Picture a Norwegian guy that feels 15°C is a comfortable summer temperature, and starts sweating uncontrollably and complain when it gets above 20°C. Now, place this character in a humid environment, say, for example Germany, and make it 40°C instead. Just for the heck of it, let’s also disable the AC in his hotel room.

Hold on to your hats: this is not a fictional story – it’s real, this happened to me this weekend!

Mind blown, right? I know!

So, I guess you’ve added 2+2 and figured out that I also survived the ordeal. Despite the heat during my first Friedrichshafen, it was a great experience. Really. Seriously.

I ran into a couple of guys from the 3YØK DXpedition, specifically Alex DL2ALY, Don IK2EGL, Laci HA0NAR, QSL manager Charles MØOXO, as well as the team doctor Julia DO4JVN who made her first QSO from Bouvet. We even did a short presentation together, sharing some of our experiences and memories from the trip. Vlad OK2WX, who sadly had to withdraw weeks before leaving, was back in good spirit and on board as operator for the VPØSG DXpedition to South Georgia Island in March, 2027.

The VPØSG stand featured other great guys, like Rune LA7THA, Erwann LB1QI, and Alexy UT5UY/OH5UY whom I operated with earlier, during the activation of Market Reef in September, 2022. I have tremendous respect for Alexy and his operating skills, so they must be extremely happy to have him on the team.

I also met one of the “kings” from Market Reef, Henri OJØJR/OH3JR, whom I also had the pleasure of working with during the said activation in 2022. Kiitos, Henri, ja toivottavasti näemme sinut pian uudelleen.

And of course, lots of others! If we met and I forgot to mention it, don’t sweat it, I mean – I have to draw the line somewhere, or else this’d be a really, really long post. Because you’re here for the pictures, right?

It was a fantastic experience, I had loads of fun, and even though it may have been exhausting I am already preparing for next year.

For you Germans: tone the heat down a couple of notches next year, okay? You’re kind of overdoing it with 40+.