Okay Mike, lots of interest, but no clear final decision. However, it looks likely that arrangements are on for tomorrow evening: Tuesday 5th June 2007
I’m unlikely to be on a SOTA summit this time, unless I have a bad morning tomorrow and feel I have to escape from work early to visit an SC or MW. Hopefully I will be on a summit for the July contest when the daylight should be even longer.
First of all congrats on bagging Houseden Hill SB-010 - well done!
You could try Ros Hill if you are available tomorrow evening - I often work into IO95 in the Activity Contest from down here in Northants. Maybe work you tomorrow?
I’m not the most prolific of activators, so far this year I have two unqualified activations LD040 and DC006(one an equipment problem, the other low activity) and two successful, NW025 and WB006. On all of them the strongest birdies were audible: the most surprising was LD040, Lingmoor Fell, with several birdies (only audible with the antenna plugged in, by the way!) and the only visible habitation was a village in Great Langdale a couple of miles away! On Worcestershire Beacon and Allt Fawr with towns nearby some of the birdies were quite strong, S7-8.
I believe these are radiated rubbish from computers, plasma TVs and unfiltered PSUs, and they are steadily increasing in numbers. At present I do not use a beam, it might be possible to avoid some of the rubbish when I get my quad operational.
I know that birdies etc can be a pain in the proverbial. My local summit has three transmitter masts on it, but I always manage lots of contacts, even on my FT-60 handie.
I am not a prolific activator myself due to a long term back problem, but have managed 16 activations of nw-062, 3 on nw-070, and one each on nw-069, nw-071, and sp-016 and enjoyed every single one (Holyhead Mountaim was a killer) even when soaked and nearly blown over, hi.
The point of my suggestion is to try and get people out on their local summit just one evening, maybe weekly, firstly to have a lot of fun but also to increase evening sota activity and awareness throughout the associations.
It looks like a lot of people are interested, we just need to pick a day to suit the majority.
We can keep it really simple, not really any need for a list, just anyone who wishes to take part, post your alert on sotawatch2 alerts as per a normal activation and go for it.
I would suggest that we standardise the activation times just like a sked for 18:00utc–18:30utc 2fm activity, 18:30utc–19:00utc 2-ssb activity, this is the fairest way for all licence classes. After those times, anything goes freq/mode.
Right, let’s see which day suits the majority, how about Wednesdays?
I’ve had very few instances when I have come across birdies of any strength on any summit I have activated recently. There are a number of birdies around the sites I activate in Northants, but even so the situation is always vastly better than my home QTH where 2m is difficult to operate.
The low level of spurii and noise on most summits has an added benefit - or frustration - being able to hear people calling, but them not being able to hear you. On Saturday both Mick 2E0HJD and Dave G6LKB were 51 (and I do mean Q5) on Bryn Arw SW-026, but they could not copy me. I guess having a noise figure of around 1.4dB helps as well, partly courtesy of the 5D-FB cable in use.
I did copy some undefined “noise” from the NE direction (from the local farm???) when on Graig Syfyrddin SW-020 and therefore I would agree that a beam is more or less mandatory to minimise this and similar sources of interference.
Right, let’s see which day suits the majority, how about Wednesdays?<
Mike,
If you are suggesting an activity evening every week, having it on a Wednesday has one negative aspect in that at least once a month it would mean going out two days in succession for those intending activating during the 2m contest. Personally I wonder whether every week is a bit much, but limiting it to the 2nd and 4th Wednesdays could work and avoid the above situation.
Maybe Ron EVX and I would be the only ones affected, so let’s see which day others prefer.
I should be OK to do most Tuesdays, QRV between 8 and 8.45pm local, 1900-1945z. Other nights are difficult for me. Will have to be 2m FM HH only tonight, but I would support the view that 2m SSB would be the most useful combination for any regular evening activity in the future. Mike DSP’s idea of a schedule is all well and good, but in reality, how many activators will be able to commit two hours of summit time? Not me I’m afraid, as it has to be squeezed in between my regular evening employment for Dad’s Taxis Ltd.
Nice to have you back, hope the hols were good and you have all recharged your batteries.
It is just an idea Tom and worth a go, I think it has to be done as a sked so that we all know the time and day when most summits are on air, this will enhance the number of s2s contacts, obviously not everyone can do the same evenings, but we have to start somewhere.
The beauty of sticking to half an hour of 2-fm then half an hour of 2-ssb, is that it will be easy to find all of the other summits.
Tuesdays suit you, but then Richard has Brownies, can’t imagine him in his Brownie uniform, hi.
Maybe another idea is to alternate the day every other week, ie Tuesday one week, Thursday the next, I don’t know, whatever suits the majority.
73 Mike
If it doesn’t work, we’ve lost nowt, if it does work, all well and good, it cetainly beats Coronation Srasse hands down, hi.
Maybe another idea is to alternate the day every other week, ie
Tuesday one week, Thursday the next, I don’t know, whatever suits the
majority.
How about 1st Tuesday of the month so those interested in the Activity Contest can stop out (or retire to the car parked nearby) to operate the contest and then also the third Thursday?
In reply to G4OIG:
It works for me, Gerald. I expect to be on Walton Hill CE002 tomorrow night, time XYL dependant, I will also work the activity contest people if they call me!
Mick, I run an FT817 with a MM144/30 linear (mainly for the pre-amp which I have hotted up a bit!)
I may have given the impression that I found the hills as difficult as the home QTH: not so, what I was commenting on really was how surprising it was to pick up these birdies on the summits even though there were fewer of them and they were weaker. Judging by my experience on Lingmoor Fell they can travel for some miles and even a small village is likely to have at least one offender. Since the situation is continuing to deteriorate I foresee a time when activators will be lucky if they can work anyone who isn’t on another summit or in an isolated QTH. It is no longer worth monitoring the SSB calling channels on 6 and 2 where I live (the 6m birdies are full scale!), I use dual watch and monitor 144.310 and 144.320, if something worthwhile is due on 2, otherwise I watch FE on 5 and 7.115 for our German friends.
I noticce that Tom and Steve, possibly Ron have alerted for 19:00 tomorrow evening Tuesday 5/6/07 so let’s stick to 18:00utc–18:30 utc 2-fm and 18:30utc–19:00utc 2-ssb, then catch up with the others at 19:00.
So, come on, wx permitting, get of yer backsides and up your local summit, let’s all have some fun, activators and chasers included!!
I’ll try but cant promise anything. I dont get home till 6:30 ish so it might be a bit of a push as I ave to get me vittles. If it is going to be a fairly regular thing then I can sort something out so I can go straight from work (I drive over Billinge Hill SP-017 every night)
I will try to get on to work as many as I can tommorow though.
In reply to GW0DSP:
Just a quick request for those who are able - please do some HF if possible SSB or CW I dont mind. 2m not too good into Stirling from G-land especially as my 2m aerials are lieing on the floor next to me at the moment!!
In reply to 2E0HJD:
Hi Mick, The HF Beams are already up lol. Unfortunately damage to the V/UHF Tower will not be fixed in time. Have a good fun evening will listen out 40/60/80 just in case.
The Cheviot - okay Mr Fit! I guess weather conditions are better than at Easter and if you’re not stopping up for all of the contest, then you could be down in daylight okay. I assume the col between Scald Hill and The Cheviot will be as wet as it was in April… does it ever dry out?
I just thought that Ros Hill was such an easy access and the path down south isn’t at all bad. No doubt you’ll be popular from either summit if you stay on for at least a bit of the contest since IO95 is quite sought after in this contest.
All very true Mick, except I am in a black hole for VHF other than to the continent (I wonder if any of the other associations will join in) and my HF antennas are still on the ground as my shack is not quite rebuilt following the January storm.
Just in cases those excuses were not good enough I am generally out on a Tuesday night anyway.
I hope to join you tonight on 2m but first I need to check out my gear on HF, not having done much activating since August 2006, apart from one brief session on 40m CW in the borders at Easter. After operating 60m SSB and 40m CW tonight I’ll put up the SOTA beam and see who is about. Time of 2m action depends on the time spent on 40m CW and the amount left in the battery. I’m leaving home (Pickering) after an early tea at 1630z. It’s about a 50 minute drive up to Commondale which is at the bottom of Gisborough Moor TW-003.
I need to check out the gear prior to going to GD Isle of Man at the end of June on holiday, when I hope to activate 2 or 3 summits on HF.