New Year QSO Party 2018

群馬県吾妻郡草津町からQSOパーティに参加してみました。昨年の大晦日から草津温泉に温泉しに来ていたのですが、１月２日の日中、草津運動茶屋公園道の駅の展望デッキから電波を出してみました・・・
I had fun participating in New Year QSO Party at the observation deck of the roadside rest area in Kusatsu hot spring resort, Gunma on Jan. 2nd.
The direction of south... toward Mt. Asama (Karuizawa).

The direction of north east... A snowy panoramic view of central Kusatsu town

A full view of the observation deck...

I was on the air with ham radio on 70cm (430MHz) FM and 23cm (1.2GHz) FM there. And an unanticipated situation occurred... I worked with ham radio operators in Katsushika, Tokyo and Nerima, Tokyo clearly. I would like to explain a situation on maps. Distance from Kusatsu to Katsushika is about 150 km (95 miles)

（注）周りを浅間山、榛名山、赤城山という険しい山々に囲まれていますが、山岳回折で東京近辺とVUの電波で交信できます。

My running gears are ICOM ID-51 (5W) with a whip antenna and ALINCO DJ-G7 (1W) with a whip antenna. These contacts were apparently phenomena due to diffraction caused by mountain ridges. I would like to try again if there are any chances.

【おまけ】

草津温泉の旅館のお節と雑煮
A New Year's Dish and a New Year's Soup in Kusatsu, Gunma.