Kevin
Thank you for the messages. Last year I found myself having to travel to Somerset quite often, so regularly found myself diverting via GW/SW land. It’s somewhere I have never been (even before SOTA) . It’s truly beautiful and somewhere I really need to explore more. I’ll give you a shout next time and maybe we could do a joint activation.
JKS
Dave
It certainly was Martin…
you’re not number 2… although you might start dropping down the ranking if your SOTA sabbatical continues much longer…
Dave
Hi Simon
Thanks for the message. i’m sorry to hear how COVID effected your family. My old dad was in a care home for many years after a stroke, and departed 6 months before the pandemic struck. I cannot imagine how awful it must have been to go though both as you did.
COVID is the reason I started SOTA. I sat my full licence on 18th December 2020 and the very next day (my 50th birthday) I went down with the dreaded lergy - I probably had it during the exam. I have asthma and so it took almost 3 months to recover - from Pneumonia. I needed to do something that combined exercise (to help the lungs recover) and allowed me to exercise my new licence - hence I started doing SOTA. I’ve been doing it ever since , apart from now as I have COVID again (5th time)…
I’ve not ventured further south than G/SC land - around Minehead - for SOTA yet. My QTH is near Bakewell, but as there are only 5 SOTA summits in the Peak District itself, I tend to spend most of the time away from here - usually in GW/NW, G/NP or G/LD. I work for a company in Cambridge (used to live there many years ago) but East Anglia is as flat as a pancake so there’s no opportunity to play radio when I have to travel for work. I think next time I’m called down to the office, I’ll return via London and the SE mopping up some G/SE summits. Whether I’ll get as far as the IoW I don’t know…
Thanks again for the message Simon and you have a good 2024.
JKS
Dave
Thanks for the heartwarming posts from the UK. I envy you chaps having so many good SOTA summits and colleagues practically at arm’s length.
Here in Japan the year 2024 started badly: a major earthquake and an aircraft disaster in the first two days. But I’m also grateful for SOTA. I can hop on any time and be greeted by name, with a couple of dozen regular activators and chasers, FB considering we speak different languages. I’m really the only real fanatic down in JA6/ON so it’s a 1000-km haul to JA and slightly less to BV and HL, but there’s always some band open. Propagation to continental Europe is good once in a while, but I don’t think I’ve got any G’s logged.
Best wishes for the new year and many s2s.
Steve JS6TMW
