EA3 has been updated to reflect the new AM, Daniel Horta EA3HP.
VK9 has been updated to fix inaccurate summit positions.
A new association, E5 Cook Islands has been added with AM Andy Duncan E51AND.
Omitted from the JA upload last month was JA8/OK. I uploaded that a few days back.
Jon, the SOTAwatch admin has limited access to the site at present due to other commitments this means it will be later in the month before you can spot/alert JA8/OK or E5 but spot/alerts for EA3 and VK9 will be no problem. Likewise, ARMs will be uploaded ASAP.
Please welcome our new and replacement AMs for E5 and EA3 and thank outgoing EA3 AM Esteve EB3EPR.
If you think something is wrong in the data for these associations then please let the MT know.
When we were putting together the ARM for E5, I realised that, with 7 licensed hams in all of E5, and 7 summits, it must have close to the highest summit-to-ham ratio of any association!
Each of the seven E5 hams should activate a summit simultaneously. In 30 minutes time, an association with all virgin peaks suddenly has no virgin peaks. Tsk tsk. I wonder how many hams in Alaska? When that state comes on line, their ratio could blow E5 right out of the proverbial water.
A reflector friend of mine, KL7UW, estimates there are about 3800 hams in AK. He guesstimates about 2500 are active. Half are on HF, “the other half are VHF of which there is about 100 that do something other than FM.” Anchorage has about 1/2 of the 2500 hams, the other half spread evenly between Fairbanks and Juneau.
So thats 18,200+ qualified SOTA summits divided by 2500 active hams or 7.68 summits/ham.Now that’s a respectable challenge!
Also Alaska has about 200 grid squares. And another tidbit, if Alaska were divided in half, Texas would still be the 3rd largest state!
Rats, yet another reason to travel to the Cook Islands - of course it’s cheaper from VK than EU, I should have gone before leaving VK. There are rental (ham radio) shacks on South Cook I believe that would make a good base to travel out from to the summits.
Hmm don’t think realistically I’ll be getting out there in the near future.
Thanks. I’m not sure what internet I’ll have, I recall my wife mentioning something about a lack of it with a smile on her face as we booked it for our 10 year anniversary, however if I can put alerts up so the RBN can capture me that would be a big help.
Propagation according to VOACAP looks rather non-existent to Europe. 15m to JA, NA and VK looks the most reasonable for success.
Get in contact with Andy the AM who will be able to answer all of your questions. The ARM he has prepared is comprehensive, and has recommendations for guides for climbing the summits, and which summits are inaccessible due to jungle, private ownership, or both.
Speaking of attractive pacific island holiday destinations, does anyone know if Vanuatu is being mapped for SOTA? I happen to be planning a trip there next year and it might be fun to include some SOTA. It also has a very real opportunity for VOTA (Volcanos On The Air) as a quick review shows that Mt Yasur on the island of Tanna would qualify as a SOTA peak and it is very accessible!
I looked into it as part of a review of Oceania (which is how I came across Cook Islands). I couldn’t find accurate enough mapping to start with, and you’d have to find a local ham to act as Association Manager. I put it into the “possible, but lower hanging fruit exists” category. Fiji is similar. Most other Pacific Islands are fairly low-lying.
E5/RA-003 is Maungatea, not the The Needle (Te Rua Manga) - The Needle doesn’t qualify. From memory it sits in the saddle between two SOTA peaks (Te Koa and Maungatea). Maungatea is almost certainly inaccessible. The Needle would be the easiest accessible mountain, but for the 60m vertical climb at the end
Oh yes, I see that now. My bad. Still getting my head around the names and the island.
EDIT: I should add I looked at it when we initially booked and thought the Island looked a bit “pointy” and generally inaccessible. I’ve got a lot of catching up to do in 2 weeks to work out what’s feasible. Te Manga involves multiple roped assisted sections.
Sorting out what’s doable is going to be fun in itself.
Thanks Andrew. I had a quick look on Google Earth and there certainly seem to be enough suitable peaks, but I suspect many would be challenging to access without local knowledge. There seem to be a couple of resident hams there, but whether they would have any interest in SOTA is obviously a key question. As you say, lower hanging fruit…
I went to Raratonga about 15 years ago and it’s a great place for a holiday and even went on a hike up one of the main peaks (but can’t remember the name now). Maybe I’ll have to plan a return trip with radio gear!
Hi Andy, I’m Daniel’s new AM EA3, that responsibility pleases me to contribute this wonderful award, so to make possible new mountains, and attract new activators, I reiterate my thanks for the confidence.
best regards
EA3HP
Daniel
Jon has found some time to update SOTAwatch so EA3 & VK9 updates, along with E5 and JA8/OK can now be spotted/alerted. The ARMs should be available as well.
