Hi Armin,
After seeing that you have achieved more in a year than I in 10 I think I’ll look at other aspects in the hobby. Very well done. Anyone for Solitaire?
73
Ron
vk3afw
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Hi,
Inaccessible Pinnacle GM/SI-002 has to be climbed. I helped MM0DHY do the first activation then after gaining my foundation licence went back a year later and activated the entire Skye Ridge in a single push. We found that the summit is too small for a HF antenna! Short article on GM/SI-002 info page.
73
4 Likes
I should have made it clearer that my CW 1k points mark was already more than half way achieved when I qualified for the all-mode MG in 2018, so I only had about 400 to go. So from that point onwards I made sure of my 4 cw contacts first, before moving to voice modes. It took another 3 years of being very selective in the summits I activated. Support from the CW operators, including you Ron, was essential for this goal. Thanks!
Andrew vk1da/2uh
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HI,
Ardverekie wall has already been climbed by Adrian, MM0DHY in July 2008 as a charity event with his son, then successfully activated. I recall he even had a QSO halfway up on VHF and a rucksack antenna! The climb is on Binnein Schuas GM/WS-198 and is well worth it.
73
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That should be Binnein Shuas. Just waiting for the rain to stop!
1 Like
Thanks for sharing Colwyn. That was a good effort by Adrian!
Oh well, might do Tower Ridge or Observatory Ridge onto Ben Nevis for an activation. Anyone? 
We’re in Fort William for a few days. Today we’ll be mainly shopping and drinking wine! 
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That’s the beauty of SOTA: You can be successful in very different ways.
Chris @DL1CR has only a few summits within a radius of 100km and these only have one or two points. He has to work hard for a mountain goat status. But he is one of the most successful in S2S in Germany.
73 Armin
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My personal SOTA goal is to complete an activation in every state that has a SOTA summit. I am making pretty good progress. Here is a picture of my currently completed states:
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Great stuff, Colwyn!
Thanks for sharing it here.
73, Markus
That is a brilliant goal. Especially when you get to go to Hawaii.
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Hello Stuart, a great challenge. Good luck.
73 Geoff vk3sq
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Great topic!
It was a combination of stumbling across SOTA on-line and finding out about the foundation license that didn’t need a morse test that prompted me to get my license, having been a SWL in my youth. Pretty much all the little goals I set myself in amateur radio are to do with SOTA.
Done
Get foundation license, so I could…
Chase my first SOTA activation
Do my first SOTA activation
Get my full license, so I could…
Do my first overseas SOTA activation
Get to shack sloth
Activate and chase with SSB on 2M
Learn CW so I could…
Do my first CW SOTA chase
Do my first CW SOTA activation
Work in progress (some of which is so slow it’s tricky to detect)
Get shack sloth all CW
Activate with my MTR 3B LCD
Activate with a rig I built myself
Activate all of G/WB
Do a multi day route camping between summits, walking or biking
Do more activations each year than I did the previous year
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Ironically I have been to HI twice and didn’t activate. 
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Thanks Geoff, 73
Having realised I’ve now done the challenge I set myself in this thread I’ve been thinking about other challenges:
- Become an MG
- Become an MG entirely with homebrew equipment
- Become an MG without including winter bonus points
It’s going to take me a long time to get to MG so in the meantime:
- Get 1000 S2S points
- Activate my local summit G/NP-028 more times than Colin M1BUU (I’m on 6 to his 65!)
- S2S outside Europe
- Design and build a rig and antenna for HF bands higher than 20m
- Make as many activations as possible a decent walk rather than just an activation
- Get out on average at least once a week
- Use the train for an activation
- Do the Yorkshire Three Peaks walk and activate all summits on HF
- Do more chasing
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My own private challenge is simply to know MC well enough so that when someone goes off script during an activation I will understand what they sent. 
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All VHF MG of course! 72 points to go. My FT60R and Yagi will soon go into storage!
100 activations this year 7 more to go.
My next goal is MG x 2 all QRP CW which will allow me to activate virgin SOTA summits I have had my eye on.
This past 17 months has been a blast. 2 years ago at this time I didn’t know SOTA existed and was not a licensed ham. I however was a avid peakbagger now I have a reason-other than a summit picture to seek new peaks and adventures!
Erik
KE8OKM
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Very impressed Erik that you are so close to VHF MG within 17 months of starting on the path up the mountain. It took me nearer 4 years (on 2m fm with a max of 5w) in 2013 when this achievement was quite rare. The herd is a great deal larger (and noisier) now but I’m sure we’ll find a quiet corner! Best of luck with the CW and virgin summits. Hope the weather is better with you than it is in G-land at the moment.
73 Viki M6BWA
1 Like
Richard mentioned an important point::
- activations with fully homebrew equipment
Other points:.
- make at least 1000 QSOs with any homebrew TRX before building the next one…
- reduce the weight of the equipment under 1 kg
- only QRP
- adding some winterpoints - after the last attempt that had to be cancelled due to ice rain only 2km before the summit, I have a different view on this. The challenges are significantly higher than those during summer activations.
- use the RIT more often
- one activation per week
- do not rush from one activation to the next - enjoy hiking as well
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