

Once you get a cell phone in Korea, let us know the number so we can "SMS spot".

Have a good trip!

Jason.

[John Brayley]

Thank you Jason.

 

73

 

John

VK5AJQ