Five modes

Activation Reports
41

Well, yes, Steve, but some of our participants combine the two, operating contests from SOTA summits in accordance with SOTA rules, so it is no big jump to discuss the contests themselves.

Andy, I doubt that anybody can work much in the way of contest stations off the back of a decent beam, with a few S-points of null, and OZ and EA will be similar in distance to the frozen (out) north. Let us ignore contesting and the emotions that competitiveness stirs up, and ask you and your fellow Scots how many stations in JO00-02 you expect to work from a Scottish summit activation on 2m? How many from IO82/92/83/93 where there is plenty of casual 2 metre operation even if far less than there used to be? Not that many, I’ll be bound! I’m afraid it isn’t lack of attention to the north, you just don’t get through, period. I’ve got ten squares in Scotland that I need to tick off, so I have paid a lot of attention to the north, I KNOW that you guys don’t get this far for stations that aren’t sitting on the highest hills with the biggest beams, and compared with JO I’m a quarter of the way there! You think I don’t have my beam on 340 degrees when Robin is up a Munro on 2m SSB? The most I ever hear is a brief aircraft reflection!

Brian

42

In the past (when I did carry a 3 element 2m beam up SOTA summits) I regularly worked stations in the south west of England when they beamed my way (5 watts SSB at my end).
Most memorable being the mini pile-up on 2m from Beinn a’Ghlo!

I think many G stations would find working IO7x or IO8x gave them ODX in a contest if they beamed North North West!
Not RSGB bashing just frustration at sitting during a contest hearing zillions of weak stations off the backs of their beams and not able to wake them up even using full legal power into stacked 17 elements!!

Barry

43

There is also the question of certain Scottish stations who seem to be “all mouth and no ears”. There is a particular station in the South of Scotland with a 2-letter suffix who can’t seem to hear me on ANY band, even when he is a good S8 signal in the South Midlands.

:smile:

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

44

I would think that the south west is a different proposition to south east, Barry. From much of Cornwall it is a sea path through the Irish sea and even a little gap through St Georges Channel. As it happens, stations in the south west make the same complaints about people not beaming their way, but I hear people in the Midlands and the north working into South Wales so they have to be beaming to the south west. I know from experience how hard it is to qualify G/DC-006 and 7 on two metres, with even the Kent Beacon inaudible I knew I was on a hiding to nothing! When you are on the edges all the high ground is against you!

Its nice having a mini pile-up from Beinn a’Ghlo, but what you cannot hear is the number of stations that can’t hear you! I can well believe that you can work the best-placed stations, but for every one on top of a hill with a clear horizon to the north, there is probably a dozen in valleys, the wrong side of hills, or suffering the 21st century plague of electronic smog - and my particular fate, a mass of 80-foot high trees!

Brian

45

Wow. Very profound.

46

Known unknowns and unknown unknowns, Richard.

I wonder if Brian and Don Rumsfeld are in fact the same person. I mean, you never see the pair of them together in the same room do you?

47

No, Richard, not profound, just so obvious that people tend to forget it! Creaming off the best sited stations doesn’t mean you are putting out a great signal, it just means that the best sited stations can hear you. Those not so fortunate don’t hear you, and if the fortunate ones are doing something else you get fewer contacts. Back in my early days on 70 cms we used to call the fortunate ones the “beacon stations”!

Thats because I send him off to get the drinks in!

Brian

48

Well, two Scottish stations showed up in the 2m AFS event on Sunday 7th December 2014, which I participated in as a SOTA activation of The Cloud G/SP-015. I couldn’t do the entire six hours of the contest, but could get a decent shift in between dropping Liam off in Congleton at 1130, and collecting him again at 1700. In other words, I would need to miss the first two hours, but could get stuck into the next four.

I wasn’t sorry to have had to avoid the first two hours, for South East Cheshire was subject to very heavy rain between 1000 and 1200. It would have been horrendous on the summit. Even driving up onto Red Lane after taking Liam to meet with his mates for a panto trip, the rain lashed down. It eased to a fine drizzle as I donned boots and waterproofs beside my car on Cloudside.

The weather forecast was for a clear and dry afternoon, but it only matched that description in brief moments. Otherwise there was light rain or heavy hail showers. The two things the weather forecast got right were the strong gusting winds and the bitterly cold air temperatures. So it was a difficult and uncomfortable contest activation, and I was in and out of my bothy bag like a fiddler’s elbow.

The new SOTAbeams rotating guying kits proved up to the task again, and the antenna and mast remained stable and easy to direct, despite being subject to considerable punishment on the summit.

It is perhaps ironic that the Tuesday night UK activity contests have grown in popularity such that one may reasonably expect to get significantly more QSOs in one of those 2.5 hour events, than a major 6 hour weekend event like this. But that is the reality, and 66 QSOs was the total. There wasn’t a multiplier element in this event, but for what it’s worth, I worked into IO74, IO75, IO80, IO81, IO82, IO83, IO87, IO90, IO91, IO92, IO93, IO94, JO01 and JO02. Also heard S+P’ing were stations in IO64 and JO22, but I never found the opportunity to work either of them.

There must have been a lot more available to better equipped and located participants, for some stations’ serial numbers were hurtling towards 200. I didn’t get anywhere near that, but it was enjoyable to work long sequences of stations in IO91, JO01 and JO02. Here is a map of my contest QSOs:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2014/0QfSgFPPwS72vpiJkLmRRUPb57nmxBi

1 Like
49

Every time I checked on the Met Office website, the weather looked totally unsuitable for a contest activation of The Cloud G/SP-015 on the evening of Tuesday 9th December 2014. Gale force winds and heavy rain on the menu. I did the activation anyway.

Precautions were taken. I wore two fleeces and full head-to-toe waterproofs. I had my bothy bag ready to be deployed when necessary. I used two guying kits on the mast - the older style one that anchors just above the thickest section of the SOTA Pole, and the new rotating guying kit that anchors just below the antenna, which in this case was the SB270 set as 6 element beam for 70cm. This was necessary. The wind was monstrous on the summit, and the double guying was absolutely necessary - but it worked effectively.

It stayed mainly dry for the first part of the contest, and I got plenty of QSOs in the log, albeit with not too many mutliplier squares. I set up so that I could sit below the topograph on the most sheltered side, to keep the worst of the wind and rain off me and my gear. When the rain properly arrived, it did so with anger. My bothy bag was inadequate to deal with such a heavy onslaught of rain, exacerbated by strong winds. At times I simply stopped operating in order to spread my arms and increase the tension in the bothy bag. The inside lining of the bag was very wet, and I just needed to keep it from dripping on my FT-817.

Only five stations were worked in the last 45 minutes of the contest, but any thoughts of quitting early were banished, as I didn’t want to be packing up in that storm! I kept my fingers crossed that the weather would abate somewhat by the 10.30pm finish time. To some extent it did, but not much, and dismantling the antenna on Cloud summit at 10.35pm was rather like dismantling the antenna in a drive-through car wash.

The walk back down was tricky with the entire path replaced by a fast-flowing river. The car heater was a welcome reward. Here is a map of my 45 contest QSOs (8 multipliers):

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2014/am3ENATqcci8O6yJEeNllWBR03xlnSj

A very poor video (because it was at night in bad weather and because I am not a film maker) was taken around 10.15pm. I was bored because of the lack of contacts, but didn’t want to pack away because it was chucking it down at the time. So I decided to try and capture the horridness on video. I didn’t really manage to do this, but you get the idea.

1 Like
50

Agreed - you are bonkers!

We have absolutely perfect conditions for you up here - about 120mph on the high tops at the moment - summertime by M1EYP standards! :wink:

51

Tom, in my book you took an unacceptable risk last night. Watching the front advancing on the weather radar, and listening to the pole of my VHF array tapping against the metal guttering in the strongest gusts, I knew it was the sort of night where I wouldn’t have walked the dog, let alone ventured onto the tops. I’m glad that you came through it OK, and probably relished the experience as one does (usually in retrospect!), but one can never predict just how violent conditions can get as the front passes through: an overturn on the nose of the front could expose you to a brief burst of hurricane force winds from unexpected directions, and even the best gear won’t survive that. Still, as we say in climbing circles, look at an old mountaineer and you see a survivor!

Brian

PS The dog got her walk at midnight when an eery calm had descended along with the last of the rain!

52

Amazing what a difference a few miles can make.

I was in Evesham, Worcestershire yesterday evening. It was mild, calm and just a few spots of light drizzle at about 9 pm.
This morning we have clear sky, sunshine, no wind at all and the temperature is 7 deg C.

I suspect we’ll pay for it later in the week, though.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

53

There’s a lot of “British Press Hyperbole” at play Walt. It’s been windy here with a few gusts. Probably only 20mph winds with the odd 40mph gust. Sounds worse than it is. It has been very wet, mainly last night and we’ve had heavy showers this morning. There’s been some sleet and the odd rumble of thunder. But I’m about 15miles West of Edinburgh and sheltered from the worst which is on the West Coast. Currently the wind has dropped and the sun is shining but there are some really balck clouds about.

It’s a Winter Storm, they happen in Winter. I’m not sure why people are surprised when they get Winter weather in the Winter time. Maybe it is rocket science that you get Winter weather in the Winter. :slight_smile:

54

Tom, that is definitely pushing it.
I am surprised that u got so much water in the b-bag.
We camped at the Gower peninsula In September 2011 whist the arrival of the tail end of hurricane Katia. This guy kept us dry all night.
http://marmot.com/products/details/limelight-2p
The nice thing is that one can take the outer fly without the inner canopy, which makes it a good emergency lightweight shelter.
A 4-season 2 man tent would cut it too.

73 Angel

55

Tom, in my book you took an unacceptable risk last night.

A calculated risk, but not an unacceptable one.

The weather forecast was studied in great detail so I knew exactly what to expect and when. I was on a summit I knew inside out, and never more than 7 minutes away from my car. It is fair to say I am an experienced night-time walker and activator.

Despite the obvious challenges, discomfort and difficulties, I did indeed find myself relishing the adversity of the situation, and it was just what I needed as a refreshing antidote after a bad day at work.

I am considering my shelter options though. My bothy bag provided some shelter, but not complete shelter. Then again, a product probably doesn’t exist that could withstand the pounding after 10pm last night.

56

Here is one idea…
http://www.vaude.com/en-GB/Products/Tents/1-Person/Bivi-1P-green.html

73 Angel

57

I’ve already got a tried-and-tested backpacking tent:

http://tomread.co.uk/cadair_berwyn_nw-012.htm

I would like a suitable one-person pop up waterproof shelter for contest nights, but can’t find anything suitable on the net. Suspect it might be time to buy a new bothy bag. The current one doesn’t really owe me anything, but I think it has had its day.

58

Too true - “Weather Bomb”, what a load of tosh!
Having said that it has been pretty windy all day, snowing off and on and we have a blizzard right now (just before 2300 hrs).
All high routes are gated off and closed so not a time for any sort of activation here

59

Indeed.
I was listening to the BBC news yesterday morning when they interviewed an Orkney resident.
The interview went something along the lines of:

London: “It must be terrible for you there. How are you coping and managing to keep safe in the weather bomb?”

Orkney: “It’s weather, it’s winter, it’s winter weather. It’s what we get in the winter! It comes with the season, we’re well prepared for it like we always have been before. I’m not sure why all you southern softies are making such a fuss…”

:umbrella:

Pete

60

The Marmot looks great (the shape is very much what I am planning to create out of our old tent next year, if the XYL lets me near her sewing machine), but it is nothing like a bothy bag. With a b-bag the occupant supports the material so is in contact with it. What are you told to do in a tent under rainy conditions? “Don’t touch the sides!”. Well you can’t avoid it in a b-bag and I am not surprised it was so wet in Tom’s b-bag last night. I know Tom likes to use his b-bag, but I prefer a tarp to create a shelter taking what support I can from elements on site - trig, fences, etc - or even just folded in two and pegged out at the middle across the wind.

73, Gerald G4OIG