Sota Fun Evening Old

Just an idea at the moment, but after last night’s evening activations by Robin, Richard, Mick and myself, it struck me as a good idea to try and arrange a sota fun evening, similar to sp funday, where anyone interested could scramble up their local summit for a quick activation on a nice summer’s evening and try and work as many summits as possible, just for the sheer fun of it.
It could be alerted at short notice to make sure of fine weather and maybe we could all work on 2fm for the first 30-45 minutes then qsy to any band/mode that takes your fancy.
It would be interesting to hear your thoughts.

Mike

In reply to GW0DSP:

2m FM will rather limit the range and thus the chance of SE activators joining in. SSB would easily allow s2s QSOs across much of the UK.

73

Richard

In reply to G3CWI:

In reply to GW0DSP:

2m FM will rather limit the range and thus the chance of SE activators
joining in. SSB would easily allow s2s QSOs across much of the UK.

73

Richard

I agree with you 100% Richard BUT there seems to be an increase in the amount of rubber ducky handheld ops on the summits these days, hence my suggestion of FM, to be fair, almost everyone has 2fm portable available.
Maybe the answer is 2fm for 30 mins followed by 2ssb for 30 mins, it would be easier to operate on 5 megs and work all the uk easily, but that would be too easy, much better on vhf which is available to ALL licencees.
As I say, it’s just a crazy idea I had on the spur of the moment and all suggestions welcome. Maybe it’s not a good idea at all, I don’t know, so let’s see what the interest is like via this thread.

Mike

It’s a fair point about 2m FM… It was tough last week on “my hill”.

That’s why I’ll get up G/CE-005 and use SSB with the 706… and it’s only a mile or so from me so I can do it relatively quickly.

73 Marc G0AZS

In reply to GW0DSP:

…only one way to find out!

Count me in.

In reply to GW0DSP:

Perhaps it should be timed to co-incide with the tuesday evening activity contests. That way you will guarantee plenty of activity and if propagation is right, some dx.

I’m in for either SP-10 or SP-17 if I have a day or so notice.

Ian
G7ADF

In reply to G7ADF:

Ian

The only potential problem is that it does make it hard for casual contacts. However if I recall correctly the VHFCC things starts at 2000L so if the SOTA thing started at 1900L there would be plenty of time for a chat beforehand. The other point is that the CC things are just once a month. Maybe we could have a “Tuesday night is SOTA night” thing running from June to September?

Here at “CWI Towers” Tuesday night is Brownies Night :frowning:

73

Richard

In reply to GW0DSP:
Count me in, too - I bags Walton Hill!

I will go along with 2m FM to start with, but am moving away from 2m SSB as it is being more and more disrupted by the birdies - which goes for several of the FM channels, too. Unless things change 2m has about had its day. 5 megs is probably not a good choice for the evening, it goes as long as 7 megs, but I may give 3.5 megs a go since both UK and Eu stations will be workable.

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to GW0DSP:

Great idea Mike.
I’ve done several evening activations from NW-051 on 2m, 70cm and 6m, usually in the RSGB Activity Contests, and found them great fun.
All being well I shall be operating on Tuesday evening from this summit for the June contest so maybe this is the ideal time to test out your idea!
wx forecast looks promising too!

Thinking of doing SP-015 around 8pm local this evening, 2m FM.

In reply to GW0DSP:
Hi Mike

Good idea I would say.
I could probably do one of the TW Summits if the night was convenient to me and I would prefer to do an HF activation in my case. If it could be done without much fuss and work on your part Mike and on a summer evening that would be good.

73
Phil G4OBK

In reply to GW0DSP:

I’m up for it, although a bit of notice would be handy due to my eccentric work arrangements at present - a regular night would suit me very well.

I’d favour 2m ssb to optimise potential coverage, and would prefer to keep it away from the activity contest nights - I’d rather be working other summits and chasers than giving away points! (Not that I don’t sometimes do that on the activity nights anyway)

73 de Paul G4MD

In reply to GW0DSP:

i’m up for that idea mike…

73 barry m3pxw

In reply to M3PXW: How about 433 M/cs SSB and generate SOME activity on this forgotten, but splendid band

ERMINTRUDE

In reply to 2E0HJD:
That’s odd, Mick, I’ve tended to think of 2m as the easy option. HF is so unpredictable and the chances of QRM from alligator stations so great that it can’t be considered an easy option even if you have the problem of an adequate antenna cracked!

One of the problems with 2m SSB is the chorus of birdies, which are becoming obtrusive even from remote hills. Here I have an S9 burbler which sits on the calling channel all afternoon and evening, and last time I counted I had 52 birdies strong enough to lift the S meter between 144.200 and 144.400. Down at 144.000 it is just plain ridiculous! Do you wonder that I am so pessimistic about the future of 2m and use it less and less?

Having said that, I will go along with the consensus. How about tomorrow evening?

73

Brian G8ADD

433 ssb sounds an interesting idea. This week, however, I am limited to 2m FM. I will be operational tomorrow (Tuesday) night between 1900 and 1945 (8 to 8.45pm local). Would be good to get some S2S at that time!

In reply to M1EYP:

Tom

Working lates, till 2000A all week with the exception of Fri.

Could well go to Hailstorm Hill on Friday evening and play 433 M/cs SSB. Will call on 432.2 M/cs. Will advise on Fri as to plans.

Look forward to working you for the fist time on SSB this band.

ERMINTRUDE

PS How is Penelope keeping ?

In reply to 2E0HJD:

In reply to GW0DSP:
I thought the idea was to use 2m ssb to promote usage of this band and
mode, rather than using HF, the results could be amazing for those who
take the time to try and enjoy the challenge rather that using the
easy option. or have i got it wrong ?
Mick

That’s more or less correct Mick.
It was suggested that the first 20-30 minutes be 2-fm, then the rest of the first hour on 2-ssb.
That would be the fairest way to all classes of licencee, most of us have the facility for 2-fm portable, if only a handie and rubber duck.
The main aim would be to have fun and increase evening sota activity rather than sit and watch Coronation Strasse and suchlike.

There seems to be enough interest to give it a whirl, maybe it could be a weekly event through the summer months when wx allows?
I’m not the best organiser, but I’ll try and put a list together of all who wish to take part and their local summit.

Anyone interested, please email me gw0dsp@hotmail.co.uk with your callsign and your chosen summit reference, I’ll email a list to all concerned or post the list on the reflector, then we just need to pick an evening and go for it.
Each station can alert as normal, dependant on local wx etc, that way a quick look at the alerts will tell everyone which station is on which summit, just print out the alerts page and take it with you to your summit as a reference for beam headings, callsigns etc.

Just as an example, we could operate as such…18:00utc–18:30utc 2-fm, 18:30utc–19:00utc 2-ssb, after that anything goes, maybe our many friends in other associations could join in.
The most important thing is to keep it enjoyable for all.

73 Mike

In reply to M1EYP:

Tom

Working lates, till 2000A all week with the exception of Fri.

Could well go to Hailstorm Hill on Friday evening and play 433 M/cs SSB. Will call on 432.2 M/cs. Will advise on Fri as to plans.

Look forward to working you for the fist time on SSB this band (not necessarily this Fri).

ERMINTRUDE

PS How is Penelope keeping ?