How long on one summit?

Dear Mike,

I understand the problem, and I am likely one of the activators who often follow the pattern that you are annoyed by.

About a year ago, I opened a discussion on this particular topic at Fast & Short Activation Strategy?.

My situation is as follows:

  1. More than half of the SOTA-worthy summits I approach in winter, mostly on skis.

  2. Except for the very simple and popular ones, it is not wise to solo them; you need company for safety (e.g. avalanche rescue etc.).

  3. None of my mountaineering friends is a ham operator; they are understanding, but waiting 15 minutes on a summit in bad weather (even normal cold weather) is already much to ask. Time is the limiting factor for me, I have abandoned several 10+3 pointer ongoing activations because my friends could not wait any longer.

  4. The waiting time includes setup, finding a free frequency, waiting for a spot, QSY due to QRM, logging, and packing up. 15 minutes operating means ca. 30 minutes on the summit.

In my case, I only have two options: I can try to squeeze in a fast and “minimal” activation into those trips, or leave the ham radio gear at home. Often the summits are 10-pointers, many rarely, several never activated before. So the few lucky activators might also appreciate this.

I think that fast activations under these constraints are an acceptable option and do not put SOTA at risk, nor the fun of it. And in the discussion linked above, consensus was that the approach is okay for others.

It is equally annoying when I clearly ask for QRS and some power stations give their calls three times at 28 wpm.

73 de Martin, DK3IT

Edit: BTW Mariusz, @SP9AMH regularly manages to contact me on my summits with QRP power and antenna restrictions.

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