SOTA NEWS - FEBRUARY 2014
EDITORIAL - Skip K6DGW
This is my first attempt at filling Roy’s shoes and I’m certain it will take awhile to get the details worked out, Roy is a very hard act to follow. Located as I am on the western edge of North America and 8 hours behind UTC, there may be some “publishing timing hiccups,” and hopefully a more experienced Editor in the UK can be found.
I apologize in advance for any formatting errors in the tables, Roy gave me a detailed account of his procedures but I’m certain it will take me a couple of months to figure out how the Reflector “helps” me out. 
It will also take a bit to get the hang of the various sections Roy included, I hope you can all bear with me.
I answer to either “Fred” or “Skip,” we have a couple of very active “Fred’s” in NA SOTA and it became confusing so I switched to a nickname I’ve had for many years and often use on the radio in contests that have a name in the exchange.
My thanks to my contributors this month: Andy, MM0FMF; Barry, GM4TOE; Allen, VK3HRA; Rob, G4RQJ [and Audrey]; Mark, G0VOF; Scott, W7IMC
DATABASE NEWS: Andy, MM0FMF
Fat finger trouble by yours truly. A simple update to fix some W6 bonus problems went a bit wrong. Some W6 regions give bonus points when they shouldn’t. My fix solved that. But it did it using the “take off and nuke it from orbit” method by ensuring no summits anywhere had bonus points. 
It took longer to fix because I deploy the “when in a hole, stop digging” principle of fixing things. That’s where you stop trying to fix things as soon as something goes wrong. Stop, take a backup, go and have a nice cup of tea, do something else for a while. Then return and fix the problem when you are calm. It was quite a straightforward job to mount another copy of the database, rename a table and SELECT into from the good bonus data into the “fixed by me” bonus data. I also found a cool typo that cause the rescore code to rescore chaser scores not activator scores. blushes
Anyway, I can now try and fix the W6 bonus issues. This is part of an MT clean up plan we have. The US and VK associations have been developed with accurate 3rd party summit lists (LOJ etc.) and using modern tools to check prominence etc. So these associations are very accurate and clean. Some of the other associations are a little icky (think of a 2 year old eating chocolate dessert!) and need cleaning up because the data was not so good and tools were non-existent. As we have made AMs in the “New World” do a good job, we need to apply that to some older data. We have the tools now so there is no excuse not to make those association summit lists really accurate.
Andy
MM0FMF
SOTA AWARDS JANUARY 2014: Barry, GM4TOE
Welcome to the first awards report for 2014 and a Happy New Year to all. Congratulations to everybody who reached the first significant milestone in the SOTA Chaser awards programme - Shack Sloth/1000 points and a special mention for K6EL who seems to find ever more imaginative ways to enhance his collection of glassware; perhaps Elliott would like to provide a guidance note on the variations possible! The scoring levels for the Chaser awards seem to go forever higher with N4EX now on 35k points, W0MNA on 15k and GI4ONL also exceeding the “Supersloth” level at 10k.
This is not the best time of year to be activating, perishing cold in the Northern hemisphere and blistering heat in the Southern hemisphere. Hopefully when more moderate temperatures return the level of Activating awards will also climb although it interesting to note that a number of well known Chasers are starting to appear in the Activating awards.
TROPHIES
SHACK SLOTH
G6DTN Dave Crake
VK5LY Larry Munns
VK3ARR Andrew Ryan
KQ2RP Chris Del Plato
K6EL Elliott M Pisor HF SSB
CERTIFICATES CLAIMED
ACTIVATOR
W7IMC Scott A. Burgess 500 points
ON4TA Filip Rogister 500 points
SV2OYE Dionisis Tzimikas 100 points
G7KXZ Kevin Holdford 100 points
CT1BHG Joao Cardoso 100 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 100 points
VK3BYD Warren Brown 100 points
G6ODU Robert Gum-Wah Leong 100 points
CHASER
N4EX Rich Homolya 35000 points
W0MNA Gary Auchard 15000 points
GI4ONL Victor Mitchell 10000 points
VK3PF Peter L Freeman 5000 points
DL4TO Gerhard Sedlak 2500 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 2500 points
VK5PAS Paul Simmonds 2500 points
VK2JI Ed Durrant 2500 points
VK1DI Ian Sinclair 2500 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 1500 points
VK5LY Larry Munns 1000 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 1000 points
OE7FMH Franz Metzger 500 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 500 points
SV2OYE Dionisis Tzimikas 250 points
SQ9ZBK Bogdan Karas 250 points
VK6MB Mike Beall 250 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 250 points
VK1DI Ian Sinclair 250 points
VK3FQSO Amanda Bauer 250 points
SV2OYE Dionisis Tzimikas 100 points
WN6E Martin Scheidt 100 points
EA3EGB Manel Lopez 100 points
VK3FQSO Amanda Bauer 100 points
VK5NIG Nigel Freeston 100 points
ACTIVATOR UNIQUE
KD5ZZK Andrew Norman 100 summits
W7IMC Scott A. Burgess 100 summits
VK3PF Peter L Freeman 100 summits
GI4ONL Victor Mitchell 100 summits
CHASER UNIQUE
N4EX Rich Homolya 4000 summits
W0MNA Gary Auchard 1500 summits
W0ERI Martha Auchard 1000 summits
DL4TO Gerhard Sedlak 500 summits
VK5PAS Paul Simmonds 250 summits
VK1DI Ian Sinclair 250 summits
MOUNTAIN EXPLORER
W7IMC Scott A. Burgess - Silver
MOUNTAIN HUNTER
W0ERI Martha Auchard - Platinum
VK5PAS Paul Simmonds - Silver
SUMMIT to SUMMIT
VK3PF Peter L Freeman - Bronze
SV2OYE Dionisis Tzimikas - Red
KD5ZZK Andrew Norman - Red
Once again, this month, I seem to have had my fair share of rocket scientists who expect me to be clairvoyant! If you get your callsign wrong or I cannot find you on the database it means I have to ask the database manager to undertake a special search of the database to find you. This not only puts delays into the process of issuing awards but also adds to the workload each of us face every month. Please double check the data you enter onto the order form before sending.
There seems to be some confusion about the embroidered badges which are available in three flavours - SOTA logo, Mountain Goat and Shack Sloth - even though the shop states clearly (I think) that you have to qualify to purchase the ones annotated Mountain Goat or Shack Sloth. If you have not achieved, or exceeded, either 1000 Activator or 1000 Chaser points, respectively, you cannot purchase the embroidered badge with Mountain Goat or Shack Sloth on it. If you want to purchase these badges then please put your callsign in the comments field so that I can check the database. If you do not qualify I will just send the badge with the SOTA logo on it.
Recently there has been a surge in purchases of T Shirts and window stickers resulting in me running out of certain sizes and colours of shirts and reducing my sticker stock to single figures. New stock is on order and I should receive the items this week. I have informed some purchasers about the delay but if you are waiting on a shirt then I will be despatching back orders as soon as the items arrive. My stock of embroidered polo shirts is reasonable, this stock shortage only applies to T shirts.
The newsletter is being edited by Skip, K6DGW, for the time-being so this means I have to closeout my records a few days earlier than previously. If you do not appear above you will be included in my report for February.
Strange times in Scotland right now due to the direction the weather has been coming from. The ski resort just four miles away has had no snow at all (normally the road over the pass is the first to be closed due to snow) whereas the other ski areas have plenty of snow. I notice that, while typing this, the prevailing wind has, finally, turned to the east and it is snowing; possibly too late to provide the hard winters we are used to though. With the winter being so warm (!) this does mean that we could well be plagued this summer by the curse of the Highlands and Islands - the Black Midge - the only man eating cannibal left in Britain. “Be Prepared” is a motto we could well steal from The Scouts!
Enjoy the hills and be safe
73
Barry GM4TOE
SOTA Awards Manager
ASSOCIATION NEWS: We’ll start from Down Under:
Hi all,
It has been a busy month with the new year and Australia day. Most of us
were on holidays so SOTA all week and weekend.
The New Year started with great enthusiasm for SOTA. The New Year
presents an opportunity for activators to claim points for activation
both pre and post UTC. During the daylight savings period, the daily
switch over is at 11:00am for eastern VK, and chasers have long taken
advantage of this to ‘double dip’ for morning activations. With the New
Year switch over, activators were able to claim an activation in two
different years. Many took advantage of both this and the milder weather
to activate. This activity was well received by a strong chaser
community. Over the course of the day 24 activators activated 32 summits.
Summer brings holiday season. Many incorporated a SOTA activation or two
into the usual week of camping. With holidays, the chasers were also
available during the day so the activity was strong. With summer also
comes the fire season. We have already had fires put favourite parks off
the safe to activate list. With the New Year placing all summits back on
the list to activate there are enough opportunities for people without
placing themselves in danger or hindering fire activities.
With Australia Day fast approaching and with it the annual airing of the
AX prefix, many thoughts were on a celebratory SOTA expedition. AX is
special call sign we get to use on a handful of days a year. Australia
Day is such a day, so hopefully this adds a further attraction to wake
early to activate that summit or man the radio looking for the early bird.
So plans were laid and compromises made with XYLs. The weekend came and
the weather was perfect, a required relief from a recent hot period
which lead to several parks being closed. There were many activators who
took advantage of the conditions and made it out over the long weekend
resulting in non-stop chasing for the sloths. There were 22 activators
completing 59 distinct activations over the long weekend, with 16
separate activators completing 40 distinct activations on Australia Day.
The use of AX prefix for our callsigns provided more issues than
expected. There were constant instances of stuff-ups where activators
kept reverting to the VK prefix. You would think this was a simple task.
No, it proved to be quite entertaining. Callsign confusion aside, it was
a great day with S2S, DX, multiband and National Park activations
galore. The Summit to Summits proved lucrative and several activators
(VK1DA, VK2DAG, VK3ANL, VK3ARR & VK3MCD) achieved DX contacts despite
some very variable band conditions.
We are now expecting activity to slow down with work and school
returning but despite the sweltering weather, SOTA is alive and well in VK.
73 for now
Allen
VK3HRA
THE VIEW FROM THE NORTH #61
So here we go into a new year but sadly no change in the weather pattern that keeps pouring heavy rain driven by high winds, usually on a Sunday, our regular activation day. The fells are really saturated and the mud dominates everything. The first decent day was Sunday Jan12th when a brief window gave us the chance of climbing Gummers How a local one pointer. The hill is easily climbed from a car park on the fell road that leaves the A592 to the east about a mile north from the Newby Bridge roundabout. The climb is easy and can involve a short, almost scramble up the craggy little summit or a muddy walk to the right at the top of the rocky staircase. The detour is currently badly blocked by a fallen tree and a muddy diversion is needed around it and its root system. The resident herd of cows has not helped the mud situation!
Having started out early we had free choice of operating positions and in view of the cold wind from the south we chose the sunless northern slope. One of the snags of the area is the prevailing southerlies that blow out of the sun, making southern slopes cold. Three hours of operation were enough and have us thinking about Bivvy bags. We have a Bothy bag but Audrey finds it very claustrophobic and my metabolism has the same effect as a wet collie dog in a car, not good. The little hill is very popular with families and we had quite a few interested visitors, Strange but people seem to think that since the arrival of the internet, radio has ceased to work and long range communication is once again a miracle, to me it always has been.
Meanwhile back in the shack been playing with a fascinating little active antenna (See Roelof Bakker, PA0RDT: The PA0RDT-Mini-Whip for details). Can be built in an afternoon for pence and while it is not a dx magnet it does perform credibly as a second antenna on a spare receiver to monitor a frequency of interest (7.032 for example) while the main rig and antenna are in use elsewhere. If you have lots of real estate and room for antennas then forget it but it occupies literally no space at all, a very useful property. A couple of our local radio club members have built them and are pleased with results. You could always buy the antenna for sixty-two quid (PW advert), the bits cost about a fiver!
Sunday Jan 19th and a half decent day so an early start to the far end of the county and Lords Seat. This is a fine summit for a family day out with a visitor centre, woodland walks at low level, mountain bike trails and adventure parks galore. The summit ascent takes us about 75 minutes, less if you’re young and fit, could be done on a mountain bike. If like us you stay on the top for three hours you will run into the maximum car park fee of £6.98.!
At least there is a decent toilet block, cafe and shop.
On the climb be sure to look out for Santa’s lost reindeer, we’re not joking. Apparently for the kiddies Santa and real reindeer were imported and one of the crew decided to jump sledge and is still AWOL Reports of any sightings would be appreciated by the management.
As we sat operating at the summit we watched the people climbing from Barf the neighbouring fell and it was taking them a fair bit of time to navigate the path which has been turned into a quagmire by the rain, best avoided for the time being. Just as we were going to vhf the summit was enveloped in a huge squall, literally as dark as night with heavy driving hail and snow. We did not linger being pretty cold by this time but did work everyone we could hear before beating a hasty retreat.
Does anyone else find that the cold affects their cw abilities? The colder I get the worse my code gets and I start not recognising characters. We always run a standard pattern of bands 5MHz 7MHz 10MHz then 14MHz to help chasers find us as we don’t self spot. Unfortunately this means that the poor souls on 20m get the worst of it every time, things should improve come summer.
Sunday Jan 26th and a dire day for weather UK wise, Long time since there were no spots at all from UK stations on a Sunday unless you count VQO who had escaped to France for the day! We had wall to wall heavy rain driven by 30+knot wind, not so much gusting as constant. As a result we decided that a summit was out of the question and went to help out at our local club stations charity activation at the Lifeboat Station on Roa Island. We were there the day before when crossing the metal walkway out to the station which is on stilts about 100 yards from the coast was not easy, today it was interesting! Spectacles off or the wind will have them and lightweights like Audrey need to hang on to something heavy, me! During the activation quite a few SOTA regulars were worked, sorry only cakes for those at the station. Thanks for the support, the charity sponsorship in aid of the lifeboat is going well, on again next weekend.
Well that’s about it for this month, Just six points for January is unbelievably bad for us, just hope the weather calms down a little for February. Seems strange not to send this to Roy, we’re thinking of you OM and thanks to Skip for taking on the job.
Take care out there
73,
Rob and Audrey
G4RQJ
SOTA ON TOP BAND - Mark G0VOF
Hello everyone & welcome to this month’s edition of SOTA on Top Band.
Five activators took to the band this month, from four different summits, but first details of an activation that took place right at the end of December, after the SOTA news had been published.
After success on 160m earlier in the month, Peter, OE5RTP and Daughter Inga, OE5IRO tried the band again on 31st December during a multi-summit tour over the New Year period. Operating as DL/OE5RTP/P & DL/OE5IRO/P they activated DM/SX-008 Pöhlberg where they both made two QSO’s each using SSB.
Into January & the first activator to appear on the band was Klaus DF2GN/P on Thursday 2nd January when he activated DM/BW-228 Hummelsberg. Using CW Klaus made 3 QSO’s during this early evening activation.
During the early evening of Saturday 4th January, Joska HA6OY/P & Gyula HA6QR/P visited HA/EM-002 Galya-tetö. Using CW, Joska made 8 QSO’s & Gyula made 7 QSO’s. This activation was unusual in that only 160m was used with no QSO’s on any other bands.
On the afternoon of Sunday 12th January, Peter ON4UP/P activated ON/ON-021 Plantis de Mesnil. Peter made one SSB contact on the band with Sake PA0SKP.
The final activation of the month took place on Tuesday 14th January at the end of a daytime activation of GW/NW-038 Moel Ysgyfarnogod when Ricky MW6GWR/P had one SSB QSO with Kevin MW3RNI. This was the first activation of this summit on Top Band.
Thanks & very well done to Peter, Inga, Klaus, Joska, Gyula, Peter & Ricky.
At the time of writing, those were the only Top band activations during January that I am aware of, if I have missed any others please let me know.
December:
On 31st December, Peter DL/OE5RTP/P activated DM/SX-008 Pöhlberg & made 2 QSO’s using SSB.
On 31st December, Inga DL/OE5IRO/P activated DM/SX-008 Pöhlberg & made 2 QSO’s using SSB.
January:
On 2nd January, Klaus DF2GN/P activated DM/BW-228 Hummelsberg & made 3 QSO’s using CW.
On 4th January, Joska HA6OY/P activated HA/EM-002 Galya-tetö & made 8 QSO’s using CW.
On 4th January, Gyula HA6QR/P activated HA/EM-002 Galya-tetö & made 7 QSO’s using CW.
On 12th January, Peter ON4UP/P activated ON/ON-021 Plantis de Mesnil & made 1 QSO using SSB.
On 14th January, Ricky MW6GWR/P activated GW/NW-038 Moel Ysgyfarnogod & made 1 QSO using 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
NORTH AMERICAN SOTA - Skip, K6DGW
I apologize, this is going to be a bit short, I’m still trying to deal with the time difference to the UK and I need to get this posted. I’ve done some work on the NA Statistics Extractor program to produce standings for the month however I haven’t completely verified that my code is actually doing something rational. Please bear with me …
NORTH AMERICA TOTALS
Total Activations: 289 [210]
Nr Unique Activators: 85 [74]
Total Chaser QSOs: 5145 [5772]
Nr Unique Chasers: 178 [188]
Total Summits Activated: 1643 [210]
Unique Summits: 293 [164]
2m: 50 (0%) [95]
6m: 0 (0%) [0]
10m: 31 (0%) [69]
12m: 998 (19%) [1363]
15m: 320 (6%) [149]
17m: 129 (2%) [214]
20m: 2797 (54%) [2918]
30m: 324 (6%) [287]
40m: 493 (9%) [673]
60m: 1 (0%) [3]
80m: 0 (0%) [0]
160m: 0 (0%) [0]
Unk: 2
CW: 3157 (61%) [3374]
SSB: 1936 (37%) [2303]
FM: 50 (0%) [94]
AM: 0 (0%) [1]
Data: 0 (0%) [0]
Other: 0 (0%) [0]
Unk: 2
I recommend you ignore “Total Summits Activated,” I have no idea what that means. Chaser QSO’s were down a bit, activations were up. 12m QSO’s almost made it into 4 digits.
January Activator Standings [3 activations or more. Add 1 to the standing number, I forgot that Perl counts from zero.]
NA Activator Standings
0: K6YOA/P 6
1: KJ6HOT 6
2: K7SO 6
3: VA2VL 5
4: KC0YQF 5
5: WA7JTM 5
6: N7AZ 5
7: K4KPK 5
8: N4QYI/P 3
9: NM5TW 3
10: KC5CW 3
11: WA2USA/P 3
I’m sure you’ll all advise me of any errors/omissions. Actually, I wish you would, it will help me get it right.
2013 SOTA IN REVIEW - Scott, W7IMC
I was going to write something up along the “12 Days of Christmas” theme, but came up with this instead. What a great sport!
Most points earned for least amount of effort – Bryan Head Utah 13 points and it’s a drive up (if you needed to)
Least points earned for most amount of effort – anything in the Idaho/Oregon Owyhee range
Most unusual peak name – Packer John (named after a 19th century wagon driver)
Most activations in one day – 3, also greatest 2 wheel distance in a day 31 miles
Failure to access or summit – 8 (posted, could not find access, ran out of steam, wx, rental car lack of clearance)
Flat tires, mechanical failures, stuck in the mud, dog bites, injuries, lost equipment - 0
Tallest peak activated, longest hike, windiest ridge and greatest elevation gain– Wheeler Peak Nevada 13,063 with xyl Debbie. 8.6 miles RT and 3,000 vertical
Sunglasses lost – 2 GPS batteries replaced – 8 Number of times I forgot which peak I was on – 1 (improvement from PY)
Best of Mountain House – Beef Stroganoff, worst of Mountain House – Chili Mac (what were they thinking?)
Wildlife spotted – deer, elk, antelope, wild horses and a tie dyed hippie in Montana. Greatest concentration of wildlife – cottontails near Wheeler peak and snowshoe hares in Montana. Road kills – 1 (sorry you wascally wabbit)
Use of low range while in 4wd – 3 times. Number of skid plate impacts, also 3. Number of times chainsaw deployed to clear the road – 2
Fastest hikers – WA state “hotshots†on Hurricane Ridge with full packs and saws taking big strides
Barb wire gates opened and closed – lost count
Number of smart cows encountered - 0
Best time of year to activate – Winter (bonus points, clear skies, and no other hikers) Worst time of year – August (wildfires and haze)
Scariest moment – oncoming pickup and travel trailer sideways coming down Cat Creek Summit at 70 mph (he recovered, but I bet his xyl slapped him upside the head)
2nd scariest moment – â€dang, where did I park the truck?â€
Biggest access surprise – Harrison Peak Idaho paved to the top at 9100 ft
Coolest temperature – -2 deg F in SE Oregon, the beer froze, the wine froze, the pancake syrup froze. Hottest temperature – don’t know, but it was Africa hot on a 10 point ridge walk across Gunsight Ridge on Steens Mountain Oregon
Most frequent chasers – N4EX, W0MNA, W0ERI
Most often heard comment on the trail after seeing Jackite pole in my pack – “you know there’s no fish up here?
Most scenic – any mountain in Olympic National Park
Most desolate – any mountain in the Idaho/Oregon Owyhee range
Highest camp site – 9,550 East Fork Pashemori Lost River Range east of Leatherman Pass with KF7DDT
New Associations Activated – 2 (W7U and W7N)
Still on the bucket list – Boundary Peak NV, Mt Whitney CA, Lassen Peak CA, Humphrey Peak AZ, Borah Peak ID, Ruby Mtns NV, Eagle Cap Wilderness OR, Black Rock Desert NV, and any peak in the MT Beaverhead, Pintlers, or Beartooth ranges.
Greatest low tech improvement – new knobby for the Honda
Greatest high tech improvement – switching to lithium ion and Arrow 4 element 2m Yagi
Greatest new hiking aid - REI boots
Longest VHF contact – 152 miles across the Snake River Plain
Longest HF contact – ssb to Portugal on 50w
New word learned - Arete
2014 needs – KH6, NM, NC and TN
Desired – Alaska Association
Biggest advantage – Yaesu 857 running 90w SSB. Biggest disadvantage – carrying Yaesu 857
Best Weekend – W7 S2S weekend in August
Favorite road sign – “No services next 142 miles†(Owyhee Uplands Road SW ID)
Est cost of fuel - $1300. Most expensive $4.05/gal in Arco ID, least expensive $3.15 a few days ago locally.
Best hiking sleeping aid – 2 shots of Crown with snowmelt water off the headwall
Most patient person I know – XYL Debbie
Scott, W7IMC
I find Scott’s fuel costs interesting. On my recent excursion down to New Mexico and El Paso TX, the cheapest fuel was Las Cruces NM at $2.95/gal followed closely by Tucson AZ at $2.99/gal. To the best of my knowledge there are no oil wells or refineries in AZ. Most expensive fuel was Bakersfield CA at an ARCO station $4.05] with functioning oil wells in the field just across the fence and a large refinery across the road.
That’s it for the February issue. Contributions to k6dgw@foothill.net it will help a lot if the NA folks either post on the NA Yahoo group, or put “nasota” somewhere in the subject. Non-NA folks can help with “SOTA News” in the subject.
73,
Skip K6DGW
I tried it manually once, waaaay too much time. Unless you had exactly one activation, which wasn’t in the report anyway, they were ALL wrong. And to think, I used to support my wife and many kids doing this sort of thing.