SOTA Fun Evening - 2m FM & SSB (Part 1)

1st Tuesday of the month time - and you know what that means.

The 2m FM section 1800-1859z (7-8pm BST) seems to have really taken off. The FM sections of the band will be very busy then, including at least one SOTA station (me), but hopefully more.

Note that the all-mode section (around 144.5125 up to 144.7875) will likely be active as well during the FM hour, so worth having a look down at that part of the band.

2m SSB from 1900z - and hoping for a rain-free evening!

Hope to catch a few chasers tonight.

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Good Luck Tom.

When’s the 4m activity evening? - We get 4m here in Germany again from tomorrow for 4 months.

73 Ed.

Well that was fun!

Nipped up Billinge Hill G/SP-017 after work to give away a few points. Was cold with a wicked wind but at least the rain (mainly) held off. Did a bit of S&P in the FM contest, including the S2S with Tom on SP-015 then found a channel and put a spot on in case there was anyone looking for me which amongst a few others brought in Helen 2E0VMD and Simon G4TJC in Glossop.

By the time I’d finished with Simon 1900z had passed, a couple more calls produced no more takers so I switched to sideband and again found Tom on The Cloud, then pounced on another three contesters to give me the four on the mode.

By then I was beginning to feel a bit chilled, and the spitting rain was becoming more insistent so I abandoned my original plan to find a frequency and alert in favour of getting down the hill and back to my warm and welcoming hotel room. Sorry if anyone was looking for me…

All in all had a great time, hopefully next month may bring slightly warmer weather and encourage a longer stay :slight_smile:

73 de Paul G6GGP/G4MD

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Thanks for the QSO Tom. You were the first station I worked in IO83 believe it or not. Is it me or is 83 a bit quieter than it used to be?

Ed, the next 4m UKAC is on Thursday 17th May, 1900-2130z.

73, Phil G0UUU.

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Thanks for the QSOs Paul.

I realised as your signal jiggled up and down something seems to have rattled loose in the antenna here. Oops! Will have to get the ladders out. What happened to Spring?!

SOTA FUN EVENING IS BACK!

Yes, I know I’ve been cheekily calling it “SOTA Fun Evening” everytime I go out for a Tuesday evening activation. But few of them genuinely are; at least my perspective is that if I’m the only one doing it, then it’s not really a “Fun Evening”. Having said that, when I post the notices on the reflector, I am always hopeful that at least one other person will decide to join in.

Tuesday 1st May 2018 - The Cloud G/SP-015

This time though, it really was a Fun Evening. For I was not the only SOTA activator involved. My friend Paul G4MD was on Billinge Hill G/SP-017, so it really felt like the Summer Fun Evenings were back - well, apart from the “Summer” bit. It was great though, because Paul was the very person who first suggested the Tuesday evening SOTA activating tradition, and started doing them, all those years ago.

The radio activity was good. The weather was not so good. May Day? It was cold, there were intermittent showers all night - and I’d forgotten my bothy bag. I made the decision that I would quit and go home early at the first sign of heavier rain. This never quite happened, and so the skies toyed and teased with me, successfully maximising the torture.

On 2m, I made 122 QSOs. 39 on FM, 1 on CW and 82 on SSB. So not too shabby, although there was a hell of a lot more stations on that I didn’t work.

DXCCs - 7: EI, F, G, GD, GI, GM, GW.
QRAs - 19: IN99, IO51, 64, 73, 74, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 90, 91, 92, 93, 94, JO00, 01, 03.

Not a bad return, but coming away without IO70, 71, 72, 75, 80, 95 and JO02 still leaves a sense of frustration!

Here my QSO maps for the FMAC and UKAC respectively:

image

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Thanks to you Simon! The calls from yourself and Helen were very much appreciated.

I’d make sure it is your antenna before you get the ladders out… the half-gale blowing across Billinge meant my antenna wasn’t the most stable :-s

73 de Paul (also eagerly anticipating better weather… maybe the Bank Hol weekend will deliver…

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Tropo on a Tuesday activity night! How could it be any better?
'was a gas! :star_struck:

Ahoi
Pom

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Anyone for a s2s G <> DM tomorrow night?

030718

Ahoi
Pom

Can you delay the tropo till next weekend so we can have super-fun on VHF field day please?

I`ll throw some tranquiliser into the duct but not before Tuesday 2100z.

Cheers… we need both tropo for 23/70/2/4/6 and SpE for 2/4/6 please.

No TEP?

I don’t want to be seen as being greedy!

I have been forced into a night off from SOTA Fun Evening, even with the potential of enhanced conditions. I blame Mr Southgate. He decided to rest Harry Kane, Kieran Trippier, Raheem Stirling, John Stones et al and play the B team. It turned out England’s B team wasn’t as good as Belgium’s B team, and as a result we now face Colombia on Tuesday night, instead of Japan Tuesday afternoon.

Even Mrs EYP has granted full uninterrupted use of the Big Telly in the front room for the occasion, and has even hinted she will be watching with me - despite not even being English herself. It’s a wrench not to do the 2m activity night, but, you know…

If we get to the semi-final, that will be a week on Wednesday, so I should be good for the 70cm (Tuesday) and 6m (Thursday) next week…

If we lose you will be kicking yourself!:wink:

I though the school of contrived thinking had resolved playing Colombia would be harder than Japan but the others likely to be met should England beat Columbia would be easier. Hence a non-win against Belgium was a win.

Hence a non-win against Belgium was a win.

Not from the perspective of a Tuesday-Night-SOTA-OP.
Due to the lazy guys who are still world champions but weren’t able to beat South Korea, I’m gonna miss SM vs HB9. :face_with_symbols_over_mouth:

:sweden:

Ahoi
Pom

DG7ACF has it about right. All things considered, I think I would have preferred the harder side of the draw (BTW, I think JA would have been tougher opponents than HK myself), but remaining available for the 2m activity night.

Looks that us poor devils will have to listen to the music contained in white noise - again!

Mustn’t complain, last Friday was AMAZING from GM