OK/KA-008 Video report

Hello dear OMs, I had some spare time so I created small video from our Saturday activation. SOTA Lesný OK/KA-008 by OK1BIL - YouTube

This was my second activation. I used FT-857D 20W on 40m SSB. As long as I am not able to use CW (yet) I stick with SSB. One big question for me is if it is possible to do SSB activation like this with only 5W from lets say…FT-817. I am scared that I would call out for a hour and get only few QSOs.

In reply to OK1BIL:

Nice video and excellent music. I think there are more trees in the video than there are in the UK!

I’ve done 5W SSB on 40m from Scotland. A few times it has been easy, especially when I had a special prefix to use, MA0FMF. But apart from that I found it very hard work to find a clear frequency and to get heard. Once you get spotted it was better. However, this was a few years back when 40m propagation was very long with no inter-G working and before it was easier to self spot from a summit.

So yes it can work and there are many who are successful on 40m SSB with 5W. But I didn’t like it so I learned enough CW to have SOTA QSOs. With 5W CW on 40m it is easy to make lots of QSOs. Same on 30m and 20m.

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

I think there are more trees in the video than there are in the UK!

Try pasting the name of the summit, Lesný, into Google translate, hi.

QRP SSB activation with a big pileup is possible, just ask Tomáš OK1JRA (he uses Icom 703 with 10W). You have to place an alert or self-spot, and check that there is no contest - that’s one of the advantages of CW: when 40m is full of big guns, you can retreat to the contest-free 30m band.

73 Marek OK1HAG

In reply to OK1BIL:

In preparation for SOTA activations I went to a local park in June 2011 during ARRL Field Day. This was done to check out the setup close to home and make sure everything works. I was able to make a number of contacts most of them relatively close on 40m using my FT-817ND.

I use 8 NiMH AA cells internally in the radio with the radio set to “high” power. I use a link dipole antenna, 6m - 40m. The middle of the dipole is about 8m above the ground.

I used the same setup this fall in Shenandoah National Park and it works quite well for “local” contacts. I generally got 58 and sometimes 59 reports. Of course for those stations farther away, more than about 600km, my signals were not as strong, so it took effort to make a contact.

73,
Doug, N7NGO

Dear Marek,

thank you for the QSO on Saturday. You had a honest 5/9 report over the 100km to my city Kronach.
Unfortunately Youtube blocks your video for German users because of possible copyright problems with the music.
I have tried SSB on HF with the 5W of the FT-817 several times. Success depends very much on conditions and used antenna. Sometimes you are even heard with a mobile whip - sometimes it is hard to get any contact. If found the upper bands (10m, 15m, 20m) easier if the conditions allow it.

Hope to hear you from a summit again,

73 de Michael, DB7MM