Thats been top of my list for a while, been putting it off until I could spend the time to do it properly as its a bit of a drive from down here. I’m reasonably familar with the Inner Hebrides but really want to explore further out, its a lovely part of the world.
Jonathan
Or Maritime Mobile
I suspect 2m handheld with a decent antenna would reach a fair way over the open sea to the Outer Hebrides. HF on a vertical would work too. There are a lot of variables that could get in the way of this however!
More summits more time to aquire the taste?
It also has a special charm for me to activate a summit first. Especially if this summit has been valid for years.
Mountain climbing is out of the question for me… so the only summits left are in regions where SOTA activators are rarely on the move… or they are unpopular summits that are rather far away or can only be reached through a lot of undergrowth.
But there are still enough of both in Europe.
But I also find it interesting to activate summits that are visited much less frequently, such as a 6 point summit in the midst of 10 point summits.
I make trips where SOTA is clearly in the foreground. (like my Swabian Alb or F/MC and EA2 trip) I then do these trips alone and make several summits a day.
…At the moment I am thinking about how long it would take to do all the summits of ON, LX and PA. Will a 2 week holiday be enough? And actually - it’s a shame that I haven’t been to DL/XX yet… or OE…? which is also just 250 km away.
Fortunately, there are also hiking (not only hiking!) holidays with my wife, where the goal of a hike can also be a valid summit (like our G/DC - G/SC Trip) .
Here, the next destination is EA8/GC in March… and Tuscany in the course of the year… For the next few years, Cyprus and Israel are on our wish list (also because of the culinary delights)… and she really wants to go to Greece again…
There is still a lot to do… on personal DX-peditions.
73 Armin
With my skill set and retirement budget, Goat Fell GM/SI-006 is as exotic as I go with island activations. I operated 2m FM there pre-SOTA in the 1990’s. I must have been to Arran more than a dozen times with my kids back then but they were too young and tired to reach the summit. There was a kind of magic about the place with my golden retrievers dozing under our seats on the ferry, wandering around the grounds of Brodick Castle, and the fish and chips supper on our way back to the return ferry.
And 25+ years later, nostalgia is beckoning me back come the spring or early summer.
Looking at the activator list on SOTLAS there was 3 years between my activation and the previous one, so whilst not rare it isn’t commonly activated either.
As I found out, you’ve got to get lucky with the WX however!
Goodness me… at last there is something we agree on 100%. 
Island activations are absolutely brilliant. The Orkney trip that Paul G4MD set up for the two of us back in 2012 was just marvellous. I highly recommend a bit of island hopping to add to the interest, all planned into the itinerary which went extremely smoothly. Islay in 2013 and Mull in 2016 were similarly enjoyable, even without any islands to hop to (Jura was one step too far in the time available). Oh… the Islay beer is pretty good as well. 
A return to Mull is still there in the planning file.
For those interested in Scottish Islands and cars… CalMac Ferries do tickets called Island Hoppers that give a number of trips so you can (wait for it) go island hopping. i.e. you can buy one ticket that lets you go from Ullapool on the mainland to Stornoway on Lewis. Drive across Lewis, Harris. Get the ferry from Leverburgh to Borgh on North Uist. Drive on North Uist, Grimsay, Benbecula, South Uist, Eriskay. Then ferry to Barra. Drive Barra and Vatersay. Finally getting tferry from Castelbay, Barra to Oban on the mainland. This is just for the Outer Hebrides.
There are 62 SOTA summits on these islands above linked by CalMac ferries which should be enough for anyone to start with. Some of these are quite trivial summits and some are serious undertakings involving difficult terrain that is seriously remote for UK geography.
In addition to the 62 on the “main” islands there are another 9 islands needing private boat hire to reach.
There are still a number of unactivated summits on the main islands. Given that the 9 needing private boat hire have all been activated and the unactivated are on the main islands, it should give you some idea of the effort needed.
Thanks for the video Joe, it was fascinating to watch, but not the inspiration. Actually, the real primer for the question came from me needing to fix my Coordinate Converter which was having some subtle problems when dealing with negative numbers, specifically South and East Lat/Long.
So I went on SOTLAS and found some peaks I could use as an easy reference, and happened across South Georgia & South Sandwich Islands with my test summit being randomly picked, the exotically named Henriksen Buttress. I’m not suggesting a DXpedition there, but it is clearly a land of untapped SOTA opportunity, and will probably rightly so remain like that for a long time!
Fascinating all the responses however. With Scotland on my doorstep and having had very little SOTA activity outside the Lake District it is clearly a consideration. I did have a trip planned to the Orkney Islands last year that was scuppered, would be nice to at least re-plan that trip.
I’m up for suggestion possibilities for a SOTA DXpedition however. I can someone legitimately call myself an event organiser now.
Dark drizzly winter evenings here in the Lake District are the ideal time to do some virtual tourism.
Cheers, Mark.
Well a possible idea is…
As I said, I am driven by uniques and completes (I have some people to blame for this affliction). I was looking at a Hebrides expedtion and if I go on my own I can rack up plenty of uniques but few completes. A better plan would be to have a team of me and A. N. Other going to Stornoway and working South, with CW and SSB activations simultaneously. And say the well known team of Gerald G4OIG and Paul G4MD starting in Barra working North. That way you get 4 stations (2xCW 2xSSB) active at the same time for the chasers with the activators getting uniques and the chance to get completes as well. They meet in the middle and get suitably merry at a hostelry before continuing North/South.
Add in a few more teams to make it more fun. Or mad.
When are we off? 
Well that looks like a real adventure.
Let’s get into winter survival training mode.
73 Joe
Don’t get me started [again]
Hmm, glad that I don’t go to your dentist… or perhaps I should as I really like Laphroaig… which reminds me I have a bottle that needs opening. Agreed that it is an acquired taste. However, when you’ve had a free trip around the distillery (myself and Peter G3YCT on an expedition to the island in 1971) and tried everything from the raw spirit to the finished article, then it becomes attached to your genes! I mostly drink 12 year old Bowmore nowadays as I’ve become a wuss.
You may well recall discussions some years ago about a large group of us hiring a sizeable property somewhere in Scotland and doing just that. I’m not sure what scuppered the idea, but maybe it needs to be resurrected once the current ailment is in retreat.
OT, non-drinkers ignore.
Laphroaig just needs practice and a good splash of water. Lots of practice. I really enjoy it. Not too fond of Ardberg products. When Bruichladdich re-opened they had no vintage product so sold a non-vintage blended malt of various ages, Bruichladdich Rocks. It was not pricey and was fantastic. They don’t sell any more as they have aged barrels available.
I’ve been consuming lots of Bowmore the past few years. Both No. 1 which is a non-vintage and the Bowmore 12yr. The 12yr is £40/ 70cl bottle in supermarkets to get a price point. It’s expensive at £40 but my local supermarket sells it at £25-27 every 6months and it’s a steal at that price.
Ooooh scary… that’s one we agree on 
Whisky is good in containing the alcoholic in me as I seem to always have had enough after a single glass. The same cannot be said of Kraken Rum unfortunately.
Appleton Estate 8yr Reserve Rum is currently in vogue here, a recent birthday present.
I can tell you what will make you a Whisky fan, The Dalmore 18yr. As I had an significant birthday recently my work colleagues think enough of me (despite my outspoken nature 
) that they bought me a bottle of this. As it’s £125/bottle I was genuinely pleased they thought so much (only 20 people in my office) I also have a healthy sized amount Cotswold Outdoor vouchers to spend.
Anyway Dalmore 18yr… makes every other whisky taste horrific. Shame it is so expensive or I would drink it all the time.
So kind of you to offer Andy, I can be there for about 8 this evening? 
Off Topic… In September I began a phased retirement. One of my previous colleagues explained that when he reached 55 he was going to try and become incompetent so that by the time he got older he was able to be incompetent without trying and when the inevitable budgetary issues occurred a magic door would open… <This story is not related to my radio operating skills –I hope> Over the last year I have been quite careful to direct some work to colleagues and perhaps be somewhat less useful and have managed to redirect the “I don’t know what we would do without you” comments with ways of doing without….
So far the 1 day off a week appears to be linked – (Butterfly Effect?) to a day of rubbish weather – It is probably factored into forecast models, but sailing over a somewhat uncertain horizon is the possibility of having more time so if these ideas get off the ground please count me in. I fancy having a go at both some of islands south of Barra and some of the ones on Harris and Lewis. Easter should be on Mull which also seems to have some rarely activated summits.
Fingers crossed that Covid behaves itself, my escape tunnel does not collapse and hopefully the fantasy activations that fit between e-mails as I look at OS maps become real. Probably too early to pencil in dates – I might still be working …. 73
(PS I do like the Islay malts but the hills on Islay don’t look as inspiring as some of the others…but I would be happy to be proved wrong)
Paul