SOTA NEWS - SEPTEMBER 2014 - PART 2
SOTA NEWS FROM SOUTH AFRICA
The activation of ZS/EC-002 Kompassberg could not be done due to high winds on the last section of the path to the summit. The team leader of the hiking party would not allow the party to continue. So Kompassberg must wait for another time.
The ZS-SOTA team has been hard at work updating information on the South African summits as well as the identification of new summits. Lucas, ZS6ACT, the ZS association manager has submitted the updated and new information and hopefully these will be on the SOTA database in early September.
Eddie, ZS6BNE, and a team of amateurs are planning to activate two of the new summits on Saturday 20 September. The summits are in the Eastern Free State near Ficksburg. The team of Eddie, Rudi, ZS6DX, Andries, ZS6VL, Cliriska, ZU6BV, and Angelo, ZU6M, plan to be active using SSB and CW on the HF bands?
Greetings
Dennis, ZS4BS / 7P8DG
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
K9 LIST - UPDATE
NEW ADDITIONS - SEPTEMBER 2014
Iâve read your contribution about SOTA dogs in the August News and would like to add my dog to the list
OE5YYN Sylvia - name of dog: Kimo - breed: Terrier mix
Our dog is a keen walker, climber (and hunter) and keeps us company on all SOTA activations. The only problem is that he tends to get quite cold when heâs got to wait during our activations so I very often have to put him in a bivvy bag to keep him warm.
Sylvia OE5YYN
New Association Manager OE
+++++++
G3RDQ, David, Shortie, miniature dachshund.
Shortie has been disabled since the age of 5 and uses a trolley to walk as her back legs are paralysed. She will be 16 in September.
At age 5 she had a slipped disc and although she had an operation to have 3 discs removed she never regained the use of her back legs.
She has been with me (and my xyl) on the majority of our activations.
I carry her up to summits . She walks a bit on the way down where the path is a nice grassy slope.
Not sure how much longer she will be with us as she now has other, age- related, problems too.
David
+++++++
It was a nice thought in the SOTA News about K9 companions on SOTA summits. Here are pictures of me with my granddog-Glacier.
And then there are Sadie and Patty who would follow Gen-K7GEN anywhere. Or in this case, Sadie is so snow-encumbered that sheâs getting carried. We call them the SOTA Pups.
73,
Etienne
+++++++
We have another entry for K9 SOTA dogs list:
S57BNX â Sabina â Baron â Labrador Retriever
Our dog Baron is trained guide dog as Sabina is a blind person. Sabina is also the first S5 YL Mountain Goat and she is very proud of that
73, Milos S57D
+++++++
I want to tell you that I too climb with a dog here in Idaho. Her name is Scout, she is a three year old mutt who climbs in the winter and summer. Twice I have been coming down in a white out, and Scout has found our ski track and led us down. She is a good companion. In the evening, when she gets tired, she will walk over to the tent and stare at me so I will let her go to bed. I have a âbear bellâ on her pack or saddle bags and she carries her own food and water. When I pick up the saddle bags she goes crazy because she knows something fun is coming next. I clip her line to the belly band on my pack and she helps pull me on both dry land in while skiing in the snow. When she thinks my pace is too slow she will look back at me âpopâ her mouth as if biting the air, scolding me to pick up the pace.
Scout is a mutt, a cross between a really tuff Border Collie/Labrador mix sire that took now crap off of nobody, and a silly Collie/Labrador bitch. Lots of chasers ask me if Scout is with me when I activate and she is truly a great partner.
Thanks so much for all you do Roy.
KF7DDT
Boyd and Scout
+++++++
You wanted to know about SOTA Dogs.
Since all my SOTA (& indeed WOTA) activations have mainly been Dog Walks
up hills with radios then you had better know my Dogs names, they are:
Abby, Border Collie and
Bobby, Collie cross Springer.
You will find evidence of the Dogs Activations here:
http://www.cumbrianrider.co.uk/2E0XSD/2E0XSD%20-%20Fell%20Links.htm but
it needs bringing up to date with a few more WOTAâs I have done and
LD-054 (where unfortunately I only managed 3 QSOâs).
73,
Colin 2E0XSD
+++++++
And last, but not least, the arrival of Sasha, a Lurcher dog, who accompanied John G4YSS on his recent activation to Cross Fell G/NP-001, on the 24th August, so earning the status of Mountain Mutt.
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THE VIEW FROM THE NORTH - 69
The first Sunday of this month had weather suitable only for tidying a garage; fortunately we had one to hand. The second was worse with cloud wind and rain down to sea level so again a no show.
Things on the 16th were a little better with the cloud confined to all the Lake District tops with the exception of Arnside Knott which at 159 metres is no Everest but we were suffering from cabin fever and decided on a trip out for no points having done it once already this year. There was a shower as we parked so we ate the egg butties in the car while it stopped and walked up in breezy sunshine. We took off rucksacks and as they touched the floor everything changed, the wind lifted to a full gale and torrential rain lashed us. We grabbed waterproofs and threw a groundsheet over the bags and sheltered in the ineffective lee of a tall bush.
After some time it became obvious that conditions were here to stay and HF would be a nonstarter so we struggled through a 2m activation with not too many callers. On the way down Audrey was blown over by the wind. She suffered no damage but no reports have been received as to the state of the wind! As we reached the edge of the woods on the lower slopes the sun came out but the wind remained very strong and we can only wonder at conditions on the higher fells. The press reported a callout for Mountain Rescue to one of the higher fells and the callers were subsequently located some distance down the motorway on the way home having walked off and neglected to inform anyone!
Sunday 24th a Bank Holiday weekend and a really nice days so hard in these parts to find a quiet hill or indeed a road without traffic congestion (A friend took over two hours to drive the 40 miles to Keswick) so the eastern honey pot area is best avoided. The west coast is usually quiet so we decided on Dent LD-045.
We arrived at the Black How where the coast to coast path crosses a minor road to find the parking space for two cars full so drove round to Nannycatch Gate car park which was also full. Back at Black How we managed to get into a small entry that goes nowhere a few yards south of the coast to coast track. Avoid the overgrown C to C path that leaves the logging road on the left a few hundred yards up, continue up the road until it turns away on the right, here turn left and rejoin the C to C, much less of a struggle.
Five meg was poor with just two callers, 40 managed about ten and 10MHz produced no responses at all. !$MHz was reasonable but surprisingly only one DL at 559 2m SSB produced the usual silence, sometimes wonder why we bother, FM produced a crop of regulars. Lots of C to C parties passing through, including a large group of Canadians, very interested in SOTA but we couldnât find a VE for them. A lovely stroll down on a real summer afternoon.
Bank Holiday Monday was a total disaster weather wise on a day better suited to November, we were not out but feel so sorry for those who spend their hard earned cash to visit our home locale only to spend their time looking at the cloud and rain where the hills should be. We can always wait and go another day so sorry if you were washed out; August has had some truly bad days. We put in a water butt to take the water off half of a small garage roof. We wondered how long it would take to fill up, next morning it was over the top!
See a discussion on the use of QRP in SOTA, we never use more than 5w from the tops. Chance would be a fine thing but by the time we have enough kit onboard to sustain a three hour stay in safety whatever the weather plus the FT 817 with small external battery and a standby h/held my pack load is 25lbs plus and Audreys is not a lot less The extra weight of a QRO rig plus battery would be too much for old fools, well one old fool and Audrey. Having said that we do get reasonable results and donât yearn for more power. Usually call CQ on HF and rely on an automated spot and donât get involved in pileups of which we are not the focus. Must admit that it makes things a little easier if chasers are running a little more power but we always try to work the pileup down to silence before quitting a band. Chaser wise about80-100w from the old FT101ZD and an 84ft top seem to do the business most of the time.
CW wise an apology to those with modern call signs such as Z99X as my old brain does not take well to this format being raised on calls like DL9XX.and being taught numbers as an afterthought means I have different copying speeds between letters and numbers. I am trying to remedy this but old dogs and new tricks come to mind.
Well thatâs it for this one, just one activator point from August so far, unbelievable.
Take care out there
73
Rob and Audrey
G4RQJ
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TOP BAND REPORT - August 2014 - G0VOF
Mark reports that there was no Top Band activity reported during the month of August.
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CW REPORT FOR AUGUST 2014 - by Roy G4SSH
Perhaps it was due to a mixture of the school holidays and very poor propagation, but activity levels, (especially for CW) fell dramatically during the month of August.
Conditions were particularly poor on the lower bands and there were many days when I could not hear any activators on 7 MHz, which also suffered from a rising noise floor. Fortunately this situation showed signs of improvement towards the end of the month as we moved into the Autumn season.
I was away from my home QTH for part of the month, but a list of SOTA activators on bands above 7 MHz appears at the end of this report.
Highlights noted in my log were:-
Chris DL/ON6ZQ was very active on an expedition around DM 10 pointers during the first half of the month. Chris was so popular that he resorted to working split, listening 1 KHz up at times on 10 MHz.
Stephan DM1LE was heard almost daily on a tour around Austrian summits.
Tof F5UBH and Roger F5LKW embarked on their annual Worldwide SOTA Tour on the 10th, managing to activate 7 summits in a single day.
Per LA7DHA was heard operating from EA6, Norby was calling CQ SOTA as OE/LX1NO, Klaus DF2GN delighted the chasers with his regular activations from 10 point summits (plus a rare appearance from Italy at the end of the month) JĂźrg HB9BIN, Kurt HB9AFI and Hans PB2T also kept the chasers happy with multiple activations.
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SOTA CW ACTIVATORS SUBMITTING ENTRIES TO THE DATA BASE ABOVE 7 MHZ DURING JULY 2014 - from Kevin G0NUP
This file produced on 29th August 2014
Mode: SOTA CW on 1Ă MHz: activity for August 2014
AMĂ2IF, DF2GN/P, DF3MC/P, DJ9MH/P, DK1IO/P, DK7MG/P, DK7ZH/P, DL/HB9BQB/P,
DL/HB9BRJ/P, DL/HB9DGV/P, DL/HB9JOE/P, DL/OE5EEP/P, DL/ON6ZQ/P, DL/PB2T/P,
DL1ASA/P, DL1GWW/P, DL2DXA/P, DL4MFM/P, DL4MHA/P, DL4TO/P, DL8DXL/P,
DL8DZL/P, DL8MBS/P, DL8RL/P, EA2BD/P, EA2BDS/P, EA2IF/P, EA4MZ/P,
F/EA2IF/P,
F/HB9AFI/P, F/HB9BQU/P, F/HB9CZF/P, F/HB9IIO/P, F5LKW/P, F5MNO/P, F5UBH/P,
F5UKL/P, F5VGL/P, F6FTB/P, F6HBI/P, F8FEO/P, G3RDQ/P, G4AFI/P, G4ASA/P,
GI4ONL/P, GMĂBPU/P, GW4AZS/P, HA2PP/P, HA2VR/P, HA5AZC/P, HA5LV/P,
HA5MA/P, HBĂ/DL8DXL/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9AXL/P, HB9BAB/P,
HB9BCB/P, HB9BHW/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQB/P, HB9BQU/P, HB9BRJ/P, HB9BSH/P,
HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P, HB9CMI/P, HB9CPS/P, HB9DGV/P, HB9DST/P, HB9EWO/P,
HB9IIO/P, HB9JOE/P, HB9TVK/P, IV3RJH/P, KĂJQZ, K1JD, K2UFT, K6EL, K7ATN,
K7NIT, KD5KC, KE5AKL, KG3W, KIĂG, KR7W, LA1ENA/P, LA8BCA/P, LJ1GB,
MĂHJV/P, MĂIML/P, MM/OE5EEP/P, MMĂFMF/P, MMĂGYX/P, MWĂHJV/P,
N4EX/P, N5XL, N6JZT, N7RR, NA6MG, NG7A, NS7P, OE/DL2ZBO/P, OE/DL4MHA/P,
OE/DL6UHA/P, OE/DL8DXL/P, OE/DM1LE/P, OE/HB9DGV/P, OE1MVA/P, OE5AUL/P,
OE5EEP/P, OE8SPW/P, OH2NOS/P, OK/DL8RL/P, OK/OE5EEP/P, OK/OM3CUG/P,
OK1CZ/P, OK1DPU/P, OK1DVM/P, OK1HCD/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BDF/P, OK2BTK/P,
OK2HIJ/P, OK2KDS/P, OK2SAM/P, OK2VWB/P, OK4IT/P, OK8DDR/P, OM2JU/P,
OM3CUG/P, OM4AA/P, OM4WY/P, OM4XA/P, ON/PA9CW/P, ON5XX/P, OZ/LA1KHA/P,
S5/OE6WIG/P, S52CU/P, S57X/P, SP/DL2DXA/P, SP/OK2VWB/P, SV5/HB9DST/P,
TK/DL1ASA/P, VK3CAT/P, VK3KS/P, WĂ/DL6AP/P, WĂCP, W5/DL6AP/P, W7/DL6AP/P,
W9FHA, WA2USA/P, WA9STI, WB5USB, WO/DL6AP/P, YO2BP/P, YU/YO2BP/P
Mode: SOTA CW on 14 MHz: activity for August 2014
AB7YL, AC1Z, AD5A, AE5KA, AE7AP, AI4OW/KH6, AMĂ2IF, CT1BQH/P, CT1BWW/P,
DF2GN/P, DG5WU/P, DJ9MH/P, DK7MG/P, DK7ZH/P, DL/HB9BQB/P, DL/HB9BRJ/P,
DL/HB9JOE/P, DL/OE5EEP/P, DL/PB2T/P, DL1ASA/P, DL4MFM/P, DL4TO/P,
DL8MBS/P, EA1AER/P, EA2BD/P, EA2BDS/P, EA4MZ/P, EA6/LA7DHA/P, F/HB9AFI/P,
F/HB9CZF/P, F/HB9IIO/P, F/PAĂSKP/P, F5LKW/P, F5MNO/P, F5UBH/P, F5UKL/P,
F5VGL/P, F6HBI/P, F8FEO/P, GĂHIO/P, G3RDQ/P, G4AFI/P, G4ASA/P, G4RQJ/P,
GMĂBPU/P, HA2PP/P, HA2VR/P, HA5AZC/P, HA5LV/P, HA5MA/P, HBĂ/DL8DXL/P,
HB9/DL4FO/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BAB/P, HB9BCB/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQB/P,
HB9BQU/P, HB9BRJ/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P, HB9CKV/P, HB9CMI/P, HB9CSA/P,
HB9DGV/P, HB9DPR/P, HB9EWO/P, HB9HVK/P, HB9IIO/P, HB9JOE/P, HB9SVT/P,
IV3RJH/P, KĂFTC, KĂJQZ, K1JD, K1TNT, K6CMG, K6EL, K6TW, K7ATN, K7JFD,
K7NEW, K7NIT, K7SO, K9EZ/P, K9ZMD, KA1QYP, KB4BKR, KC7DM, KD5KC,
KEĂAGQ, KE5AKL, KG3W, KIĂG, KI4OHA, KI4OHA/KH6, KI6FCT, KK1W, KR7W,
KXĂR, KX7L, LA8BCA/P, LJ1GB, MĂHDF/P, MĂHJV/P, M1BUU/P, MMĂFMF/P,
MWĂHDF/P, MWĂHJV/P, MW1EYP/P, NĂBN, N1AW, N2GDS, N4EX/P, N5XL,
N6JZT, N7AZ, N7RR, N7WM, NA6MG, NDĂC, ND7PA, NE1SJ, NF1R, NG7A,
NM5S, NN5K, NSĂTA, NS7P, NX1P/P, OE/DG5WU/P, OE/DL2ZBO/P, OE/DL6UHA/P,
OE/DM1LE/P, OE/OK2PDT/P, OE/OM2JU/P, OE1MVA/P, OE5EEP/P, OE8SPW/P,
OH2NOS/P, OH3KRH/P, OH6FQI/P, OK/OE5EIN/P, OK/OM3CUG/P, OK/OM4AA/P,
OK1CZ/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BDF/P, OK2BWB/P, OK2KDS/P, OK2PDT/P, OK2PXJ/P,
OK2SAM/P, OK4IT/P, OK8WW/P, OM/OK2PDT/P, OM2JU/P, OM3CUG/P, OM4AA/P,
OM4WY/P, OM4XA/P, OM6AZ/P, ON5XX/P, PA9HR, S5/OE6WIG/P, S52CU/P, S57X/P,
S58R/P, SP/DL2DXA/P, SP/OK2PDT/P, SV1COX/P, TK/DL1ASA/P, VA2DXZ, VA2OTA,
VA2SG, VA2SNL, VA2VL, VA2VL/W1, VA2VL/W2, VA7VJ, VE2DDZ, VE7DB, VK5CZ,
WĂ/DL6AP/P, WĂCCA, WĂCP, W1/HB9BAB/P, W1ZU, W1ZU/6, W2CKL, W4EON,
W4ZV, W5/DL6AP/P, W6JP, W6UB, W7/DL6AP/P, W7JET, W7TAO, W7USA, W9FHA,
WA2USA/P, WA6KYR, WA7JTM, WA7NCL, WA9STI, WBĂUSI, WB5USB, WD4EXI,
WH6LE, WO/DL6AP/P, WSĂTA, WW2DX, YO2BP/P, YU/YO2BP/P
Mode: SOTA CW on 18 MHz: activity for August 2014
AI4OW/KH6, DF2GN/P, DJ9MH/P, DL/PB2T/P, DL4MHA/P, DL8MBS/P, EA2BDS/P,
EI/G4GIY/P, F/HB9IIO/P, F5UKL/P, F5VGL/P, F6HBI/P, G4ASA/P, GW6DTN/P,
HA2PP/P,
HB9BCB/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P, HB9IIO/P, HB9JOE/P, KĂJQZ, K1JD, K6EL, K7ATN,
K7NEW, K7NIT, K9ZMD, KI4OHA/KH6, KI6FCT, KR7W, KXĂR, MM/OE5EEP/P,
MMĂFMF/P, MWĂHDF/P, N4EX/P, N5XL, N7RR, NE1SJ, NF1R, NSĂTA, NX1P/P,
OE/DL4MHA/P, OE5EEP/P, OK/OE5EEP/P, OK1MLP/P, OM2JU/P, OM3CUG/P,
OM4AA/P, S5/OE6WIG/P, S52CU/P, S57X/P, WĂ/DL6AP/P, W4ZV, W5/DL6AP/P,
W7/DL6AP/P, WA2USA/P, WH6LE, WO/DL6AP/P, WW7D
Mode:SOTA CW on 21 MHz: activity for August 2014
AE5KA, DF2GN/P, DJ9MH/P, DL/HB9BRJ/P, DL4TO/P, EA2BD/P, EA4MZ/P,
F/HB9IIO/P,
F5UKL/P, HB9BCB/P, HB9BRJ/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P, K1JD, K7ATN, K7JFD, K7NEW,
K7NIT, K9ZMD, KD5KC, KD7WPJ, KXĂR, MĂIML/P, N4EX/P, N5XL, NE1SJ, NS7P,
OE/DL2ZBO/P, OE5EEP/P, OK/OM3CUG/P, OK1CZ/P, OK1MLP/P, OK8WW/P, OM3CUG/P,
S52CU/P, S58R/P, VK5CZ, WĂ/DL6AP/P, WĂCP, W4ZV, W5/DL6AP/P, W6JP,
W7/DL6AP/P, WA2USA/P, WO/DL6AP/P
Mode: SOTA CW on 24 MHz: activity for August 2014
DF2GN/P, DL/PB2T/P, EA4MZ/P, F/HB9IIO/P, HB9BCB/P, HB9CPS/P, K7ATN, K9ZMD,
OK2BDF/P, VK5CZ, WĂ/DL6AP/P
Mode: SOTA CW on 28 MHz: activity for August 2014
DF2GN/P, F/HB9IIO/P, F6HBI/P, HB9BCB/P, OK2BDF/P, S52CU/P,
73
Kevin G0NUP
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SOTA News is normally published on the last day of each month, but there will be occasions when the Editor is not available at this time, in which case it will be published as soon as possible afterwards. It can only be as interesting as the items submitted, so if you think your particular field of interest is not being covered then please submit an article by the 25th of the month. Have you a favourite SOTA? favourite mode? favourite rig, antenna, or favourite band? How did you find your first day / month / year as an activator or chaser? Your comments and experiences will be read by SOTA enthusiasts all across Europe, the USA, Australia and beyond, in a total of 24 different countries. Your input will be most welcome.
I receive many e-mails during the month containing details of activations, milestones reached and general SOTA news. Unless advised otherwise I will use this information in the next edition of SOTA News. It is important therefore that you advise me if any information is not intended for publication.
73
Roy G4SSH
SOTA News Editor
g4ssh@tiscali.co.uk
U.S. and Canadian reports to:-
Fred K6DGW [aka âSkipâ on the radio]
Canada/US SOTA Reporter Dude
Auburn CA
k6dgw@foothill.net
Australian input to:-
Allen VK3HRA
VK Reporter
arharvie@gmail.com
South African input to:-
Dennis ZS4BS
zs4bs@netactive.co.za
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Please note that the next Edition of SOTA News (October 2014) will be delayed for approximately 24 hours.
I am not available from 29th September to the 1st October - Roy.
**SOTA NEWS EXTRA
SEND YOUR NAME INTO SPACE ON AN ASTEROID MISSION - Roy G4SSH
A few years ago âSOTA Newsâ alerted readers to the fact that NASA was sending a spacecraft to Mars and was inviting people to submit names to be engraved onto a microchip to be carried to the planet. NASA provided a certificate to certify each name on the spacecraft. Although not directly associated with SOTA many readers informed me that they had chosen to immortalise the names of their children and loved ones on this spacecraft and in total 1.2 million names were submitted. These engraved names are now on Mars.
I have just been advised that NASA is once more inviting people to submit names, to be inscribed onto a microchip carried by the OSIRIS-REx spacecraft on a two year mission to study asteroid BENNU, which will gather samples of the asteroid to determine the composition of the early solar system. Once the sample return capsule deploys, the spacecraft will be placed in long-term solar orbit along with the microchip and every name on it.
The deadline for submitting names is 30th SEPTEMBER 2014
Full details can be found on
or type âNASA names in spaceâ in Google search.
To claim a certificate:-
I was intending to use this news item in the October SOTA News but this would miss the closing date. I will also copy this at the end of the September SOTA News for future reference.
73
Roy G4SSH