Back in 2007 (22/04/2007) a G/SP funday was organised where all the summits in the G/SP area were activated simultaneously. In actual fact, not all were activated for various reasons but most were. This was before summit to summit points became part of the database too.
After mentioning it in a different topic, I thought I would gauge any interest in trying to repeat the feat (or better it) in 2026.
At this point in time, there is no date set but I was thinking sometime when the weather was more likely to be dryer since some of the summits can get boggy.
The basic premise is to schedule qsoās on 2m FM between each summit at a set time (say between 10am and 11am - clock time) and the rest of the time is left to the activator to do with as they wish.
So would there be enough interest , and if so, is there a preferred day (Saturday or Sunday). What time of year would be appropriate? Would one of the May bank holiday weekends work (G/SP not as popular as G/LD or GW/NW for instance for the general public)?
If there is enough interest then we can see if some consensus can be reached on dates/times etc (like thatās going to happen ) .
Iāll bag G/SP-017 Billinge but if anyone is really desperate to go there then I can either move summit or have multiple activations. I think the known record for Billinge is 4 amateurs on summit at one time.
Iām very much interested in this! Boulsworth Hill is local to me and a favourite of mine so Iād like any excuse to go up it. May doesnāt sound too bad to me, either!
Driving down from Cumbria, Longridge fell G/SP-014 or Easington Fell G/SP-012 would be my preferred 1st and 2nd choices. Historically springtime has the lowest monthly rainfall in the NW so April, May or June would be best (before many families go on holiday). I guess it needs to be Saturday or Sunday for working folk, late morning (e.g. 10:00 UTC, 11am BST) to give activators time to drive, walk and setup without having to set an early alarm.
It occurs to me: (someone please check my maths and logic, itās late!)
Hypothetically, assuming there is one activator on every one of the 17 G/SP summits (N = 17) and everyone is on summit simultaneously, I reckon that N*(N-1)/2 QSOs are needed. The āĀ½ā comes from the fact that between each pair of activators (i.e. unique S2S), the transfer of info (callsign, signal report, summit reference) is bi-directional so only one QSO is needed per pair.
I make that 136 QSOs. Assuming everyone can hear everyone else clearly and kept each QSO to one minute or less that would take over two hours to complete all QSOs.
Then thereās the issue of use of 2m FM frequencies. Does everyone wait patiently on the same frequency whilst some net controller invites pairs to QSO, or does he go round robin inviting each activator in turn to give callsign & signal report to all activators that they heard in the intro session? [and is that even considered acceptable by SOTA rules?]
Or is it a free-for-all, where some activators are holding down a spotted frequency and others chase them?
In practise, possibly not all summits are āoccupiedā and / or with a spread of QRV times, so not all S2S combinations will occur. As this event already took place some years ago, perhaps some one could say how itās actually likely to work.
In that original event, a schedule was made in advance with 3 minute time windows within which every activator on each summit would make S2S contact with all activators on another summit (several of the summits had >1 activator on). This took just under one hour, then each summit moved onto ānormalā working of chasers and non-G/SP S2S. Frequencies for each QSO in the schedule were specified in advance and were all on the 12.5 kc channels to give better probability of clear frequencies.
I doubt that would work these days, or would indeed be necessary. Back in those days, UK SOTA was very 2m FM-centric, and live spotting didnāt exist in the form it does today.
All that would be needed is a KST-style messaging / sked-arranging facility that could be used at the time - but failing that, the existing SOTAwatch Spots - and the skill and experience of the activators should suffice.
Count me in. I have been known to activate G/SP-004 on occasion. With the promise of a few S2Ss I will be there.
How about a meet up afterwards? I know it is a big area, but it could be an option? I know a campsite owner near Belper or we could meet at a pub more central?
Well, it was nearly my bedtime and I failed to a spot that sneaky G/SP-016 was missing. So, it would be a total of 120 QSOs not 136.
Moving from the hypothetical to the practical, itās unlikely but possible that all activators manage to be on summit and QRV at a given start time. Unless some brainy person comes up with a new procedure, I suspect individuals will start spotting on different frequencies and others will chase them. Of course, some non-S2S stations will want to work them as well. I suspect the key thing is to keep each QSO short and to the point.
Probably the closest analogue would be the UTC rollover at New years here in VK. Thatās usually on 40 and 20, but basically some people sit on frequency and some folks play search and pounce (helped by SW3).
The activators compete with other chasers but S2S calls take priority. Easier to do on SSB in a pile up.
I havenāt done any analysis of what order of N would apply on those days but 16 would have been normal pre COVID, and itās very common to have to cram QSOs in just before rollover which leads to very quick QSOs. So, all possible and doesnāt need complete coordination or schedules.
Nice idea but I canāt see that working as it is a long way from the centre of the G/SP region. A big pub just off the M6 near Preston would be more feasible I imagine.
I should think a frequency like 145.212.5kHz (V17) was pretty discreet for a āprivateā ragchew unless some eavesdropper is cheating by scanning the band.
I think that the amount of interest generated in the last few days warrants actually making it a serious proposal.
Iāll come up with possible dates (looks like a weekend in May or June are favourite as of now) and how we would achieve the all qsoās between summit over the next few days. Also , again if enough interest a post activation meetup location. Thereās probably a million billion just off the M6 , its finding the right one, so any suggestions welcome.
Initial thoughts would be to utilise the portion around 144.525 to 144.750 for inter-summit contacts around a 1 hour period (if i remember correctly, it didnāt take an hour) and then people can hoover up any missing ones based off spots or dial twiddling.
Thereās a chance that not all summits will be activated, but its worth a try. I think Wards Stone and White hill are probably going to be the least favoured.
I will start a list of peoples preferences , but obviously that can change if dates are not suitable.
Another yes - if you pick a date for SP then Iāll find a different date for a possible NP weekend / day more along the lines of the LD sessions. As Iāve got a longer drive I would quite like to do SP-001
) .