Planned Activation of SV/CR-001, Timios Stavros - 2454m, 10 Points

Activation Reports Pre-Planning
1

Dear all:

On either May 30 or 31, I am planning to activate the highest mountain of Crete, Timios Stavros,

https://www.sota.org.uk/Summit/SV/CR-001

also known as Mount Ida, Idha, Ídhi, Idi, Ita, or Psiloritis. I will update details here once my plans will be more mature. The activation will be CW-only on 40-30-20m. Since I have never before tried an activation from Crete, and because propagation / distance to chasers will be quite different from my usual summits in the Alps, I would very much appreciate any hints on frequencies and maybe antennas etc.

My callsign will be SV9/DK3IT/P

73 de Martin, DK3IT

1 Like
2

Hi Martin,
to check and predict the propagation I like to use this link:
http://www.voacap.com/p2p/index.html
Obviously, 20m could be the band of choice for contacts to Central Europe
during daytime.
I was in Crete some yrs ago - without SOTA - and got lots of QSOs with qrp.
Being on an IOTA island provides many contacts.
GL, have fun
Martin DF3MC

3

Hi Martin, Happy to know your plans. I agree with Martin, DF3MC, that 20m must be the main choice, and depends on the day/hour 30m as “spare” band.
From here, SV is easily workable on 20M almost any time.
Good luck in your project.
73 Jorge EA2LU

1 Like
4

Hi Jorge, Martin: Thanks for the suggestions! Will likely start with 20m to qualify the summit and then try 30 and 40 if time permits.

73 de Martin, DK3IT

5

Dear all:

My plan is now almost set. I will try SV/CR-001, Timios Stavros (10 Points) on Thursday, May 31, 2018.

I think I will be on QRV on the summit around 11:00 UTC, but the exact time is very approximate (+/- 1 - 2 hours).

My callsign will be SV9/DK3IT/P.

I will be operating CW-only from my MTR-3B-based TinySOTA station. The antenna will be either the 3-band EFHW with traps (@HB9BCB design) or my SOTA Superlight Vertical with Loading Coil, maybe matched by an Elecraft T1.

Contrary to my usual order of calling frequencies, I will start calling on 20m (around 14.062), then 30m (10.118) and if time permits, 40m (7.031 or 7.002).

As usual:

  • please QRS @ 12 WPM,
  • please spot me,
  • please give your call sign once only initially and twice when I request an incomplete call.

I should have 30 minutes or more on the summit and thus be able to work all waiting chasers.

Thanks for your support!

73 de Martin, DK3IT

6

Weather looks good, so the trip and attempt to activate will become a reality!

Hope to hear you tomorrow in the bands!

73 de Martin, SV9/DK3IT/P

7

Servus Martin,
gute Entscheidung :wink:
Morgen ist Feiertag und ich kann auch meine Antenne in Richtung SV9 drehen
und meine Ohren spitzen :grinning:
Hoffentlich klappt es mit QSO auf 20m.
Schönen Urlaub!
73, Mario DJ2MX

8

Hi all,

I am back safe and sound, and the activation was a success. It was super-windy on the summit (not to say: stormy), so I went QRT after ca. 25 minutes, and only tried 20m. 20m worked well into Central Europe, unfortunately EA seemed to have been outside the skip distance, and for NA it was likely a bit too early.

Thanks to all chasers!

73 de Martin, DK3IT

sv-cr-001-log
sv-cr-001-log.png1398×668 80.8 KB

1 Like
9

Sorry, the times I submitted were wrong because the thin air :wink: had impeded my ability to do basic calculus when converting local time to UTC. So all times were two hours late. I deleted the old entry and uploaded a corrected one. Just in case you wondered…

73 de Martin, DK3IT

PS: Activation report will follow, as promised.