I note that most people have alerted for 20m. For those with an interest in CW or data-modes, 30m is likely to be a significantly better band for Eu => VK/ZL. That being said, 20 was open to VK and ZL this morning.
In practical terms, I might disagree Richard. Working DX from a summit is more easily achieved using a vertical + groundplane antenna. I have this for 20m, but only a dipole for 30m. I have considered building a GP antenna for 30m many times (for exactly this situation when 30m gives a better chance than 20m), but ultimately never actually done it due to my reluctance to carry and use a 10m pole on activations.
I suppose I could make it with an L-shape at the top (beyond my 7m pole) and a long guy. But it all seems a bit of a flaff.
The other reason why 20m might in fact be more likely to produce success than 30m is that everyone is planning to do 20m, and not many 30m. There seems to be quite a high percentage of non-CW/data activators involved too, so they have no choice anyway.
Now 40 alerts and counting BTW 
I was only commenting on the likelihood of good propagation. It is indeed true that I had not factored in the inadequacy of your portable set-up.
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And I was only observing that my GP antenna is better for DX on 20m. Nothing āinadequateā about the DXCCs I have worked with 5w into that GP from summits 
Hi Tom,
All of my DX contacts (EU - VK, EU-NA) from summits have been made using an inverted V dipole - either the SOTABeams linked one or the Aerial-51 OCF one. The times I have tried a vertical I have not been sucessful. That point however may well hang with the quality of the said vertical (a Diamond RHM-8B) and more likely the location. I have found that verticals do not perform well on forested summits.
I will be trying my 1/2 wavelength COAX-Fed 20m vertical on Saturday as Peissenberg has little or no trees to cause problems. This antenna (as described on the reflector in the last week) requires no groundplane. It uses a quarter wave stub to match the ~ 2.5K ohms of the EFHW to the 50 ohms for the rig.
So a 30m inverted-V dipole (such as the SOTABeams Linked dipole), I think would work fine EU-VK - as long as someone is on 30m at the other end! 30m in VK is a great band for SSB SOTA contacts as it fills the gap well between 20 & 40m. Shame we donāt use it for SSB in Europe.
Ed.
Because we donāt need to. 
Seriously if you donāt want to or intend to learn brass bashing, then data modes on 30m would be well worth investigating. Perhaps we should have a specific datamodes event like this half way round the world S2S event simply so we can all see how well 30m and datamodes work. Yes, using a phone/tablet/laptop on a summit is a bit involved but the satisfaction of getting it working on summit should add to the enjoyment.
You need to visit European wooded summits to grasp some of the problems faced compared with what I normally find in the UK. Youāve mentioned the wooded nature of many summits before Ed. Here in the UK there are few summits that are wooded. On my recent trip to DM/SX, OK/LI and SP/SZ I spent some time looking at the Google maps earth view to locate summits which had either clearings or no trees at the summit as I would be using a vertical antenna. The 2 OK summits I activated were clear of trees and I had few problems raising contacts. The SP summit was heavily wooded and I didnāt realise how small the actual summit top was. I didnāt expect it to be as busy as Tokyo station either. Had it been dry and free of visitors Iād have set up at the top, as it was I was operating from near the start of the steps and this meant I was deep in the trees. Immediately noticeable that there were many fewer stations, the wet trees were attenuating my signal. Similarly on Papstein DM/SX-045, I was operating from in the wet trees and again it was obvious that my signal was being attenuated compared to what I would have expected. My 30m antenna is less efficient that when it is in 20m mode but a 30m vertical seems to get out of forested summits better than 20m does.
With so many forested summits and the problems it present means I have a lot more respect for operators who have to activate these summits. Many of them may be a lot easier to reach than the summits I see in GM, but if you have a hell of a job getting a good signal out of the trees then you have a whole different set of problems to contend with.
Yeah, I agree about forested summits. The GP antennas are most effective when there is a nice distant horizon - so good from the majority of UK summits - or indeed from the beach.
I know that Steve G1INK had some great results on 12m with a SOTABeams dipole too. I favoured my homemade GP - but Steve did finish the 12m Challenge ahead of me!
My 20m dipole antenna is also within a SB linked dipole, and my 20m GP is from a SB kit. I get better DX results from the GP and better inter-EU results from the dipole.
30m in VK is good because of the skip distance coinciding with the location of summits and chasers and the fact that there are fewer amateurs in VK means all modes can be used in its restricted bandwidth. I understand that the width of a Sideband signal on 30m in Europe may cause some issues to the brass pounding crowd. I have tried digital modes (data) from summits in VK but with no success, due to the fact that I couldnāt read the screen in the bright sunight! A problem Iām less likely to have in Europe or the UK.
Interesting that you say āa 30m vertical seems to get out of forested summits better than 20m does.ā - I guess itās higher - that could help. Iām looking forward to see how well my new 20m vertical works on Saturday. It certainly needs less space to set-up than the Inverted-V antennas.
Just hoping the snow doesnāt arrive in the next few days!
73 Ed.
An 8-m pole will do it Tom. Only just, admittedly.
Hello SOTA friends
Iām probably going to participate. If I can set it any way (Have still QRL on the same day and also before) I will activate HB/SG-048 or OE/VB-502. I will make only 20m(!) CW and SSB with J-pole antenna, QRO with about 160 watts.
I hope it goes with the QRL so on, otherwise there is the smaller Summit not far from home: HB/AR-004ā¦
vy 73 de Matt HB9FVF
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I forgot to look at the view of Knock of Crieff (GM/SS-264) and paid the price with the vertical. Not only was it awkward to set out the radials / counterpoises, but finding a clear area off the main track was a challenge. The antenna performed so badly I managed to work inter gm on 18MHz.
Yes, it was a bit touch and go when I was there but it turned OK in the end mainly because we were coming up to solar max. I set up at the cairn and ran the counterpoise along the edge of the path. Mountain bikes were an issue, several went past at high speed ISTR.
(Heavily GIMPed photo)
Iāll be using the same antenna this weekend.
Looks like G/WB-004 for me then. 857 up to 100w (would like contacts at a lot less than that if at all possible) and GP antenna, other bands possible. talkie mode only
If anyone fancies joining me (activator or chaser who hasnāt done any activating yet and fancies joining in the fun) theyād be more than welcome to tag along, itās only 15-20 minutes from the car park!
Hopefully I can get out of bed on time this time 
Don
m0hcu
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And hereās my planned summit DL/AM-001 - as I feared - under Snow as of last night.
It may clear or get worse before Friday night - better weather is expected during Saturday. Then again I no longer trust weather forecasts - this picture is from the weather research unit on Piessenberg and they did not predict snow yet ā¦
Getting out the Winter ski gear for Saturday morning and packing the tyre chains - just in case.
Ed.
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Well if it makes you feel better Ed, the weather forecast in vk3 has gone from nice, to a looking like a repeat of April 2015. Cold windy and wet after an even wetter Friday. Chance of hail and thunder which would normally be a no-go, but Iām expecting/hoping? the worst of it will be clear by then.
Rumours that Australia has warm sunny weather appear to be totally unfounded! Or maybe thatās just Melbourne.
Andrew
Come on Andrew, we all know that Melbourne is famous for being able to have four seasons in one day - lets hope Summer comes late afternoon (your time) on Saturday!
Bright sunshine here now - still cold, but it will have melted the snow - I have operated from Peissenberg in about 4 to 5 inches of snow, so thatās not going to stop me! (the road up there gets cleared by the local farmer so that people can get to the church and a kitchen design and supply centre). What that is doing up there - donāt ask me - I have no idea - perhaps part the business is owned by the same family that own the restaurant on the summit.
This is a real 5 star summit!!
73 Ed.
All-clear Ed,
no reason to worry, because you picked the wrong photo. The shown photo has been taken from the weather station Schneefernerhaus, that is located not far below the Zugspitze DL/WS-001.
There is a height difference of abt. 2000m between the Schneefernerhaus and the Peissenberg DL/AM-001. In addition, the photo shows part of the Zugspitzplatt with the Schneeferner Glacier. So absolutely no surprise that there is some snow
good luck for your activation
73 Stephan, DM1LE
Aha - yes - I chose that one from the four listed under Piessenberg as it seemed the worst - but Webcam Ost (which covers my normal operating position) was also showing a covering of snow. Looking now of course, all I get is a nice spring-like day photo with bright sunshine, from that camera.
OK, put way the ski gear, get out the āsunniesā and āShortsā!
Latest stats on the alerts (if I havenāt miscounted)
44 separate summits alerted
in 19 different associations
across three continents (Europe, Asia, Australasia).
(it doesnāt look like any North American activators have easy to access summit for night time operation).
Ed.
Well Iāll be at work from 0600z on Saturday, which not only stops me getting out to play radio but also means I wonāt get to the last ever G-QRP club Rishworth convention.
Gutted doesnāt begin to cover it :((
Have a great time on the hills those that do get out, hope the sky is playing.
73 de Paul G4MD