Fantastic, I’m just trying it out and if it works for me I’ll invest in a better HT. I’m just watching a video on making a Slim Jim ATM. Many thanks.
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I followed this https://www.essexham.co.uk/slim-jim
With the sun being a bit unpredictable it may be easier to get 4 contacts on 2m some days!
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I think you nailed it there. Can’t remember the last time I did an HF activation.
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I had a Baofeng and brought it along with me for a SOTA activation the once, my call was getting out and people were responding but my baofeng was overloaded by the slim-jim antenna I was using. It did discourage me from 2m for a while but then I got an FT-65 and now I prefer activating on VHF than HF! Being able to setup in 2-3 mins is brilliant in bad weather
If you can borrow a HT with better filtering and doesn’t get overloaded by a slim-jim antenna, you may find the experience more fun, but then again there are different Baofengs so YMMV
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I did HF CW from G/LD-003 today. 12 QSOs on each of 30m, 20m and 15m plus one on 10m. So plenty of life in HF despite all the geomagnetic and solar warnings that keep pinging into my phone.
I tried 2m FM with my Baofeng and had zero takers. It usually works well so maybe there is a fault but there is no way I would rely on 2m to qualify a summit.
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That’s because you’re doing it wrong.
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Ok, Dummies guide.
Simplex, narrow FM (radio has W and N settings for deviation)
Calling channel is 145.500Mhz.
In the Central belt, call then announce a QSY to a clear frequency that you pre-checked, eg 145.400Mhz
Check the band plan first and maybe programme the simplex channels into the radio, there aren’t all that many, but there are enough.
Tell your mates, socials etc in advance for maximum contacts, however in central Scotland you have 90% of the population before you, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
Use an extendable whip, or a slim G for maximum benefit.
Use a SOTAbeams filter if the summit has comms towers.
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OK. I agree, 2m fm from a handy is not competely fail safe but it can be possible almost anywhere. If there are actually amateurs living within range - and they are listening out - then you will probably get at least 1 contact and probably 4 but you do need to help yourself.
1 Read Fraser’s tips and follow that procedure
2 Put up an alert the night before if possible or as early as possible in the morning
3 Once up on the hill and ready (including having found a clear frequency) then put up a spot if possible. I don’t have the right sort of phone but, if I think I will be struggling, I ask Rod to spot me when I am ready.
4 The better your equipment (a Baofeng will work within limits but you can’t dismiss handy operating just because your Baofeng isn’t bringing in the contacts) the further your signal will go and the greater likelihood you will be heard. A rubber duck or whip antenna will work over shorter distances - or to summits within line of sight but a telescopic aerial (eg RH770) or dipole etc will increase your chances greatly. You cannot complain about not getting contacts if you haven’t invested quite a fair amount of effort in gatting contacts (as in HF)
5 Call clearly on the calling frequency 145 500 and give your call sign a bit more slowly now and then to give chasers/listeners a chance to grab a pencil and jot it down. Yes - I did say ‘listeners’ as the chances are that you will be talking on 2m to ‘listeners’ ie real people in their shacks/armchairs/gardens who are just keeping the radio on on the background to see if anyone is around. They don’t know what SOTA is but they do realise (sometime after quite some time …) there is someone out there who would like a reply. If they enjoy the first exchange with you then they might listen out for you again on the next hill. On 5w I have talked to over 4,000 different call signs in Great Britain and Northern Ireland and they weren’t all SOTA activators or chasers!
6 Take warm clothing and use it as you will be sitting in the place with the best take-off and thus will be much more exposed than your companion doing HF who is warm and cosy in a hole somewhere down the hillside. I go to join Rod M0JLA for lunch rather than the opposite way round unless the weather is absolutley superb.
7 You won’t get 4 contacts every time on 2m fm (and especially on 70cm - I’m failing a lot in the G/WB at the moment!) but you may not on HF at present. If you are anywhere near centres of population eg Glasgow you may have to close down on the pile up because you run out of time - or the weather finds you. On my last activation of our May GM tour .GM/SS-251 Ben Bowie I gained 8 on 2m before fleeing to 70cm to escape the pile-up and then had to give up after 8 more as my lift was at the road end and I was unsure of the route back owing to treefelling (little did I know they had changed the felling area and had closed my route back, etc etc.)
8 Enjoy yourself and good luck (helped by good planning which may include carrying a SOTAbeam filter (other makes might be availlable but are they as compact/successful?), mine is in the rucksack pocket always).
73 Viki
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+1 for this “plenty of life in HF despite all the geomagnetic and solar warnings”
According to the solar data on QRZ this weekend, 40m was meant to be kaput during the day. When we activated G/NP-027 on Friday, we tried every HF band we could, before moving down to 40m and qualifying the summit fine. Same on Saturday on G/NP-001, where 40m worked well enough. It wasn’t manic, but we were active at 0830UTC, so expectations were set low.
In summary, take the forecasts with a pinch of salt (as you would with a Met Office weather forecast I suppose) and give all options an opportunity. I’m building a new EFHW, covering 80-10m which will improve our HF options too, as I’d like to try some of the lower bands below our normal go-to of 20m.
73, Simon & Nic
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Thanks for the informative and constructive advice.
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That went in my next post.
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Many thanks guys, trying to knock up a Slim Jim at the minute. Hopefully get out this week or weekend. Watching one of Fraser’s videos I liked the tip of checking the summits out before you go to see what worked there before. At the time he was aiming for 2m on a remotish summit.
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I use a home made “Flowerpot” antenna for 2m and it has worked well for me with my FT818. It was relatively easy to make and is quite robust for coiling up and SOTA use.
I have recently taken to carrying a Quansheng handheld as well, it has performed ok from Torlum to Black hill with just the supplied antenna. I had it tucked in my jacket the last few day when I was out on the Forth laying race marks and managed three SOTA chases as MM7MOX/MM. I did notice some spurious transmissions which at 10.85 MHz above the output frequency landed right on the Marine VHF channels we were using. Range was very short (6 feet) but I plan to check it out on the Spectrum analyser when I get some time.
I’m not sure whether I’ll get up a hill this weekend but I will tuck the radio in my pocket and check for spots in case a chasing opportunity occurs.
Andy
MM7MOX
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Unfortunately times they are a changing, Please see Derek G1ZJQ’s comment in this months Radcom feedback pages.
My experience 10 years ago was that the 2m chasers were like minnows after the bait. 80 QSOs in as many minutes was not unusual. Fast forward and the number of casual callers (not pre-arranged) is into single figures, or as Derek reports nil point. These days, if I activate a summit on VHF it is with 50Watts and a flowerpot at 6m agl. the range of this signal is more than 50miles flat band. When I activated Derek’s hill, G/SB-001, a couple of months ago, my 2m chasers were in Cumbria, Aberdeen and Yorkshire. Zilch in Northumberland and Newcastle. I need the power and takeoff to reach the chasers.
David
G0EVV
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Or so you think! There is a great path from NE England to NE Scotland over the North Sea. I’ve managed QSO’s with my friend M1CCP, me with a handheld and slim-g and he with his ft-817 propped on his Land Rover wing with a long rubber duck plugged into the front.
I totally agree with you regarding the lack of general activity on the 2m band though.That doesn’t help.
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My limited SOTA experience has predominately been in low hills of GM/ES and there’s not masses of activity (but plenty of enthusiasm) so I wasn’t used to moving off the calling frequency as there was never a need.
Then I did Glas Maol and had the central belt calling me back. They all helped to reinforce good operating methods by suggesting we QSY and away we went.
My point is, don’t worry about it, and everyone you speak to will be pleased to hear some 2m activity, and be welcoming.
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I’ve only just spotted that I started this thread!
My VHF activity has had some success since the original post. The high point has to be the 533km S2S with David @G0EVV using 2m CW between myself on G/DC-003 and David on GM/SS-161 on 11 Feb 2022. 10W at my end and vertical polarisation for added points. 
For FM I have found although you can complete a quick QSO on 145.500 down here you have to be conscious of other operators you can’t hear.
This struck home on an activation using 2m FM when I was told they were struggling to hear me because of other operators. Afterwards I worked out that the problem was I was talking to someone north of me and they were experiencing QRM from an operator who was further north from them.
The other lesson I learned from this experience is don’t QSY to an obvious frequency like 145.450. Use the narrow 12.5MHz bandwidth and choose something more obscure.
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Off to do Dumglow GMSS-234 tomorrow. 2M, 40M, 20M. Fingers crossed.
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I’ll try and sneak out with the handheld to catch you tomorrow on 2m.
Andy
MM7MOX
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And all those people who don’t have such radios, buy a new radio and send the bill to John
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