For those of you who like to visualise where the summits are, kml files for SOTA-France are now available at http://www.sota-france.fr/sota-r1.html There are a few known errors, which will soon be corrected, but, with more than 2500 summits listed, our French colleagues have done an excellent job preparing this data.
73 de Les, G3VQO
In reply to G3VQO:
Excellent job. Sure looks good Les… though I’m not sure about their “wether” forecast info… (look that up in a dictionary, Hi!).
Do you know what the situation is with regards to access to the French summits? Is there a general rule (such as in Scotland) or is it like England / Wales where you might be accosted by a GOML? Just interested since we are considering a return to France for a holiday after some years absence.
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
Hi Gerald
Thanks for the “heads up” on the spelling error.
I have not yet tried operating from any French summits but, from my experience of activating windmills and watermills for the Diplôme des Moulins de France, the French are far more laid-back about people on their land. Whenever I have asked I have never been refused access, and, when I have set up somewhere without checking first, they invariably smile and walk/drive past, only stopping if you attempt to talk to them. Any attempt to speak French is met with encouragement and patience. I find the French so much less judgemental about people doing their own thing - very relaxing. I’m really looking forward to some enjoyable SOTA activations in the future.
Enjoy your visit.
73 de Les
In reply to G3VQO:
Hi Les
Interesting. I looked at a few summits in F/NO. Take F/NO-001 and F/NO-002 as an example. Well F/NO-002 is actually in a valley and not on the summit, but assuming is should really be on the summit, there is only 37m drop between the summits.
Any thoughts on this?
73 John GW4BVE
In reply to GW4BVE:
F/NO-008 and F/NO-019 appear to be on the same summit and there is zero drop between them. Am I doing something wrong? 73 John GW4BVE
In reply to GW4BVE:
F/NO-008 and F/NO-019 appear to be on the same summit and there is zero drop between them. Am I doing something wrong? 73 John GW4BVE
For some reason, the NO region seems to have a lot of errors! I believe it was the first region compiled, and the position data format caused a lot of difficulties. With the first draft two NO summits could not be seen at all - until they were discovered near Bouvet Island in the South Atlantic! I am told that, although corrections have been made, the files “seem to have a mind of their own” and the errors keep returning. It will be sorted asap, but I thought people would like to see the (imperfect) data as early as possible to get an idea of the vast selection of summits in France. My random checks of other regions have shown no problems, but,with more than 2500 summits in the database, I’m sure that one of you can find something “not quite right”!!!
Thanks for the feedback.
73 de Les, G3VQO
In reply to G4OIG:
Do you know what the situation is with regards to access to the French
summits? Is there a general rule (such as in Scotland) or is it like
England / Wales where you might be accosted by a GOML? Just interested
since we are considering a return to France for a holiday after some
years absence.
Here in F/AB and F/JU should not be a big problem if you hike to the summit alone or with XYL/friend. One of the most popular activities is to climb on a neighbouring summit on Sunday morning, so you can expect to find also other people there if the weather is good. So if on your IGN map there is nothing special mentioned and there is a hiking route going to the summit, just go there. There may be some exceptions however. For example AB-015 Aiguille du Midi 3842 m can be accessed with telepherique from Chamonix, but you may need permission to setup your station up there. The IGN maps were reprinted a few years ago, since their coordinate system was not compatible with the WGS84 used by the GPS. So before you buy a map it is better to check that the compatibility with GPS is mentioned on the map. Note also that France has some high mountain regions, where good physical condition and knowledge on the high mountains is needed. For the weather you can consult Meteo France
73, Jaakko OH7BF/F5VGL