Yesterday, with my activation of Birks Fell G/NP-031, I achieved Homebrew Goat i.e. 1000 points with a homebrewed transceiver.
I started SOTA in 2017 but didn’t take it particularly seriously. Up to 2019 I got 71 points using an FT817 and a Baofeng handheld. In 2020, thanks to covid lockdowns, I didn’t activate at all but I was busy homebrewing and made my first HF CW portable rig. Since returning to activating in 2021 I have qualified all my activations with one of my four homebrew rigs.
To celebrate I took along another of my homebrew creations.
I do still use commercial gear on my activations but I always have at least 4 QSOs with the homebrew rigs - all my HF CW since 2021 has been with the homebrew. I have started taking the FT817 again so I can take part in the 2m/70cm SSB/CW challenge and also carry an FT-65 handheld.
Congrats Richard, that is a MG with a rare qualifier indeed.
I currently have 1108 activator points and most have been on homebrew gear (SSB and CW). I have never owned or operated a commercial HF portable transceiver. However I have used my Baofeng and so I have (I estimate) around 150 activator points using 2m FM including group activations of mostly 8 and 10-pointers on Mt Hotham SOTA weekends. I have not kept accurate records but it is all in the SOTA DB so one rainy day I will do an analysis and keep a running tally of homebrew versus other activations.
Homebrew is not for everyone and it is a personal choice to spend one’s hobby time building. SOTA gives significant added motivation for the efforts of radio building.
