>>> 🐧NEW ONE WBA 2026 🐧 <<< 165DA/CMSB01- From Medieval Iglesias to the Rocks of Sulcis (by 165DA101 Alex)/ 4 PTS (H)/5 PTS (A) / DATE: 23/05/2026 start @ 13.00 UTC / Freq. stay tuned on WhatsApp WBA news / PROVINCE 119 ( Sulcis Iglesiente )/  Historical Region HR01 ( Sulcis Iglesiente ) / (Municipality E281 ( Iglesias ) 

ANT: 3 EL. SKYPPER / PW 270W/ PTS(A):1Base+1N.One+2Field+1QSO=5

🥾 165DA/CMSB01: The Challenge Begins! The 11-Meter Band Resounds from Madonna del Buon Cammino

🥾 OFFICIAL PORTABLE ACTIVATION REPORT: 165DA/CMSB01 📻

A great start on the very first run! 🎬 I have finally launched myself into this exciting and brand-new adventure, created to bring you 30 memorable portable field activations from the most strategic locations along the Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara. On Saturday, May 23, 2026, the logistical and radio machinery officially set in motion with the very first stage: 165DA/CMSB01! 📡🔋

🪵 Field Chronicles: Cork Oaks, Umbrellas, and… Unexpected Guests! 🐛☀️

For my debut, I selected one of the highest and most panoramic spots of the first stage, setting up at 338 meters above sea level 🏔️. The initial impression was fantastic: a wide, breezy area featuring a comfortable bench right under a beautiful grove of cork oak trees 🌳.

However, the spirit of a true field operator lies in adaptation! After a few minutes of getting settled, I realized that the bench and the tree were literally crawling with countless colorful caterpillars and beetles… so much so that a few of them decided to climb directly onto me! 🪲 To prevent any “biological interference” and, above all, to properly maneuver and orient my Skypper antenna, I preferred to move a few meters away into a completely open area 🗺️.

The day turned out to be quite hot and scorching 🥵. Since I no longer had the shade of the cork oaks, I had to improvise protection from the beating sun using a small umbrella to shield both myself and my trusted rig ⛱️. With very few pilgrims passing by on the trail throughout the day, I enjoyed several hours of absolute solitude, immersed in the nature of the Sulcis region, surrounded only by the rustle of the wind through the trees and the magical static hiss of the 11-meter band 🍃. A truly priceless atmosphere.

📊 Log Analysis & Propagation Data 🌍📉

The geometry of the ionosphere gave great satisfaction yesterday, though it came with some peculiar dynamics. The behavior of the ether mostly rewarded eastern paths and short-skip openings:

• Total Contacts Logged: 171 valid QSOs made entirely in Portable Field mode! 📝
• European Short-Skip: Absolutely fantastic 🇪🇺. Signals were rock-solid, loud, and constant across Europe, with a massive and spectacular presence of hunter stations from France (14 Division) and Germany (13 Division), which took the lion’s share of the log. Excellent pile-up traffic was also handled with hunters from Italy (1 Division) and Poland (16 Division).
• Asian Front: Surprisingly strong and wide open! 🌏 Propagation towards the East provided remarkable signal peaks, allowing me to log excellent long-path contacts.
• The Big Absentees: As it often happens during field deployments, propagation gives and propagation takes at its own will 🌀. Yesterday, the major absentees were Africa (including the Canary Islands, 34 Division) and North America, which did not grant any useful openings to make the logbook.

🏁 Conclusion & Acknowledgments 🏆🤝

This first stage confirmed that running 11 meters in portable mode—when approached with the right gear (like the faithful Skypper) and plenty of determination—brings incredible emotions 🌟. Bringing the very first reference of the Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara to the world waves was an absolute honor. A special thank you goes out to all the hunters who fired up the pile-up and followed the progress on the Live Log in real time! 💻

The baptism of the air is complete. Giacomino and I are already recharging the batteries and packing the backpack for the next challenge down the trail 🎒🐧.

Looking forward to catching you all “on the air” for Stage 02! 🎙️✨

73’s de 165DA101 Alex / Portable Field! 📡🙏 👋

The grand journey has officially begun. The CMSB 11m On The Trail Challenge is making its very first moves straight from the 11-meter band! Operator 165DA101 Alex, along with his faithful penguin companion Giacomino, is ready to fire up the station for the highly anticipated first activation of the series under the official reference: 165DA/CMSB01.

📅 Activation Date & Time

Save the date and synchronize your clocks for the very first official field deployment:

• Date: Saturday, May 23, 2026
• Start Time: 13:00 UTC (15:00 CEST local time)

📍 The Context: From Medieval Iglesias to the Rocks of Sulcis

The official route of Stage 1 of the Cammino Minerario di Santa Barbara spans approximately 20.4 km, starting from the historic medieval heart of the city of Iglesias and climbing toward the coastal hamlet of Nebida. It is a stage deep in spiritual and historical meaning, immersing travelers right away into the ancient millenary deposits of lead, zinc, and silver that shaped the lives and hardships of miners for centuries.

The trail demands effort right from the start, tackling the first major ascent to reach the hill of Buon Cammino at 341 meters above sea level, where the beautiful Sanctuary and Monastery of the same name stand. This location provides a powerful symbolic backdrop for the debut of the challenge: a crossroads of faith, mining history, and starting today, great portable radio experimentation.

🎙️ The Portable Field Activation by Alex and Giacomino

To celebrate the maiden activation of reference 165DA/CMSB01, Alex has chosen an exceptional location situated just a short distance from the official start of the stage, near the Church of the Madonna del Buon Cammino.

• Why this location? From a radiantist perspective, this spot offers an excellent logistical compromise and a high potential take-off angle toward the horizon.
• The Operating Mode: Strictly field style. Backpack on, battery-powered station, antennas deployed on-site in just a few minutes, and the indispensable moral support of Giacomino keeping an eye on the S-Meter! Alex will push hard to make the most of every opening in propagation to hand out as many signal reports as possible to the hunters.

🏆 Hunters, Warm Up Your Rigs: Chase the Bonuses!

Being the very first stage, logging this contact is crucial for anyone aiming for the full en-plein and the premium scoring multipliers featured in the World Beauties Award (WBA) circuit. As a reminder, here is the special surplus valuation for the challenge:

• Over 10 stages logged: +1 Bonus Point
• Over 20 stages logged: +2 Bonus Points
• Over 25 stages logged: +3 Bonus Points
• All 30 stages logged: +4 Bonus Points (The Ultimate Achievement!)

🌐 Track Your QSO in Real Time: LIVE LOG Active!

No more agonizing waits to find out if you made the logbook. During operations in the field, contacts will be constantly updated on the web. Tune into your monitor frequencies, listen for the portable signal of 165DA101/P, and instantly verify your contact on the official dedicated page:

👉 LIVE LOG & CHALLENGE PROGRESS – CLICK HERE

The Sulcis region rises up into the ether. See you “on the air” from Stage 1! Best 73 from Alex and Giacomino.

Are you in the Log? Click below.

LOG

1EK156 Mauro 14GT44 Pierrot 13AT13 Steve 14AT23 Jean Marc 13LR225 Jürgen 19LR1 Ger 14AT759 Xavier 13DA285 Tommy 19AT515 Ron 13AT715 Pete 14AT145 Philippe 14RA41 Chris 13IR100 Stefan 108FB213 Brian 1AT455 Marcello 14GT54 Gérald 14AT292 Bernard 14AT264 Pat 26OP222 John 14AT247 Hervé 91AT124 Yogi 161KCR16 Marian 14CI177 Olivier 26AT352 Paul 16AT29 Nic 47PL122 Arne 14EK154 Daniel 13LR991 Timo 26RC2 Tom 13AT123 Ted 19AT112 Rob 26OP11 Barry 29LR49 Michael 14EK102 Jean 26DA40 Robert 14AT250 Michel 26CT5113 Alan 21AT106 Ljubisa 26AT23 Ian 91AT109 Agus 14JP28 john 14RC315 Sylvan 14AT55 Bernard 14CI101 Olivier 26AT379 Duncan 14DT120 Thierry 13OP20 Martin 19SR109 Marcel 13DA101 Tomek 161SD19 Zibi 13LR76 Roger 14AT252 Eric 14DA62 Gérard 1AT227 Livio 108CT338 Kenny 153DA102 Lars 14AT75 Georgette 29AT101 Mike 16AT128 Stéphane 14VB1 Emanuel 108AT46 Jim 26RC233 Colin 26AT95 David 161SD176 Paul 20LR117 Rune 161DA135 Sylvester 13RC811 Mettman 14AT129 Guy 14AT177 Manu 26AT80 Harry 19RC140 Albert 13EK101 Udolf 14AT259 Allan 19RC1 Harold 14JM158 Jerome 13AT217 Tino 14AT824 Philippe 1AT127 Luciano 26AT169 Bill 13KI Guenther 13WM19 Wim 26TM231 Phil 161SD2 Tom 14AT401 Jean Pierre 13LR50 Marcus 14PM22 Jerome 19AT176 Hein 68AT108 Richard 91AT149 Ari 14PAT799 Laide 26AT17 Nash 1AT14 Vincenzo 14DA27 Thierry 13RC584 Martin 161SD174 Rafal 31AT183 Nuno 14PAT246 Eric 30DA10 Sergio 30DA202 Javier 68AT142 Paul 56TR277 Timo 14AC1 Eric 26TM140 Trevor 14DA20 Pascal 13IR121 Jürgen 1AT1763 Valerio 13RC676 Sven 13DA12 Joe 1TW25 Claudio 14AT350 Didier 165AT448 Franco 13EK111 Toni 13LR119 peter 13FS19 frank 1RC118 Vittorio 26RC888 Tony 13VOG17 Billy 14AT178 Thierry 14AT233 Mickael 14AT148 Philippe 14LE1191 Manuel 13RC312 Kay 20EK20 Frank 19PR22 Gerard 13LR131 Reiner 26AT369 Steve 161DA15 Janusz 13LR77 Michael 14NE900 Sam 13BC666 Hervé 13DL1 Mike 35HN90 Ernesto 19AT292 Michiel 19RC500 Arjan 13MC121 Frank 19DT195 Erwin 14AT371 Michel 30AT748 Alex 19AT161 Carlo 30AT198 Moisés 30DR1 David 1SA180 Giacomo 14RC85 Joaquim 14DA496 Marino 1AT682 Giuliano 3KPI1 Fernando 14FDX70 Cédric 19AT103 René 328EK328 Valmer 13LR6 Klaus 56SD173 Kristian 14TW28 Damian 14AT461 Ludo 14CD1 Delphin 14FP39 Franco 161AT27 Bogdan 14AT16 Bruno 35AT15 Roland 19AT321 Harold 47DK17 Jan 14KTM64 Jean Jacques 1WM386 Stefano 19RF332 Fred 1ALE13 Alessandro 328SI37 Drago 1II27 Massimiliano 327PX11 Roman 1WM180 Tobia 13EK500 Kevin 1T2 Stefano 1RE1 Alessandro ————————————- 1EK156 14GT044 13AT013 14AT023 13LR225 19LR001 14AT759 13DA285 19AT515 13AT715 14AT145 14RA041 13IR100 108FB213 1AT455 14GT054 14AT292 14AT264 26OP222 14AT247 91AT124 161KCR016 14CI177 26AT352 16AT029 47PL122 14EK154 13LR991 26RC002 13AT123 19AT112 26OP011 29LR049 14EK102 26DA040 14AT250 26CT5113 21AT106 26AT023 91AT109 14JP028 14RC315 14AT055 14CI101 26AT379 14DT120 13OP020 19SR109 13DA101 161SD019 13LR076 14AT252 14DA062 1AT227 108CT338 153DA102 14AT075 29AT101 16AT128 14VB001 108AT046 26RC233 26AT095 161SD176 20LR117 161DA135 13RC811 14AT129 14AT177 26AT080 19RC140 13EK101 14AT259 19RC001 14JM158 13AT217 14AT824 1AT127 26AT169 13KI 13WM019 26TM231 161SD002 14AT401 13LR050 14PM022 19AT176 68AT108 91AT149 14PAT799 26AT017 1AT014 14DA027 13RC584 161SD174 31AT183 14PAT246 30DA010 30DA202 68AT142 56TR277 14AC001 26TM140 14DA020 13IR121 1AT1763 13RC676 13DA012 1TW025 14AT350 165AT448 13EK111 13LR119 13FS019 1RC118 26RC888 13VOG017 14AT178 14AT233 14AT148 14LE1191 13RC312 20EK020 19PR022 13LR131 26AT369 161DA015 13LR077 14NE900 13BC666 13DL001 35HN090 19AT292 19RC500 13MC121 19DT195 14AT371 30AT748 19AT161 30AT198 30DR001 1SA180 14RC085 14DA496 1AT682 3KPI001 14FDX070 19AT103 328EK328 13LR006 56SD173 14TW028 14AT461 14CD001 14FP039 161AT027 14AT016 35AT015 19AT321 47DK017 14KTM064 1WM386 19RF332 1ALE013 328SI037 1II027 327PX011 1WM180 13EK500 1T002 1RE001