There maybe some confusion with regard to our activations today; we were NEVER on the same hill:-
AM (before 12:30) Rod, MW0JLA, was on M Llangors, GW/SW-015; Viki, MW6BWA, was on M Troed, GW/SW-009.
PM (after 13:00) Rod, MW0JLA, was on M Troed, GW/SW-009; Viki, MW6BWA, was on M Llangors, GW/SW-015.
It is possible that I made some uncorrected announcements of the wrong summit for which I sincerely apologize. I hope this post enables all concerned to correct their logs and obtain their *.
Viki thanks, and apologizes to, all those who looked for her on SW-015 and remained unheard.
Rod thanks the many chasers giving him the highest number in any one activation (44) as well as his highest daily total (70). Small beer for some activators, I know but very satisfying for me.
What a wonderful day it was and what a contrast with Sunday on SW-003; a bothy bag would probably have blown away there, like one of my waterproof clothing bags (empty, of course, as I was wearing everything) which disappeared at speed over the cliffy bit on the E side never to be seen again
I didn’t even try to put up the pole
Great to work you and Viki on both summits. Viki was a big signal from GW/SW-009. However, it was a different kettle of fish from GW/SW-015. Sounded like Viki has been stranded on three contacts for some time.
To be honest Rod, with no colinear today, I was quite surprised to make the trip to GW/SW-015 on my dipole, although I suspect it may well have been down to ducting.
I couldn’t make the trip to you on either summit… Bit of a rubbish low antenna I think… If only I could get rid of the electric cables on 3 sides of my garden!
I worked Viki as a very strong 59+ from her first hill, with a sota beam setup in the garden ;), but could hear nothing at all from the second (other than an extra s-point of noise )
Mike,
Great to work you from M Troed. I was only using the handy with the 30cm helical stick and so, with Viki, Ricky, Barry and you I had qualified it with s2s on 2m FM before putting out my first call on 40m. I expect you made huge numbers of contacts even without the colinear.
Viki was desperate for number 4 from you because s2s is so much more successful on Llangorse than other contacts.
Don,
Electric cables on three side seems a bit dire. One reason I do SOTA is the permanent noise at home; S9 on 80m, S5 usually on 40 and 20m and that’s with the battery charger switched off (and the noisy laptop too).
Thanks for listening and glad you got Viki from M Troed. The extra 94m makes Troed so much easier than Llangorse although I think Troed is a bit less tucked in behind the main Black Mountain ridge and that helps too. Latterly she was using the beam which is fine if you have it pointing in the right direction. That’s why she usually uses a dipole. I find that problem one of the snags with the horizontal beam for 2m ssb.
73 and hope to speak to you both again soon; maybe tomorrow??
Rod
Hi Rod, A quick look at GW/SW-015 Llangorse would suggest it has been a bit of a VHF graveyard for QRP and vertical operators. Phill G4OBK and Geoff M6PYG failed to make a single contact with their qrp gear. It took poor Karen 90 minutes to find 4 contacts to qualify this summit.
From Shining Tor to Mynydd Llangorse is a distance of almost 100 miles with a lot of rock inbetween. Therefore Viki`s contact on what I’m assuminhg was her HT with Shining Tor, and my dipole could well confirm what I suspected about conditions yesterday.
…a bit of a VHF graveyard for QRP and vertical operators.
Probably worse than that Mike. Even with 25 watts of SSB and a 5 element beam I only managed 8 contacts in 40 minutes - but my excuse is that it was back in 2006 when there were fewer participants.
…a bit of a VHF graveyard for QRP and vertical operators.
Probably worse than that Mike. Even with 25 watts of SSB and a 5
element beam I only managed 8 contacts in 40 minutes - but my excuse
is that it was back in 2006 when there were fewer participants.
This summit would certainly be an interesting experiment with a triple 5/8 colinear, Gerald. May give it a try in the spring.
Vicki can’t reply as she has gone off to the big city for a few days.
She was only using the VX-7 handy (same power as 817) but I don’t know which aerial she was using when contacting Barry and/or you. She moved on from the 30cm helical stick via the SOTA dipole to the SOTA beam (neither mounted above 2m height) and made some contacts with each.
I think the only rock that matters as far as M Llangorse is concerned is the main Black Mountains ridge and it is the fact that M Troed is a bit further north, giving it a look NE ish into the wide valley of the Wye etc that really makes the difference. Day of week is also significant. I know I can do it on 2m ssb at the weekend; doubt it midweek. (In due course I will look at the logs as this one was our fourth activation here and see what the stats look like. Vicki is normally more successful than me on this type of hill; I think it is the voice. However, this was my first properly functional HF activation here and that made a lot of difference :-))
Phil and Geoff needed our sharing technique here; go up separate hills. That guarantees one contact (assuming you both have suitable radios!) and the one making easy contacts can point up the one in difficulty so chasers might try a little harder.
I decided one really unpleasant day out was enough for one week and have lots to do here but think Saturday might be good for Cefn yr Ystrad, sw-008 and Tor y Foel, sw-013; nice long walk if weather is OK. Maybe speak then.
BTW, on a different topic; how are you logging the s2s contacts? I thought Andy had enabled csv logging but I can not find the format.
He’s only had a handful so logging by hand is simple enough.
I thought Andy had enabled csv logging but I can not find the format.
I’m still contemplating how to make it forwards, backwards and sideways compatible with the previous format so that it accommodates normal chases, S2S chases, dupes, and ‘Uncle Tom Cobley and all’ chases!
Thanks for the helpful reply; I must have misunderstood a previous post. I will stop trying to find out how to use the csv route and revert to manual. Good luck with trying to accommodate all tastes in the new version.
He’s only had a handful so logging by hand is simple enough.
Yes, but that was just yesterday
I’ve just had a peak and he’s had 40 in total, it’s hardly like he’s got type in War & Peace! How long does it take to type them in, 10mins tops?
Let’s have a look at my little bit of database work… ooooh!
I didn’t realise how badly he was scoring. Elliot’s outscoring Mickey at about 2:1 for the same number of contacts or so. Etienne has almost caught him and at the rate Barry and Ricky are reeling him in they’ll be sailing past Mickey in an activation or two. I think I’ll get some popcorn and watch how things develop.
Nonetheless, if Mickey wants to up his scoring rate in the S2S table to match that of some of those you mention, he will need to make two major changes: (a) visit a much wider range of hills, in order to be picking up the activator points side of the deal more fruitfully, and (b) adopt the superior mode of CW in order to get a shedload of European points he misses out on every outing.
Now if I wanted to do well in the S2S table, I would also need to change two things (a) my preference to running on HF CW (for some reason I find myself very reluctant to depart my run frequency to go and call a S2S), and (b) my casual attitude towards VHF - I would really need to have a beam set up and run both modes/polarisations to maximise my score, not just make a lazy call on my HT/RD as I am leaving a summit!
My next personal goals in SOTA are to publish the Pembrokeshire Coast Path Road Trip photos on my website, and to claim the rest of the awards I am eligible for from GM4TOE.
How long does it take to type them in, 10mins
tops?
Let’s have a look at my little bit of database work… ooooh!
I always use the csv route because I log using .ods spreadsheets so it’s easy. I wondered what happened if I mistakenly included a S2S in the csv and then tried to log it as S2S afterwards. I suppose I delete the original and re-enter as S2S (along with all my other corrections of corrupted callsigns and misplaced summits
I wondered what happened if I mistakenly included a S2S in the csv and then
tried to log it as S2S afterwards.
Well the S2S data may have ended up in a chaser comment if I remember the code correctly.
You can log the S2S again even if you have logged it as a chase. The chase part wont gain points but the S2S bit will. Here’s the magic bit… if you delete the plain chase then the points will be move “as if by magic” onto the chase part of the S2S entry. The two log entries should be locked against deletion from the wrong place. i.e. delete a chase which has S2S data from the chaser log view and you’ll be stopped from doing so. Plain chases don’t appear in the S2S log view. So you can enter the data in all sorts of odd and unclean ways and delete the entries later and the system should figure it all out.
Well it did when I tried some contortion tests on the code!
In reply to MM0FMF:
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Since I am part of the entertainment, Andy, I request you export some of your highest grade popcorn to California…you know, the stuff prepared by appointment to HRH. Seems we have a 24 hour lull in climbing activity here, and it’s a perfect opportunity to snack whilst catching-up on my Graham Norton tapes. I’m missing an installment, though. I’ll trade you two Wahlbergs for a Mirren.
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I prefer lightly buttered with no salt, and no fair sending it by 3D printer…unflavored hasn’t caught on, yet.
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Ta
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Elliott, K6ILM
Chaser Clown
I thought I had already claimed them Barry, but I think the shop must have timed-out on me, probably trying to do too much at once! But it seems we have missed off one of Jimmy’s Mountain Hunter claims, plus all our varieties of 10th Anniversary activator/chaser/SWL awards.
We will apply for these in early March, as Jimmy will qualify for “Activated all GW regions” for one of the 10th Anniversary awards in the last two days of February.
Mickey 2E0YYY is suddenly top of the international S2S honour roll. He certainly had a good time S2S-wise on his 21st February activation, and assume he hadn’t entered his 19th February data when the above discussion was going on.
