last July 2019 we did a special event, activating simultaneously from many different summits on VHF FM trying to reach a long distance S2S or chase.
Again this year many SOTA operators want to run this especial event by activating from summits well spaced between them.
The scheduled date is Saturday 25th July, planning to be active around 9:00 utc.
If you are interested to join this event and activate, or if you wish to chase us from a high point at your convenience we can agree and try for a qso; just drop me an email to add you in the list (my mail correct at QRZ.com ).
It would be great to count with CT, F and G activators.
I’ll publish further info with summits list and frequency details in the coming weeks.
Any comments welcome.
73 de Ignacio
P.s. results from last year here, as well as a video report:
Seeing this video again, I now recognise both you and Juan Carlos EA1AER, who participated in the event last year.
I notice several stations used horizontally polarised antennas but most were using short yagis oriented for vertical.
Every time we in VK1 try S2S contacts with HTs and beams or vertical antennas, we find that horizontal antennas give us better dx. I recommend you try that this year, I would love to know whether it works for you too.
I suggest start with a vertical polarised antennas and whatever the outcome, go horizontal and see if the signals are any different. If radio waves work in EA the same as they do in VK, you should get better signals using horizontal polarisation (even with an HT held so the antenna is horizontal).
I could hypothesise about what makes the horizontal polarisation work better, but as I can’t really back up my ideas with proof, I’ll be content with the empirical (experimental) evidence.
Something to do with the longer V/UHF paths requiring a bit of diffraction over the top of the terrain to make the distance, and that diffraction favouring horizontally polarised radiation, perhaps?
Hi Andrew,
thanks for the comments. Yes, things work the same here in EA than in VK
Last year, we focused on Vertical polarization in this event just to make it it easier for most chasers around us who had vertical antennas on their roofs.
I agree horizontal would favour longer distances but then we would lose contacts with these people who don’t have a yagi at home…
The activators who have a yagi hold by hand can turn instantly and check the effect, but for those fixing them on top of their poles we discussed and finally agreed on putting them vertically oriented for the above reason. Some others could play and check about signal variation with polarization.
Let’s see what we can do on the event this year. Myself, I can recall of being able to complete a qso when tilting my handheld parallel to ground; it depends on conditions between both ops.
As in the last year, we’ll publish the results of our experiment this time here in the reflector. Pity we can’t convert it into a transcontinental event, hi!
hi Ignacio,
I think the experiment could take place if comparison of V and H polarisation is included in the mission goals! while most operators won’t take both polarisations, especially for FM where the presumption is that some stations are using vertical home antennas, or are using vertical field antennas to be able to work those vertical home stations, more operators will equip for both polarisations if they are interested in the experiment. Just knowing others may wish to test the polarisation change will help get more on board.
One method of tilting a beam between H and V is to mount a beam on a camera tripod that is designed to tilt a camera between H and V (landscape and portrait mode). Using that tilt mechanism is a neat way to quickly tilt a beam by 90 degrees at both ends of an S2S path. that assumes a tripod is used to mount the antenna, that is desirable anyway as it removes the operator’s body from the immediate antenna field.
Anyway you know all this, I”m only writing it to try to attract attention of other operators!
Just last Thursday I had another experience of making a scratchy FM signal become fully quieting, by changing from vertical to a horizontal antenna at both ends of the path.
In the UK when UHF Band IV/V was chosen for TV, horizontal polarisation was chosen as tests showed it gave the best signal in the desired coverage areas for the main stations. Even for somewhere as small and densely populated as the UK, getting full overage for UHF broadcast TV was going to be a massive investment so anything that maximised return was welcome. Relay stations were designed to fill in the gaps. Planning frequency choice to enable 4 channels from each main or relay without mutual interference and with interference into Southern Ireland, France/Holland//Belgium was challenging. So main stations used HP and relays received the signal off-air from a main station (typically using a trough or pair of trough antennas and space diversity) and rebroadcast on a different set of frequencies using vertical polarisation. Maximum coverage from relays was not a design goal. With digital distribution and GPS derived sync, synchronous networks of DVB and DAB are possible.
Band II FM broadcasting was also originally (1950’s) designed for horizontal polarisation for best coverage. In the 50’s the standard was 8 tiers of 4 skeleton slots that also formed part of the antenna tower structure. By the late 70’s VHF FM car radios were becoming affordable and the network was modified for mixed polarisation, horizontal for best DX and some vertical component for car/portables using short whips. This involved new towers for many sites as removing the old skeleton slots robbed the towers of the ability to support new antennas. Some sites use panels of 4 HW dipoles (2 horizontal 2vertical) with the ability to support RHCP, LHCP, or mixed H and V. Or A. Dick & Co. spearheads or Sira(Kathrein) mixed polarity dipoles. Relays tend to have slanted dipoles or simple vertical dipoles.
I think it’s well proven from nearly 70 years of VHF and up broadcasting that horizontal is best where you are receiving either a direct signal or possibly diffracted. Once you get to incoherent tropo scatter then it matters less. But as mounting big horizontal Yagis is much easier than big vertical Yagis, horizontal is still the way to go.
We keep our fingers closed to have good weather and propagation for this event.
Would you like to chase them? Bear in mind the propagation enhanced by the sea shore.
Try to hear them between in the range 145.200 up to 145.575 MHz in 25 KHz steps.
We will be up there waiting for your calls.
As we did last year, we will publish a deep report afterwards.
I hope the weekend picks up as the skip is terrible I can’t even get any of your signals Tom on the data modes and trying to get Spain just sounds like a farmyard full of chickens.
Oh well moan over lol
73 all
I’m a chaser and was interested by this event …
Too much different frequencies to monitoring X different heading !
Maybe wasn’t for me, I’m closed to Mediterranean sea (only 60m ASL) but nothing til 100km
I hope a success for this second try but for me an Excel sheet with all previous station and they own freq displayed will be an good tool
It’s interesting challenge but very hard !
Tom activating every day G/SP- and don’t have this problem he can got, all time, in VHF his SOTA quota
By the way : Happy birthday Tom !
Congrats to Ignacio EA2BD for the successful event he has organised. >Felicitaciones a Ignacio EA2BD por el exitoso evento que ha organizado.
I wasn’t sure of being able to participate until the very last minute, when I saw a small time window for me to drive up to Mt. Erreniega EA2/NV-092 and make a brief activation.
We had a perfect blue sky today and the temperature was nicely warm in the beginning and hot with a hammering Sun later as the time passed by. >No estaba seguro de poder participar hasta el último minuto, cuando vi una pequeña franja de tiempo para conducir hasta lo alto del monte Erreniega EA2/NV-092 y hacer una breve activación. Tuvimos un cielo azul perfecto hoy y la temperatura era agradablemente templada al principio y calurosa con un sol machacante más tarde según pasaba el tiempo.
I am still far away from home with limited access to Internet, but just want to send a brief note to say the event was a complete success!!
In the end there were around 30 SOTA summits activated that morning on VHF FM and many people participated chasing us either from home or even portable from certain high areas.
That made the activation a joy. I worked 60 stations that morning from EA1/LR-001 and logged about 17 S2S, incredible for being VHF!
Thanks a lot to all participants. Many people has refused using VHF in the last years, but this event showed that a lot of fun is possible with very simple equipment and antennas if we organise and are QRV on the band.
As stated, it will take some time to collect all logs, and to calculate distances, etc, but we will publish some results and conclusion later on.
Again, thanks all for making this day so special. An activation that I will remember. Many people expressed thanks and is considering to get more involved in SOTA from now on.
and 
don’t have this problem he can got, all time, in VHF his SOTA quota 
