North America <> Europe SOTA S2S Party - 19th November 2016 1400 - 1700 UTC

Sorry to hear that Andy, I know you don’t consider an activation to be correct unless the temperature is under 3°C and there are Icy winds!
At present my summit looks like only light showers, but constant and no local cover, so it’ll be a matter of seeing how long I can stand the wet - it probably won’t be the full three hours.

Ed.

Forecast for The Cloud G/SP-015 steadily improving in terms of probability of rain/sleet/snow, but it still looks bitterly cold. And I am beginning with one of those (a cold) now. Still hope to make it though - we will see.

47 alerts as at 1235z on 16/11/2016.

Weather forecast for Saturday is looking good here with 58F (14C) and mixed clouds. A storm is just behind that, so there might be some static crashes to deal with. Still, for this time of year it’s a remarkably nice looking day. I just hope the window in that tower hasn’t been fixed and bolted shut when I arrive! It was beautifully rusted in an open position, which suited me just fine. I’ll have some kind of plan B if needed, but it won’t be as good.

I’m excited about this and hope the weather holds for everyone who wants to participate.

VOACAP indicates that 17 meters might be the best bet, so that will be my main area of concentration.

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VOACAP is design for long-term median area-coverage predictions so on the day things could be different of course. It’s a handy indicator non-the-less.

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FYI, for those who might be wondering, my antenna choice in the tool was a (very) rough estimate for the 6 wavelength longwire I’ll be using. Based on earlier experiments, that seemed about right. Even with all that, the numbers aren’t outstanding. Then again, my modeling choice may be a case of “asking the doctor to touch up the X-Rays” in hopes of a better result. :upside_down:

That’s the fun of all this, though, isn’t it? Get out and see what the day brings!

Bruce

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Hi Bruce,
This S2S event has driven me to bild a new antenna as well. - Albeit somewhat smaller than yours!

In my case I now have super-lightweight J-Pole antennas for 15, 17 & 20m - so hopefully I can cover whichever band is open to North America.

I used the design from another thread on this reflector here: EFHW Dipole - Mono Band Version - #31 by DD5LP and have done a short write-up on my log here: Portable HF vertical “J-Pole” antennas | DD5LP / G8GLM / VK2JI blog

73 Ed DD5LP.

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I wonder if we can possibly all agree to allow other s2s activators to jump in after an s2s qso completes, if they are hearing either station that just engaged in the qso?

For example, I hear WB8OGK complete s2s with DD5LP, who I’m hearing. I would like to then call DD5LP on the frequency, irrespective of who might “own” the frequency. Eventually the frequency could return to the “owner”, once the additional s2s qso was finished.

Comments?

73, Barry N1EU

Hi Barry,
As normally we can all self spot, once I had worked WB8OGK, I would normally then spot where I was calling CQ.

The other (better?) option is the calling station (Barry) to jump in with a “DD5LP 5 up please” or similar (having checked that freq is clear while listening to me working WB8OGK).

If you try to “take-over” the frequency, other EU summit stations who are awiting to work WB8OBK will feel “shut-out”.

Ed.

Ed, the problem is that frequencies clear enough for weak signal work are hard to find and I know that I’d be willing to share my frequency for other NA-EU qso’s as long as there is an understanding that it eventually would return to me.

I think the “5 UP” technique is good but really only works less than half the time.

Didn’t mean to create a confusing issue, just thinking out loud about facilitating qso’s and helping activators find each other.

Barry

An alternative might be for several EU or NA activators to team up on one frequency and jointly try to work any trans-atlantic activators calling in. This would be more easily accomplished on ssb.

The challenge here would be for the EU or NA activators sharing the frequency to hear each other.

Barry N1EU

Understood Barry - it’s a difficult situation - it’ll be interestng if others have suggestions.
The fact that the summits in NA may hear those in EU but not in NA because of skip distance and also that EU may hear NA but not EU, makes it difficult.
I agree it can be very difficult to find a free frequency that stays free. More and more I hear “crocodile stations” simply starting up on top of a SOTA activator, becuase they can only hear other KW stations!

Ed.

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So far this week conditions have been deteriorating on 20m. Let’s hope the trend does not continue.

The only sure way to know what conditions are is to put out a call and listen While propagation prediction and trending tools can give a guide, they can also be wrong.

Ed.

One of things I had forgotten was that the twilight period is shorter the further South you go. Which means sunset is around 1800Z here but by 1820Z it’s getting quite dark and 1830Z is dark to all intents. For the 2 possible summits I have earmarked for this event, I’m hoping the descent time will be around 45mins max meaning I must go QRT by 1700Z max,

I’m not keen on this. All the activators will be facing similar challenges and ambitions. If I can’t find a clear frequency I’ll change bands or S&P. I think this (non-“standard”) practice will just confuse and irritate people. How many times will the frequency be “taken over” and how will the “holder” get it back? Anarchy reigns (it’s bad enough holding a frequency against the hordes of QRO stations).
If I get a clear frequency I’ll certainly vary my call to give opportunities to QRP, S2S, inter-continental & chasers in due turn. This is part of the challenge and fun of SOTA.

The chart presented was produced by putting out thousands of “calls” automatically and receiving thousands of reports back. It’s not a prediction, it’s what is actually happening - updated live every 120 seconds.

Hi Richard,
My point is the data displayed is from the past and you are suggesting that the trend will continue. Hence any statement about how it will be on Saturday is a prediction.

It’s useful but not foolproof, no prediction can be.

Ed.

Hi Ed

Noted. I did not make a prediction however. You have mis-imagined that!

If you want a prediction, I predict that lots of people will have an enjoyable SOTA experience on Saturday. I believe that to be foolproof.

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In the hope of adding a bit of gain to my 10w I’ve lashed up a pair of phased verticals for 20m which I’ll set up on Saturday. The ‘back garden’ test today suggests they’re working, at least into the east coast. GL all!

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What is this graph??