VK/ZL/JA <> EU S2S Event 21 Oct 17

I heard VK2IO/P and VK7CW but no QSO
Happy for s2s with


73 QRO
Roger

1 Like

Roger, mny tnx for my first s2s contact on 3.5MHz.
GL es 73
Alex

Hi Alex, nice working you. Since they added the wooden bench that spot has become my new location for all S2S events. It’s a short walk up and a cable car ride down, so very convenient. Hopefully I will be able to add a KXPA100 to the set up soon. Here’s a panoramic shot I took:

3 Likes

Good weather but noisy condx - and a busy airfiled (for the first time) :wink:

Made 29 QSOs on 20 CW, thereof 3 x UA9, 2 x VK and 1 x JA, 7 x S2S but only EU.

The full activation report is linked below. My first impression is that the Delta Loop performed very well.

Thanks for the QSOs. It was lots of fun!
73, Roman - DL3TU

6 Likes

That view works for me Mathew. :wink:

OK/M0FMF

Activation report from Tom OE9TKH and Manuel HB9DQM, operating under the HB9SOTA call sign on HB/AR-004:

Getting up early in the morning was rewarded once again! We managed to work six different VK stations, four of which were S2S. Signals were quite good, around S5 mostly, so not too much effort was needed to complete the QSOs. As during the last event in March, 30m proved once more to be a viable alternative.

DX worked:

  • 06:31z VK2IO/P (20m CW, S2S)
  • 06:40z VK1CT/P (20m CW, S2S)
  • 06:45z VK1AD/2 (20m SSB, S2S)
  • 07:01z VK3DET (20m SSB)
  • 07:02z VK1MBE (20m SSB S2S)
  • 07:18z VK1CT/P (30m CW, S2S)
  • 07:29z VK7CW (30m CW, loud!)

We’re pretty sure we also heard VK1CT on 40m CW around 07:50z, weak but workable, but by the time we had put up a suitable antenna for 40m TX, he had switched to 40m SSB and nothing was heard under the usual splatter of stronger stations.

Unfortunately no ZL or JA activators heard, despite listening several times after spots.

HF equipment: KX2, Juma PA-100D (100 W out), full-size EFHW for 20m mounted vertically on a 15 m mast, and EFHW ~9 m long for 30m (with loading coil) mounted vertically on a 10 m mast.
WX: 16 °C, windy

Another great S2S event, thanks to all the participants! :slight_smile:

13 Likes

Very happy to make 2 S2S qso s with VK and my usual setup - vertical doublet on 10m mast and KX2 with 5 watts output.
Will certainly particiate again next time.
73 s Bruno hb9cbr

7 Likes

When I arrived at G/SP-004 Shining Tor, WX conditions were not too clever. With the forecast of rain to come, I sat in the car for almost 20 minutes, prevaricating, should I or shouldn’t I? In the end, I chucked all of the antennas back in the boot of the car, with the exception the A-99 and 3 x 5 foot poles.

It took about 35 minutes to reach the trig point, which was negotiated by head torch.

My effort to get three poles under the A-99 resulted in faiure, in the end I relented and got it bungeed to the finger post on just two. The wind was just too strong. Not a happy bunny.

I had a listen on 20m and from experience, knew straight away, conditions would be tough for DX.

Nevertheless, I put a CQ call out at 0640z and was immediately pounced on by Stavros LZ/SV2RUJ for a s2s.

I worked my way through the chasers, however, no sign of any DX. I’m afraid G was just a hop too far for VK/ZL. The EU Activators were certainly in the box seat for DX, that’s for sure

Normally, I can set my clock by a call from Ernie VK3DET, not this morning. However, when it come to chasing DX, Ernie don’t quit that easily and at 0745z he finally made the trip. I’ve had easier contacts with him but the all important signal reports were exchanged. This was a good 35 minutes later than the normal time I would expect to hear him. This gave me my only DX contact of the morning and possibly making Ernie the the only VK or ZL to make the trip into G for the event.

Then, it had to happen, the rain arrived. With a five hour drive to GM ahead of me, I called it a day at about 0750z.

35 contacts logged in 70 minutes, so no complaints there.
11 s2s logged.

Thanks to all the Chasers.

Mike
2E0YYY

[quote=“VK1AD, post:1, topic:15956, full:true”]

A wet radio shack :frowning:

4 Likes

WX on the day was well rough no way getting antenna up in that wind shame thanks to Brain.

Just one remark shame the Sotas in UK not popping down on 40m afterwards as 40m was running well across the UK on Saturday morning

karl

Hi all

Me, CT7ABE and CS7AFI went to CT/ES-005 0600z, arriving at 0645.
We started in the dark with a light rain, strong wind and cold.
Wx forecast wasn’t accurate at all…

We take shelter the best we could in this old fort with plenty of space for a succeful activation without much interference between the 3 stations

WX condx improved and we ended with some sun and nice 20C.

I made 41 QSOs, 7 S2S and a VK station.

A nice morning with a couple friends. Looking forward for the next!

73 de Pedro, CT1DBS


GD WX to the West…


OP of CT7ABE


CS7AFI take shelter on a redbout. Only the “antenna farm” was visible!


CT1DBS/p OP

3 Likes

Thanks for the report, Roger.

Sorry I missed you for an S2S. You would have been there in the pileup.
It is not easy to pull out individual stations when there are several about the same strength and relatively weak with QSB. VK CW SOTA ops are not used to it. EU stations can help us by slowing down and not all sending exactly on our spotted frequency. Some patience and QRS will really help.

Most of the time on the summit I was hunting rather than calling CQ because it is easier for me to make S2S contacts that way. In the end there was no time to spot on 20m SSB due to all the activity. I was about to spot a few times when something interesting popped up on SOTAwatch. A good problem to have!

Is there a convention in EU for calling for S2S contacts such as CQ SOTA S2S?

Cheers,
Gerard - VK2IO

1 Like

I remember the furore at Chasers adding QRP to the end of their callsigns, Gerard :wink:

73
Mike

Well, with the event being what it was, I took a 20m antenna, not a 40m antenna. And with the weather being what it was the idea of taking two antennas and putting another up after completing the main part of the event, was a non-starter!

I’m already looking forward to the next VK/ZL/JA <> EU S2S event; it will be interesting to see how propagation changes in the half-year intervals that they typically take place. And of course I can’t wait to experience such an event at a solar maximum! Guess we need the minimums too so we can actually appreciate very good propagation. And in the meantime, if there’s no DX luck, one can always personally take the “short path” (at about 35000 ft) to the other side of the world! :joy:

Today I had the pleasure of getting a very special SOTA Complete in my log: Gerard VK2IO kindly joined me on an activation of VK2/SY-002 – the very summit that he had activated during the VK<>EU S2S events in October 2016 and 2017. Both events had resulted in successful DX S2S QSOs between him and me. As Gerard showed me today where he had installed his antenna on the summit during those events, and with the memory of my 20 hour flight still in mind, I was reminded of the magic of radio that we are allowed to experience.

I will now continue my journey, passing through Canberra and the Australian Alps before reaching Melbourne for New Year. An activation of Mt Kosciuszko is planned for Dec 27 (see alerts).

vy 73, Manuel VK/HB9DQM/P

10 Likes

Hi Manuel

The next VK -EU S2S event is planned for 10 March 2018.

73 Andrew VK1AD

2 Likes

Hi Manuel, good to see you are going to activate the highest summit in VK (excluding external territories). If you want a complete for Mt Kosciuszko I will be activating it either tomorrow or the day after Christmas (arrived at a lodge at Thredbo this afternoon). Still deciding what gear to take up there…

Matt
VK1MA

Hi Matt,

No alert seen yet. We would all be mildly interested in knowing when you might be on the air. You know about the protocols and recommendations for where and when to operate at Kozzy…

Hope to catch you on the air. Perhaps other summits too?

Cheers
Andrew
VK1DA/VK2UH

Hi Matt, thanks for the heads-up and the alert! Would be great to get the complete of course – I will try to chase you from my abode in Canberra (probably no activation for me today).
73, Manuel HB9DQM

Good luck with the activation Manuel, If you are hoping for long path contacts back into EU you’d possibly have to wait a couple of hours on 20m. You have alerted for 27/12 0600 UTC, 0800-0930UTC is a more likely window for long path to EU at the moment. Of course that is then getting late (and dark) on Kosciuszko. I’m sure you’ll get plenty of VK/ZL/JA contacts in any case. Take care.

73 Ed DD5LP / VK2JI.

Thanks Ed – yes, it will probably be too early for EU contacts. The time was chosen after some email back-and-forth with the National Parks & Wildlife Service (I decided to play it safe and follow the protocol described by Andrew @VK1DA in the summit notes, and inform them of my intentions). We agreed that after 4pm would be better for my radio activity, as people then head back to catch the last chairlift ride down – the summit area is expected to be very busy on the 27th. So that way I’ll have enough time to activate in relative peace and quiet, hopefully not annoy anyone, and still have enough daylight to hike back down to Thredbo.

Matt @VK1MA was booming in Canberra today, so I was able to comfortably chase him, and with any luck, will be able to complete Mt Kosciuszko. Thanks, Matt!

And now my post will probably cause this briefly hijacked thread to be closed automatically… For future reference, I’m adding the link to the next planned VK/ZL/JA <> EU S2S event again below.

Merry Christmas to you all!

73 de Manuel VK/HB9DQM/P