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!