{"id":449,"date":"2018-10-31T09:15:51","date_gmt":"2018-10-31T09:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/?page_id=449"},"modified":"2021-07-15T08:19:10","modified_gmt":"2021-07-15T08:19:10","slug":"helada-2018","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/sota-summits-on-the-air\/other-summits\/helada-2018\/","title":{"rendered":"Helada 2018"},"content":{"rendered":"

EA5\/AT-038 \u2013 Helada<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
EA5\/AT-002 \u2013 Puig Campana in the distance behind Benidorm centre<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A family holiday in Benidorm afforded the chance to have a go at a Spanish SOTA summit.\u00a0 We had a week booked on a package trip so luggage allowances meant there was no chance of taking much kit.\u00a0 I managed to squeeze in my usual Kenwood TH-D74 radio as well as a reduced version of my 2 element beam that I normally use for UK activations.\u00a0 It would have to do.\u00a0 There are quite a few summits around Benidorm and a fairly good bus service so there are a number options available if you have time to explore.\u00a0 I chose Helada because it is within walking distance of the hotel we were in.<\/p>\n

Maps<\/h3>\n

Maps are a problem.\u00a0 I printed a few location maps from Google before I left so I could find the start of the trails, thinking I would buy a detailed walking map locally once we arrived.\u00a0 That was a big mistake.\u00a0 The family were happy to have a day out walking around the shops of Benidorm whilst I searched for maps. There are no outdoors\/walking shops in Benidorm and only one book shop which does not sell maps.\u00a0 The place is totally focused on tourists sitting on the beach and the shops reflect this.\u00a0 To walk any of the more remote hills I would certainly recommend buying your maps before you leave.<\/p>\n

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Track log shown on Google Earth<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

There is a leaflet available from the tourist information that describes the walk along Sierra Helada but it is not very good.\u00a0 I studied it for ages the evening before but couldn\u2019t work out the route they were suggesting.<\/p>\n

Finding the trail<\/h3>\n

The main road parallel to the beach in the Easern end of Benidorm is called Avenue Del Mediterraneo.\u00a0 Find this and follow it to the Eastern end.\u00a0 From there head up Calle de Berlin by now heading SE.\u00a0 Turn right at the end of this onto Calle Sierra Dorada.<\/p>\n

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The Cross<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

At the roundabout take the right fork onto Av. Tokio.\u00a0 Follow this street up to the cross.\u00a0 It is a popular walk up to the cross and can be driven almost to the top.\u00a0 As you gain height the views over the city are worth enjoying.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

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Sierra Cortina and EA5\/AT-096 \u2013 Alt de Cortina just behind the city in the foreground with EA5\/AT-002 \u2013 Puig Campana looming behind.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As you leave the tarmac behind at the cross, the left fork is the start of the trail.\u00a0 The right path leads a short distance up to the cross itself and there is a path back down which rejoins our trail if you want to pop up to see it.<\/p>\n

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The trail<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The trail from the Cross is fairly obvious most of the way, it is marked in various places with painted ticks, a few cairns and the odd signpost.\u00a0 Once you reach the first summit just follow the cliff edge until you can see the radio towers.\u00a0 It\u2019s a bit up and down as you would expect from a coastal cliff path.<\/p>\n

Operating in Spain<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a>
Radio masts on top<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I only had vhf\/uhf FM capability on my radio so I knew it was not going to be easy activating a summit.\u00a0 I spent as much time as possible in the days before listening to the local repeater and on S20 the VHF calling channel.\u00a0 In four days I never herd a single person on either.\u00a0 There did seem to be some APRS activity locally but from the hotel I couldn\u2019t reach anything that would gate my packets to the internet.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
The top<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

From the higher ground near the Cross and most of the way along the ridge I was able to get APRS packets through to EI5RCI-15 NW of Alicante.\u00a0 After a good walk and a lot of up and down I eventually reached the summit where there is a large radio mast installation.\u00a0 I set up only about ten metres from the perimeter fence but it didn\u2019t seem to cause me any interference\u00a0 problems.\u00a0I knew from previous discussions that I would be more likely to succeed if I new a little Spanish so I was prepared with a few key phrases thanks to\u00a0Ignacio\u00a0EA2BD.\u00a0 I am sure my accent would have been a give away but I called CQ SOTA for about nearly an hour from the top without a single reply.<\/p>\n

Key Phrases<\/h3>\n
CQ SOTA CQ SOTA Echo Alfa barra Mike Uno Charlie Julliet Eco , QRZ\r\nTu senial es cinco nueve, cambio\r\nMi referencia es SOTA EA5\/AT cero tres ocho. OK!\r\nGracias por el contacto, siete tres<\/pre>\n
Eventually I gave up and packed the station away for the return trip.\u00a0 The activation was unsuccessful but it didn\u2019t matter as the day out in the hills was more than worth it.<\/p>\n
Overall I would definitely recommend this walk but for a successful activation I think you would need to plan on taking HF bands or a few friends with licences.<\/p>\n
73, Andrew<\/p>\n
Journey Details<\/h3>\n
Date \u2013 31st October 2018<\/p>\n
Radio \u2013 Kenwood TH-D74<\/p>\n
Antenna \u2013 2 Ele Yagi<\/p>\n
Band \u2013 144 FM<\/p>\n
Contacts \u2013 0<\/p>\n
SOTA points \u2013 0<\/p>\n
Group \u2013 Myself<\/p>\n
Walking Route Summary<\/h3>\n
\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
EA5\/AT-038 \u2013 Helada EA5\/AT-002 \u2013 Puig Campana in the distance behind Benidorm centre A family holiday in Benidorm afforded the chance to have a go at a Spanish SOTA summit.\u00a0 We had a week booked on a package trip so luggage allowances meant there was no chance of taking much kit.\u00a0 I managed to squeeze … Continue reading Helada 2018<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":451,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,14],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-449","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","category-other-summits","category-summits-on-the-air"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=449"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/449\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1102,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/449\/revisions\/1102"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/451"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.m1cje.uk\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}