Yesterday I activated 3 summits. The first two were during the morning and the last in the afternoon.
The first activation was between UTC 2230-0000 and the second between 0130-0200. The second activation was brief since it is one of the ugliest peaks I have visited and there were also (despite the cold) many ticks.
The third activation was between UTC 0630-0730. The idea for the latter was to try luck with Europe, but the cold and fatigue made it finish quickly.
Here, filtering only the QSOs in 28mhz with the SMP app.
It seems that 28Mhz is improving and I’m almost sure I made my first QSO with New Jersey.
The maps only show the first and third activation.
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I saw your notifications and was hoping, but i was a little too late onto the summit at 7.15 UTC and getting setup in the cold. JP stations were really strong once sun arrived at 8 UTC, so I hope to try again another morning !
Looking East!
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Nice sunrise!
Generally when I do an evening activation, I do it until UTC 0900-1000 (LT 1800-1900) But this time I was very tired and the temperature was dropping.
I hope one day we can do a S2S!
73 de JP3PPL
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It was pre-sunrise for the whole of my activation of The Cloud G/SP-015 before work this morning. Given my grumble at the difficulty getting QSOs before 0800z the other day, one might be surprised that I opted to go out for a 28MHz Challenge activation that had a QRT deadline of 0715z!
This actually wasn’t the plan. Plan A was that I would nip up in the forecast nice weather after work this afternoon before rushing back home to make dinner for Liam and @M0HGY (yes, he keeps showing his face when there’s a meal going), before taxiing Liam to his singing lesson before going to the match (Macclesfield versus Crewe Alexandra - Cheshire Senior Cup quarterfinal).
When I awoke pre-alarm at 0450z, I couldn’t resist the thought of crossing off the SOTA before work (just like the old days) despite knowing it would be hard work on 10m at that time.
Once on summit, I was regretting my over-eager decision. Contacts were very hard to come by, plus it was drizzling, cold and windy. Why could I not wait for the nicer weather and better condx in the late afternoon? I got a bit nervy with over 30 minutes of my maximum 45 minutes operating window elapsed without a single QSO. The CW, SSB and FM portions of 10m were deathly silent, but the FT8 and FT4 frequencies were not (of course). No-one was coming back to the calls though!
Eventually, I got a red line on the screen and a Russian station was worked on FT8. Then a few minutes later - an actual real known chaser - Mike @G4BLH!
And that was that - the clock struck 0715 and I had to keep my discipline and pack up - not that there was much making me reluctant to leave!
With renewed enthusiasm, I might try to squeeze Gun G/SP-013 in on the way home. There will be a strict time limit again for reasons given earlier - but at least there should be some workable activity!
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Love the photo!
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I agree morning was tough and this is a subjective statement i guess, but I think 10m has been is a little less good recently. At this time of the morning on Saturday i was amazed on 20m expecting Europe and got Australia on 10w ssb for the first time, I never expected it !
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And tough here on the West Coast. 2 new unique activations for me and hard to rustle up 10m Qs.
However, one highlight was a 10m voice S2S with Adrien (@DO2ACR) using my KX3 and EndFed into Bavaria.
However, it turned out to be a good opportunity to try and progress my morse skills and nabbed twenty 40m morse contacts. My largest haul ever using morse!!
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Wahoo. Managed my first DX 10m SOTA contact today.
Headed up one of the few local(ish) easy summits I have not visited - Mt Beetham, ZL3/OT-414. The plan was to try out my freshly-made 10m vertical dipole. Strong winds were forecast for midday (2300UTC), so summited earlier than VOACAP suggested was wise for 10m and arrived soon after 2100UTC.
Spent 2 hours lying in the sun on the summit, working the lower bands, trying 10m intermittently. Counting golf courses, and watching the planes land at Queenstown airport down below me.
Finally started to hear JA stations from 2315UTC, with NA appearing around 2345UTC.
Most signals seen were quite low, S1-2 for the most part.
The one 10m contact I managed was with KF6HI, Arizona at 2343UTC on about my 3rd call for that particular trip up to 10m. 55 / 42 signal reports.
I continued calling until UTC rollover at which point the forecast wind arrived with force and I packed up. By 0000UTC the surrounding signals on the scope were up to S3-5, suggesting that had I stayed, my chances would have been better.
==
So, I have a run on the board. 1 summit, 1 callsign, 1 country. By my reading of the much debated rules that gives me a grand total of 1x1x1=1. Putting me at equal fourth in ZL3!
EF40mHW in inverted V plus 10m vertical dipole. TX-500 delivering 10w (nominal)
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Close. It’s actually just 1x1=1.
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But one more contact on a new hill and you’ll boost your score by 4 times.
Good things theses numbers.
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Only if it’s a different callsign.
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I need to broaden my horizons and get out to some different summits. I operated from The Cloud G/SP-015 after work today, through the sunset. I started on 10m SSB but worked just one - a local (Oldham) G station despite self-spotting and calling extensively.
Moving to CW netted 6 QSOs, supplemented by 3 on FT4. Already, an increasing proportion of my log is non-unique calls, so it’s time to head out of my locality and boost the unique summit multiplier.
Today’s 10m log comprised the following:
EA8: 1
G: 3
PY: 1
VE: 1
W: 4
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Yesterday (Feb 2nd) I ran my first 10m challenge activation.
Here is EA2, the band opens a bit late, and any regular morning activation is useless in 28 MHz. When chasing from home I can’t hear most of the 10m EU activators in mornings, while afternoon opens the gate to many transatlantic QSO.
Therefore I decided to try an afternoon activation and see how this works.
- Gear: KX3 10 watts + Vertical EFHW (5m long)
- Summit: EA2/NV-092, an easy drive up summit.
I had some troubles to start as my EFHW had a high SWR. I had to optimize its length and I finally got a 2:1 SWR.
I ran between 14:30 to 17:00 utc, exclusively on 28 MHz CW & SSB.
Log: 56 QSO
32 NA
2 S2S : @N6AN (W6) , @KT0A (W0D)
DX: PY5XT, @ZS5APT , @ZS5AYC
EU: LA, OH, SM, US, OK, SV, F, and a few EA (Back scatter)
AF: a couple EA8
Despite I felt signals were not as strong as on the previous weeks it was a nice activation with lots of transatlantic stations.
I heard the call from LU8MPR but he didn’t get my report and couldn’t complete.
Also heard K0HAA on Sota, and tried for a S2S. He got the S2S call but vanished and couldn’t complete. He was also on POTA and the avid chasers made the thing difficult for my little pwr.
Thanks all for a nice day, I finally could have my salad middle of the activation!
73 Ignacio
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The food looks nicer than the DX and QSOs 
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DX makes you hungry… 
73 Armin
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I spent an 45 minutes on 10m from 1100z this morning. Hiding in the trees near the summit of GM/ES-060 Coiliochbhar Hill was the perfect choice for a breezy and chilly day.
Yaesu ft-857d into a monoband ¼ wave vertical with sloping radials. Strong signals from the east. Some nice dx and some locals via line of sight and back scatter. Twenty one logged.
I’d love to have the time and energy to activate on 10m from 0800 to 1700 and track the propogation across the globe, however I suspect I’d sucumb to the elements by lunchtime!
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I looked at QRZ this morning and 10m was ranked as “FAIR” which made me reflect on staying in bed.
Glad I didn’t as I managed to nab a lot of EU stations, nine S2S (mainly EU) and a happy surprise!
Sometimes, it’s worth twiddling the VFO knob as I found and “busted” V51MA pile up in Namibia using 35w SSB and my portable 2 el 10m Yagi. Wow!!
Paul
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Paul, congrats to Namibia and thanks for the S2S today!
73 Stephan
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Nice one, thanks for the s2s today. That Yagi was doing its magic, i had to turn my headphones volume down!
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Congrats on getting out of bed, Paul. It was worth it, hi!
I dragged my heels this morning after a three summit day yesterday
But when I did get to Flint Peak my first QSO was OE9HRV/P with a beautiful signal so conditions were pretty sweet. MW0IDX/P and CT2IWW/P and W6PNG soon followed. I wonder what I missed during the 15Z hour. I bet it was good!
V51MA is a nice catch.
I put up a half square this morning but the wind was blowing the verticals akilter so the 17’ doublet was the radiator with 5 watts from my KX3.
72, David N6AN
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