70cm SOTA Fun Evening

[M1EYP]

Moving the discussion over here, as the other topic features “2m” in the subject field, which is unhelpful for tonight!

This evening - Tuesday 12th July 2022.

SOTA 70cm Fun Evening

Time: from 1800z (7pm BST)

Frequencies: 433.400 to 433.475MHz FM and 432.525 to 432.975MHz FM - note there will be activity down on this “all modes” segment of the band. The bulk of the FM activity will take place 1800-1855z, and from 1900z, activity will be predominantly SSB on frequencies 432.100 to 432.400MHz.

At least three, and probably more SOTA activations are expected to take place using 70cm, so there will be S2S opportunities for any additional 70cm activators, and activations for UHF chasers to seek out. The times coincide with the RSGB monthly 70cm activity contests, so good activity levels are practically guaranteed for anyone choosing to participate.

[G1ZAR]

Tonight I will be paying my first visit to the chip shop @ Chapel-en-le-Frith for a SOTA sausage & chips which will be enjoyed on the summit of G/SP-001 Kinder Scout.
Hope to work a few S2S tonight.
thanks for the heads-up on the FM contest frequencies, I usually only look at the 432 section.

[GW4BML]

Hi @G1ZAR Stuart, I hope your keeping well! I haven’t seen any alerts for you yet… what time do you plan to be on summit? I am doing a small tour to try and complete 3 summits in West Wales this evening (not entering the contest), we my make a couple of S2S contacts??

73, GW4BML. Ben

[G1ZAR]

I don’t often put alerts up if it’s a contest.
Should be on the summit for the start of the FM contest if traffic is good.
I don’t finish work until 1600 BST and it’s 60+ mile drive and then a fair walk up to the trig. may be online if I can get a signal (I could not last year).

[M1EYP]

It is self-spotting that is deemed “not in the spirit” of a contest. Alerting is perfectly acceptable.

[M1EYP]

@G1ZAR

thanks for the heads-up on the FM contest frequencies

Yes, in the FMACs, the vast majority of contest stations are down in the all-modes section. 144.5125 to 144.7875 for 2m and 432.525 to 432.975 for 70cm. Contest operation is tolerated in the “normal” FM frequencies on or below 433.475 from 70cm (145.400 for 2m), but most stations can be found on those lower “all modes” sections.

[G0UUU]

@G1ZAR

Tonight I will be paying my first visit to the chip shop @ Chapel-en-le-Frith for a SOTA sausage & chips which will be enjoyed on the summit of G/SP-001 Kinder Scout.
Hope to work a few S2S tonight.
thanks for the heads-up on the FM contest frequencies, I usually only look at the 432 section.

Thanks for the QSO Stuart. Hope you managed to keep the sausage and chips warm.

73,
Phil.

[GW4BML]

@M1EYP @G1ZAR I was monitoring and flicking through all 70cm FM frequencies when on summit last night between 19:30 - 19:55 BST and unfortunately heard nothing. Not even one station! I advise everyone not to do the 70cm FM contest from ‘Hafod Ithel’ GW/MW-029 in the future (I wasn’t in the contest - just thought I’d give some points away, couldn’t even do that). I had a very enjoyable time on summit though in the sun

73, GW4BML. Ben

[M1EYP]

Shame I missed you Phil. I’ve noted you have a habit of kindly spotting any SOTA activators you discover in the contests. As self-spotting is not allowed if entering the contest, this is really helpful for the chasers - and of course the activator!

The contest aspect of last night was not great for me. Activity was slow, and QSB was disruptive throughout the evening. I even chucked in the towel early, going QRT around 10pm local, most unusual for me.

However, the SOTA Fun Evening aspect was excellent with a pleasing number of S2S happening.

70cm FM: 20 QSOs. 3 S2S - Simon @G7WKX/P on Easington Fell G/SP-012, Carl @GW0TQM/P on Great Orme GW/NW-070, Stuart @G1ZAR/P on Kinder Scout G/SP-001.

70cm SSB: 37 QSOs. 2 S2S - Simon @G7WKX/P on Easington Fell G/SP-012, Stuart @G1ZAR/P on Kinder Scout G/SP-001.

I believe Kirkby Moor G/LD-049 was on too, but I missed that one.

6 DXCCs: F, G, GD, GI, GM, GW

11 QRAs: IN99, IO64, 74, 81, 82, 83, 91, 92, 93, 94, 95

It’s a busy week on the contest calendar this week. Tonight it’s the 70cm FT8 and I’d normally be SOTA activating for that. However, the first 90 minutes of it is overlapped by the 80m SSB CC (club contest) so I’ll be on duty for my contest group (Tall Trees CG) from home in that, then making a token effort from the home shack in the last half-hour of the 70cm FT8 event.

I’ll be back out SOTAing tomorrow (Thursday) evening in the 6m activity contest though.

[G7WKX]

As planned, I activated G/SP-012 last night. I was a little late starting because my sat nav and I had a disagreement about where the parking was… fortunately Google Maps re-routed me onto the correct road and to the parking point to the West of the summit.

It’s about a mile from the car to the summit cairn. No trig on this one, but I still managed to find a way to wedge the metal antenna poles vertical. The antenna itself not so much, but it worked well enough.

I popped up the 40m & 20m dipole as well, in the hope of catching Fraser @MM0EFI and Ben @GW4BML but that didn’t work out this time unfortunately.

7x contacts on FM and 11x on SSB. Thanks for the S2S’s last night with Tom @M1EYP, Chris @M0KPW and Carl @GW0TQM.

I found the 70cm FM contest very quiet, so moved onto HF after about half an hour. As this summit was also in a POTA park (Forest of Bowland), I also spotted on their website which resulted in a good mix of chasers for both schemes. Best DX was probably USA and Canada on 20m @30w, or maybe Israel on 20m @6w.

I used my standard setup of the FT-818, LiFePO4 batteries, SotaBeams dipole for HF, Comet GP-3 from home for 70cm.

I should have a pass to take part next month, as Nic is away. I’ll try to start a little earlier if I can, so non-contest chasers have as much opportunity to call in as possible.

Thanks for all the contacts.
73, Simon

[G0UUU]

@M1EYP

Shame I missed you Phil. I’ve noted you have a habit of kindly spotting any SOTA activators you discover in the contests. As self-spotting is not allowed if entering the contest, this is really helpful for the chasers - and of course the activator!

Hi Tom, sorry I missed you. Yes, I try to spot any activation I come across. Hopefully it drums up a bit of extra business.

I’ll be out for the 6m, so hope to catch you then.

73,
Phil.

[GW4BML]

Hi @G7WKX Simon, sorry I missed to make a S2S with you last night. I came looking for you on 20m, but only heard the American who was working you at the time - well done on that great contact!

Fingers crossed for next time - reading your report and seeing your photo’s, looks like you had a nice evening!

73, GW4BML. Ben