My Trans-Atlantic S2S Event Effort

Activation Reports
1

I’m getting very lacklustre in my planning these days. I knew it was going to be a windy day, and having spent a couple of hours on Gummer’s How in the wind last weekend I wasn’t really in a hurry to repeat the experience. Even with a tarp the wind just somehow seems to drain your energy and warmth regardless.

However - the one saving grace today was that the wind was coming from the NE which meant I could setup on Gummer’s How facing the west - which was kind of the point of today’s event. Didn’t fancy my chances with the SOTABeams Band Hopper IV in these conditions, so I opted for the Chameleon MPAS2.0 - a first for me using it SOTA. It is very sturdy and provides a reasonable SWR match on 6m - 60m. Handy when you are hunting down S2S.

Equipment:

  • IC-705
  • 21AH LifePo4 Golf Cart Battery
  • RM Italy HLA-150V amp
  • Chameleon MPAS2.0
  • DD Superlight Tarp
  • Paper logging

Yes, this lot did weight some!

IMG_20220423_192001
IMG_20220423_1920011920×1081 337 KB

I opted for the Chameleon choked 50ft COAX so I had the option of separating operating position from antenna. As it happens I found a good rock with protection from the wind and managed to get the spike of the MPAS2.0 in about 1/2 way which was good enough to keep it vertical(-ish). The wind really gave it a hammering - the whole thing seemingly 20 degrees off vertical at times!

IMG_20220423_193545
IMG_20220423_1935451920×3410 537 KB

I was on the summit for around 2.5 hours and stayed long enough to see the sunset. By this time I was getting chilly and decided it was time to pack up. I spent plenty of time seeking out NA activators but wasn’t very successful - 15m & 18m seemed to be the best bands, and were definitely opening towards the end. 20m was hopeless transatlantic.

IMG_20220423_192038
IMG_20220423_1920381920×1081 207 KB

My CW skills would appear to have solidified a little and I didn’t need many repeats and only made one error - corrected by the other station before the QSO ended. Six S2S in total with @W4KAC Ken, @VA2EO Eric & @AJ2I Alfonse very welcome EU-NA S2S. Also of note was NG6R Jerry all the way from Long Beach, Los Angeles, NW7E in Oregon & @W7GA Greg in Salt Lake City - some good DX there into the USA!

10m was serving up some tantalising DX including The Falkland Islands, in the end I had to content myself with Western Sahara, Brazil and Israel.

TIME CALLSIGN BAND MODE RST RSR OPERATOR SIG REF
16:33 EA1DB 20m SSB 59 55 JESUS
16:34 MW0PJE/P 20m SSB 52 53 Pete SOTA GW/NW-043
16:34 EA2DT 20m SSB 57 57 Manuel
16:35 SP9JKL 20m SSB 59 58 Jerzy
16:35 EA2EVM 20m SSB 59 57 Cesareo
16:35 LZ2HT/P 20m SSB 59 57 Ivan WWFF LZFF-0584
16:36 HA7WA 20m SSB 59 59 Viktor
16:37 VE1PVH/P 20m SSB 52 55 Paul
16:37 OH3GZ 20m SSB 59 59 JUKKA
16:37 DL7CX 20m SSB 57 53 Dr.
16:38 IU3GKJ 20m SSB 59 59 Riccardo
16:38 GB20SOTA 20m SSB 57 57 Tom SOTA G/SP-015
16:39 EA1AAP 20m SSB 59 55 Fernando
16:39 IN3ADF 20m SSB 59 57 Markus
16:40 OE2ADE 20m SSB 59 55 Andreas
16:40 OM1AX 20m SSB 58 57 VLADO
16:41 OE6RCD 20m SSB 55 55 ROLAND
16:47 HA7WA 17m SSB 59 55 Viktor
16:53 MW0KXN/P 40m SSB 58 52 Kevin SOTA GW/MW-021
16:54 GW4VPX 40m SSB 59 59 ALLAN
16:56 MW0OFA 40m SSB 59 59 Frank
17:00 IH9YMC 15m SSB 59 57 Raf
17:10 WN4AT 15m CW 559 599 JOSEPH
17:12 K0BWR 15m CW 559 599 Steven
17:13 W4KAC/P 15m CW 559 549 KENNETH SOTA W4C/CM-007
17:20 W7GA 15m CW 559 449 GREGORY
17:23 NG6R 15m CW 599 539 JERRY
17:38 VA2EO/P 15m CW 559 539 Eric SOTA VE2/ES-034
17:45 G6LKB 10m SSB 59 59 David
17:53 4Z5LA 10m SSB 59 57 Ros
18:29 S01WS 10m SSB 59 59 WESTERN
18:49 IZ6BXV 17m SSB 59 59 TONY
18:59 NW7E 17m SSB 57 55 Michael
18:59 AJ2I/P 17m SSB 55 55 Alfonse SOTA W2/NJ-008
19:07 KD2WNY 17m SSB 59 54 Michael
19:10 PY2GJ 17m SSB 59 57 Marcelo

IMG_20220423_202045
IMG_20220423_2020451920×1081 152 KB

IMG_20220423_201506
IMG_20220423_2015061920×3410 587 KB

IMG_20220423_202427
IMG_20220423_2024271920×1081 111 KB

IMG_20220423_202606
IMG_20220423_2026061920×1081 90.5 KB

Many thanks to all participants - sorry I missed the bulk of the EU activators!

local-contacts
local-contacts1920×1289 333 KB

eu-contacts
eu-contacts1920×1289 353 KB

na-contacts
na-contacts1920×1289 348 KB

aj2i-s2s
aj2i-s2s1920×1289 405 KB

va2eo-s2s
va2eo-s2s1920×1289 272 KB

w4kac-s2s
w4kac-s2s1920×1289 260 KB

py2gj
py2gj1920×1289 174 KB

s01ws
s01ws1920×1289 186 KB

15 Likes
2

Nice report Mark, and thank you for the S2S this afternoon! Your CW was fine. Good signal over here on 15m. Hope to do it again soon!

73
Ken, W4KAC

2 Likes
3

Thanks for the 15m qso. I was on a ic-705 running 10w.

1 Like
4

Great job that Steve! I was probably about 70 watts.

Regards, Mark.

1 Like
5

Well done Mark. What filter do you use? Lovely vibrant colours in that 2nd photo

1 Like
6

Hi Andy. I have an Android phone and always turn HDR on for landscape photos. I then upload to Google Photos and use the Auto filter. Sometimes it screws the colours up however, photos often come out too blue.

Regards Mark

4 Likes
7

I heard you pretty well on W6/SD-026 near San Diego, CA (on 15m, CW), but unfortunately you weren’t able to hear my 10w signal.

Gus
W9SSN

2 Likes