Got a rare SOTA first (for me) today. I have been taking my Baofeng on my cycle ride to work this week. Today to my surprise I heard someone calling and it turned out to be M1EYP/p on SP-015 doing his daily duties. I was even more surprised that he could hear me. So there it is, a first SOTA chase from my push-bike.
I thought it was going to be âfirst success using a Baofengâ.
Baofengs are excellent (terms and conditions apply).
The same thing happened to me when I was activating in VE7/GV (I forget which summit.) A local ham riding his bike around Stanley Park happened to have his Baofeng on and we squeezed out a contact before he lost line of sight. I believe he didnât even stop riding, either!
I have started taking a HH on my bike when I commute to work! Quite amazing what you can hear and how far you can get out with a simple setup
I use APRS on extended rides with my Yaesu FT1D and a 2m dipole on the pannier rack
Over the Xmas 2017 break I did a few rides to test my RX system at home (iGate G8XYJ-10, now licenced as MB7RLU) - Quite happy with the results
I suppose the clever thing to do would be to convert the dipole to a VK2ZOI dual band Flowerpot antenna, then monitor 433.500MHz and TX on 144.800Mhz
Hope that we have another SOTA cycling event for 2018
I have also set up an iGate at home but there seem to be few people using APRS around here at the moment.
I still canât believe you guys in the UK can get 4 contacts from a mountain top reliably on 2m FM! And I live near New York City. I am so jealous!
One of my favorites was a âsummit to horseâ that I completed with Fred-KD0HBA while activating W7M/CL-142 a couple of years ago. It was totally random - Fred was out riding & happened to be packing his HT.
73,
Rob - AE7AP
I use to be sea kayak mobile in the early years of SOTA, I worked one or two summits whilst paddling off the North Wales coast.
I bet that had a great earth system if it was on HF.
Ed.
Only 2m FM unfortunately!
Yes, I hope we manage a cycling event in 2018. I did try a few âadvertsâ last year but there was no response. I suggested a 10 day window to include 2 weekends when more activators are likely to be around - and to give some flexibility as I prefer taking my cycle rides (and activating!) in the dry.
Despite the nil response I cycled to activate the (very local) summit of Aconbury Hill (G/WB-024) on what I thought was a dry day in late August. I soon realised that the cloud was down on this massive 276m wooded summit which was not a good omen. As I slithered up the muddy track (having hidden the bike), the rain started⌠Getting 4 contacts on 2m fm took 30 mins and a further 20 mins for the last 2 on 70 cms. Why did I persevere? Sheer obstinacy and the knowledge it wasnât going to be any drier on the way back to Hereford - and probably colder as it was mainly down hill!
Typing this has made me realise what a miserable activation it was - why am advocating another go this year?
Viki M6BWA