As the thread title says… ( Moved from the last event to here )
YES!!! (And if I had my choice, we would move it up another few weeks. Winter weather arrives suddenly in the NE USA and it often happens in mid/late-October. Plus there’s the extra daylight we’d have.)
Were so many of us having TOO much fun? 
Yes, we do need events with a narrow QRV time frame for activators on both sides of the pond.
I think this discussion probably needs to have its own thread.
73 Barry N1EU
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IMHO this is a question that can never be fully answered as there are so many variables. The event was moved forward two weeks to help the guys over the pond in respect of the weather. Feedback on whether the earlier date was helpful would be appreciated, but again that is subject to location and the onset of “winter”, whenever that might be. The fact that we had Malcolm and Malen out on the summits was encouraging.
I am still considering when the spring event should be - April or May - no doubt that will give Ed something to think about in terms of minimising disruption from contests and we will need to liaise with Mike and Andrew over the date for the VK/ZL/JA<>EU event. Running the two just two weeks apart seemed to work for us in EU - comments on this would be welcome from those that take part in both events.
For me, the autumn Trans-Atlantic S2S event has been generally more successful than the one held in the spring. I think it is worthwhile continuing with two events per year to keep the level of interest up. I am also looking forward to a return to the good times when working across the pond is a regular occurrence. The question then will be whether we need these S2S events. My personal view is that it would be good to keep them going as with a specific timeframe it does concentrate the opportunities for S2S contacts.
VVVVVVVVVV Here it is! VVVVVVVVVV
What makes you think I can do it without breaking something? 
EDIT:
Apparently it’s not 
science!
Just for a baseline, we’ve historically been holding the Spring event on the same day as the QRPTTF event. But we can always move it. Last year it was April 21.
73 Barry N1EU
As far as my vote goes, I am ok with the cold, but many summits are actually officially closed during nighttime hours. And the sooner and more often the better, that was great!
Yeah, maybe we could do this every 2 months, but I’d leave out the winter months 
I’m NOT okay with the Dec/Jan/Feb cold when we’re operating for 2-3 hours.
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(My personal opinion here)
I believe a reason these events are so well supported is they are relatively infrequent and I feel that makes many people more determined to be QRV so they don’t miss the event. If you have them too frequently then you may well find the “if I miss this one there is another in a few weeks” attitude will become a lot more apparent.
I do not know what the sweet-spot rate to hold them is but I feel twice a year is the minimum but 4 times a year maybe already too many especially when other events are interleaved. However, as long as those involved in promoting the events are happy with the level are participation, then maybe that is not a problem.
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(Personal Opinion - so don’t flame me):
My take-away from this years event is, that I personally, would prefer the event NOT to be on a weekend for two reasons:
- the inevitable contest QRM
- the interuptions from the public on the summit (especially if an easy to access summit is used).
As I said - a personal opinion but I certainly enjoyed more and was more successful with my activation on Thursday afternoon than on Saturday.
Before someone says it - I know a lot of people work Monday-Friday and hence can only get out at the weekend - but what about a public holiday? It won’t avoid my “busy with annoying uncontrolled kids” scenario but at least it will get rid of the contesters I hope. If we’re now talking Spring 2019 - how about Easter and Good Friday or Easter Monday? April 19th or 22nd.
73 Ed.
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Will that not negate your point number 2?
I can see where you are coming from but public holidays might not be the best solution
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Now that I’m retired, I agree
73 Barry N1EU
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Not retired but rotating shifts so I like the mid-week idea.
Malen
VE6VID
That’s interesting, I thought the mid week (not a public holiday) option would be blown out of the water but here we have two people able to fit with that already (three with me).
In answer to your question Barry, if I still go on a busy day, perhaps I need to find a point away from the actual summit in the future. Don’t get me wrong - I’m very happy to explain the hobby to anyone who is interested, but the “young lady” deliberately damaging someone elses property seriously annoyed me off.
Here’s my completed activation report in any case:
73 Ed.
Is this not obligatory on summits where the public number more than an occasional hiker? You need a pair of headphones and dark glasses as a defence against interrogation Ed. 
Seriously, the best summits are those on which I am virtually guaranteed to be alone or with other activators. Unfortunately these tend to be more remote and so not particularly suitable for early or late activations on account of the access or egress in the dark.
Weekday vs weekend - personally it matters not to me, but having it on a weekday inevitably will rule out some wishing to take part. I can see a summer event, probably on a weekday, working well when the solar cycle has improved.
Personally the limiting environmental factor this time of year is freezing rain. It can make driving and hiking next to impossible and operating quite difficult. … But that can happen here any time fron mid-October to mid-December so probably not a consideration for the timing of the Fall event. On the other hand one of the frequent VE2 operators has hung up his trekking poles for the winter. Perhaps an earlier date would encourage him to participate next year
There are a lot of considerations, adverse weather, propagation, hours of daylight. This time of year hunting season keeps me off some trails. I think Gerald, Ed, and Barry have done a great job choosing the timing so far.
I really enjoy these S2S events, please let’s continue them - at least until trans-atlantic S2S becomes commonplace.
I originally voted to have the Spring event on the same day as QRPTTF. I have changed my mind as I now realize that my goals are different for the two events. For example, I would like to run higher power for the S2S event and maybe a more directional antenna. So I would like the Spring event moved away from QRPTTF.
I am in this category. I worked Friday and was back in at work Sunday, so I had to push myself to get out for Saturday’s event. If there had been another S2S event next weekend, I probably would have given this one a miss. I don’t know what event frequency hits the sweet spot either.
I am in the work Monday to Friday camp and my vote is to continue to hold the events on weekends or holidays.
Thanks,
Malcolm VE2DDZ
The weekend or non-weekend issue is solved by having one event over a weekend and one on a weekday, assuming just 2 events per year.
I prefer the weekends as many of the Arizona ops are still working (like me). Week days would reduce the number of ops that could participate.
November works well here in Arizona for this event. Historically November is our best month for EU-NA DX (based on my 53 years worth of logs).
When the solar cycle improves we could move the event a bit, but I believe we are a few years out from “good” conditions in September or October.
For now I would leave it as is.
Pete
WA7JTM
No.
Some of the visitors were a pleasure to talk with. I haven’t had such issues in the past but in the future I will be trying to avoid “the madding crowds”.
I’ll second that but why stop when transatlantic S2S becomes commonplace (if ever!) the events with widespread high levels of activator participation will always have a special “buzz” about them - twice a year per event is just right to balance novelty and opportunity
73 de Paul G4MD/G6GGP
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Hi Mario,
I think your post about your activation would be better in this other thread: