21 Apr 2018 NA<>EU S2S event

As has been suggested, I am starting off a new thread to facilitate a discussion on what people want by way of NA<>EU S2S events in 2018. The May 2017 event was not particularly successful and the November event has issues in terms of the weather. We are also around the low point in the solar cycle, so due consideration needs to be given as to whether we actually have an event in 2018.

73, Gerald G4OIG

I’d like to propose Sept 22 or Sept 29 for the 2018 version of this event

73, Barry N1EU

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29th appears to be absolutely clear of contests according to the contests calendar for 2018 - that could change though.
22nd has the CQWW RTTY contest and the UKEICC SSB contest.

The UKEICC contest moved forward a week compared to 2017, but worrying is the Russian all mode HF contest which was on 30th. September this year and most likely will pop-up as on the 29th. next year.

But of the two I guess the 29th. may still be the best choice if we move this to September.

73 Ed.

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Due their popularity, there will always be some contests on Ed. I suppose avoiding CQWW and the like is always good but as for the others I think we are stuck to some degree.

Agreed. In this case the CQWW is only the RTTY contest, so less of an impact, I would expect.

The only way to be sure to avoid contests would be to hold the event on a week day, rather than a weekend day. Unfortunately those working would have to take a day off if they wanted to day part, which probably would drop the number of participants dramatically - so we have to work around the contests as best we can.

Ed.

I have to take a day off to participate if it’s on a Saturday - usually.

Andy, is it worthwhile pasting the discussion relating to the date for 2018 into a separate thread? I am just wondering whether the May event would be retained… discuss!

I would suggest that the next EU<>NA event should have it’s own thread to discuss dates etc. Makes sense to my bear of little brain senses.

That’s what I was suggesting - with the comments made so far moved over.

Sorry I was writing the W4C summit name fixing script and not paying attention. So yes, create a thread for the next event and move the relevant posts to the new thread. You should have all the earned privileges by now Gerald to move posts about. However, if you’ve not done it before I would suggest going to the “lounge” area and creating some threads and posts to practice on. You need to start at the top (oldest) part of the thread you want to move and mark the the posts to move in date / time order. Do a few at a time not lots, it works better. It should move the posts in date order but sometimes that doesn’t happen.

You want me to give you my lucky anvil for you to hold? :grinning:

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No anvil please… and I’m only trust level 2.

Nothing at all Barry. I’m not fussed when it is, but some consideration should be given to propagation, otherwise we could all find ourselves sitting on summits in glorious sunshine without a Trans-Atlantic QSO being made.

Although some have suggested that I am the organiser of this event, it is actually organised by all who partipate. I would therefore not wish to dictate when it is held, particularly as I am happy to operate in poor weather conditions at any time of year. The matter needs to be discussed.

73, Gerald G4OIG

What’s wrong with September?

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As far as the spring 2018 NA-EU s2s event, I recommend holding it in conjunction with the QRPTTF (“QRP to the field”) event. QRPTTF took place on April 22 this year.

That idea was suggested for the first event in 2017, but your comment was that the events should be kept separate -

“The QRPTTF event on 22 April 2017 was mentioned as a possible NA-EU S2S event. But realize that QRPTTF is specifically and fundamentally a QRP-only event, which means maximum power of 5W on CW and 10W PEP on SSB. If the power guidelines can’t be respected, the events should probably be separated.”

Presumably having experienced both, you have changed your mind.

73, Gerald G4OIG

I could do a week day event, as long as life doesn’t suddenly change my plans and cause me to put the radio on the shelf. Which is what happened to me last weekend. I’m sorry I couldn’t participate.

Yes, there’s no reason they can’t take place at the same time. Some SOTA activators can run QRP and participate in QRPTTF, and other SOTA activators can run higher power if they wish and not submit a QRPTTF log. The bands never get that crowded with QRPTTF participants.

I’m with Barry in running it along side QRPTTF. My gut(and it’s a big gut!) feeling is most SOTA activations are QRP anyway (certainly CW) so there wont be an issue and people run as QRO as they like if they are prepared to carry the batteries!

I think the Northern hemisphere Autumnal propagation improvement doesn’t really become noticeable until the end of October. Nothing wrong with September, just makes it a bit harder to get from my Northern location to W7/W6 etc. Perhaps it may encourage more antenna experiments?

So +1 for running along side QRPTTF from me. September is OK for me too.

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Yes, you were sorely missed Kevin… well, I missed you. :slight_smile:

As for 2018, I would very much like us to keep the event going through the sunspot minimum and I certainly think aligning it with the QRPTTF could be good for both events. As to whether we run a second event later next year is open to question, but we can always leave that question for now.

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