Portable Mt. Tsukuba, JAFF-047 つくば朝日峠移動運用

Went to a roadside park at about 250m above sea level near Mt. Tsukuba in the Suigo-Tsukuba Quasi-National Park, JAFF-047, with Take, JA1FAQ, aiming at some phone contacts with VK stations yesterday, but our venture was not very successful.

It turned out that the roadside space we used was scheduled to be closed at 07z and we had to go QRT at 0630z. We were told that local people complained of high noises by motorists and motorcyclists who liked to use winding road leading to Mt. Tsukuba, and this park was a resting and gathering place for them.

In addition, our new antenna, a modified SVDA for the 15 meter band, was still in the experimental stage, and we had trouble feeding power into the antenna well, especially for the first two hours.

I was relieved by the solid CW signals from Rob, VK4FFAB, but it was ironic that they came just after I switched the supposed beam to the north by changing the reflector to the director. Thanks to Rob’s spotting, I logged eleven contacts, mostly with EUs, in the last 10 minutes of the operation from that QTH.
Take, JA1FAQ, had CW contacts with V8, BG and UA9 stations. Our phone CQ calls were not all in vain as a couple of local JA stations called us. Take also had CW contacts with EUs, after we moved to a nearby smaller space, before we gave up that second QTH due to rain.
I found a spotting by a W station of JA1FAQ/p after I came home. We also received a 559 SWL report from one of the local club members at the foot of Tokyo Tower in central Tokyo.

It was a nice spring day for outdoor activities during the day and we enjoyed the good view of the Kanto plain and Lake Kasumigaura.

The access was easy with 170km roundtrip.

Mt. Tsukuba from the park near the first QTH. We were afraid that signals from EU were blocked by the mountain, but EU signals came through all right.

昨日は筑波スカイライン沿いの朝日峠展望公園に行き、JAFF-047のイースター休暇のオーストラリア、ＶＫ向けサービスに挑戦しましたが、残念ながらうまく行きませんでした。かろうじて、１局のＶＫとＣＷで交信ができ、完全ボウズは免れました。

駐車場が早い時間に閉まるらしいことに、前日に気が付きましたが、日の短い冬のことで、４月以降なら少しは遅くなるのではと当て込んでいたところ、１５時Ｊ過ぎにはもうゲートの閉鎖要員が来て、車が出るのを待ち構えている状況で、この場所では１５３０Ｊで片付けにかからざるを得ませんでした。騒音をまき散らす車、バイク対策のようです。

また、ロケーションの助けを期待できるとはいえ、アンテナに多少のゲインがないと苦しいと考え、ＳＶＤＡを変形して、リフレクターの下部の８０ｃｍほどを内側に折り曲げて車の上に架設したのですが、まだ調整、実験が不十分なことや古い同軸の不良によるらしいトラブル、新しいヤエスＡＴＵの動作不能（電圧が低いための疑いあり）などなどで送信も思うようになりませんでした。モノバンドでベストのバンドに移れないのも弱点です。ＶＫ６のＩＢＰビーコンも、運用していた時間中には、フォーンが届きそうなレベルには聞こえていませんでした。

心配していたお天気のほうは、午前中は日も差して暖かく、風もあまりなくて絶好といっても良い日和で、快適でした。
ただ、最初の駐車場を撤収して近くの舗装してない小さいスペースに移り、いつものループアンテナを立てたのですが、３０分もしたら雨がパラパラ降り出したので、そこも切り上げ、守谷ＳＡで同行のＪＡ１ＦＡＱ局長とゆっくり駄弁って家に向かいました。