Continuing the discussion from SOTA Fun Evening - 2m FM & SSB (Part 1) - #100 by DG7ACF.
Previous discussions:
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Decent activation. 130 QSOs:
2m FM: 44 QSOs
2m CW: 2 QSOs
2m SSB: 84 QSOs
I did notice spots of DP9X on KST, but didn’t hear anything from EU to the east of me all evening. In fact only heard two stations in mainland EU all night - both F - and only worked one of them. Also failed to get EI. Intra UK (G, GW, GD, GI, GM) was pretty healthy though.
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DM/NS-135 440 m asl
100 W @ 11 dBd 19 m agl
Superb wx, only a very light breeze, good activity and some nice surprises, however condx being average. After moonrise, sky cleared and it got almost day-bright in the pale moonlight.
On the descent I quite hurried to get back to the car, as I heard a dog barking quite aggressively not that far away from me. Scary. Definitively nearer than the nearest village and there are usually no hunters around in this area. Haven’t heard of any wild dogs in Niedersachsen, though.
Anyway, I felt lucky since I chose the ridgeway instead of the forest road, from where the barking seemed to come. I knew I was too fast on the bumpy trail and even faster when I reached the steep forest road, which I couldn’t avoid for the last kilometer. With my knees hurting now, I’m hoping they will forgive me.
s2s: DB7MM/p on DM/TH-012
QSO map: log analyzer
Ahoi
Pom
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Are you out tonight for the 2m FT8 event Pom? I reckon we would make that QSO. I’ll be QRV 1900-2100z.
Today I feel comfortable in my shack.
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Not so great last night. It was unseasonally cold and uncomfortably windy on G/SP-015. I still hadn’t gotten round to sorting a few things on my SB5 antenna - like making and fitting replacement rubber rings to keep elements securely in place - or checking the condition of the guy cords on the centrepiece…
Stuff I’d be “meaning to do” for a while (about 18 months)…
As a result, I lost around 40 minutes of operating time refixing the guys, putting the elements back into position, unbending them after a collapse etc etc etc. Poor show really. The uncared-for antenna still performed perfectly in benign wx conditions, so I got complacent!
33 QSOs made, all 2m FT8:
6 DXCCs: EI, F, G, GI, GM, ON
18 QRAs: IO61, 62, 63, 70, 74, 75, 81, 82, 83, 84, 91, 92, 93, 94, JN18, JO01, 02, 21.
This morning I have just given the SB5 the long awaited TLC. So hopefully June’s 2m activity nights are much more efficiently coped with, whatever the wx (except electrical storms … no answer to those).
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DM/NS-135 Lauensteiner Kopf
100 W @ 11 dBd, 19 m agl
Dull condx but decent activity is a combination you don’t get very often. Almost perfect wx, only air pressure was quite low @ 1008 hpa. Somebody switched off the wind shortly after 1700z and didn’t switch it on again before 2100z. Tnx!
QSO with LA2Z (ODX, 813 km) was completed 2 mins ahead of the aircraft that should have reflected each other’s signals. 
First 60 mins operation time were a continous pile-up. I can’t remember when the last time was I had something alike. 
To my surprise, I wasn’t alone on the summit. Two height workers were mounting grounding and SHF dishes on the freshly-built transmitter mast which is just a few meters North of the viewtower. One of them asked me for confirmation in which direction nearby village Harderode was for a rough estimation where he had to point the dish.
S2S: DL1DSR/p DA/HE-394 (GMA)
DXCC: DL, G, LA, OK, OZ, PA, SM, SP
83 QSOs, all SSB
Ahoi
Pom
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I made 36 QSOs in the FMAC 1800-1855z. In the UKAC, it was 57 - but I’d made all those by the halfway point - 2015z. At that moment, an electrical storm was heading straight for the summit of G/SP-015. I managed to pack everything away in time not to have a beam @4m AGL to greet the arrival of lightning - but I didn’t manage to descend the hill to avoid a thorough soaking!
Oh well - I guess disappointment is preferable to death…
Anyway, just about to head out again. It’s the 2m FT8AC tonight, and I’ll be QRV for the 2 hour section 1900-2100z.
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34 QSOs in tonight’s 2m FT8 Activity Contest.
DXCCs: G, GI, GU, EI, PA
Heard but not worked: DL, F, GM. For some reason I never seem to hear GW at all in these 2m FT8 sessions!
QRAs: IN89, IO62, 70, 74, 81, 82, 83, 84, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, JO00, 01, 02, 21
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Hi Tom
For second month saw you on my display/waterfall and saw you work other stations near me. Tried calling you but no luck … I guess a homebrew dipole on a ground floor flat windowsill will always struggle (although pskreporter showed my signal reaching further than you). Oh well maybe next month.
Chris
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Meep me on KST if/when you find me again!
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It’s the first Tuesday of the month again. That means loads of 2m activity - FM (mainly 144.5 to 144.8) 1800-1855z and SSB (144.150 to 144.399) 1900-1930z. Including me (and possibly others) on SOTA.
You’ll have to hunt the SOTAs down though as those also participating in the contests will not be self-spotting.
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As we move into summer 2026, it is looking feasible to hold SOTA Fun Evenings again.
These used to occur on Tuesday evenings, and coincided with the RSGB UK Activity Contests - though participation in the contesting element was entirely optional - adopted by some, but certainly not all participants.
I went out to activate Gun G/SP-013 this evening, taking part in both the FMAC and the UKAC. 100 QSOs made - 72 on 2m SSB, and 28 on 2m FM.
But the headline is that there were three of us participating while conducting SOTA activations. The others were Ollie M7OTJ/P on The Cloud G/SP-015 and Gerald MW0WML/P on Moel Famau GW/NW-044.
Shall we nominate the first Tuesday evening in June for a SOTA Summer Fun Evening?
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Just reading through the RSGB contest pages, having never took part in a contest. Am I correct in thinking, if we call a contest station, even if we are not taking part, then they can count the QSO toward their score? I am assuming we would just add the summit reference to make it a valid SOTA contact?
Tom, I will be back Horizontal with a 7 ele power beam for 144mhz in the next few days. Look forward to chasing you on the Flat side.
Don. PLP.
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Yes, they will be very pleased to get you in their log.
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Every contest station will be very pleased to get you in the log.
But, exchange must folow the rules of the contest. Locator, serial number, anything else that rules demand
Also worth remembering the chaser side too.
The past 2 2m activity contests I’ve thrown out the 3 ele beam in the garden . Literally the arrow antenna duck taped to the fishing pole which is stuck down the umbrella hole of a garden table as support.
30 watts and maxing out at around 300km but also allows me to work any sota stations I can hear.
Also worth remembering is that these activations generally won’t be spotted on sotawatch. If you are considering activating and submitting a contest entry, you shouldn’t self spot. I think others can spot you , but you can’t ask to be spotted. Maybe Tom or others can confirm that.
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The rules have changed for 2026.
Use of the DX Cluster, or any similar spotting network (e.g. ON4KST), is permitted. Entrants may spot their own station on the DX cluster. Self-spots may be made when first soliciting QSOs on a new frequency and thereafter no more frequently than every 10 minutes.
This applies to UKAC and most other contests except the big weekend ones and also the Backpackers contest.
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Good to know.
Makes sense really as it was pretty easy to get spotted on the cluster before the rule change if you had friends that would just find you and do it anyway. This levels the playing field for everyone and doesn’t attempt to put the cluster genie back in the bottle which would be like herding cats.
Thanks for the update.
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