EU/VK S2S event 1 May 2022

Managed 10 contacts on 20m from GW/NW-043, including @vk5maz and @VK5PAS but only 1 S2S (SV/MC-014).

@VK1AD Andrew, I saw your spot for 7.095 but couldn’t hear you, there was someone loud calling CQ contest at my end :slightly_frowning_face:

The usual local chasers were all still in bed as my CQ on 2m only got 2 replies, and one was just a guy after a radio check :laughing:

Lots of zombified drivers/passengers sitting in their cars in the car park when I got back staring at the cafe waiting for it to open. I can only assume they turn into humans after a cooked breakfast dripping with grease.

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I managed to get up from the warm and cozy bed :slight_smile:
HB/NE-001 / Mont Racine is a nice summit. I parked at Grande Motte (instead of last time at the firing range parking), which makes for a shorter but steeper ascent.


Way to the summit. The small speck right to the fir tree is the triangulation point, the official summit point.


The sun is more reliable in getting up than me :slight_smile: View to north east.

This time, I used another “quasi-lambda-fourth” groundplane by fastening a ~5m telescopic rod to my sturdy and reliable “tactical 7000 hds heavy duty” fibreglass mast from SOTABeams (emphasis on heavy …). Four wires of 5m loudspeaker cable form the radials. The G90 can tune this contraption. By using the telescopic rod, I can put everything higher, so the radials were 1-2m above ground.


Shack in the nature. Fortunately, no snakes around :slight_smile: View to the south.

I was ready at 5 o’clock UTC, then I could hear @VK1AD on VK1/AC-048. Wow! My first S2S to Australia! Then I went down to 40m and did a little of Europe work, before going back to 20m and being chased by @VK1DA on VK4/SE-118, then @ZL4NVW on ZL3/OT-474! European S2S was not so good, except for @HB9EAJ and @HB9DIZ. Others were too far away for a direct connection, but not far enough for a sky wave, except for @SV2CNE on SV/MC-014. @DL20SOTA on DM/BW-099 was on the edge, just barely understandable.
I finished by working 40m again with some faithful reliable chasers. Thank you all!

The weather was changing. In the sun, it was quite warm, but dark clouds overshadowing the sun together with some wind made it quite cold again. In order to work more of Europe, I should have chnaged antenna to my classic end-fed setup, but it was quite cold and no sign of improving, so I called it a day and went home to a late 2nd breakfast.

Thanks to all chasers and all particpants!
73 de Martin / HB9GVW

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Managed 15qsos in 20-cw-ssb from mt Megna I/LO-278:
10dx qsos vk zl and fy
@ZL1TM
@VK3AFW
VK3YV
@VK5PAS
FY5KE
5 S2S
@VK1AD /p vk1/ac-048
@VK1MCW /p vk1/ac-041
@VK2IO /p vk2/hu-093
@VK1DA /p vk4/se-118
@ZL4NVW /p zl3/ot-474
Great fun!!
Thanks at All!!

73 Roberto IW2OBX

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Nice to work you s2s, Matt.

I changed my plans to activate Mt Beerwah as it was a big climb on rocky surfaces, I wasn’t up to that today. So I activated Mt Ngungun instead, a rock staircase to climb and interesting peak to operate from. I set up 20-30m downslope from the actual peak, as people were gathering there to have photos taken.

I worked 12 S2S contacts, including 5 in VK and 7 in EU, including two contacts with DL20SOTA, one on CW and one on SSB.
And 19 other contacts with VK, ZL and European chasers.

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I’m glad to read that several people enjoyed some success this morning. I’m afraid I pulled a muscle in my leg yesterday and that combined with the rain forecast made me decide to have a lie in. Hopefully normal service will be resumed shortly (ie tomorrow).

Dear all

Ouch, this was early today for me! The alarm clock rang at 0245z. Public transports take their time, plus a nice hike of 30 minutes to Dottenberg, HB/LU-023. This summit should offer an acceptable take-off – better than my home hills nearby Lucerne. Wx was dry, the ground still a bit wet from yesterday’s first thunderstorm of the year. The only thing I had not expect was fog on the summit. Others had already some sun, but "grey in grey» here.

I could not use the real summit since there was already cattle there. But below I met huge log piles beside the trail. I could fix my 10-m-mast to a log carefully. This place offered a slight descent West-East with no hills or mountains nearby. I was even far enough north of huge Mt. Pilatus, HB/NW-011.

I had my standard setup with me: an end-fed for 20/40, a coupler 1:64 and the KX2 at 10 watts. I had planned to set it up as usual, as an inverted vee. So last part of preparing the setup was to check the kompass of the phone to see how an orientation of -10° would lay. This should be the line to place my inverted vee wire triangle along for having the better beaming sides show to +80°/+260°. Even this was possible with me sitting on the safer side of the log pile.

View to the antenna from the operator’s place.

Sitting that way for 90 minutes was a bit painful, but I had been rewarded with some DX!

So would this run? Yes! First was Andrew VK1AD/p on his summit, 5/5 on both sides. A DX S2S that much easy? Yes. Stunning! Calling a first round on 14,337.5 brought ZL4NVW/p into the logbook, with even stronger signals. It was worth waiting and calling on 20 m, with contacts to one further VK and two ZL at home, again Andrei, ZL1TM, my one and only ZL DX from summits so far. Thanks guys, this was fantastic for me!

Thanks also to all other operators from Europe letting me call “CQ SOTA”. I had been early enough on the band to meet 20 m quiet on my side with no QRM. Two further VK S2S could be chased on their frequency. 12 contacts after one hour, and I felt calm and happy. No hectic moments so far, so SOTA DX seems to be good also for my own wellbeing, hi. It has its own pace and music.

View from the side – I was sitting in the grass on the right side of the pile.

There were two other local stations here that early: Martin HB9GVW on HB/NE-001 in western Switzerland and Stephan HB9EAJ on HB/SO-009 nearby Basle. We exchanged some intelligence service info on the frequency on success so far. I left the DX service on 20 m after that hour and talked to some more local buddys on 60 m: Paul DL6FBK, Markus IN3ADF as well as Roman DL3TU who was on the bands today with the DL2ØSOTA service. A short round also on 40 m for the early morning chasers, thanks also for these contacts.

I left the place at 0700z – happy and with the intention to write this short report. So here it is, please enjoy. Doing DX with even S2S and this with 10 W on SSB only is a good experience. What a fantastic hobby!

This was my logbook:

UTC Callsign Band Mode Remarks
05:21 VK1AD/P 14MHz SSB S2S VK1/AC-048
05:33 ZL4NVW/P 14MHz SSB S2S ZL3/OT-474
05:35 VK3AFW 14MHz SSB
05:35 ZL1TM 14MHz SSB
05:37 ZL1SKL 14MHz SSB
05:49 VK1DA/P 14MHz SSB S2S VK4/SE-118
06:08 HB9GVW/P 14MHz SSB S2S HB/NE-001
06:09 VK5PAS 14MHz SSB
06:10 FY5KE 14MHz SSB
06:12 HB9EAJ/P 14MHz SSB S2S HB/SO-009
06:15 SV2CNE/P 14MHz SSB S2S SV/MC-014
06:20 VK2IO/P 14MHz SSB S2S VK2/HU-093
06:28 CT1DIZ 14MHz SSB
06:33 DL6FBK 5MHz SSB
06:35 IN3ADF 5MHz SSB
06:37 DL20SOTA/P 5MHz SSB S2S DM/BW-099
06:41 DD0VE 7MHz SSB
06:41 OM1AX 7MHz SSB
06:42 EA2DT 7MHz SSB
06:42 9A1AA 7MHz SSB
06:43 S57NJM 7MHz SSB
06:43 F6AEW 7MHz SSB
06:44 EA7BO 7MHz SSB
06:44 OK2JIQ 7MHz SSB
06:48 ON5MA 7MHz SSB
06:50 DL6GCA 5MHz SSB
06:51 DL8DXL 5MHz SSB

Thanks to all for contributing and sorry to those I couldn’t hear!

Vy 73 de Markus, HB9DIZ

Special callsigns and buddies from today’s logbook (linked only the DX reflector users to the allowed maximum of 10): @VK1AD, @ZL4NVW, @VK3AFW, @ZL1TM, ZL1SKL, @VK1DA, HB9GVW, @VK5PAS, FY5KE, HB9EAJ, SV2CNE, @VK2IO, @DL6FBK, @IN3ADF, @DL3TU, DL6GCA, DL8DXL.

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I had been calling a couple of kHz below you, so tuned up to see what the noise was! I heard you work VK5MAZ and then VK5PAS.

I recorded the contact with Paul on my phone. I was using my scratch built 20m SSB transceiver.

I only made two SSB contacts! I guess I should stick to CW!

73

Colin

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Well that was quite fun!

I woke up a bit before my alarm but snoozed until just before 4am local (0300 utc). I made sure to cancel alarm - didn’t want to disturb my XYL any more than necessary! The rain was bouncing off the house windows and I quite fancied going back to bed!

I persuaded myself that it was worth the effort and hardship and I was driving away by around 0320 utc. I reached the summit of Whernside about 7 mins ahead of schedule. The rain didn’t relent much, just the odd occasion.


0438utc - summit of Whernside G/NP-004 in the rain!

I’ve recently been working on my QCX-20 ‘classic’ and I think I’ve finally sorted it. I fired the QCX and amp combination at around 0500. I had a tune around and could hear VK1MCW, but quite weakly, I put the frequency in to a spare VFO and then kept going back to check in between CQs of my own.

I worked VK2WP on VK2/CT-007 at 0536ut, after a few tries, for my first VK S2S in years. About 10 minutes later I succeeded in working VK1MCW/P o ln VK1/AC-041.
I then added Ron VK3AFW to my log for my third and final VK contact of the morning.

I’d said to myself that at 0600utc I’d swap over to my home brew SSB rig, so I put the QCX away. The home brew 20m SSB rig is a bit big for SOTA really!

After lots of calling with the SSB rig, I eventually managed a phone contact with CT1DIZ. After another few CQs, I worked FY5KE! French Guiana is a new one for me and nice to work on the home brew rig.

A fun morning out, despite the hirrid weather!

73, Colin

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Hi Colin

Saw your spots but nothing heard in VK6, Only worked the VK’s and SV2CNE/P around 08:30 on 10 meters SSB.

73

John VK6NU

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Thanks for trying John!

I was quite pleased with my haul of 4 DX contacts. Signals from Europe were weird sounding, watery and weak. So some odd propagation was happening. The Finish stations I worked had a distinct echo, so some kind of multipath.

73, Colin

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I had been harbouring fanciful thoughts that I could join in the event on the way home from a gig in Eastbourne! The timings worked out - I could have been parked up on Cloudside by 0500. However, by the time I was driving through Buxton, I was exhausted and making the decision to go home and get to bed!

Good to see that plenty of activators made DX contacts. Let’s have another one!

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Wow, that was fun!
Getting up early not so much, but once the activation was underway, I knew that is was well worth doing it.
I used the special event call sign DL20SOTA/p from Achalm, DM/BW-099, which is my local summit. It offers a very good take off to the west (i.e. LP into VK/ZL). My antenna was a delta loop with its broad side directly at the cliff, facing west.

The portable shack was just a few metres away where I could operate in a relaxed position. The radio was a KX3, running 10 watts in cw and 15 watts in sideband.

I operated for about 90 minutes and logged 28 QSOs during that time. Twelve QSOs were S2S and nine out of them were with VK/ZL on 20 metres:
VK1MCH/p (cw), @VK1DA (cw & ssb), VK2WP (cw & ssb), @VK2IO (cw & ssb), @ZL4NVW (ssb), @VK1AD (ssb). I heard @VK3LE (ssb) several times but Joel was only barely readable so I didn’t try.
EU-S2S-QSOs: @SV2CNE, @HB9GVW and @HB9DIZ all of them in SSB.

There were also ten DX-QSOs, all of them with fixed stations from down under except for FY5KE.
Most signals were reasonably loud with VK2GR being real 599 (!) It was not only possible to easily exchange the summit reference but in a few cases even have a basic chat.
My impression was that the path closed around 6:30 utc when SSB-signals became unreadable.
It was a fairly relaxed activation with the focus on 20m which meant tuning the band instead of band-hopping :wink:

After I went QRT (6:40 utc) I had breakfast on the summit and went home with a broad smile (which still continues)

Thanks to all activators and chasers and sorry to those I couldn’t hear!
73, Roman (today DL20SOTA/p)

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I got QRV only at around 6:30 UTC,since I was delayed by multiple detours due to construction sites, and my satnav finally trying to route me to the parking lot on roads prohibited for motor traffic. Nevertheless, 4 QSOs to VK, 2 of which were S2S. I had a QRM level of S2-3, so I had to fiddle around with the noise and audio peak filters of my FT-891 until I could properly copy. Thanks for everybody’s patience.

I was using a GP antenna on a 10m fibreglass pole with the feedpoint approx. 4m above ground. Schauenberg HB/ZH-008 is one of the few summits without trees and a slope towards west/southwest within reasonable driving distance.

Hopefully the next VK-EU S2S event is on a saturday again, since the access road to my favourite drive-in summit is closed on sundays and public holidays :slight_smile:

73 Jens

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For this event I chose HB/SO-009 that was my first SOTA summit I activated exactly three years ago, so it was also a kind of personal celebration.

On Saturday I built and tuned a simple 17m-band OCF vertical for this event, but when I arrived at about 5:20z at the summit, I realized that the band, where the VK/ZL music played, was 20m.

So I decided to use my home-brew classic EFHW in the usual inverted-L configuration.
Since I was not sure (and I’m still not) if the majority of the signals were short or long path, I experimented a bit with the direction of the horizontal part of the antenna. When I struggled to copy @VK1DA, I changed the direction by about 90 degrees, which seemed to improve his marginal signal strength. My simple method was to increase the loudspeaker volume and moving the horizontal radiator part around, for maximum signal to noise ratio. Since I didn’t do any mast guying, this was no problem at all.

Of course, the low antenna height of only 6m, as well as the horizontal end height of only 1.5m, fixed by my walking stick, was far from optimal.
But it worked and shows that also simple and fast to erect antennas with only 10W SSB allow VK/ZL S2S from central Europe!

In total I did 31 contacts, of which 11 were S2S.
Included were 8 DX (4 VK and 3 ZL) of which 4 were S2S (3 VK and 1 ZL).
The following screenshot shows the beginning of the log until the last DX contact:

The weather was changeable with some fog at the beginning, then sunny and later mostly overcast. The ground was muddy and wet. I only saw one other person, which was a trail runner.

After the activation I had a coffee and a tasty cake in a local barn restaurant, next where I parked the car. I watched how the farmer kids played with a young and cute calf, how idyllic.

Afterwards, I headed to the nearby HB/SO-008 summit and did another 28 contacts, of which 10 were S2S. After these activations, I realized that I didn’t hear any UK station for the whole day, which seems strange to me.

To me the conditions to VK/ZL seemed better than three days ago, but it’s difficult to compare, especially when activating from a different summit.

It was definitely a lot of fun and a new experience for me. Thanks to all participants!

73 Stephan

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Hi Colin

Sorry I did not get to work you today S2S. I did listen several times on your frequencies and heard a few faint chasers but not you yourself. A shame as you were the only summit who spotted SSB between 0530 and 0630 that I failed to get in the log as a S2S.

I did get one G home-station in the log today, but it seems from all these recent ZL dusk to EU dawn S2S attempts that ZL to G is right at the limit of what conditions allow. Whereas the nordic or southern European latitudes seem almost a guaranteed contact.

It also seems that VK to G is far surer, as I have several times heard VK5PAS working G and GM and giving strong reports when I can hear nothing.

Hopefully another time …

Matt - ZL4NVW

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I noticed on this activation that I heard and worked more ssb stations than I had on 27th April from a different summit. I made many cw contacts on that summit but fewer on the 1st of May. Perhaps I was distracted by SSB spots I wanted to work.

It appears that this area (southern Queensland vk4) does not get the same LP benefits as southern Australia. My location was about 1000 km north of VK1, so there is a bit further for signals to travel, perhaps 1500km considering the arrival bearing of about SE. Would that make any difference? I didn’t think it would be so pronounced.

Noting Colin @M1BUU’s report, I can also say that I looked for you Colin on your CW and SSB spotted frequencies without hearing anything at all.

The report of VK2GR Alan being strong is no surprise, he has a very good DX station and is the number 2 or 3 performer in VK in many contests. Very good to hear that he was active on Sunday afternoon.

We must do this again!

73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA

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A bit disappointing here this morning. My intended drive up summit was closed. It had a barrier across the entry. Thank you Office of Public Works ;-( I wouldn’t have had time to get to another summit, and it was lashing rain too, so I headed to the sea instead. I set up at Hook Head Lighthouse, the worlds second oldest operational lighthouse, to use the sea to help me out. I “aimed” my 20m up and out to the south west and waited / called from the comfort of the car. Just the one contact to VK, VK1MCW/P with 10W CW. Sadly not S2S. Better luck / planning next time.

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@EI9KY Now an EI S2S would really make my year! I still have not got a single EI contact in the log since I got re-licensed as a ZL. Neither operating portable nor HS. Here’s hoping.

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Hi all

My activation of Mt McDonald started at 0430 UTC on 40m with the intention of working VK activators S2S and local VK chasers. I had no intention or any consideration of working EU stations on 7 MHz, however as it turned out one very enthusiastic chaser, Terry G0VWP called on 7.095 MHz at a moment when the frequency was quiet, I was sitting on the ground so I had no chair to fall off :slight_smile: I had set the FT857D power output to 5 watts to conserve battery capacity for operation on 20m. Fortunately for Terry and I the noise floor at Mt McDonald is very low, anyway Terry and I exchanged a 4-1, 3-4 report. Just amazing, 5 watts on 40m to the UK!! Perhaps Terry can comment if the 40m signal was SP or LP.

Moving on… my first 20m LP QSO was with Yari OH1XT at 0457 UTC and my last with Lutz @DL3SBA S2S on DM/NW-204 at 0629 UTC. In between was a solid 90 minutes of EU chasers and S2S contacts.

Wow! on 20m 9 S2S QSOs: VK1DA at VK4/SE-118, @HB9GVW at HB/NE-001, @IW2OBX at IL/LO-278, @HB9DIZ at HB/LU-023, @ZL4NVW at ZL3/OT-474, @HB9EAJ at HB/SO-009, @SV2CNE at SV/MC-014, @DL20SOTA (@DL3TU) at DM/BW-099 and @DL3SBA at DM/NW-204.

Collin @M1BUU from 0618 to 0620 UTC I was listening for you on 14.320 MHz but nothing heard, though I could hear EU chasers calling you. I followed you up to 14.323 but again nothing received.

I can’t recall a time, since 2013 when I started SOTA, I worked three Swiss peaks in one evening let alone two in Germany and one each in Italy, Greece and New Zealand. Thank you to all EU activators for getting out very early in the morning.

Around VK on 40m S2S QSOs included: VK2IO, VK2WP, VK2HRX and VK1MCW on 2m FM.

My equipment: FT-857D @ 20 watts, 40m/20m 1/4 wave GP with four elevated radials using a M1ECC coil, homebrew 1:1 choke at the antenna feedpoint and a 8Ah LIFEPO4 battery.

Log and photos below:

45 QSOs and 13 S2S.

VK1AD/P on VK1/AC-048 (Mount McDonald), 01 May 2022

Time Callsign Band Mode Notes
04:27 VK3OAK 40m SSB Malcolm s59 r53
04:31 VK3GTV 40m SSB Col s59 r55
04:37 VK2IO/P 40m SSB Gerard s58 r57 S2S VK2/HU-093
04:42 G0VWP 40m SSB Terry s41 r34 at 5 watts
04:44 VK3PF 40m SSB Peter s59 r45
04:48 VK2WP/P 40m SSB Wal s58 r45 S2S VK2/CT-007
04:51 VK1MCW/P 2m FM Bill s59 r59 S2S VK1/AC-041
04:52 VK2HRX/P 40m SSB Compton s58 r48 S2S VK2/CT-043
04:57 OH1XT 20m SSB Yari s58 r55
04:58 F4WBN 20m SSB Chris s59 r55
04:59 OH1MM 20m SSB s58 r55
05:00 DL2ND 20m SSB s58 r55
05:01 VK1DA/P 20m SSB Andrew s58 r57 S2S VK4/SE-118
05:03 ON4UZ 20m SSB s55 r32
05:04 VK6NU 20m SSB John s57 r52
05:06 HB9GVW/P 20m SSB s55 r48 S2S HB/NE-001
05:07 SA4BLM 20m SSB s58 r53
05:09 IW2OBX/P 20m SSB s55 r57 S2S I/LO-278
05:12 CT1DIZ 20m SSB s59 r59
05:13 G0VWP 20m SSB Terry s57 r52
05:15 OK7WA 20m SSB s58 r44
05:16 ZL3JD 20m SSB Phil s58 r57
05:18 HB9DIZ/P 20m SSB s55 r55 S2S HB/LU-023
05:20 VK4SMA 20m SSB Mark s57 r53
05:21 VK5HAA 20m SSB John s58 r58
05:26 ZL1BQD 20m SSB Roly s59 r59
05:36 ZL4NVW/P 20m SSB Matt s57 r57 S2S ZL3/OT-474
05:41 HB9EAJ/P 20m SSB s44 r33 S2S HB/SO-009
05:42 DJ5AV 20m SSB Michael s59 r56
05:46 EA2LU 20m SSB s58 r55
05:47 ON3YB 20m SSB s56 r34
05:48 VK4SKI 20m SSB s59 r59
05:51 VK5QD 20m SSB Aub s59 r58
06:01 EA4M 20m SSB s59 r55
06:03 SV2CNE/P 20m SSB s57 r57 S2S SV/MC-014
06:03 F5JKK 20m SSB s56 r44
06:05 EA5IGO 20m SSB s59 r59
06:06 ZL2STR 20m SSB s58 r56
06:07 EA4R 20m SSB s59 r55
06:09 DL20SOTA/P 20m SSB s55 r43 S2S DM/BW-099
06:17 IK1GPG 20m SSB s58 r57
06:20 FY5KE 20m SSB Chris s59 r31
06:29 DL3SBA/P 20m SSB s56 r44 S2S DM/NW-204
06:34 VK1CT 40m SSB Chris s59 r58
06:35 VK3SQ 40m SSB Geoff s59 r55

It’s not a snake, turns out to be a legless lizard

Mt McDonald trig station. Ascent is 3 km taking 40 minutes to walk. Mt McDonald is adjacent to Canberra’s main domestic water supply reservoir hence no vehicles allowed.

View SE along the long path to Europe

Omnidirectional 40/30/20/17m 1/4 wave GP. For the past fortnight, this simple antenna has exceeded my expectations on 20m.

Sun is getting low on the horizon

Edit: photo of the reservoir (2020)

73, Andrew VK1AD

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For those willing and able to get out again TODAY - this has just been posted on Southgate News!

ZS SOTA Autumn Activation Day

The Autumn ZS SOTA Day will be held on Monday 2 May (a public holiday) and this is a fun day out in nature and not a competition. Each participant will receive an Autumn Day certificate whether you activated or chased those activating summits.

For activators, it is fun to see if you can make summit-to-summit (S2S) contacts with other activators and how many chasers you can get in your log. The SARL News Team is aware of 6 summits that will be on the air on Monday.

Please consider posting your activation times, so that chasers and other activators will know that you are activating a summit and at what time they must listen out for you.

If you are not on the SOTA/POTA WhatsApp group and wish to be added, please send a WhatsApp message to Sid on mobile 082 461 3279.

Please join the fun of activating a summit or chasing those who venture out. Get all the information on page 78 of the 2022 Blue Book.

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