I have now communicated with most Association Managers and, as I feared, there is a split of opinion about dates although all seem keen that this event goes ahead.
The two weekends that are proposed are 2-3 May and 23-24 May, both have their merits and both offer problems. To summarise:
2 - 3 May
a) Coincides with a long weekend across much of Europe with either 1 or 4 May as public holidays
b) Last weekend when lifts and huts might be open in Alpine regions
c) Weather is very unpredictable
d) Coincides with VHF/UHF Contests across much of Europe
23 - 24 May
a) No HF contests
b) Spring weather in northern Europe may cause access problems (snow melt etc.)
c) Some areas have a public holiday near this weekend
d) No high level protection (huts) or lift access in alpine areas
e) Weather is much more predictable
I addition, a couple of associations have suggested waiting until summer for the event to ensure better weather (obviously not the UK - hi!). The considered opinion on this is why not hold another event in summer if this one works!
So, as we do not have a poll system on this reflector, could I ask for all participants to consider the various pros and cons and attach an opinion to this topic which I will ask Jon to close in seven days.
There is much work to be done to help organise skeds and activations so if anyone is willing to volunteer to help do this (in all activation associations) could you email me direct.
Both dates suit me, Barry, but I have a slight preference for the earlier one. V/UHF contest activity could cause problems but at least guarantees plenty of non-SOTA people will be listening. If it is successful a repeat in the summer holiday season would be a great idea.
For my part I rather doubt the wisdom of trying to organise skeds on such a widespread and, I would hope, heavily supported event. Personally I would hate to have to give a summit time to the nearest hour!
Both weekends OK for me too, but also with a slight preference for the earlier one.
I wouldn’t worry about the sked thing Brian - we don’t even know what it looks like yet. It might just be something like that S2S contacts are targeted in the first 15 minutes of each hour, or selected hours of the day for focus on certain bands.
Hopefully the event will generate so much SOTA activity around the world that there will be something for everybody at most times of the day anyway!
In reply to GM4TOE:
Thanks for all your efforts Barry - I go for the earlier date in May the 2/3rd, purely for personal reasons. The weekend is free for me, and as it is May Day weekend that is good. I also think that a two day event makes a lot of sense.
In reply to G4OBK:
Either date suits me and if it is succseful it could be repeated in the summer or held in the summer next year. Thanks for the behind the scenes work Brian. Sean M0GIA
No thanks are due to me, Sean, I just supplied a bit of encouragement, the thanks must be split between Barry, who contacted all the AMs and collected opinions, and yourself for having the original idea. Now its up to all of us, Activators and Chasers, to make a special effort to ensure the success of the event and raise the profile of SOTA worldwide - perhaps it will spark off the interest to add a few more new Associations to the ones already in the pipeline!
Could you remind us what the predictable weather will then be? I think you mean it is likely to be warmer compared to the beginning of May. The opposite case is also possible though less likely
Could you remind us what the predictable weather will then be? I think
you mean it is likely to be warmer compared to the beginning of May.
The opposite case is also possible though less likely
I’ve had 10 cm of snow in Glencoe at road level in June, but it didn’t last long.
I don’t think we should give more than a passing thought to the weather, May is beyond prediction so we will just have to trust to luck. Instead I am giving thought to which area I will be in and leave the selection of the actual summit(s) until nearer the time - I will be considering fair weather and bad weather alternatives. We should perhaps build up a database of people’s intentions so that there is no needless duplication of summits.
I agree with Brian that we cannot predict the weather and as forecasts can change within 24 hours, we just have to pick a date and go for it. Personally the first weekend would be better for me as I’m fairly certain the second coincides with a half term holiday. That could be a week away for me which would involve travelling on the Saturday and maybe limited time on the Sunday. Anyway, I would probably still get out to play on one summit for such an important event.
I don’t think that we should expect everything to happen as if by magic the first time that we have an International SOTA Weekend. There will inevitably be some issues to resolve right up to the weekend itself. This is an event which should be allowed to grow and develop.
I don’t see how we can let the wx come into the equasion, after all, didn’t we just have a successful NP fun event on January 4th? Hardly the most tropical of months in Northern England.
We need to pick a weekend to suit the majority and get on with it!!
In reply to GM4TOE:
Ok lets start a data base, i have no idea on how to write one though. I will start with the Saturday QRV around 1200hrs (TBA) from Gun Moor G/SP-013 on 80m - 70cm most modes.
I may possibly add more as the event comes closer as long as the summit is not already spoken for. Sean M0GIA
Sean, I think the best way is if I start a seperate thread for the UK, activators can post their intentions on it and I will summarise these with frequent updates in the opening post so that the brief data can be got from the opening post and more detail by scrolling down to the activators post. Any contributions from other Associations will be included, of course, but I suspect that parallel threads on their own reflectors will carry most of the traffic.
In reply to G8ADD:
If you start a data base Brian both weekends will have to be taken into account as one weekend has not yet been agreed on. When i posted Saturday i meant that would be Saturday regardless which weekend.
Sean M0GIA
