In reply to G4MD:
Paul
If I can manage it I will attempt to come on from a hill up here for an S2S. Presume you have 2m SSB?
No promises as depends on the fortunate coincidence of several factors (including dry weather).
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G4MD:
Sorry Les, no HF on board yet but Iāll catch you one of these days!
I will have 2m capability with me, so you may just hear me for an s2s after all!! Have fun on Walbury.
73 de Les, G3VQO
In reply to G3VQO:
Thanks Richard, Les
Yes Iāll be using 2m, Iāll start on ssb. Les, will you be on ssb or FM?
Still not sure of the time, Iāll alert when Iāve got an idea.
Hope to catch you later,
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to G4MD:
I can use either mode, but it will only be the wiggly whip in use. Iāll be leaving home around 1800 local, and wonāt have SOTAwatch access, so it will be rather āhit and missā, but Iāll give it a try.
73 de Les, G3VQO
In reply to G4MD:
Looking unlikely at this end:
Still raining.
73
Richard
In reply to G3CWI:
Nice site Richard, Iāve not found it before but it looks like itāll be very useful!
Hope it dries up with you, preferably heading North not Southā¦
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to G3VQO:
Thanks Les, letās hope we make it!
Wonāt get away from works QTH before 1700 local, so itāll be at least 1900 by the time Iām in position (later if I get completely lost - no Satnav for me!)
Safe trip and enjoy yourself whatever,
73 de Paul G4MD
In reply to G4MD:
I have got lost on the way to SE-001 in the past so be careful!
73
Richard
In reply to G3CWI:
Not much hope for me then!
I have at least got the right OS map with me this timeā¦
73 de Paul G4MD
Just a few spots of rain here, and the sky looks threatening, but the radar shows that the worst has already passed to the north with no further rain heading my way. Looking good for this eveningās trip.
73 de Les, G3VQO
In reply to G3VQO:
Jolly good, Iāll be on my way shortly, ETA 1800 local +/- will try ssb first, should make it even cross polarised! If heavy rain Iāll just use FM.
Hope to catch you (and Richard and many others!)
73 de Paul G4MD
Thanks to all for the contacts from SE-001 on Wednesday evening.
Found my way there OK more by luck than judgement - not surprised you got lost Richard, Iāve never known such a maze of lanes! Not helped by the 100yd visibility either, couldnāt even see the high ground to head for!
It was cold, windy and drizzling, visibility was non-existent so (unusually for me) I did not make the trek to the actual summit, but just climbed the hill from the carpark to where the track flattens out, which the map told me was within the activation zone, and attached my pole to a handy fencepost.
Tried 2m ssb for a change (Iāve stuck to fm lately after a couple of disappointing tries on ssb) and was highly gratified when Frank G3RMD came straight back, followed by G3SHK, G8ADD and G0RQL. Alerted to his presence on frequency by Frank, I listened for 2E0HJD, and after a titanic struggle finally completed the contact - thanks for persisting Mick! Unfortunately no contact with Les G3VQO on SE-003, maybe next timeā¦
No further calls were heard, so packed up and headed home after final best wishes from Frank - thanks for keeping me company all through this one!
All very enjoyable, I shall be using 2m ssb again - seems much more like āproperā radio!
Looking forward to the next one,
73 de Paul G4MD
1 Like
Looks like there will be a few out tonight for SOTA Fun Evening. Itās certainly come a long way since Paul G4MD originally raised the concept. Richard G3CWIās Radio 2 influenced suggestion of āTuesday Night Is SOTA Nightā (from another 2007 thread) wasnāt quite concise enough for it to stick (as a title) though!
Excellent idea by Gerald G4OIG to combine the Fun Evenings with the RSGB Activity Contests - that certainly opened up a whole new branch of the hobby for me - and to be fair I think Ron GW4EVX was already doing so on a regular basis.
Looks like tonight could be one beautiful evening, before the weather starts to turn tomorrow. So I for one intend to make the most of it and see what I can do. Hopefully all the āMacc Ladsā (MDRS members) will be out as well, and logging their scores for the Macclesfield & DRS club championship score.
If I am in time, I will do some 2m FM before 1900z to try to work any of the SOTA Fun Evening activators that are not staying around to do the 2m SSB contest.
Just look at what you started Paul!
Rgds,
Tom M1EYP
1 Like
In reply to M1EYP:
ā - and to be fair I think Ron GW4EVX was already doing so on a regular basis.ā
You are quite correct Tom.
My first Activity Contest was the evening of 12th July 2005 on 70cm from the summit of NW-051 (as usual!)
Hope to work you this evening, should make it as far as SP-015 for the S2S 
Ron.
GW4EVX
1 Like
I couldnāt believe it when the watch clicked 10.30pm and I hadnāt worked Ron GW4EVX/P in the contest for the S2S with Foel Fenlli GW/NW-051! However, Pete M0COP/P was worked on Long Mynd-Pole Bank G/WB-005 for the first time this year.
Tuesday 2nd June 2009 was the 2m activity contest evening, and with it the first āgood weatherā Tuesday evening of the year. It certainly tempted many out, so much so that I was slightly disappointed with my finishing serial number of 065. I heard an ON station at one point, but he was on another stationās frequency. I noticed that the stations with any sort of take-off to the East were working into mainland Europe, so this is something I am going to have to consider for the future.
The contest started like a train, with over 20 in the log in the first ten minutes. While the multipliers didnāt exactly get going with the same ferocity (it was ages before I worked anything other than IO83 and IO93), they did eventually pick up. I ended with 15 multiplier squares - JO01, JO02, JO03, IO64, IO70, IO74, IO75, IO80, IO81, IO82, IO83, IO85, IO91, IO92 and IO93 - which I think is my best so far. IO84 and IO94 were missing from last month though, and I am yet to work into EU, so the potential remains to do better.
It was nice to be able to sit on summit in the sunshine and much more easily rotate the beam; itās quite difficult from inside a bothy bag! This made many contacts easier, and certainly got the multipliers up. I suspect I had more QSOs over 200km than ever before on VHF, so the 5 watts from the FT-817 and the SOTA Beam did well.
A nice moment was the appearance of Les M3OUA on 2m SSB, working myself. I have only ever worked him on FM before. He didnāt know his Maidenhead locator, but since I had worked him last month on FM, I had looked it up. I informed him of it over the air, and he wrote it down. Some time later, I overheard him working other stations and giving out his locator and serial numbers. Hmmm, once you get a taste for this contesting thingā¦
One of the later stations worked was G4DEZ in JO03, who gave me the astounding serial number of 180. He told me that around half of those were into OZ (Denmark) as well! Of the Macclesfield club, Jimmy M3EYP, Roger M0GMG/P and Adie M0PAI/P were worked. Sean M0GIA was heard on the band, but not worked by me.
A very enjoyable evening, and thanks to any chasers that called me. Horlicks was forsaken for the more appealing pint of Nosey Parker at the Harrington Arms for my bedtime drinkies. I am still kicking myself for not working Ron though! He even was in Jimmy M3EYPās log from the shack in Macc, 10 watts to a vertical! Doh!
Tom M1EYP
1 Like
In reply to M1EYP:
Where did the time go?
Like you Tom, I am surprised that we missed each other last night, although at 10.30pm I was pulling in to the driveway at home. My last contact in the log was at 2040UTC to allow me time to pack up, get down the hill and be home at a reasonable time.
I sat on a frequency at the start of the contest and had a superb run of 57 contacts until 2018 when it dried up. I was just about to do some searching and pouncing when John GW4BVE paid me a visit! He had been activating NW-044 earlier and we had a S2S in which he said he would take a walk up to see me if time allowed. Iāve worked John many times over the past few years so it was great to meet in person and we chatted for about ten minutes before he headed for home.
Back to the contesting I found another six stations to work in the next ten minutes (but sadly not you!) before I forced myself to pull the plug and get packed up.
63 contacts in all and like you 15 multipliers. Four S2S, John on NW-044, Pete M0COP/P on WB-005, M3WDS/P on CE-001 and GM4GUF/P on SS-064.
All in all a very pleasant evening out and my thanks to Steve GW7AAV for spotting me and all chasers who gave me a call.
Ron.
GW4EVX
P.S.
I was monitoring John 'BVE working his pile-up on 2m fm as I was walking up the hill and could hear the desperation creeping into his voice!
He kept saying he wanted to go on 80m but the 2m ops kept calling and calling, but he made it in the end!
1 Like
In reply to GW4EVX: I plead guilty to the latter and kept John from his 80 metre operation for a few moments. Thank you John for your tolerance.
It was good to test the SOTA station in the back garden, chase four summits, improve the number of different two metre band stations worked for my RSGB Foundation award and get my first proper QSO into Northern Ireland. I managed 14 QSOās in the contest with my 5 watts. Whether I carry on with the contesting is debateable. Sunshine and SOTA activations may help. Iāll post my log to the contest website and think it over. PW 70MHz contest on 13 June may be interesting. 73ās David M6WOW
1 Like
The warm and sunny weather this afternoon put me in mind of this thread by Paul G4MD, where the āTuesday Night Is SOTA Nightā / āSOTA Fun Eveningā concept first began to develop.
Well Iāll be out tonight QRV from The Cloud G/SP-015 as usual for the RSGB UK Activity Contest, 8pm to 10.30pm BST (1900 - 2130z). Anyone else fancy putting a summit on? There will be lots of activity, and hopefully some nice VHF conditions.
Tom M1EYP
1 Like
In reply to M1EYP:
Funny that, Tom, I was just washing up looking out of the kitchen windows towards Ilkley Moor thinking what a nice evening for an activation. I remember the Tuesday night fun events, I once had a very memorable activation on Ingleborough one fine sunny evening.
Iāll definitely have to try to give some evening activations planned for the summer.
73 and I hope you have a pleasant evening!
Colin
I hope to do at least a couple of activations on the 4th Tuesday for SHF UKAC (on 10GHz) from G/CE-001 in the next few months.
As these coincide with the 6m ones I might manage a few contacts on that band too.
Stewart G0LGS