During our Road Trip to Scotland I hope to make at least a couple of QSOs from the summit of Ben Nevis to activate SOTA GM/WS-001.

I will be taking my IC-706MKIIG, a couple of sealed lead-acid batteries and will most probably be active on Sunday 12 August around 1300 UTC on following frequencies and modes:

• 14 MHz SSB (using inverted V)
• 144.300 MHz SSB (3el Yagi)
• 145.500 MHz FM

Please keep an eye on SOTAwatch Alerts, I will post updates there.

When thinking about our holiday this year we decided not to go abroad — as we already are and haven’t seen as much of this rather nice country yet :-) Instead we will spend 10 full days exploring Scotland from Friday 10 to Monday 20 August.

We will be keeping low-profile – we plan to sleep in the car most of the time (we tested it last year in Wales and found the Mondeo estate surprisingly comfortable – when sleeping on one duvet and being covered with another one it feels like home! :). We want to see Edinburgh (of course, it’s the capital), climb Ben Nevis and visit the north-most part of the UK – Dunnet Head near John O’Groats.

Although Minatko wasn’t very happy I couldn’t help it and I’m taking my radios with me. I plan make a couple of contacts from the summit of Ben Nevis – SOTA G/WS-001 – more info in this post.

The time just flies – on 21 May it was 10 years since I passed the final exams (equivalent to UK A levels) on the grammar school in my home town Strakonice. To celebrate this small anniversary there will be a reunion on 19 June 2007 in the pub “U Panaka” in Strakonice starting at 19:00.

Hey, you sass that hoopy Ford Prefect? There’s a frood that really knows where his towel is.

Most of you carbon-based humanoids living in ZZ9 Plural Z Alpha sector probably already know :-) For those who don’t – it’s a quote from Douglas Adams’ famous Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Created initially as a BBC radio series it was later published as a trilogy of five parts. If you like sci-fi and fantasy and have a good sense of humour, you will LOVE Hitchhiker. I read mine for the first time some 10 year ago in Czech (a very nice double edition with Restaurant at the End of the Universe) – and I read all five parts at least three times from beginning to end in Czech as well as in English. The Czech translation is very good, but if you feel reasonably confident with your English, go ahead and read the original – you will definitely appreciate some untranslatable bits.

The “trilogy” actually consists of five parts:

• The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
• The Restaurant at the End of the Universe
• Life, the Universe and Everything
• So Long and Thanks for All the Fish
• Mostly Harmless

In addition to the radio series and the books, there was also a TV series of 6 episodes released in 1981. The effects are definitely not it’s strong part – but it sticks closely to the original story and is a nice complement to the books. A must see for a Hitchhiker fan. In 2005, a long awaited film was finished – which is unfortunately a different case. I am not entirely sure how Douglas would feel about it (although he wrote a screenplay)… I personally didn’t like it too much. It modifies the story quite strongly, which is on the other hand quite understandable – it is virtually impossible to fit the story into a single film.

Anyway, back to the original point – Douglas Adams, a hero of millions of Hitchhiker fans has died in 2001. As a tribute to him, an international Towel Day has been set to 25 May. You can show your appreciation of His Froodness by wearing a towel visibly all day!

Another proof that the discounts work – this time easyJet discount on flight tickets encouraged us to book a short 3-day trip to Paris. Neither of us has been there yet, so we’re looking forward to it very much! By coincidence it can also be regarded as a celebration of our 3rd anniversary – yep, that’s how long my lovely Minatko will have survived the relationship with me on 1st May… And I’d like to say how grateful I am for all her tolerance! By the way, we’ll be staying at Hotel Louvre Richelieu in the heart of Paris, within 5 minutes walking distance of Louvre :-)

Yep, after nearly five months, we’re going home for a few days again. We’re arriving on Wednesday 26 April about 20:00 CEST and leaving on Tuesday 2 May at 20:25. Main reason (beside seeing family and friends, of course) is wedding of my old friend Misa Kotkova.