In reply to M0LEP:
Yes it comes and goes. Right now 3.30pm 20/10/11 it seems to have gone again.
It was not there when I checked a lot earlier this morning.
Trouble is you can check the frequency is clear, post an alert but by the time you reach the summit the calling frequency is unusable.
Do we have an alternative calling frequency?
73
Dave
In reply to GM4NFI:
Do we have an alternative calling frequency?
No, but we have the ability to spot ourselves remotely.
We also have the ability to call CQ on a clear(er) frequency too! 
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
In reply to GM4NFI:
Do we have an alternative calling frequency?
No, but we have the ability to spot ourselves remotely.
We also have the ability to call CQ on a clear(er) frequency too!
There is no such thing as a SOTA “calling frequency”.
Yesterday morning at about 09:00 BST, an SV2 station called CQ on 7032 kHz, whereupon someone with a very strong CW signal demanded that he should QSY “because this is the SOTA frequency”. When the SV2 started a QSO with someone who had responded to his CQ call, he was then deliberately jammed by the anonymous station who had objected to his presence. There was no SOTA traffic on the frequency at any stage during this incident.
I believe this kind of behaviour shows SOTA in a very poor light and needs to be discouraged. SOTA has no prior right to any frequency or band sector.
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
In reply to G3NYY:
Maybe we can use 14.195 
In reply to G1INK:
Or 145.525 on a Sunday Morning ?
Roger G4OWG
ps I totally agree with Walt’s sentiments
On HF and SSB/CW elsewhere there should be no calling frequencies.
Only ‘centres of activity’.
In reply to G4OWG:
I totally agree with Walt’s sentiments
On HF and SSB/CW elsewhere there should be no calling frequencies.
Only ‘centres of activity’.
You try calling “CQ SOTA” on 5 megs anywhere except on channel FE, the silence is deafening!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G3NYY:
Absolutely Walt: there are no SOTA frequencies. There are some centres of activity which are worth listening aorund. 7032kHz is a good example. Originally SOTA ops tended to use 7030kHz which is a QRP centre of activity. Whilst SOTA activators may be QRP many of the chasers are not. This non-QRP operation did cause some friction with some QRPers, so the SOTA centre of activity was moved to 7032kHz, away from the main QRP activity. Is it “our” frequency? No.
The unknown “band policeman” is not acting in the interests of SOTA in anyway even if his intentions were honourable to him. There’s no way of being sure that the LID was a chaser or just someone out to stir up trouble.
In reply to G8ADD:
Yes, Brian. Calling CQ not on FE can be a soul destroying task. When it is in use I’ve broken into existing non-SOTA QSOs and asked if I could call CQ SOTA and take the chaser pack to some other part of 5MHz. It’s always been a delight that the ops using FE have been happy to let me call CQ, sometimes for a few times over several minutes or they have QSY’d and left me FE. There is gentlemanly activity on the bands still.
To some extent it’s less of an issue when people can remotely spot themselves. Not useful for those without internet access to see these spots but there are quite a few SOTA spotting nets running on 2m/70cms in parts of the UK where the word is spread on there first before the spots appear on SOTAWATCH.
There is no need for band policeman… whilst we’d all like more spectrum to play with, there is quite a lot available for those who put a bit of effort into their hobby.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to GM4NFI:
Also to hear in Austria, OE7 land Tirol. Most after 1200Z.
Holger
OE7HPI
In reply to OE7HPI:
Hi Holger,
From my observations this is definitely REA4, a Russian military station. It has been around for a very long time & occasionally pops up in the amateur bands.
For the benefit of everybody, the best way of dealing with this sort of QRM while activating is to simply find another frequency. There is no point trying to jam the QRM, or for those with the facility, trying to be louder by turning up your amplifier. This is a military station, with no doubt with much more power than any amateur has available & any attempt at drowning them out would probably only cause them to increase their power.
At least in this case the station is identifying itself & transmitting a clean signal that only occupies a narrow bandwidth (less than one SSB voice channel).
As already mentioned, we do not have “calling frequencies” as such on HF, & certainly no “SOTA exclusive” frequencies, although some frequencies have come to be seen as such due to their popularity with activators. The simple reason for this, is that a CQ SOTA call on a frequency regularly used by other SOTA activators is more likely to bring a response from a SOTA chaser who may be monitoring that frequency anyway. A SOTA chaser is more likely to understand that you are on a summit & may have limited time / battery power, whereas a “normal” amateur station who may be unfamiliar with SOTA will not.
There have always been problems with “Intruders” in the 40m band, long before amateurs in IARU Region one gained 7100KHz to 7200KHz, as it is a very useful part of the spectrum for broadcast & communication alike. While it is annoying to hear broadcast stations within amateur exclusive bands, it is far more annoying when a neighbouring government who may disagree with the content of such broadcasts decides to jam the broadcast. It is often this jamming, which is nearly always unidentified & much more wideband than the original station, that causes amateurs more problems.
As I mentioned earlier, the best way to deal with “QRM” of a military or government nature, in the short term, is to find another frequency to use. While it is nice to moan about it & get things off your chest, & certainly useful to know how others are receiving the QRM, there is little point moaning about it on here.
The IARU have a department who are dedicated to dealing with intrusion into the amateur bands & they have been quite successful in dealing with these issues over the years.
Below is a link to the IARU Region 1 website:
http://www.iaru-r1.org/
The best way to get QRM of this nature stopped is to report it, giving as much information as you can. On the lower left hand menu of the above page under the heading “Working Groups” you will see “Monitoring system (IARUMS)”.
This is the place to report intrusions into the amateur bands in IARU region 1. I am sure there is a similar facility for other IARU regions.
While you may see this as a big problem, it is not. This QRM will be removed from the 40m band within a few weeks if REA4 haven’t left of their own accord before then, & all you have to do is report it using the internet.
Wouldn’t it be lovely if that was all you had to do when one of your neighbours purchases a PLA networking device. Maybe this 40m QRM doesn’t seem so bad now does it?
Please feel free to disagree, but I am sure we will hear much more of this sort of QRM as Solar maximum approaches.
Best 73,
Mark G0VOF