For some reason this event seems to be under-publicized here. The event is loosely scheduled for both days of the weekend of 7-8 September, with most activity during daylight in North American locations.
During the recent W7 activity weekend (2-4 August), something over 500 points was available during the weekend, so the full NA weekend should be even better! This is because of more participation from all NA regions with better seasonal propagation to Europe (and other continents).
I’ve run a propagation forecast using HamCAP assuming the current SSN of 58, and 10 Watts to dipoles on both ends of the W4 to DL path. The optimum times (for SNR = 10 dB or better) for propagation by band are:
Unfortunately there appears to be little possibility of 12m propagation unless we get an unexpected increase in solar activity. If that were to happen a short peak might be possible from 1330-1430.
Some here may overnight to take advantage of the early 20m opening to Europe (1030 UTC is 6:30 AM local Eastern time), so be alert for early activity even though the start time is publicized as “about” 1200 UTC on 7 September.
Because seasonal propagation is much better than it was during the late July FOBB event, I believe this one will be MUCH better for EU<>NA QSOs.
I’ve run a propagation forecast using HamCAP assuming the current SSN
of 58, and 10 Watts to dipoles on both ends of the W4 to DL path. The
optimum times (for SNR = 10 dB or better) for propagation by band are:
Unfortunately there appears to be little possibility of 12m
propagation unless we get an unexpected increase in solar activity.
If that were to happen a short peak might be possible from 1330-1430 or 2030-2130z.
The above still appears to be accurate for NOAA’s latest propagation forecast (SFI = 105, A = 5):
Unfortunately there appears to be little possibility of 12m propagation unless
…it’s a band that seems to enjoy playing games. Yesterday, for instance, it was doing quite a bit of here-one-minute, gone-the-next stuff. I heard N4EX working HB9BCB/P before I could hear HB9BCB/P well enough to work him myself.
In reply to W4ZV:
“For some reason this event seems to be under-publicized here. The event is loosely scheduled for both days of the weekend of 7-8 September, with most activity during daylight in North American locations.”
THANKS Bill…first I heard of it…probably because I don’t follow the NA SOTA Yahoo site…I suppose I would have caught on this weekend with all the Spots!!! Looking forward to getting home tonight to my rig! Setting my alarm clock for tomorrow morning!
When I saw nobody was talking about it, I copied a message from K0MOS in QRZ news section.
I also dont follow NA SOTA yahoo.
The continent needs lots more chasers. We got a good group of activators but not enough chasers. Why is it not as popular as in Europe here? I dont have a clue.
Unfortunately, WX forecast in VE2 is terrible for the weekend…
I’ll be on Saturday. Changed plans to a lower summit. Monsoon is strong enough that could have AM tstorms, not just afternoon at the originally planned peak. I’ll be on CW only and will start with 15 and 17, as DX is nice. I dunno if EU is in the works for me or not. Definitely hoping for S2S.
I’ve been thrilled to have chasers on the few activations I’ve done so far. It’s a new set of CW skills to hone being on the receiving side of a pileup. To try to build some karma, I’ve recently tried chasing. I spent part of lunch break a few times at the club shack (W6QAR) and have been able to successfully work a number of activators.
I’ve been trying to drum up activity locally; we have a mailing list for SD (San Diego) SOTA. Everyone on the list has activated in SD county so far this year. Some have been very active! I’ve presented to the W6QAR club. I plan to at least get an article into the newsletter of the largest club in town; maybe present there, too? Hoping at least to get some local awareness to help with VHF+ during activations.