I have 2 radios. A Ats4b and a KX1. I haven’t had much luck just experimenting in the backyard. I believe I have antenna issues. I also have a mtr3 I believe that I need some help assembling. Wondering if it’s worth my time to activate some summits in Oklahoma? Haven’t had much luck activating my backyard though.
Activating your back yard is somewhat random.
I have to imagine that propagation aside you could do quite well activating OK. We have a great community of chasers in USA.
Paul
I was looking at past activations and only saw a few callsigns in Oklahoma. Most of the sites are only 1 point but some are up to 10 points. Are the 1 point sites just as desirable considering nobody has ever activated them? I believe most of the higher point sites have been activated but only by a few people.
I was kinda hoping I could could connect with someone local to work out my hardware issues. Maybe that is not possible?
Maybe try checking SOTAwatch2 and see who you might be able to chase when they are activating then set up your gear in the yard and do a chase from there. That could be an indication as to how well your gear is working and also tells you how your gear would work if you were on a summit. My experience with the down turn here in vk5 I can no longer work any vk5 chasers on 40m like i used to, it has to be 80m. Even in the middle of the day I can still get my usual band of vk5 chasers when I am activating a vk5 summit maybe 250 km away from home. good luck
Ian vk5cz …
Lack of OK activations is possibly a function of many things; limited awareness of SOTA, lack of interest on part of local or pan-local hams etc etc. Don’t worry about that as it sounds like you are willing to blaze a trail!
SOTA is a symbiotic relationship; chases and activators need each other to be successful. My experience is the NA chaser community will go out of their way to help you be successful. Sure chasers like more points than less as will you over time. But a 1 pointer is potentially a new “unique” peak for a chaser and when all is said and done its one more point. Many WX hostile places may only have 1,2 or 4 point peaks that are easily available in the winter (or summer) and so as a year round activity 1s and 10s balance each other out.
Go for the 1 pointers and I have to imagine you will have fun and start planning your next activation.
Paul
Well, if you do, any summit you can get to and try activating is worth something to someone. For some chasers W5O might be a new association, or the summit might still be a new unique. Even if it isn’t, It’ll still be worth a point to them. Activators generally have to work harder to get points, and if you live in an area where points are scarce you might as well not worry too much about your score. Just get out onto the summits and have fun.
Post a spot and you will have chasers. No spot makes it a little more work some times at QRP levels but it is still doable. Most of all have fun.
KG7VLX
Well work it all out in the backyard first before u try to activate a summit. If it doesn’t work in the back yard it will likely not work on a summit.
Build a resonant antenna for 20 or 40 meters (or both). Operate CW if u can as u will get spotted by Sotawatch2, as long as u put out an alert before you hike the hill. You will work lots of people on CW. SSB is harder and you will have to self-spot or have someone spot you, and then u should do OK.
The points don’t matter much as most chasers will call u if they can hear you. I work lot’s of 1 point summits as a chaser (and activator).
W5ODX is active and lives in OK somewhere…he may be able to give u some pointers. He does well with the station he has.
good luck!
73
Pete
WA7JTM
I work W5ODS quite often. His QRZ bio shows he’s in Broken Arrow. Not far from you ?? I’d say give him a shout.
Later,
Todd KH2TJ
Yes, I meant W5ODS…
DOH
Pete/JTM
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LISTENING FOR YOU ON THE BANDS…
OKLAHOMA IS OK!
Ken
What antenna are you using in your backyard?
I am an activator living in central Texas and the summits in southeast Oklahoma and west central Arkansas offer a wealth of opportunities for me. Here is my target list of summits in the Poteau, Oklahoma area: W5O/OU-002, 005, 006, 013, 014, 017 and 018, W5O/SO-002 and W5A/OH-001.
These are already-activated 4-to-10 point summits on public lands (Ouachita National Forest) selected because they are “drive-ups” or involve hikes of only a few miles with elevation gains less than 1000 ft. I am working through these now, but I think there are many more good opportunities in the Ouachita range in central Arkansas and closer to you in the Ozark range in northern Oklahoma and Arkansas. I suggest searching through the summit lists covering those regions for guidance from the comments posted by previous activators.
My rig is a 5-Watt HB1B and I feed it through a small MFJ tuner and 450-ohm window line to a 40 meter inverted vee, with an apex at the top of a 20-foot telescoping fiberglass mast. The setup works well on 40, 30, 20, 17 and 15 meters. I first tested it in my backyard by calling stronger stations that I heard.
73, Don AC7P
Maybe. On Sunday, I self-spotted on 20 m and 40 m. Zero QSOs on 40 and it took a half hour of calling CQ to get three on 20 m (SSB, 5 W, SF bay area). Got the points by begging on the repeater for a simplex contact.
wunder
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We are finding it is worth being able to use 80m when 40 is so awful.
Full size antennas are long, but there are solutions to that (G5RV, ZS6BKW).
Might be worth considering.
73 Andrew VK1DA VK2UH
I would find a close, easy summit to test your gear on. Sometimes the low point summits (1’s and 2’s) can be a pain to get to. At least here in Oregon.
I have a summit (small local park) that I use to test out gear or just go to for some radio time.
And W5ODS chased me on my last activation.
Roland KG7FOP
In my opinion, the fact that activations from Oklahoma are so rare makes it even more appealing!
73, Steve W6SAE
I enjoyed my 6 Oklahoma activations and will probably go back for more if I get the chance! de N1FJ
Simply do it - it brings us together! Do the necessary preps, so take a good antenna, charge the batteries, spot your activation and give it a try, maybe not on the most difficult of them. You may find a helpful hands-on fellow at your local club, so did I this spring before starting to this nice SOTA adventure.
All the things we do instead of not doing them make better men of us, hi.
Vy 73 de Markus, HB9DIZ
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