There You Go Roger

Old Reflector
1

I was at a lose end this afternoon and the wx looked ok, but a little windy, so I thought Hope Mountain was a better place to be, rather than in Front of the goggle box. I had a plan to do as Roger G0TRB had suggested and put on 7m-ssb and possibly another band ssb once the cw session was over.

I fired off on 7.032-CW without self spotting and was instantly called by Axel DL6KVA, followed by Jeff G4ELZ, who both spotted me, thanks Axel & Jeff. 20 more QSO’s were logged in quick succession.

I announced a QSY to 10.118 but the band seemed flat after many calls, so I called mission control, Barry 2E0PXW for a spot on 7.099-ssb. Heavy QRN was a problem, so just 5 QSO’s were made, 3 locally, 2E0PXW, G1INK, and GW1LDY all by groundwave and the other 2 being Mike DJ5AV and Peter DL8YR.

10m appeared to be wide open so I thought I would give it a whirl on ssb also. Conditions were pretty good and 13 QSO’s were soon in the log.

So there you have it Roger (G0TRB), you asked for ssb and I gave my bit to the cause;-) plus the bonus that I worked you on 10-ssb.

Total QSO’s = 40
40m-cw = 22
40m-ssb = 5
10m-ssb = 13

DXCC’s worked = 13… DL, G, F, HB9, S5, SM, ON, GW, OK, HA, EA, SP, OE.

Thanks to all who called in and to G4ELZ, DL6KVA, G4CMQ, 2E0PXW and GW7AAV for the spots.

73
Mike GW0DSP

2

In reply to DH8DX:

Hi Dan, please accept my apologies, it is a typo. I will change it as soon as possible, I am busy at the moment, we have visitors so having a few beers;-)

A nice change for you to chase me Hi.

vy 73

Mike GW0DSP

3

Indeed Mike, and I had Klaus DF2GN chase me this morning too. :slight_smile:

Tom M1EYP

4

In reply to GW0DSP:

Hi Mike .

Thanks for the contact but I found you by accident while on 10 mtrs working Europe and not chasing you.

73
Roger G0TRB

5

In reply to GW0DSP:
Could have sworn I worked you on 7.099 Mike - did I dream it?

6

In reply to G1INK:

It must have been a dream Steve, I don’t speak to undesirables!

Mike

7

In reply to GW0DSP:

Hi Mike,

“…so I called mission control, Barry 2E0PXW for a spot on 7.099-ssb…”

I think you might have hit the nail squarely on the head here Mike, you have to be spotted - Over the last few months I have qualified hills on 60m with relative ease and have announced what frequency on 40m I will qsy to on the reflector; but I cannot remember when I last had a qso from a summit on 40m ssb. The problem being that the skip is outside UK for us “up North” so nobody in the UK can hear my cq and spot me. In theory the Eu stations can hear me on 5MHz and I always announce my qsy on that band but without a friend to phone (…all sigh…), and many times no phone service available anyway, I cannot contact mission control for a spot and seem to spend time talking to myself. 80m is a total waste of time for UK contacts during the day from this far North so I am not surprised I haven’t had a contact on that band from a hill.
I have tried the key but once again no contacts - to my great relief! I guess to ensure making some of the rare or unique hills available I am going to have to bite the bullet and use CW more, but, believe me, the thought of a pile up and gunfire CW terrifies me.

73 from a very wet and cold NE Scotland (there is snowfall on the local hills!)

Barry GM4TOE

8

In reply to GM4TOE:

In reply to GW0DSP:

I am going to have to bite the bullet and use CW more, but, believe me,
the thought of a pile up and gunfire CW terrifies me.

Barry GM4TOE

Believe it or not, the pile-ups are good fun once you are into them.

Don’t worry about gunfire cw because you will set the pace. If you send your CQ’s at 12 wpm and some inconsiderate individual comes back at you at 25 wpm, just ignore them, they want the points so they will soon get the message and slow down.

Having said that, the cw standard amongst sota ops is very high so there won’t be a problem, except from maybe one or two alligators.

73
Mike GW0DSP

P.S. If you want a mobile number for emergency spotting, email me and I’ll give you my number.

9

Can only confirm what Mike says Barry - it’s really no problem. My debut SOTA CW activation was on the main QRG of 7.032MHz, going at 10wpm. Everyone came back at that speed. After that, in a couple of the early CW activations, there was one or two instances of callers refusing to slow down, to which I sometimes persisted and worked them (figuring that it was helping me progress), or other times I just sent “SRI NO QRS NC 73”.

No, overall, the CW fraternity is an incredibly helpful, supportive and friendly, and you will be quickly made to feel very welcome and encouraged. Just go for it - you won’t look back!

Tom