…consecutive days of SOTA activating (minus one, Jimmy has spotted and notified the deliberate mistake!). From 23rd May to 5th July inclusive, I have conducted one (or more) SOTA activation(s) each day. In the 44 days, I did 52 summit activations on 10 different (unique) summits. I earned myself the enormous total of 14 activator points in the process, and made 1385 activator QSOs. These were distributed as follows:
G/SP-002 — 14
G/SP-013 — 361
G/SP-015 — 873
G/WB-021 — 15
GW/NW-040 – 66
GW/SW-011 – 23
GW/SW-013 – 15
GW/SW-016 – 6
GW/SW-023 – 5
GW/SW-026 – 7
80m — 14
40m — 157
30m — 150
20m — 632
17m — 21
15m — 2
12m — 3
10m — 10
6m ---- 107
2m ---- 223
70cm – 66
FM ---- 55
SSB — 336
CW ---- 994
The sequence is now at an end, not through lack of enthusiasm (as if!), but work and other circumstances. There might not even be another activation until Sunday now!!!
Anyway, here follows the report of that last one, the 52nd activation on the 44th day:
Tuesday 5th July 2011, and the 2m session of the RSGB UK Activity Contest series. These contests have become incredibly popular this year, and rightly so. They are ideally timed and scheduled to encourage high participation levels, and those levels just keep going up.
So it looked set to be another busy night. I chatted to Peter G4FPJ, who would also be submitting a log on behalf of the Macclesfield & DRS, on 2m FM mobile on the drive south. Another time of exactly 7 minutes was recorded for the ascent, as my fitness remains good. Set up was a little slower than intended due to large groups of runners passing over the summit and asking questions. I always try to show enthusiasm that they have asked, although this sometimes requires a little “acting”, especially when it gets to around 7.50pm BST!
I decided to start by running, and beaming north with the SB5. This resulted in reaching serial number 035 within the first half hour, but mainly in IO83 as the multipliers were slow to get moving. The 15* squares worked included some welcome surprises, with a few rare ones: IO64, IO65*, IO72, IO73, IO74, IO75, IO80, IO81, IO82, IO83, IO91, IO92, IO93, IO94, JO01 and JO03. *Of course, only UK multipliers count in this contest, so EI9JU in IO65 (County Donegal) did not get me a mult, although it was my best DX at over 400km.
There were some unwelcome surprises as well, with nothing in the log, unusually, from IO84, IO85 or JO02. M0GHZ/P in IO90 disappeared just as I found him. One of these days I will get 20 multipliers in the 2m UKAC, but not on this occasion!
So the final reckoning was 85 QSOs in 16 squares (15 counting as multipliers), and 130,530 points. My main objective was to beat G4HGI, which I was doing on the night, but his final score isn’t in yet. M0MST/P from the Cotswold hills was going great guns in the low power AL section, and has definitely beaten me, and G4VPD, also from IO92 is ahead as well. So it is looking like a 3rd or 4th place for me in this session, and a keenly fought remainder of the series in 2011.
I swerved the Harrington Arms on the way home, and maintained the current healthier lifestyle!
Tom M1EYP
