EI/IE-072 My first ever activation

[EI6JHB]

Hello!

So today was a first successful SOTA activation for me. I previously only tried one SOTA, got 1 QSO on the Great Sugarloaf, Wicklow, and that was in early August this year.

Now, armed with a Slim G, 7.5m Wimo mast, a Tidradio H3 and some ratchet straps from Lidl, I set up at the trig point for Ben of Howth, which is right next to a transmitter, and tried to activate on 2m.

I bagged 2 QSO’s, both from EI (thanks Alex EI4JY and Paul EI7JCB!) and after that began to struggle. Also, have you ever noticed how Tidradio devices get warm very quickly? I’ll be glad to receive my new Yaesu FT65E and hopefully that will fix things where the Tidradio appears to possibly falter. That’s the hope anyway.

I moved away to slightly lower ground (within the limits of the rules) and moved in the direction of the Summit car park, which gave me a better line of sight (in my amateur experience!) and towards the UK and Isle of Man.

Big surprise came from GW5OLD/P who was S2S over in Wales! He spread the word around that I needed 1 more QSO to get the activation. I tried again for ages and finally got another chap in, GW0PLP over in Cardigan!

Huge thank you to all for 4 folks that chased me today and helped me get my first activation. According to Maps, the furthest QSO was 160km (100miles) away in Cardigan across the Irish Sea!

It’s nuts isn’t it? The joy of radio, I get it with HF - you can almost guarantee you’ll get a QSO someplace fun - sure yesterday on a POTA/WWFF double site I got a chase from the Deutsche Marinebund and a fella on a radio inside a U995 submarine!!! (see link below)- but I honestly believe there is a different joy with 2m and 70cm.

I think it’s because no sod gives a flying fig about UHF/VHF any more that it makes it so much harder to bag a QSO. Not only that, but the whole line of sight thing makes it even more amazing when you do get some 2m DX, especially a summit to summit that’s in another country!

I’ve attached a map of my 4 QSO’s and also a photo of my setup. I did bring my beloved FT891 with me in my bag, but glad I just stuck with 2m for the 145 Alive test.

Let’s keep 2m and 70cm buzzing, if we don’t then we might lose those bands in future.

73 and thanks all for today. Delighted!

Deutscher Marinebund

[EI4JY]

Excellent result and great start Ian! We indeed need folks on VHF simplex here in EI

[VK3SQ]

…well done Ian

Geoff vk3sq

[EI6JHB]

@EI4JY

We indeed need folks on VHF simplex here in EI

Definitely! Doesn’t matter what radio you have, pick it up, key it up and get 2m and 70cm hoppin’!

Even better is the low price of entry to the bands with the range of cheaper handheld and mobile radios. No complaints from me, proof is in the pudding.

Less gatekeeping and more encouragement!

[GW0PLP]

Well done on getting your 4 contacts. There are a few chasers along the West of Wales North,Mid & South. I saw your spot so I looked for you & nice to work you. See you again soon on the air.

73’ Don GW0PLP

[G4TGJ]

@EI6JHB

I previously only tried one SOTA, got 1 QSO on the Great Sugarloaf, Wicklow

So it’s not your first ever activation! One QSO is all you need for it to be an activation although you need four to get the points. You should still log that one contact so that it is in the database, appears on the summit page and counts towards your various totals (activations, uniques etc).

Another tip is to include the summit reference in your posts here. The reflector automatically creates a link to the summit page which makes it easy for readers to look up the details. So your first activation was Great Sugarloaf EI/IE-022 and your second was Ben of Howth EI/IE-072.

73 Richard

[GM5ALX]

Congratulations! Wait until you try HF and experience even a small pile up! However, it’s always enjoyable to complete a summit with VHF.

Look forward to seeing many more activation reports!

[EI6JHB]

Thanks Richard for the advice. I thought because on my first one I only got 1 QSO that I wasn’t allowed to put it in the SOTA log book as I didn’t activate the summit - I did log it on QRZ though.

I’ve added it now, claim the glory!

The new Yaesu FT65E, 10m ‘HD’ carbon mast and the drive over mast and Yaesu programming cable have just arrived here this morning so that’s my 145 Alive kit hopefully sorted. I should be all set now for the big day later this month - still tempted to get a yagi or small HB9CV to run up the new mast though!

I highly recommend the Lidl ‘heavy duty’ (says on the box) rachet straps. They are only 2.99 EUR each and do a great job. I bought some Lidl bungee cords too, those come in useful as well (they are in the plastic bag in my photo there).

Just practice with the rachet straps first if you’ve not used any before as they have a knack to them and you want to make sure you can use them before heading out in to the field.

Hope to do more SOTA soon, September is a busy month with work, family life etc so I’ll very likely be focusing any radio time I have (this weekend gone was a rare occurence to get both days for radio) on POTA, BOTA (beaches) and of course 145 Alive.

The Flexfoil kite arrived last week too so I need to give that a test flight too for some potential ‘KOTA’ soon. Potential ‘SKOTA’ before 2024 is out? Watch this space!

73

[G4TGJ]

@EI6JHB

I didn’t activate the summit

You did activate the summit.

1 QSO = activated
4 QSOs = qualified

[EI6JHB]

Ah! I see. My misunderstanding. I thought if you didn’t get 4 QSO’s that it was a failed activation.

I’ll pay less attention to YouTubers and their ‘SOTA Activation FAIL!’ et al clickbait thumbnails in future! Thanks for the advice. Good to know the hikes and effort are worth it, even with just the one QSO.

[MM0FMF]

Maybe read the rules and see if what you see on the net matches the rules?

@EI6JHB

still tempted to get a yagi or small HB9CV to run up the new mast though!

Make one?

Don’t forget using the drive on mast stand means you’re not valid for SOTA points.

[G4TGJ]

Your definition of success will depend on what you are trying to achieve.

If you fail to get the points then it may feel like a failure but, as long as you get at least one QSO, it is a successful activation as far as SOTA is concerned.

I regularly activate my local summits several times in a year. I’ll only get points for the first activation that year so my definition of success after that will vary. I may be hoping for DX on 10m, lots of S2S contacts or a successful test of a new antenna or other piece of kit.

[EI4JY]

Your Slim Jim is working great Ian. It has decent gain and convenience of a circular diagram. I guess you unlikely feel much difference using a small beam. I like my 3el Yagi mostly because of its extra quick no fuss setup, no mast and a small, quickly movable if needed footprint. Its gain is just 2-3db higher that Slim J though. That is, although noticeable still not a major factor.

A bigger beam (5-6el) would make a difference. I am often thinking to build something bigger and use a mast, but need to work out how to make it mechanically to be simple enough setup in a field.

Just for your reference, my current setup (Saturday’s pictures from Slievenamon)

[M0JSB]

Congratulations, Ian, on your first points-scoring activation! It’s great that you managed some decent distances on 2m too. It’s amazing what can be achieved on VHF with some height.

@G4TGJ

One QSO is all you need for it to be an activation although you need four to get the points. You should still log that one contact so that it is in the database, appears on the summit page and counts towards your various totals (activations, uniques etc).

Always good to be reminded of this! Whilst it’s great to tot up the points, it’s not the only measure of suceess. One of the great things about SOTA is that it gives us the push to explore to great outdoors and discover many new places we may not have made effort to visit otherwise.

Well done again Ian, and best of luck for your next ones.

73, Matthew M0JSB

[EI6JHB]

@MM0FMF

Don’t forget using the drive on mast stand means you’re not valid for SOTA points.

Oh absolutely, I have that for BOTA and POTA, just if the weather is a bit naff (aka, all the time in Ireland!).

@EI4JY

Just for your reference, my current setup (Saturday’s pictures from Slievenamon)

That’s a great setup! How do you attach the yagi to the tripod? I like the look of the bag for my FT-891 and the detaching head, I could do the same thing perhaps.

@G4TGJ

If you fail to get the points then it may feel like a failure but, as long as you get at least one QSO, it is a successful activation as far as SOTA is concerned.

That’s exactly how I felt when I made 1 QSO on that first attempt. It’s some buzz!

@M0JSB

One of the great things about SOTA is that it gives us the push to explore to great outdoors and discover many new places we may not have made effort to visit otherwise.

That’s how I feel about it in some ways. Portable operations seem to go hand in hand with my interests in hiking, trail running, beaches, triathlon etc. It sparks interest in other spin-off activities too; astronomy, birdwatching, kayaking, orienteering, mountain biking, camping and even kite flying.

Radio is definitely (in my opinion) a potential gateway to other interests and activities. Even the SWL side is fun. Learning CW I’m now actively hunting for CW RX on my Tecsun PL-330 and Sony ICF-SW11.

SWL also sparked an interest in QSO’s with radio stations - getting cards in the post from Germany, Japan and more exotic locations is always a buzz; and got interest from younger family members too, picking up the Sony and seeing what signals could be found.

It’s a great hobby, I think that SOTA is just another interesting and exciting part of it (especially on 2m and 70cm!).

73

[EI3GYB]

Hi Alex,

nice surprise on Saturday afternoon. I was just on my way out when I heard you calling.
174 kilometres between us- so your 3 element Yagi is working fine!

CU on the next one!

73 de Michael/ei3gyb

[EI4JY]

@EI3GYB

nice surprise on Saturday afternoon. I was just on my way out when I heard you calling.
174 kilometres between us- so your 3 element Yagi is working fine!

Cheers Michael! It is alway fascinating to hear a call from a decent distance Looking forward talking to you again!

@EI6JHB

How do you attach the yagi to the tripod?

That is all B&Q plastic 15mm clips First one (without a lock) is serving just as an extra boom support, the one with a lock is holding the full Yagi’s weigth. The same clips I am using to attach elements to the boom. So far that has survived almost hundred activations, so those clips seems to be fairly sturdy.

[EI6JHB]

@EI4JY

That is all B&Q plastic 15mm clips

Interesting! So you just drilled/screwed the clips in through the tripod shoe? I have a tripod and a monopod. I’ll have to see if I can modify mine to accommodate a similar setup.

There was a Yagi I had my eye on at that shop up in Donegal so I might have a think about picking one up. It’s 10 element one though so probably too big or overkill. I’d make my own but I’d probably make an absolute balls of it, or fry my radio!

[EI4JY]

Just make sure you can assemble/take it apart on a summit by your own, under any weather condx
Make sure your mast will hold, as that Yagi is 1.1kg, also check if the boom is collapsible too!
Although all of the above is SOTA related, so could be irrelevant for other *OTA activities.

BTW, making your own beam takes more less same money (likely cheaper), likely more time, but you can adjust everything to your own needs. If you have an SWR meter, few basic tools and stuff making skillset you are good.

[EI9KY]

Well done Ian and welcome to the weird and wonderful world of SOTA. FYI, there is a local EI whatsapp group if you want to use it. It can be more useful than the sotawatch spotting function for getting local V/UHF contacts.

Colm - EI9KY