Daibosatsu Operation

Because it was in a morning of Saturday, I had to continue transmitting CQs, but I had no response to my CQs. I posted a message in the web BB that I was QRV. After a little while later, I got a response to my CQ from Akishima 5211, Hino City. The reports were 53/54. I was so grateful that he spared the precious time for QRV in the morning before going to the office.
Although it was fine enough, Mt. Fuji was coming into my sight hazily under the sky with already summer-burnt atmosphere. I wondered if it would show its good-looking figure as a clear, vivid picture during the day.

While I was constantly sending CQs, the clock was already indicating past nine.
I could hear a legal station coming in at Ch8 as if he was calling from a very far place in the local area. When I listened carefully, I found it was not a local station but Fukuoka AB182/6. His radio wave had just arrived at Koshu City in Yamanashi Prefecture from the City of Kita Kyushu?, riding on the propagation reflected by the early morning Es. I called him, but no response from him. Thinking back on the conditions, it was almost only Ch8 that could be used, because the illegal stations were too vigorous. I was assuming it was the usual conditions and did not care about it, since I was on the top of mountains and it had been for some time since I last operated in 1 Area. But it seemed the Es was mustering its final strength.

After a while, I was picked up by Yamanashi A905, a mobile station in Kofu City. I appreciated he told me about Mt. Kita Okusenjou, which I wandered to climb instead of Daibosatsu, and about the Yunosawa Pass where he said he often went for operation. I could also make a QSO with him by “Specified Small Output Radio”. Except in such a rare occasion, I could have no chance to have QSOs with those stations with Yamanashi call signs. He told me he saw the message of my planned operation in the web BB beforehand. It should be also appreciated that he designed to make a QSO with me from a mobile place to catch me.


Above 707
I used ICB-707 to make a reduced-weight equipment. Mt. Fuji, which had been seen above the rig, went more and more hazy with time.

A hundred percentage of Yamanashi Stations?
At 9:45, I got a response call from a station which had a recognizable, or better to say a familiar voice. It was Tokyo AB505, a mobile on Mt. Dodaira in Tokigawa, Saitama Prefecture. He told me he moved there for operation to check in the roll call held in Tokyo area on regular basis. I recalled the memory of my Okinawa operation in last June, as if it flashed back. At that time, he and I were persistently making QSO for more than ten minutes against illegal signals and noises.
He was with Osato 59, whom I also made a QSO for the first time since last “bon holidays”.

After that, I sometimes heard Kyushu stations coming in through Es region, but did not hear any new local station. I continued sending CQs, which were picked up by Yamanashi L37, operating from Yamanashi City. He told me he was just operating at a bad location for propagation and would be moving to another place to be QRV again later. Even so, the wave strength was sufficient, but we had a QSO again later after he moved to the Fruits Park. This time he was, as might be expected, very strong by 59 at hearing scale. He also told me there seemed to be a repeater of “Specified Small” set up on the top of Mt. Fuji, and in fact, we could be linked with each other through the repeater channel. We continued our QSO by CB radio as I listened to the down link frequency of “Specified Small”. He also educated me about the current situation of CB activities in Yamanashi Prefecture. He also said, as far as he knew, there were only two stations active in Yamanashi- A905 and L37. Did that mean the stations I had QSO on that day counted one hundred percent of the Yamanashi stations currently available?

Mt. Fuji had never shown a vivid appearance by noon, and it was still there with looming figure.



ICB-707
Main Equipment:
Rig: ICB-707, DJ-R20D (“Specified Small Output Radio”)
Others: foldable chair, foods, water, rain wear and others

                        




Great Star-filled Sky
At 24:45 of 10th August, I arrived at the parking lot in front of Lodge Choubei at Daibosatsu Mountain. When I stepped out my car on the ground of the parking, there was absolutely no light around, and I could see the sky full of stars. They were so much filling the sky that I could be awful enough to believe that they might be dropping on me. ...What a sky.
On my way from Nagoya, I met with Aichi AD162 at the Service Area of Suwa Lake in Nagano Prefecture, who was also on the travel to Nagano area, and I could also talk with Nagano DG93 over the radio after some interval of time, taking the opportunity of his welcome-QSO he originally scheduled with Aichi AD162. It was so kind of him to move to some easier place for QRV to contact with us at ten in the night, because he seemed to be very busy in business as usual.


Can see Fuji?
At 5:30 in the morning of 11th August, I started out by walk for the top of Daibosatsu Mountain, as scheduled. I was climbing up the well-maintained trail named “Karamatsuone”, which was directly leading to the top. During the last half of climb, after passing through the forest area, I could see sometimes the silhouette of Mt. Fuji come in. The sky was bright and sunny, but the silhouette was white and gray in some vagueness when it came to be visible all the time.
At 6:50, I reached a place called Kaminariiwa. It was the place still having some distance to the summit of Daibosatsu, with elevation of 2,037m. At 7:00 o’clock, I decided to be QRV here, because, I knew the visibility from the top of Daibosatsu was not better because of surrounding trees, and I would lose several dB of radio power, if I went completely to the top. Kaminariiwa, where “the scope of direct visibility” contained basically most of the area in the direction of Saitama Prefecture and City of Tokyo, had also a clump of trees on the east side, however, it would be a loss of time to walk down on the trail along the ridge to get to a completely open area for all directions. Instead, Kaminariiwa commanded a fine, excellent stereoscopic view to the directions of Mt. Fuji, Cities of Kofu and Yamanashi.


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Mt. Fuji appears...
During the last half of climb, when the view becomes extended, Mt. Fuji will come into sight.
Today it appeared in hazy manner. Will it show its figure vividly today?