Is an E-bike permitted for SOTA?

[G8ADD]

@MM0FMF

Yes it means they do not understand what mobile means in licencing terms. Hint: it doesn’t mean moving at this instance.

I can only repeat:

@G8ADD

. They may have no status in licensing terms but they are still useful descriptions of how an operation is taking place.

[MM0FMF]

It’s oxymoronic and its use should be stamped out either by patient explanation or with a clue-by-four for persistent offenders.

[G8ADD]

If oxymorons were good enough for the immortal Sophocles, they’re good enough for me c. two and a half thousand years later!

Actually, though, “pedestrian mobile” may be a somewhat precious shorthand for “walking along whilst carrying my station and operating” but it isn’t an oxymoron, it is just a time saver and any ham hearing it will know what it means. Now if you are looking for really silly words to drop into your killing bottle I would be quite happy to join you in deploring those who say “destinated”!

[G3NYY]

@G8ADD

I tend to agree about “mobile portable” but “pedestrian mobile” and “static mobile” are precise descriptions and if you hear them used you know exactly what the operator means. They may have no status in licensing terms but they are still useful descriptions of how an operation is taking place.

Useful descriptions they may be (although that’s a matter of opinion), but the fact remains that they are not legal suffixes when appended to your callsign when identifying your station in the UK.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

[DL6GCA]

I have the impression that the statement: /p /m or /mm is actually used according to the method of transport.
I often hear /p from pedestrians, or stations that were built outside.
/m is a use of anything that’s on wheels, whether it is driving or standing … (no matter if a yagi is standing next to the car ) and
/mm is anything that is on the water. This can also be an HT in a kayak on the river…

/a for the second home seems to be out of fashion. I don’t use it either…

73 Armin

[M0JLA]

Most of Armin’s points would not be correct according to the terms and conditions of the UK Licence.
73,
Rod

[G8ADD]

@G3NYY

Useful descriptions they may be (although that’s a matter of opinion), but the fact remains that they are not legal suffixes when appended to your callsign when identifying your station in the UK.

Nor are they illegal.

[DL6GCA]

@M0JLA

Most of Armin’s points would not be correct according to the terms and conditions of the UK Licence.
73,

you’re quite right! - I think it would be nowhere right after the terms …

But what I perceive: that’s how it’s used … you can hear it … especially at 2m FM …

The meaning is clear for everyone - but sometimes it makes me shiver

73 Armin

[G4TGJ]

@G8ADD

Nor are they illegal.

Actually I think they are.

[G4OBK]

I think you are talking about illegal callsigns, I write about the original topic E-bikes…

As been said before on the reflector only recently, E-Bikes in the UK (also known as Pedelecs in EU) are legal. They aren’t electric mopeds, although I believe these are coming into the EU from the Far East and are illegal, and would be treated the same as a moped, in that you need insurance and a helmet to ride on public roads with them.

Legal E-bikes (Pedalec) have to be pedalled to work on the flat and going uphill and the battery just gives an extra variable boost. You do not need insurance or even have to wear a helmet when riding them on the public road. I have never used one for SOTA but some people have. I cannot see any problem with this personally.

These electric scooters are also becoming popular in the cities here. A running board with two wheels and an electric motor on the back. They need insurance, but the law on them is sketchy and rather a grey area. People have been prosecuted for using them, and there has been fatalities amongst users.

I wouldn’t like to try to ride up a summit on one of these on such small wheels I have to say!

73 Phil

[G3CWI]

@G4OBK

I cannot see any problem with this personally.

Me neither (then again I have one on order).

[M1EYP]

Pointless discussion.

Unless the plan is to sit on your e-bike while operating, with the antenna affixed to the e-bike and power to the rig coming via cable from the e-bike’s battery.

[G6PJZ]

@VK3AFW

Of course the big difference was the beer was cold and the steak was hot.

Don’t tell me the service was good too!

Did the pub go quiet when you walked in?

[G3NYY]

@G8ADD

Nor are they illegal.

I think you will find that they are.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

[G3NYY]

@G4OBK

You do not need insurance or even have to wear a helmet when riding them on the public road. I have never used one for SOTA but some people have. I cannot see any problem with this personally.

If you are uninsured, what happens if you knock someone down whilst riding one of these contraptions and the injured party decides to sue you?
Actually, I think insurance should be compulsory even for riding a non-motorised pedal cycle on the public highways. Many pedal cyclists (or should that be “most”?) seem to believe that they are not subject to the Road Traffic Act and that traffic lights do not apply to them.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

[GI0AZA]

As using an ebike is the only way I am going to be able to do a summit for the next few years apart from drive ons I will be out on one as soon as I purchase it and as soon as I’m well enough even to be on it!

[G4OBK]

@G3NYY

If you are uninsured, what happens if you knock someone down whilst riding one of these contraptions and the injured party decides to sue you?

Let’s not start a cyclists v motorists debate here Walt, it’s pointless. We know there are some transgressors amongst cyclists, especially at traffic lights and motorists get annoyed as they could not get away with the same offence without being prosecuted.

Your question is answered in that a rider of a ebike would be treated in the same way in an English/Welsh court case as a rider of a pushbike would be. I can’t speak for Scotland. To comply with the law an E-bike cannot be assistance propelled in excess of a governed speed under E-power of 25 Km per hour, using a maximum 250 watt motor. An E-bike is permitted to freewheel faster than that speed going downhill, just like a pushbike could.

73 Phil

[G4AZS]

This is off the topic of E-bikes, but does seem to have been woven into the thread! From the Offcom website, here:

amateur-terms.pdf

I can’t see a date on the PDF file, but it is live on the Ofcom website…

Towards the bottom of Page 10, it says:

“(d) When operating at locations other than the Main Station Address, it is recommended
that the following suffixes be used:
I. If the Licensee operates the Radio Equipment at an Alternative Address,
the Licensee may use the suffix “/A” with the Callsign;
II. If the Licensee operates the Radio Equipment at a Temporary Location, the
Licensee may use the suffix “/P” with the Callsign;
III. If the Licensee operates the Radio Equipment from a Mobile location, the
Licensee may use the suffix “/M” with the Callsign;
IV. If the Licensee operates the Radio Equipment from a Maritime Mobile location, the
Licensee may use the suffix “/MM” with the Callsign”.

[K6EL]

Back on point. M1MAJ and M1EYP correctly pointed out that Rule 3.7.1 sub 3, starting with the word “However”, strongly implies that motorized bikes cannot be used to enter the AZ, and, by extension, any motorized vehicle. That sentence and its parenthetical note were ordered by me to disappear 4.5 years ago. But, it slipped through the cracks and still resides under the floorboards and in rule 3.7… Ignore it, and if arrested by the program I will bail you out of jail on condition you reimburse my estate on death, either yours or mine.

Elliott, K6EL

[G1INK]

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