I’ve found it to be an excellent band for SOTA more often than not - assuming you can use CW of course. A few times recently I’ve even managed to get a few inter-G contacts on it.
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Many thanks for the local insights, all. I am convinced not to pack my 2m/70cm handheld and will pin my hopes on 17-cw QRPp. I will definitely post an alert when the date is decided and will aim to avoid the weekend crowd. As this is a family trip, I need to fit radio around a mix of other activities, most of which are in the city. Happily, Bletchley Park is on our short list for a day trip.
Scott
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Safe travels Scott. Hope you and your family have a lovely time over here, and you manage to sneak in an activation!
73, Matthew M0JSB
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I have to say I find the South East quite bizarre for VHF/UHF, it is actually the busiest place for 2M activity in the country. However, whilst with HF you can pretty much set up at any time and get a pile up the same isn’t true for 2M/70cm. Saturday mornings seem to be the time when everything happens, get past mid-day and it goes deathly quiet.
I tried activating Wendover Woods on a Sunday afternoon and failed miserably, I stood calling from the trig point and absolutely nothing, 2M was dead yet I could hit a variety of repeaters down in Kent, the South Coast. I have noticed that when I activate Bardon Hill, I never hear anything from anything south of Towcester in Northants, why would people in Cambridgeshire and surrounds be interested in SOTA on VHF or UHF?
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Three times I have qualified an activation of Leith Hill G/SE-002 on solely 2m FM.
http://tomread.co.uk/leith_hill_se-002.htm
(Click on the years at the bottom of the webpage to find some of them!)
Once using a 2m SOTA Beam, twice using just handheld and rubber duck.
On one of those occasions I paid to climb up to the top of the tower and did it from there, but next time I just used the handheld from ground level.
It might take 25-30 minutes to gather four distinct QSOs, but it’s certainly doable.
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