It’s been a while since I’ve managed to write a blog post about a SOTA activation. Many things happened in my life – I moved to Pittsburgh, started a job as a professor, got married, bought a house, brought a puppy to the house… there just wasn’t much time for radio while I was doing my postdoc and then starting a new job in a new city. I feel like SOTA and POTA have changed quite a bit in that time as well, with a lot more activity and plenty more resources to help plan trips. In particular, sotadata got a glow-up, and sotl.as is just really nice to use.
Over spring break, I took a trip to the Netherlands, which has two SOTA peaks. I was staying in Utrecht, so I decided to go for Signaal Imbosch, which is in the Nationaal Park Veluwezoom, making this a POTA/SOTA activation. This would be my first SOTA activity in nearly 2 years, so I was rusty. And a bit nervous. My callsign for the trip was PA/AI6CU/P, which is definitely a keyful! It was a cool and dry day, in the mid-50s F, which Dutch folks were quick to tell me was fantastic weather for March.
I took the train from Utrecht to Arnhem with a rental e-bike. I needed to get a day-pass for my bike to use the train.
From Arnhem Station, I rode up to the park along and towards Signaal Imbosch, close to 7 miles with a few gradual climbs. Perhaps Velp would have been a better starting point, with a more direct path to the hill.
Biking around the Netherlands was a wonderful experience. I was surprised I was able to ride all throughout the Veluwezoom park, taking advantage of an extensive and well-signed network of bike paths.
Signaal Imbosch is the high point of the Veluwe natural area in the central Netherlands. During WWII, it was the site of a Luftwaffe aircraft monitoring radio station (Teerose II), and there are some remains of the site here.
Having finally reached the hill, I got my end fed mounted to my 21-foot pole (though there were plenty of trees around). The soil was sandy, and the landscape reminded me of the Pine Barrens in New Jersey.
In a sign of my rustiness, I tuned my wire on 30 meters, which is not a band it is resonant on (oof!). Still, I managed to get myself spotted with cell service and quickly got contacts from around Europe. All sorts of new (to me) prefixes!
2M0SNT, who was working a POTA station awarded me the “longest callsign of the day” award. Thanks to all the chasers!
Afterwards, I rode over to the Kröller-Müller Museum in the nearby Hoge Veluwe National Park (had to pay an entry fee for this park) to enjoy the extensive Van Gogh collection in a beautiful location.
I rolled back to Arnhem station and (feeling tired and saddle-sore after about 35 miles of riding), rode the train back to Utrecht. What a wonderful way to break the SOTA hiatus!
Tom Zajdel 
Hi Tom, glad you made to my “home” summit and thanks for the very nice description of your tour! The summit is only 5 miles from my place, Rheden, which as a railway station also. From there it is only a short tour to the summit. We were in Pittsburgh in 2012, made a great trip to Falling Waters. Also managed to get to White Face Mountain W2/GA-003 for SOTA!
Best regards,
Hans, PA0HRM
PA Association Manager
Hans, thanks for your message. It was such a novel experience to be able to ride a train/bike all the way to a summit and through a national park. It was my first trip to the Netherlands, and I loved being able to experience so much of it on a bike. The Kröller-Müller Museum was a highlight of my trip too – you are so fortunate to be in such proximity to so much fantastic art!
So glad you stopped by the wonderful Ohiopyle area and even got out to the Adirondacks. Let me know if and when you do return to Pittsburgh!