With respect to attaining Shack Sloth, I would really like to achieve it, but I have been doing SOTA for nearly 5 years and I am on just over 300 points. I don’t (and never have had) a shack at home, so all my chasing is from my SOTA activations.
Shortly after I started SOTA in 2004, I met my now wife and then had a child, so SOTA has had to be just slotted in whenever there was a gap in the schedule! As has been often stated, SOTA is highly personal and there is nothing stopping anyone setting their own goals and reaching them. For me I have four goals, which are the set goals of Shack Sloth and Mountain Goat, and the half goat and half sloth along the way.
I appreciate the number of QSO’s needed to achieve Shack Sloth, so this surely constitutes the same amount of effort, whether it is over a few days or a few years.
Mike you have achieved a lot in SOTA in a little time, and this I feel in no way detracts from my own SOTA achievements, nor does the fact you have achieved a lot, belittles what you HAVE achieved! I know what I mean!
Hope this weather gets better so that I can achieve half goat this year!
Thanks for confirming the situation Mario. It doesn’t surprise me as the whole episode seemed a little strange to me at the time and it didn’t exactly sound like your fist or signal. However, as I mentioned, I couldn’t hang around to check it out as I was late for a meeting some kilometres away.
Yes Colin, I do know and understand what you mean.
Everybody’s circumstances are different of course and that is why SOTA is so addictive, we can all go at our own pace and set our own goals.
In some respects I wish I was in your position because on the chaser side there’s not a lot left for me to do. My main target now is 3,000 uniques chased. The points don’t mean anything to me now, in fact they have become a nuisance because there is no limits any more. I was going to stop at 20,000 but now 30,000 beckons, grrrrrr SOTA.
We must remember the golden rule though no matter what our goals and achievements are, it’s a hobby and therefore it should be fun, I lost sight of that for a while.
I shall see if I can provide, not only a unique for you this weekend, but a unique for everyone. There are still a fair few hills within a reasonable distance of my qth where the activation count is 0.
Though of course, all this is WX and snow dependant!
Please save some zeros for Jimmy in August. Something he has never achieved in SOTA is a first activation. Even I have a few of them, although nothing on the scale of the likes of G3CWI, MW0YLS, G4RQJ et al. Jimmy started SOTA expeditions in September 2002, but by the time he gained his licence in 2005, there were no more ‘firsts’ to be done in G, and GW4BVE was busy seeing to GW.
To compound matters, we did GI/MM-013 last year, and it was me that operated before Jimmy. I hadn’t realised it was a ‘virgin’ summit! Please save him one lads - or I’ll never hear the last of it
Huh you must be getting old Tom. If you are near Lossiemouth, just ask for one of their Sea Kings to drop you off near the summit. If you speak nicely to them they may even let you fix a nice vertical attached to the helicopter. Guess you’ll have to use headphones though.
Now, if you were going down to Cornwall I’m sure my eldest son would help. He’s in Sea Kings out of RNAS Culdrose - unfortunately, early warning, not air-sea rescue!
We’re not going anywhere near there! Can you leave us something a bit
nearer to Lossiemouth? Pretty please.
Tom M1EYP
Hi Tom,
Quite close to Lossiemouth are several NS hills which have not been activated - unfortunately there is a bit of a swim involved to do them. I will leave them for Jimmy!!
I shall see if I can provide, not only a unique for you this weekend,
but a unique for everyone. There are still a fair few hills within a
reasonable distance of my qth where the activation count is 0.
Remember to check with Guru Jack whether he’s activated the summit you choose Andy. He’s still “stalled” on May 2006 with his database logging.
I’m fairly sure that unless the database has been updated the first to enter an activation is shown as the first activator even if someone else subsequently enters an activation on an earlier date.
However, even if they have an activation count of 1, it’s so long since some of them were on the air they are essentially unique to the majority of chasers.
Avalanche risk now at 4 for parts of Glen Coe area… so I won’t be going near there.
I did a test on the database Andy and the first activation is definitely date related. That’s why I checked with Jack before I bagged the two first activations in GM/SS in October 2007. Anyway, as you say, a low count would still ensure the summit was a unique for the majority of chasers.
