Continuing the discussion from My SOTA plans for 2024 (and yours....) (Part 1) - #100 by W6LEN.
Previous discussions:
I started upping my game in September this year. Mostly after doing GM/ES-007 with Fraser and realising theyāre within my reach.
This then made me regret āwastingā the spring and summer, but it was all part of the journey to figure things out, build confidence, and have the right equipment.
Back in July I was thinking it would be good to reach 100 points and 30 summits. Now Iām targeting 250 and 50 summits, although with the holidays about to start and travelling etc. probably wonāt quite make it.
Excited for 2025, and there are still plenty of new summits within driving distance of the house to explore.
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Looking back at my goals for 2024, I put:
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Linked dipole for 10, 12 and 17 - DONE, but I went with 10, 15 and 20 instead, used it only once on an activation though so will hopefully use it more
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Have a go at getting full - DONE, Iām pleased to say I passed the exam on Saturday and I am just waiting for Ofcom to register my pass so I can apply for the full license
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Get to grips with Morse - unfinished business, I got the basics down but then fell out of touch and lost motivation, hopefully can pick it up again next year
Targets for 2025:
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Research into microwave/QO-100 technology/operations and how I can make a lightweight way to do SOTA activations for this. My primary driver is I want to learn more based on what I learnt from the full
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Chip away towards MG, try to do more unique summits in Wales. Another DXpedition holiday might be planned for Scotland/Ireland, I really had a blast in September
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Try to capture my activations/adventures better and inspire others to get involved, and help those new to the hobby. This might be in the form of blog posts/videos but I want to make it entertaining and informative
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Well
Get the Full License: Failed. Didnt take the exam due to being busy at work. Staff shortages means Ive not had much time to do anything
Get more exercise: Every year I set a target to walk 500 miles. So far ive done 250 so almost a win. Lack of summer and bad weather hasnāt helped.
Get an activation in with the FT227: I activated a non SOTA summit and it was ok, but it wasnt putting out 10 Watts as it should. I got back home and connected it to a power meter and it was putting out 1.5W. Not had the chance to diagnose the problem, so that wpuld be next years plan.
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Continuing the discussion from My SOTA plans for 2024 (and yoursā¦) (Part 1):
Well, I acheived all of my 2024 Goals!
- I havent fallen off any more mountains
- I have the little Xeigu working well both on SSB and on FT4/8
- I now regularly use 4M on summits, although im yet to qualify a summit on that band.
- 30 activator pointsā¦ MEH!! I have acheived 30 points this year alone, bringing my total up to 47!!
Heres to next years goals!
73, Alan
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Well done Jared.
Good luck with the CW - my brain doesnāt seem to think that way so it defeated me totally.
73,
Rod
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So how did I do?
Done. Much easier to climb it than the walk down and out! I waited for nice weather and managed 65 QSOs 19 on 40m, 18 on 17m, 21 on 15m, 6 on 10m and 1 on 2m.
Fail. Plans started but there was a bit of a herding cats problem trying to get diverse people all available at the same time. But Iāll try again in 2025.
Done. I succeeded in activating Craiglee GM/SS-150 on my 3rd attempt on the way back from Blackpool. And finally, the bad boy himself Mullwharcher GM/SS-073 with Gerald G4OIG. The joint activation meant we both finished off this self-imposed challenge. It was huge fun doing it with someone else considering itās a wee bit remote.
Done. I reached 500 uniques on Fort du Planoise F/JU-102. This is a simple almost drive on summit that I activated with Paul W6PNG/M0SNA on our way to Friedrichshafen. ODX was a ZS6 on 10m. Now up to 515 uniques.
Iāve still not worked Hawaii or Alaska on 10 but have worked 328 QSOs and these new countries FG - Guadeloupe, ZS - South Africa, ZB - Gibraltar, 4L - Georgia, EW - Belarus, EX -Tajikistan, HJ - Colombia
Fail. This was well into planning when I had a wee Cancer scare. Turns out funny āthingā wasnāt malignant. Took 7 weeks, 6 days and 19 hours from ringing the doctor in a worried state to being in for some surgery. Sadly whilst I have travel insurance, I hadnāt bought tickets/hotel rooms so if I had to cancel because the diagnosis was bad and needed treatment, I wouldnāt be able to claim. It would be a pre-existing condition when I spent the money. So a 2025 job here.
Fail sort off. Some work has been done. I have all the parts bar the diecast box for the 122GHz system (assorted Arduino boards, OLED displays, switches plus the 122GHz RF system and 2 feed horns. I shall have a bash over Christmas to move this on.
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Not too bad. Of course Iām a bit mad busy now because Iām always looking for bags of cash, I have allowed myself to be un-retired and am working 5 days a week again. Only till early January though. 
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Iām now on 876. My number 1 target for 2025 is to make MG before my 60th birthday in November.
On 1317 for the year.
Made 291 but they were all CW. Iām not sure if that is plenty considering I made a total of 2555 HF QSOs. Iām still not attracted to the microphone on HF - perhaps another target for 2025 is to do an SSB only activation.
I have made it and have used it on 12 activations. I still see it as a work in progress though as it is not as good as Iād like.
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I hadnāt published any 2024 goals on here as I continued to struggle with shoulder issues.
My plan was to revisit some popular GW 
summits in Q1 and activate the two PA 
summits during a family visit in spring.
The family trip was delayed till the end of May, so I made it a long weekend activating all of the 24 Benelux 
summits together with some nearby FL ones. I still have a half written trip report to finishā¦
A planned one week of activating at the end of the summer in DM/BM, turned into a two week tour of DM/BM and FL/VO activating 79 summits including my first OK summit! 
with it getting my 4th MG in the process. As above, trip report half writtenā¦
Shoulder became worse have pushed back my planned return from December to at least January.
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It was good to work you from a few summits on your Benelux and FL/VO tours earlier in the year. Sorry to read that you are still plagued by shoulder issues. I hope things improve on that front soon, and weāll hear from you from lots of summits in 2025!
73ā¦
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I never had any plans for 2024 because Iād only just got started with SOTA mid-way through the year.
Main plan for 2025 is to get my full license so that I can activate SOTA summits overseasā¦ finishing the year in EA5 - beautiful walks and views can be had in December.
Hoping for a September trip to the I/TN area - again, stunning walks.
Plus activating WAY more UK summits in 2025 - starting in January helps rack up the points. 
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Good luck with studying for the full. I did digital notes for studying the new syllabus, which are as a side effect public. Feel free to use them if they help in any way!
HamNotes ā Notes relating to amateur radio/electronics
I recommend the OARC full course to be helpful and provide good support for the full
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Oh tiddlywiki!
I found the Bredhurst Receiving and Broadcasting Society Advanced material useful explainers. Much better than the official book for several sections. Much is the same even though itās not the latest syllabus.
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That was pretty much singularly my reason for getting my Full license. Intermediate was fine for all my UK SOTA needs.
Itās lots of fun operating abroad. Iāve managed a few 1st Activations overseas too.
Good luck with the study. I did it by myself with just the Full Exam study book, then found a local club who just managed my exam invigilation. All way before the online exam process. I wouldnāt say itās a doddle, but with 30 year old O level Maths and Physics I found it OK. Crack on!
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Itās great operating abroad, lots of opportunities! Good luck - do all the RSGB mock papers is my top tip. Along with YouTube resources like series from the Cornish amateur radio club.
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Thanks for the tips and the best wishesā¦ I now have the latest RSGB book.
Just need to break it down into sections, and tackle each one on a strict timetableā¦ else Iāll spend my time outside chasing contacts in the cold. 
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I did the mock exams and then concentrated on the areas I didnt know rather than the bits I did know.
Mind you, I did sit the exam twice. Missed it first time (with a silly mistake) and then 2nd time got it.
During the exam I did the questions I knew I could do, marked/flagged the ones I wasnāt sure about and then came back to each marked/flagged in turn and then whittled them down that way rather than spending too long working them out and getting stressed.
Good luck.
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Year in review:
- Continue to activate unique summits. Yes, 32 more uniques activated this year.
- Focus more on S2S while Iām activating. Yes, I increased my S2S points per activation from 17.8 average points per activation in 2023 to 34.4 average points per activation in 2024.
- Chase as much as possible. I did my best with almost 900 chases in 2024.
- Renew my passport so I will be ready to pursue some completes in VE2 when that travel opportunity presents itself. I sent in my renewal form today!
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My ambitions for SOTA in 2024 were (with end of year updates):
1 Keep on going up hills and trying to keep some level of fitness whilst enjoying myself. DEC UPDATE Almost achieved but seemed to be hampered by Covid (May) and more injuries than Iād hoped
2 Continue using 2m fm and promoting the use of 70cm as I move round the country DEC UPDATE 70cm is definitely on the up in some regions (including GM/ES-land!) and both shack bound chasers and fellow activators can be amazed by the improvement in quality of a 70cm contact over a 2m. BUT more mast interference on 70cm all the time - when does that 70cm filter come??
3 Get as many s2s contacts as possible DEC UPDATE. Still working on this (see 2025 plansā¦) Currently 4935 chasers points and they are all s2s.
4 Talk to 5 NEW (to me) activators as I have apparently spoken to 495 different activators (or rather, different callsigns) DEC UPDATE Got there - and how! 538 Unique activators now! Tx everyone - it is all these clever people passing exams and getting new call signs, new M7s (lots of them) embarking on the hills, activators straying in to new areas (GM, GWā¦) and some contacts who have finally got out of the shack and up a hill. Tx James!!
5 Reach 4000 unique chasers - Iām on 3976 at the moment. DEC UPDATE Got there 4196 unique chasers. Thatās over 200 newbies without really trying (only new area visited was 3 nights N of Glasgow and the Channel Islands with 6 contacts I believe).
6 Go out 1 January 2024 on a local 2 pointer which will give me 3 more VHF/UHF fm Winter Bonus points to reach 1000, DEC UPDATE This ambition was quickly achieved and the WB total will read 1071 when I get round to uploading last weekās log. A little less than hoped owing to poor weather in December (like everyone else) and a couple of small injuries on Xmas eve (in the house) and Xmas Day - knocked over in the local park by a boisterous dog (āall your faultā says dog owner as I lie on the muddy grass). Just able to join in the Gaulfest (lovely sunshine) from local ādoddleā hills. I am revising my ambitions for 2025 (yet to be published).
73 and Tx to all activators and chasers. Viki
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Glad to help Viki! 
I managed 4 activations in 2024, one summit repeated. If I can do one a month in 2025 that will smash all my previous ārecordsā! Iāll be very happy to get some S2S with you in 2025.
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