i shall take you splendid advice and use the 25KHz spacing 
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Splendid advice, lots to learn 
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Good to get out even though condidtions were not ideal where you were - very bright and hot on Walbury and quiet just a few cyclists and walkers.
Yes,lLooking at the map you were some distance and I donât think I was anywhere near high enough!
Am looking forward to the next trip
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Iâm with you on this one Andy. I read the drive for 12.5kHz spacing was coming from overcrowding on 2m in some (US?) cities and repeaters. The cynic in me thinks it was just an excuse for radio manufacturers to make us buy new models that support 12.5kHz/narrow deviation. Itâs doubled the number of channels that sit there doing [almost] nothing 24/7 365 days a year.
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The change came in when 2m was getting very busy. Since the morse test was abolished the band is much quieter and 25kHz spacing is usually adequate.
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Thatâs not entirely the case. Decline in 2m activity is down to digital internet enabled modes as much as anything.
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Hi Tony,
From your comment about hearing something on ssb but being unable to make out the words, this sounds very much like a frequency discrepancy between your radio and the one used by the caller. Frequency readouts on most ham rigs are what I call a dial frequency rather than representing your actual frequency. It is not uncommon for the readout to say 144.300 but the actual carrier frequency to be out by up to 1 kHz. Even frequency stabilised master oscillators may be stable but actually be noticeably off frequency. This leads to two radios showing the same frequency on the digital readout but actually being unable to copy radio 1 on radio 2. Solution is to tune to the other stationâs received signal, using your ears (ie the sound of the voice) to adjust the dial so that the incoming voice is not only copyable but is accurate within the audio bandwidth, with the tone of the received voice being natural and not Dalek-like and low or high in pitch. Then make the contact and worry about frequency accuracy later. This is all a guess but there is often a station who calls you and cannot be understood. Even when you equalise your own tuning, such stations often insist that their dial readout shows they are on the right frequency. Itâs all due to misunderstanding the meaning of the dial readout (or forgetting to turn the clarifier/RIT off). This is a whole different aspect of radio frequency accuracy from anything youâll experience on FM which has a wider tolerance of frequency and a wider bandwidth. However itâs worth learning how to use ssb because longer distances become feasible compared with FM, Experimentation and persistence recommended.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
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What an improvement modern radios have made. I have many commonly-used frequencies programmed into my [17yo] FT857D and [8yo] KX2 [usually 3-5 per band] and most of the HF SSB stations are âbang onâ my rx frequency [esp. 60m SSB which is somewhat channelized here in the UK with 13 narrow subbands] so I donât need to tweak the dial. Different story on 2m, I often have to use the RIT (âclarifierâ) +/-100 to 200 Hz to resolve their SSB signal correctly.
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While that is true, I think that there was a pandemic/wfh boost to 2M FM which benefitted SOTA activations in 2021 especially, but has since been tailing off. Chasers are much harder to come by at the moment, especially mid-week.
Rick
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Some very good advice from the posters here
Here in VK1, we are fortunate to have a number of summits within the city area and heaps more around it. There are a number of active and keen chasers, however not all are constantly monitoring so a bit of pre-emptive planning, advertising and arranging people to be listening goes a long way to getting a successful 2m only activation. I would expect that the same thing would be experienced in your area.
Antennas - unless you are activating a summit where easy HT comms with a multitude of chasers is an option, antenna gain is often the more important aspect although of course a bit of power never goes astray.
Antennas again - even if using a whip or small vertical, donât be afraid to try it horizontal (or anywhere between). I have made contacts on FM and SSB on both vertical and horizontal - donât feel you have to use vertical for FM and horizontal for SSB - sometimes the opposite works best!
Antennas yet again - a variety of antennas is helpful. My standard loadout is the whip on the HT, a coil up flowerpot and sometimes a small yagi.
Modes - almost everyone has analogue FM, but whilst there are far fewer with SSB on 2m and higher, it can get you through when FM is unreadable.
Matt
VK1MA
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Great! 
My first attempt didnât activate the summit, but all trips thereafter were successful (luck was on my side for a few). Lots of learning, still wearing L plates, but having lots of fun (which is the most important aspect).
Have you got your next summit planned @2E0IYM ?
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Because they are no longer âworking from homeâ and have been forced to return to the office?
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I [almost] always activate weekdays around lunchtime in G/LD and G/NP. Checking my recent logs for 2m FM contacts I got: 5 4 4 7 11 6 1. I usually get more on southern G/NP summits than G/LD ones and I suspect thatâs because theyâre in range of large urban conurbations. It probably varies a lot geographically: I used to live in G/CE and weekday lunchtime 2m contacts were harder to get.
BTW: I always alert and [try to] self-spot.
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Thanks, will make sure to check for this
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am based in Oxfordshire so quiet flat, and generally flat in the surrounding counties
Am looking to bring along another antenna for future activations which will increase the probability of contacts, but will kepe as simple as possible - 20m/40m
Will definitely keep that in mind
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yes, its great to get out - family summer get togethers planning evening tonight - so will know which weekends are free after that, probs in the next few weeks
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August going to be busy so will head to local POTA sites and go SOTAagin in September which is usually a good month weather wise
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