Actually sticking the mast into the trig point helps already; the structure is wobbly but will not fall. And yes, on such summits a kite would totally work… kite antennas is another topic I need to research!!
I usually avoid operating anywhere near the trig point. It’s where all the muggles want to visit and I don’t want to disturb them or be disturbed.
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Yes, that’s my rule now. On the rare occasion I break it, because I think surely no one else will come to this lonely spot on this unpopular summit in this miserable weather, someone does and wants to touch the TP, sit or have their lunch by it just when I’m mid QSO.
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Interesting, so far I have not thought about this, and the people I met on my (few) activations were just very curious of what I was doing, but never had any problems with me operating, nor I did have any problems with their presence. There was a man my age on Mullaghanattin who was asking questions, and when I met him again in the parking lot 2 hours later, he had already done full research into SOTA on his phone and was fascinated to the point of considering applying for a ham radio license!
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That just reminds me, carry a copy of your licence, it can be advantageous in justifying your activation if you are confronted with a warden or similar.
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I suspect Richard like me didn’t mean to imply it was due to any specific problems with other walkers. People can feel inhibited approaching the trig point if they see someone at it doing something technical that they don’t understand. As previously mentioned the TP is a point of attraction for many and we don’t want to deny them that experience. Conversely, it’s less of a distraction operating the radio at some distance away - especially if like me you need total concentration decoding those weak CW stations - if others are talking, moving around or worse trying to ask what you are doing mid QSO.
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I’ve been having a good scroll and haven’t seen one posted yet so I thought I’d throw my two pennies in.
I routinely activate on 2m and I use a yagi for it. Most commonly I use a handheld into the yagi. The yagi I use is an Arrow 2 antenna I got for Christmas a few years back when I thought I’d get into satellites but never really did - but since found great purpose for it in SOTA.
I’ve reached ROI and NI from Wales and the Lake District with it from a handheld, over the Pennines from both with it, reached as far south as south of Bristol from Snowdonia, Lockerbie from Snowdon, and into the Central Belt of Scotland from Ben Nevis and Carn Mor Dearg (albeit the latter with a 25 watt mobile radio tucked into my belt rather than a handheld).
2m is a very fun band to activate on and if you’re going to make a habit of it, I strongly recommend a yagi antenna for maximum fun. One of the additional benefits is the keen chasers who are getting someone reaching them from a summit they rarely if ever hear activated on 2m from their distance. In my opinion it just makes the experience all the more fun as the activator.
I reckon 3-4 elements is the best balance. You get a good directional gain but a wide beam. Too narrow a beam and you’ll have to keep adjusting the antenna to do anything interesting and keep making CQ calls with each adjustment.
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Wardens must have a very powerful role in the UK. Do they also do frequency checks against rubidium standards and power measurements to be sure you are not exceeding the legal limit? Where does their power to demand licences come from, the Radcom or the national parks legislation?
I have been asked to show a licence once, by a self opinionated busybody who worked for a military agency in Canberra. At work I don’t know whether he sweeps the path or presides over courts martial. But I’m pretty sure he doesn’t have the power to demand to see a licence nor to audit a SOTA station for compliance with licence conditions. Such people are little different from the people asking whether you are a spy. When next asked for evidence of a licence, i will show it when the person asking for it shows me his badge and authorisation to inspect radio licences.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
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@VK1DA Andrew - I think you’re missing a trick here on dealing with Officious Twerps.
The strategy is not to wait for said OT to say ‘show me your license’. It is to have a game-plan ready for when said OT says either:
- “You can’t do that here”; or
- “You need a permit to do that here”
In which case I have my license ready to hand ready to state:
- “Here is an official document from the ministry legislated to regulate radio usage saying I can do this, complete with official stamps, signatures, ministry heading and watermarks”.
- “Do you work for, or are you authorised to act on behalf of this ministry?”
- “No? Then I think we’re done here then”
I’d only take this approach on crown land, as I clearly need permission to do anything on private land. But the most likely scenario is rangers, wardens, contracted security guards or licensees at campgrounds, picnic areas, huts, etc on crown land. And having been in one of those roles I know full well there is nothing in the acts that govern them (National Parks act, Conservation Act, Reserves Act) that gives any control over radio spectrum usage on said crown land.
If they wish to argue, I’m ready to pull them up for not taking the same approach to mobile phone, InReach, StarLink, PRS, wireless headphone and all the other radio users he/she encounters.
==
So really, we’re both on the same game-plan here - saying to the OT show me your authority to stop me from using my radio. But I’m playing an slightly more offensive defense.
(not that I’ve ever had to use this strategy, but it’s always nice to have a plan up your sleeve!)
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They have no such power.
The situation in the UK is somewhat different. Almost all SOTA summits are on private land but you don’t need permission because of various legal rights to roam. (A few exceptions having been already noted).
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@2E0XPQ Ben, this is interesting, but the whole setup in your photos (3-element Yagi + tripod) looks quite large. Does it weigh a lot or take a lot of space when disassembled? Does assembly take a lot of time?
Is this is the Arrow II antenna you’re holding? If yes then it looks like it weighs ~400 grams and requires screwing when assembling. Just curious how this works in practice. Also, what tripod is that and how do you mount that antenna on it? That webpage has a mast mounting bracket for that antenna, but I don’t think that’s what you’re using.
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The magic of SOTA is figuring out to carry/assemble/use/disassemble radio equipment to and from a summit when it’s cold, wet and windy or scorching hot.
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Andrew, you have been given a false impression by the rare cases that a few UK activators have encountered but also by “what-if” theoretical speculation by the worried-well on this reflector.
I never carry a copy of my AR license in the UK. Only a law enforcement officer could in principle demand to see it and never will. An Ofcom official wouldn’t need to see it because nowadays the licence ‘original’ exists only on the Ofcom database downloadable to us as a PDF.
Your average policeman hasn’t a clue about AR, the need for a license, not alone demanding to see it. If I were operating in another country, I would carry it (along with my passport, drivers ID).
I think I’m typical of most UK activators in rarely being approached by landowners, wardens, etc and being sensible the conversation and outcome always went well.
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Yes I understand that. I guess my intention was to remind the concerned that no warden or ranger actually has the power to demand to see a radio licence, any more than they have power to demand a driving licence before you drive away from their little domain. As you say, a sensible discussion and remaining civil solves the problem in the vast majority of situations.
Andrew
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If I’m working like I’m on a schedule the assembly is quite quick. I colour-code the elements with heat shrink so I’m not figuring out which is a director vs. reflector in the field, etc. The tripod and yagi are quite lightweight - in my view anyway. You’ll also need a clamp to attach the boom to the tripod like this. The tripod I use is one of these. The VHF/UHF part of my kit is still overall the lighter of the two between VHF/UHF and HF. It’s quite top heavy and prone to wind so you’ll either want to have the tripod legs anchored between rocks (as in the first photo), or use your foot on the base to keep it steady (as in the second photo).
I’m not the best metric overall for keeping the backpack lightweight for SOTA because nevermind a mountain goat, I’m more like a pack mule up in the mountains.
And yes - you’ve linked the correct antenna. Though the one I have is both 2m and 70cm version, but the photos I’ve posted have only the 2m elements attached.
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Thank you Ben, I appreciate the detailed response. Yeah, I’ve been climbing like a mule myself, but looking to make the backpack much lighter. And yet I’m also looking to adding a working VHF setup to my HF. These two goals obviously contradict each other. One way or another, I’ll find the sweet spot 
Thanks again!
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Or you could go large
On the left 19 element beam for 70cm using an FT-8900 with 35W on FM
To the right of the seat, a pcb yagi on a camera tripod for 23cm with 1W from an Alinco handheld.
On the right - Peter operating 2m with a 5 element yagi with 50W from a Yaesu FT-1500m with a 70cm j-pole underneath connected to a Yaesu FT-4 handheld for omnidirectional reception on 70cm.
This was a lightweight day as we didn’t take the amplifiers but it meant we could carry the chairs
Being serious, you can make your trips as large or small as you want to. That’s part of the fun. We take lots of gear since a) there are 2 of us usually, and b) we normally activate in the 4 to 6 hour range so it feels worth it. For a quick trip or just to have VHF as an added extra, the above might be overkill
The Arrow II antenna mentioned above though is a great antenna (I have one) and at a push and in light winds, is light enough it can be taped to a mast/fishing pole with electrical tape. It is literally made from lightweight aluminium arrow shafts to form the elements.
Ian
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I activated that summit by the trig point about 4 weeks ago one very hot sunny lunchtime using my 5W 2m FM HT and Diamond RH770 ½-wave telescope whip. Whilst trying to listen to the weaker chaser stations one or more of those 3 transmission towers ~500m to the north-east was desensitising my radio and making periodic noises, though not a problem for stronger stations.
I don’t think that high metal mesh fence right behind the TP helped either.
I bet you had no problem with your highly-directional Yagis.
I took my HF gear but it was crowded and difficult to put us a wire antenna in the limited space. especially with the huge former Cold War Royal Observation Corp nuclear bunker very close by.
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The famous Billinge Effect,
Fortunately for me, it being my local summit (30mins door to trig point) we have worked out what works and what doesn’t up there. Most handhelds suffer breakthrough, although the FT-4 isnt too bad on 70cm and the Alinco is fine on 23cm.
The FT-817 is ok (mostly) and the FT-857 is totally ok. The FT-1500 is fine being a single bander with seemingly good filtering, and the FT-8900 is fine on 2m and the occasional squeak on 70cm.
Out of summertime, you can operate from the other side of the wall, but recently a lot of broken glass seems to have appeared so maybe not so much now. The metal fence used to be less broken and was ideal to shove a pole through, but now you have to into the ferns and nettles to do that.
With HF, a vertical is the most efficient in terms of space, but if you setup just off the hump , you would still be well within the activation zone. The ROC bunker also give another thing to call for too as its listed for Bunkers on the Air as G/BG-0445. If only it was within a park boundary
As for the other visitors, it does get quite a few on dry days but Peter is a great public relations officer, but most get bored when its just a VHF/UHF activation as its mainly local stuff and nobody witnessed my elation at finally getting EI from there for the first time on 70cm. We did impress a small group a few weeks ago when someone from Texas was calling CQ on 10m and we got him first call. I’ve not tried moonbounce from there but at that required time of day, the summit attracts different sorts of visitors 
and my one attempt at a 70cm activity night from there was quite intimidating, so I packed up before it went dark.
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I’ve heard if you flash your headlights on arrival it’s a lot less intimidating.
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