SOTA: 5B/CY-032 (Mosfileri)

This is one of the least scenic peaks, right up there with Xylias, since this peak is effectively in someone’s backyard and you are likely to find yourself activating on a small corner of land between power lines and a commercial antenna site. There are some nice views downward from that site if you peek between tall bushes, but this peak does not feel at all like a nature walk. On the other hand, it is very much a drive-on peak that does not require an off-road vehicle. It is not far from Limassol, so anyone visiting Cyprus for a weekend could easily rent a car and put this peak on their list.

The German Shepherd dog who lives right next to the map marker for this peak is not very welcoming (or maybe he is, but I was not sure what he was saying and he was saying it very emphatically), so I would recommend driving past him and setting up next to the commercial antenna site behind the house. He will still bark every time you open or close a car door, but he settles down after a while.

The antenna site has two large masts, bristling with what looks like UHF and microwave antennas. Power lines run up one side of the hill to a transformer, which supplies the site. I tried to set up my BuddiPole as far from the towers and power lines as I could.

Surprisingly, I had no interference from the antenna installation. I suppose that it helped there was a bit of distance between my antenna and the towers and that my dipole was set up with horizontal polarization.

Propagation was good, and I ended up with 40 QSOs, 9 on 30m and 31 on 17m including two S2S (TNX HB9CYV/P and 9A6CW). I often activate on 20m and higher frequencies, but 30m worked well and I was glad to work several stations from Greece that typically fall within my skip zone on 20m and higher.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.