SOTA NEWS APRIL 2016 - Part 3 of 3.
SOTA ON TOP BAND - Mark G0VOF
Hello everyone & welcome to this month’s edition of SOTA on Top Band.
Only one activator ventured onto Top Band this month, however this was from no fewer than five summits!
Regular readers can probably guess that this was John G4YSS who made two trips out this month. The first was to the Patterdale area of the English Lake District (G/LD) & the second, on Good Friday a relatively more local trip to the Northern Pennines (G/NP).
With two days left of the UK winter bonus period John embarked on his ninth Patterdale Round for SOTA, which takes in four Lake District summits in a circular walk of around 12 miles (19.3Km) & 5,000ft (1,524M) ascent. Some parts of this walk are tricky in good conditions but in winter, proper equipment & great care are needed. As John is experienced in winter conditions & was familiar with the route he didn’t experience any major problems, although a week after John’s visit a walker fell 200M from Swirral Edge, aptly demonstrating the care needed. With all four summits qualifying for 3 winter bonus points, a total of 44 points can be attained by the activator, with 32 points for chasers who manage to chase all four summits.
For this trip John would be concentrating on the low bands 80m & 160m so to give himself & chasers the best chances he took a Yaesu FT817 & 50 Watt linear. John’s first summit of the day was G/LD-003 Helvellyn & although already daylight John would be starting on Top Band. I joined fellow top band chasers listening for John’s arrival on 160m & after a delay due to difficult conditions on the ascent, at around 0900z John called Roy G4SSH on 1832KHz CW. Roy does not have a decent Top Band antenna so it was very nice to hear good reports exchanged both ways. There then followed a steady stream of callers & John qualified the summit with ease, not usually the case on 160m in daylight! After working 6 stations on CW, John moved to 1843KHz SSB & after a second QSO with me he was called by Nick G8VNW to make 8 QSO’s in total. Conditions were quite good, although there was QSB, which remained present throughout the day on both 160m & 80m. Following a band change to 80m where a further 16 QSO’s were made John departed for his second summit of the day G/LD-022 Seat Sandal.
As John was running behind schedule he began his activation of Seat Sandal approaching midday so elected to start on 80m, before moving to 160m. I had returned from a shopping trip in time to catch John on 80m CW & spot his mode change to SSB. As mentioned earlier, there was QSB on 80m but generally signals were good & on moving to 160m John was fairly easy copy with the limiting factor being my local noise rather than the QSB. As it was the middle of the day more distant stations will have struggled a little so after working myself & Roy G4SSH on CW only one QSO was made on SSB making a total of 3 Top Band QSO’s from G/LD-022. John informed me of his plan to be active from his next summit about an hour after leaving Seat Sandal.
John’s third summit would be G/LD-007 Fairfield & on the walk from Seat Sandal he bumped into fellow SOTA activator Colin M1BUU heading in the opposite direction having just activated G/LD-007. Colin has also activated on Top band using tuning coils built to Johns design & after a no doubt pleasant chat, John & Colin went their separate ways.
Following a spot from Roy, several chasers were waiting when John fired up on 80m CW from G/LD-007 Fairfield with signals being improved from earlier, although still with QSB as it was by now mid-afternoon. After a good run of 16 QSO’s (CW & SSB) on 80m John moved to 160m & was rewarded with 6 QSO’s, three each on CW & SSB. As these QSO’s were made with 4 separate chasers, John had qualified a summit on Top band for the second time that day.
John’s fourth & final summit on his way back to Patterdale would be G/LD-010 St Sunday Crag & with the earlier delay he would have to take care to avoid having to descend in darkness. After a little time away from the radio I caught Roy’s spot for John on 80m CW & after a couple of minutes called John. Again signals were good, despite the ever-present QSB but my sending left a lot to be desired after maybe a little too much beer. After very good run of 24 QSO’s on 80m (CW & SSB) when calls dried up he quickly moved to Top Band where he was soon worked by Phil G4OBK, Damian MK0BKV, Roy G4SSH, Mark G0VOF & Frank G3RMD on CW with myself & Phil also working John on SSB shortly after. With the time now around 1740z & sunset due within the hour John took Phil’s advice & decided that a further summit would be unwise. With 7 QSO’s ( 5 CW & 2 SSB) with 5 separate chasers this was the third summit qualified on Top band.
As I said to John at the time I’d had my most enjoyable day in the shack for some time & was very pleased to be able to chase him on 160m on all four summits.
As usual a superbly detailed activation report, which also contains a reply & photos from Colin M1BUU can be found on the reflector here:
G4YSS: LD3-LD22-LD7-LD10 on 80m & 160m,13-03-16
John’s second trip this month was to a more local Northern Pennine summit G/NP-009 Buckden Pike on Good Friday 25th March. This was to be a “Man & Dog” activation as John would be accompanied by his Grandson’s lurcher “Sasha”. A variety of bands would be used, including Top band, which would be saved until the end of the activation. With no mobile phone coverage, all spot requests or other information would have to be sent via radio & 3557KHz CW was chosen as main frequency for liaison with Roy G4SSH. As time was not a limiting factor John could enjoy a more leisurely activation with plenty of time spent on 80m, 40m, 4m FM & 2m FM before a final run on 160m in mid afternoon.
After a fine total of 86 QSO’s across 4 bands John called Roy on 80m to let him know he was planning to move to 160m CW at around 1500z. Phil G4OBK was worked first with good reports exchanged followed by Roy G4SSH. Rob G4RQJ on Walney Island also called, but although John could hear Rob, Rob couldn’t hear John despite several attempts. A move to SSB brought two more QSO’s, with Phil G4OBK & lastly Nick G8VNW who was only in the region of 15KM distant. This brought John;s tally on 160m to 4 QSO’s, although with only 3 separate stations worked he did not qualify the summit on Top Band. Frustratingly I was away that day as I am certain I would have been able to work John myself. Sorry John!
Again, John has provided a superb activation report with photos which can be found in the reflector here:
G4YSS: G/NP-009, Buckden Pike (GX0OOO/P) 25-03-16
Thanks again for the excellent activation reports & of course for all the 160m QSO’s!
Congratulations & well done John.
At the time of writing, these were the only Top band activations during March that I am aware of, if I have missed any others please let me know.
On 13 March, John GX0OOO/P (G4YSS) Activated G/LD-003 Helvellyn & made 8 QSO’s (6 CW / 2 SSB)
On 13 March, John GX0OOO/P (G4YSS) Activated G/LD-022 Seat Sandal & made 3 QSO’s (2 CW / 1 SSB)
On 13 March, John GX0OOO/P (G4YSS) Activated G/LD-007 Fairfield & made 6 QSO’s (3 CW / 3 SSB)
On 13 March, John GX0OOO/P (G4YSS) Activated G/LD-010 St Sunday Crag & made 7 QSO’s (5 CW / 2 SSB)
On 25 March, John GX0OOO/P (G4YSS) Activated G/NP-009 Buckden Pike & made 4 QSO’s (2 CW / 2 SSB)
As always, If you do have any suggestions on things that you think should be included, or if you wish to contribute tips, ideas or anything else that you think may help others on the band please email them to me at mark@brownhill.demon.co.uk
Until next month,
Best 73,
Mark G0VOF
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CW REPORT FOR MARCH 2016 - by Roy G4SSH
Hard on the heels of the rush of activators during the last few days in February who were determined to be the last to operate from summits scheduled to be deleted, came activators on the 2nd March, equally determined to be the first to activate new summits. Shortly after midnight UTC on the 2nd March Emil DL8JJ commenced a “NEW DM SOTA ACTIVATION MARARTHON” with no less than six new summits activated before the end of the day. Also very active during the first week of the month were Sake OK/PA0SKP, from Czechia, Hans HB9/PB2T, Bob DL/F5HTR, Geert EA8/PA7ZEE and Tom DL/HB9DPR.
Chris was very active as F/ON6ZQactivating new summits during the middle of the month, using his trade-mark "UP 1 " procedure and it was a pleasure to hear Vlad RK8A on the air for the first time, with a unique summit R9U/SO-103, using QRP on the 13th and Carlos EA8AA activated another unique on the Canary Islands and was still active through to the last few days of the month. A period of bad weather across Europe, combined with poor propagation saw SOTA EU activity then fall to a very low level. Activators using 14 MHz were mainly inaudible during the mornings at my QTH and there were some days when CW activations resulted in a total of less than double points all day. The one saving grace for chasers were the regular appearance of French activators operating on all HF bands in turn, ensuring maximum opportunities for contacts.
Conditions did improve during the last few days, with appearances from Matt HB0/FB9FVF in Liechtenstein, EA8URT on Tenerife in the Canary Islands, CU3HF in the Azores, Andy DL/HB9JOE, Guru F/EA2IF, Csaba HA/DH7KU, Kurt F/HB9AFI, Bob DL/F5HTR, Tom DL/HB9DPR, Martin HA/OE1MVA, Stephan OE/DM1LE, Hans DL/HB9AGO, an expedition by Hans DL/PB2T, Weber YO/HA8BJ and Jürg F/HB9BIN in France. There was also many HA calls active from Romania on the 30th, These included YO/HA8BB, YO/HA8BJ, YO/HA8WX, YO/HA8PK and YO/HA8LLH.
73
Roy G4SSH
SOTA ACTIVITY REPORT FOR MARCH 2016 by Kevin G0NUP
SOTA activators submitting entries to the data base for 10m, 6m and 1240 MHz during March 2016. These files produced on 30th March - by Kevin G0NUP.
Mode: CW on 24MHz: activity for March
DL6FBK/P, F5UKL/P, F6HBI/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9DQM/P, JF1NDT/1, JH0CJH/1, OK1MLP/P, VK2IO/P
Mode: CW on 28MHz: activity for March
DL/F5HTR/P, DL/HB9BRJ/P, F6HBI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9FVF/P, JF1NDT/1, JH0CJH/1, JO3ALU/3, JP3DGT/3, KT0A, OK1MLP/P, VK3CAT
Mode: CW on 50MHz: activity for March
JH0CJH/1, JJ1SWI/1, JR1NNL/1
Mode: CW on 1240MHz: activity for March
Mode: FM on 28MHz: activity for March
Mode: FM on 50MHz: activity for March
KK4OSG, VK3CAT/P
Mode: FM on 1240MHz: activity for March
DG0JMB/P, G7HEM/P, JG6CRU, JP1QEC/1, JS1GRO/4, JS1GRO/6, K7ATN, WW7D
Mode: SSB on 28MHz: activity for March
AD0KE, DG7ACF/P, DL/HB9BIN/P, DL/HB9DQM/P, DN1LSE/P, EB3EWQ/P, HB9FVF/P, IW2OBX/QRP, JS1UEH/1, K6MBX, KD4FTN, KI4AAU/P, KI4SVM, KJ4ZFK, N6MKW, OE/HB9FVF/P, S56LXN/P, VK1VIC
Mode: SSB on 50MHz: activity for March
7K1BAE, 9A/S57MS/P, JF1NDT/1, JH0CJH/1, JH1EWV/1, JH1EWV/2, JI1IKC/1, JJ1SWI/1, JM8ITC/P1, JP3DGT/3, JR1NNL/1, JS1UEH/1, KK4OSG, S56LXN/P, S57MS/P, VK1VIC, VK2IO/P, WA7JTM
Mode: SSB on 1240 MHz: activity for March
K7ATN, WW7D
Regards
Kevin J Prince G0NUP
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SOTA News is normally published on the last day of each month, but there will be occasions when the Editor is not available at this time, in which case it will be published as soon as possible afterwards. It can only be as interesting as the items submitted, so if you think your particular field of interest is not being covered then please submit an article by the 25th of the month. Have you a favourite SOTA? favourite mode? favourite rig, antenna, or favourite band? How did you find your first day / month / year as an activator or chaser? Your comments and experiences will be read by enthusiasts all across Europe, the USA, Australia and beyond, in a total of 114 different SOTA associations worldwide. Your input will be most welcome.
I receive many e-mails during the month containing details of activations, milestones reached and general SOTA news. Unless advised otherwise I will use this information in the next edition of SOTA News. It is important therefore that you advise me if any information is not intended for publication.
For ease of processing, please submit your input by e-mail direct to the addresses below and not via the Reflector.
Roy G4SSH
SOTA News Editor
g4ssh@tiscali.co.uk
U.S. and Canadian reports to:-
Fred K6DGW/7 [aka “Skip” on the radio]
Canada/US SOTA Reporter Dude
Sparks NV
k6dgw@foothill.net
Australian input to:-
Allen VK3ARH
VK Reporter
VK3ARH@wia.org.au (note the recent change)
New Zealand input to:-
Warren ZL2AJ
warren@zl2aj.com
Japanese reports to
Toru JH0CJH
jh0cjh@jarl.com
South African input to:-
Dennis ZS4BS
zs4bs@netactive.co.za