Return to Assy-Turgen Observatory
I was very happy to accidentally discover Assy-Turgen Observatory at the last moment at Friday night a week ago and was proud of myself… But then Natalia – my wife – dropped: “Oh! That is exactly the place where celebrated the birthday of our friends”… – well, I am not surprised… Natalia discovers many good places much sooner than me, thus stealing the local pioneer feeling 😉
Now - with wife 🙂
Well, I didn’t plan to return to the plateau so quickly because (1) I usually run to a new place every time and (2) the last 10-15 kilometers of the road is rather tough for the car.
But, OK, let it be a nice exception. As with any sequel, it must be the same but better, brighter, and cooler… Thus, I took Natasha with me this time. And we didn’t plan to sleep in the car anymore.
Local police
Local police stopped us and tried to extort some money for nothing … “your car’s plate number is dirty”… – it wasn’t a too innovative approach because luckily this time my plates was dusty but easily readable … after a few other unfounded attempts we left the scene without losing any money and only with 5 minutes of time loss.
Driving to the observatory
Driving was easier than a week ago:
- It was a daytime – not a midnight
- I knew what and when to expect
- We stopped for photos and enjoying the moment
- Wife is not always bad. Sometimes, nice girls are just nice 🙂
New place
We chose a new – even nicer – place: very private, perfect view, truly spectacular and still very close to the observatory
New antenna
I built a new 1/4-wave elevated verticals with resonating radials for 20/15/10-meters. However, I was lazy and tuned them during the visit for 20-meter only. Though, it was clear that they can be easily tuned to other bands as well. Most importantly, all three radiators can be tuned independently without problem
But this time, I wanted to work in the air more than tuning the antenna. Thus, as soon as SWR for 20-meters was good, I just started enjoying the QSOs.
Visitors
We had several types of visitors:
- Ships
- Shepherds
- Shepherds’ dogs
Chilly night
The night temperature was surprisingly chilly. The temperature dropped to +7C. It was windy… In Almaty, it was +25-30C just the day before …
My wife said everything that she thought about the idea of coming to the place, about the HAM radio, tent, sleeping bags, me personally and my mental abilities particularly… 🙂
Eventually, I managed to calm her down. We slept in the tent. But it was a tough night because Natasha stole my larger sleeping bag (surprise!), and I had to fit in a bag for pygmies. But we survived, and the morning was wonderful, warm, and peaceful.
Drone
The last time, I was too busy with radios and didn’t leave the car for hours. This time, I played the role of a host and an entertainer – not too much, but still. Thus, we flew the drone… Modern drones are truly amazing and are a must in places like this.
Take it easy
We took it easy this time. We departed in the morning when we drove to the place – not in the late evening, as I often do. We didn’t stay another night, though the propagation was just about to start … But I didn’t want to risk another night and destroy the nice feelings about the wonderful place.
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