Ed DD5LP and I have been discussing potential dates for the next VK ZL JA - EU S2S QSO party. March 25-26 is the CQWW WPX SSB contest while 1 April is the last day of VK daylight savings and is contest free up to 0800 UTC. The RSGB FT4 International activity day commences at 0800 UTC.
Therefore we have selected 1 April 2023 and we acknowledge it may be an early start for some in the northern hemisphere.
Timings: VK east coast sunset is at 0800 UTC (1900 local), therefore the logical start time is around 0630 UTC, that’s a 90 minute long path window up to VK east coast sunset. Of course activators will choose a start time suitable to their local conditions.
All SOTA activators and chasers, anywhere in the world, you are welcome to join in using your preferred mode, CW, SSB and digital etc…
Thanks Andrew and Ed! What a good idea
wx permitting I’ll be (again) on DM/BW-099 with focus on 20m LP using my KX3@15w and a delta loop antenna. Alert is set for approx. 6:00 utc, QRV maybe even a bit earlier.
Hope to see many of you!
Thanks for this proposal.
Weather and duties permitting I’d like to participate again: it was a nice experience in the past. With the improved solar propagation, what could be wrong?
Great! The bands to try are 10-12-15. In my last activation, not many chasers in Europe but the few that called me arrived with good signals in these bands.
73!
I attended the JA SOTA QSO PARTY yesterday. Conditions are improving and 21MHz to 28MHz seems to be good.
Unfortunately, we had to go down early yesterday due to strong winds, but according to the simulation, around 9:00 (UTC) is good.
The equipment is KX2(10W) and handmade vertical antenna.
For those looking to 20m long path to make the UK/EU-VK/ZL S2S contacts, I have noticed over the last week or so that the long path window is getting a little earlier as we in the Northern Hemisphere move into spring.
2 weeks ago 0830 UTC was a good time to catch the long path contacts but over the last couple of days, the path has closed at about 0810UTC, so by April, 0730-0800 may be a better time to be on the summits for this event.
73 Ed DD5LP.
PS both the UK and Continental Europe move their clocks forward an hour in the night between the 25th and 26th March.
I’m in, although the weather has been a bit inclement here recently and I wouldn’t fancy a long activation. Hopefully it warms up a bit by then. It may be an opportunity to bring a tent. Sure whats a few more Kg !
I’ll give it a try on DL/BE-093, which is very close to me, if the weather plays ball. I could set up both a linked dipole and the mini vertical, try each out and then wish to luck… SSB only here, so a lot of luck would be needed
Unfortunately it looks as though I may be too busy to participate from a summit this time, but I will try to get on from home or a local non-SOTA location to chase a few activators. I have really enjoyed this event in the past, so hopefully conditions will be good.
Today 20m opened into ZL around 6:00z (only briefly) and into VK5/VK7 at around 7:00z for about half an hour.
This might not be representative as the kp-index was fairly high for the last 24 hours.
I’ll run my WSPR beacon for a few more days to get a better idea about when the path is open.
The RSGB FT4 International activity day commences at 0800 UTC.
