When I was in Australia, I used to leave my rig on 7090 KHz to listen for any SSB SOTA activators. This worked well, when an activator was out of cell tower range and could not spot, I could spot him/her.
I wonder if anywhere else uses this approach - I realise that it’s difficult to find ANY free frequency in Europe but I have seen that in the latest DARC (German) bandplans, there are frequencies allocated for QRP SSB operation which I think tie in with common SOTA SSB activator used frequencies - as follows:
I agree with Andy, I frequently check 7.118. 14.285 is widely accepted as a QRP frequency but note that in the USA 14.286 is the ARRL AM calling frequency, you couldn’t dream up a worse combination! A quick check of my log shows 3.666 as frequently used, as is 5.3985. Note that while these frequencies are suggested for QRP they do not even have the status of a gentleman’s agreement - they are not agreed internationally, even if they were QRP operators would have no special rights to them unless they appear internationally on licenses. SOTA itself has no official calling frequencies.
A final thought: The five primary HFpack calling frequencies are 14.3425, 14.346, 18.1575, 18.1175 and 5.3715, the full list of HFpack frequencies can be found on http://hfpack.com/air/ but I rarely hear any activity, perhaps SOTA has taken the wind out of their sails!
In the last twelve months I have had 181 chases on forty, of which 53 were on 7.118, just under 30%. Most of the remainder were within 5 kHz of this frequency, making it a worthwhile region of the band to monitor.
I suppose it always depends on times, as an Activator I tend to often find that frequency “occupied”, although yes +/- not very much is usually the place to aim.
I remember for while there was a station on x.118 that used to regularly read out the “amateur radio news” w/e that was, it certainly wasn’t QRP.
Thanks Rob. It’s strange that the DARC document from just a month later (26. September 2014) lost those frequencies in its list (also the top band one).
Ed.
Hi Brian, I was referring to IARU region 1 band plan - of course other regions are likely to be different - which is NOT a help when the bands are open HI!
Well, that’s the odd thing, Ed. If you Google QRP frequencies and look at the American sites they all acknowledge 14.285 - except for the ARRL, which proclaims 14.286 as the AM calling frequency! Odd, isn’t it? AFAICS it isn’t the only time the ARRL has been the only one in step!
I think it is safe to say that 14.285 is pretty well international, and +/- 5-10 kHz is a major SOTA watering hole.
I think it is safe to say that 14.285 is pretty well international, and +/- 5-10 kHz is a major SOTA watering hole
Guys, NOBODY does AM on 14.286 here in the USA. The big issue is that 14.285 is often occupied by one USA net or another and I’ve fought a losing battle for 3 years trying to convince EU activators NOT to use 14285KHz.
FWIW, I think 21285KHz is a poor choice for activation. Why not go 100KHz higher and be in the empty part of the band?