SOTA NEWS FEBRUARY 2017 - Part 2
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SOTA PORTUGAL – Paulo CT2IWW
SOTA Portugal´s activations in 2016 were (way) up from previous two years
The number of Summits on The Air activations in continental Portugal experienced a sharp increase last year, nearly doubling the totals for 2015 and more than the quadrupled 2014´s activity.
Data pertaining to 2016 shows there were a total of 488 activations registered in SOTA´s Database, against 270 in 2015 and 131, in 2014. Percentage wise, the increase clocks in around 270% between 2014 and last year.
The Minho region (CT/MN) topped out the chart, with 137 activations, followed by Beira Alta (CT/BA), with 65 and Estremadura, at 62 summit activations.
In continental Portugal (CT), there are 11 SOTA regions that account for a total of 237 summits. Of those, and as off this note´s date, there are 19 references yet to be activated, namely 16 in Trás os Montes (CT/TM) and three in Beira Alta (CT/BA). It´s important to note that both Madeira (CT3) and Azores (CU) Islands have each its own Summits on the Air association.
April 1st is Portugal´s National Summits on the Air Day
It´s official: next April 1st all radio amateurs are invited to participate in Portugal´s National SOTA Day, an event that is meant to both highlight and encourage participation on the Summits on The Air program. The “party-on-the-air” is also meant to celebrate SOTA – Portugal´s sixth year in activity, that start precisely on this day, in 2011.
Long time and current participants, as well as amateur radio clubs, are particularly encouraged to invite other amateur operator´s to tag along their planned activities in order to increase the program´s awareness.
Diplomas (electronically sent) will be available to activators, chasers and SWL that are registered on SOTA´s Database and that upload their day´s log onto the same.
No other rules apply other than the Summits on The Air own set of procedures. This is not a contest, just another way of enjoying and celebrating Summits on The Air´s unique pleasure of amateur radio activity.
Pedro Carvalho, CT1DBS/CU3HF is the “point man” on this event and all queries regarding Portugal´s National SOTA Day 2017 should be sent to his email (lookup QRZ.COM) or diasotaCT@gmail.com
73
Paulo CT2IWW
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SOTA NEW ZEALAND REPORT from Warren ZL2AJ
Note from Editor:-
Warren complies a bi-monthly report for the New Zealand national magazine after the end of the month, to allow him to collect all the statistics. This is forwarded along to me during the first few days of a new month but misses our publication deadline on the last day of the month.
News from New Zealand will be inserted here upon arrival – Mark
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SOTA ON TOP BAND - Mark G0VOF
Hello everyone & welcome to this month’s edition of SOTA on Top Band.
Regular readers will remember that we finished 2016 with an overnight activation in progress. I will start this month with an update on John G4YSS’s overnight stay on G/NP-010 Pen-y-ghent. John had a rather eventful night with after a good run on 160m in the evening of 31st December the weather got the better of his antenna & dislodged one of his loading coils. This made his antenna un-useable below 1850KHz where UK stations can use full power, & after some experimentation he found that it was still useable around 1985KHz. This was not ideal, with some Radar QRM, yet he managed to continue on the band towards midnight & again following the change to 2017.
Despite the antenna problems John made 26 QSO’s (11 CW & 15 SSB) before midnight with a further 8 QSO’s (3 CW & 5 SSB) in the New Year. John was visited early on New Year’s day by Chris M0PXP & a friend who confirmed that a disconnected lead from one of the loading coils was to blame for John’s VSWR problems during the night.
John has posted a superb activation report, with photos that can be found here:
G4YSS: G/NP-010 NEW YEAR Summit Camp, 2016 to 2017
With QSO figures for the 31st December now known, the final Top Band figures for 2016 are below:
On the 8th January Bodo HB9EWU/P self spotted on 1900KHz SSB from HB/AI-005 Hoher Kasten during a break from 40m SSB although no QSO’s resulted on 160m.
However that was not all for Top Band this month as I have some fantastic news to report from “Down Under”.
On 14th January Gerard VK2IO/P activated VK2/CT-003 Mount Bindo & during a marathon activation on which numerous bands were used John decided to give 160m a try. He was rewarded with 4 QSO’s (3 CW / 1 SSB) with 3 unique stations making him the first ever VK Top Band Activator!
Congratulations & well done John and Gerard!
At the time of writing, those were the only Top band activation during January that I am aware of, if I have missed any others please let me know.
On 1 January, John GX0OOO/P (G4YSS) Activated G/NP-010 Pen-y-ghent & made 8 QSO’s (3 CW / 5 SSB)
On 14 January, Gerard VK2IO/P Activated VK2/CT-003 Mount Bindo & made 4 QSO’s (3 CW / 1 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 JANUARY 2017 - Roy G4SSH
I have been a SOTA chaser for more than 10 years now, but never before have I experienced such poor propagation conditions on HF as were present during the month of January 2017. I accept that the steady increase in local background noise prevents me from hearing all but the strongest EU SOTA activators on 7 MHz, but I have been used to routinely copying activators when they move up to 10 or 14 MHz.
Not so last month. In the majority of cases SOTA stations on 10 and 14 MHz were inaudible at my QTH apart from a 2 hour “window” between 1100z and 1300z. Roll on Spring. The seasonal improvement in conditions, however slight, cannot come soon enough.
Highlights of the month-
Zoran 9A/E70AA was active from Croatia during the New Year weekend and on most weekends during the remainder of the month as just E70AA. Jozef OK/OM6TC was active from Czechia. Angel was active from Spain as EA/M0HDF, John OK/AI4SV from Czechia and Andy CT9/HB9JOE from Madeira Island.
Jürg DL/HB9BIN was active at intervals, often from the BW region of Germany. In response to many requests Jürg has been adding 5 MHz to his working frequencies.
Sake DL/PA0SKP/P was active from Germany, Bob DL/F5HTR was also very active from Germany and Matt OE/HB9FVF, both from Austria. Hans DL/PB2T was heard active from Germany.
Club callsign HB9SOTA (Op. Bruno HB9CBR) was active on the 12th and the call was also active with various ops during the following weekend.
The Canary Islands proved to be a popular holiday/ SOTA destination during the month with the following stations heard active on CW:-
Geert EA8/PA7ZEE from Gran Canary
Chris EA8/ON6ZQ from Gran Canary
Erich EA8/HB9FIH from the rare Hierro Island.
Petr EA8/OK1CZ on Tenerife Island
Manuel EA8/HB9DQM on Tenerife Island
Uli EA8/DJ9BM from the Canary Islands.
Hans DL/PB2T was active from Germany, Joaquim CT7AGT was active on multi summits from Portugal on most days and Bob DL/F5HTR, Roger F5LKW and Gerald F6HBI were all active.
Helped by the “60 metre activity session” the neglected 5 MHz band, (which is usually devoid of CW activations) came to life with Paul DL6FBK, Paul HB9DST, Jürg DL/HB9BIN, Hans HB9BQU, Andy DL6AP, Manuel HB9DQM and Bruno HB9CBR all heard calling CQ SOTA using CW on this band.
Tom M1EYP and Andy DL6AP were also heard using CW on 3.5MHz.
I have been asked by some activators why their expedition has not been mentioned in this report. The answer is in your hands. This review is for CW only and I cannot be available every day. It is purely a representative sample of “out of the ordinary” activations heard using CW. If you wish your activation to be recorded in this review just send me brief details. Note that this not a substitute for activation reports, which are welcome and should go to Mark, the Editor, for inclusion in the main body of SOTA news.
73
Roy G4SSH
g4ssh@tiscali.co.uk
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SOTA ACTIVITY REPORT FOR JANUARY 2017 by Kevin G0NUP
Mode: CW on 1.8MHz: activity for January
GX0OOO/P, VK2IO/P
Mode: CW on 3.5MHz: activity for January
AX2IB/3, AX2IO/P, GW4TJC/P, GX0OOO/P, HB9BQU/P, JI1IHV/2, KR7RK,
VK2IO/P
Mode: CW on 7MHz: activity for January
AC0PR, AC1Z, AD5A, AE9Q, AI4SV/6, AI6CU, AX2IB/3,
AX2IO/P, CT7AGT/P, DF3MC/P, DF7FX/P, DF8KY/P, DL/F5HTR/P, DL/HB9BIN/P,
DL/HB9JOE/P, DL/OE5EEP, DL/PA0SKP/P, DL/PB2T/P, DL2FAZ/P, DL5FAB/P, DL6FBK/P,
DL8JJ/P, EA1AER/P, EA2IF/P, EA5FV/P, F5LKW/P, F5PLR/QRP/P, F6HBI/P,
F8FEO/P, G0HIO/P, G0MFR/P, G4CFS/P, G4RQJ/P, GM0EVV/P, GW4ISJ/P,
GW4TJC/P, HA1AG, HA4FY/P, HA5CLF/P, HA5LV/P, HA5MA/P, HA7UL/P,
HB9/F5HTR/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9AXL/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQU/P, HB9CBR/P,
HB9DGV/P, HB9DQM/P, HB9DST/P, HB9EWO/P, HB9FVF/P, HB9SOTA/P, HB9TWM/P,
JA1KHZ/1, JA3NAP/3, JA4RQO/4, JF1NDT/1, JF1NDT/5, JG1VCH/1, JI1IHV/2,
JJ1SWI/1, JL1NIE/1, JO3ALU/3, JP1QEC/1, JP1QEC/2, JP3DGT/3, JS1UEH/1,
K1JD, K2JB, K3JZD, K4QS, K6HPX/P, K7JFD, K7MK,
K9PM/P, KB9ILT, KE5AKL, KE7BGM, KH7AL, KI4SVM, KR7RK,
KW4JM, KX0R, LA1ENA/P, LA1KHA/P, LZ1GJ/P, M1BUU/P, MM0FMF/P,
MM0MXW/P, N0PCL, N0TA, N3II, N4SFR, N6JZT, N7CW,
NA6MG, NM5S, NS7P, OE/HB9DQM/P, OE/HB9FVF/P, OE5EEP/P, OE5EIN/P,
OE6KYG/P, OE6RDD/P, OK/OE5EEP, OK/OMTC/P, OK/SP9MA/P, OK1HCD/P, OK1MLP/P,
OK1NF/P, OK2BDF/P, OK2PDT/P, OK2TX/P, PB2T/P, S51RU/P, S52FT/P,
S53XX/P, S58R/P, SP9MA/P, SQ8JMZ/P, SV1RHL/P, VK1DA, VK2AOH,
VK2GEL, VK2IO/P, VK3AFW/P, VK3ARH, VK3ARR, VK3BYD/P, VK4JAZ,
VK5CZ, W0CP, W1EJ, W5ODS, WA2USA/P, WA6ARA, WA6MM,
WA7JTM, WB0USI, WB5USB, WC6J, WC9G, WG0AT, WS0TA,
WW7D, YO2BP/P
Mode: CW on 10MHz: activity for January
AC7P, AD5A, DF3MC/P, DJ2FR, DL/F5HTR/P, DL/HB9BIN/P, DL/HB9BRJ/P,
DL/OE5EEP, DL5FAB/P, DL6FBK/P, DL8JJ/P, EA2IF/P, F5LKW/P, F6HBI/P,
F8FEO/P, GW4TJC/P, HA1AG, HA5LV/P, HA5MA/P, HA7HF/P, HB0/HB9FVF/P,
HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQU/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9DGV/P, HB9DQM/P,
HB9DST/P, HB9SOTA/P, JJ1SWI/1, JP3DGT/3, K1JD, K3JZD, K4QS,
K6HPX/P, K7ATN, K7MK, K7PX, K9PM/P, KB1KXL, KB9ILT,
KD7WPJ, KE5AKL, KH7AL, KR7RK, KW4JM, KX0R, LA1ENA/P,
LA1KHA/P, MM0FMF/P, MW0VFC/P, N4SFR, N6JZT, N7CW, NA6MG,
NS7P, OE/HB9FVF/P, OE5EEP/P, OF2NOS/P, OK/OE5EEP, OK1MLP/P, OK2PDT/P,
OM/OK2PVX/P, PB2T/P, S52CU/P, S53XX/P, SQ8JMZ/P, VK2AOH, VK2IO/P,
VK3HN/P, W0CP, W1EJ, W5ODS, WA2USA/P, WA7JTM, WB5USB,
WG0AT, WS0TA, WW7D, YO2BP/P
Mode: CW on 14MHz: activity for January
9A/E70AA/P, AC0PR, AC1Z, AC7P, AD5A, AE5KA, AI4SV/6,
AI6CU, AX2IB/3, AX2IO/P, CT1HIX/P, CT7AGT/P, DF3MC/P, DF8KY/P,
DJ2MX/P, DL/F5HTR/P, DL/HB9BIN/P, DL/HB9JOE/P, DL/OE5EEP, DL/PA0SKP/P, DL/PB2T/P,
DL6FBK/P, E70AA/P, EA1AER/P, EA1FBU, EA2BD/P, EA2WX/P, EA5FV/P,
EA8/HB9DQM/P, EA8/OK1CZ/P, EA8/ON6ZQ/P, EA8/PA7ZEE/P, F5LKW/P, F5PLR/QRP/P, F6HBI/P,
F8FEO/P, G0MFR/P, GW4ISJ/P, HA5LV/P, HA7UL/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P,
HB9BIN/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9CLT/P, HB9DGV/P, HB9DQM/P, HB9EWO/P, HB9FVF/P,
HB9JOE/P, HB9SOTA/P, JA4RQO/4, JF1NDT/1, JF1NDT/5, JG1GPY/1, JG1VCH/1,
JL1NIE/1, JP1QEC/1, JP1QEC/2, JP3DGT/3, JP3PPL/3, JS1UEH/1, JS6TMW/6,
K1JD, K2JB, K3JZD, K4QS, K6HPX, K6HPX/P, K7ATN,
K7JFD, K7MK, K7PX, K9PM/P, KB1KXL, KB9ILT, KC1APK,
KD7WPJ, KE5AKL, KR7RK, KW4JM, KX0R, LA1ENA/P, LZ1GJ/P,
M1BUU/P, N0TA, N2GBR, N2GDS, N4SFR, N6JZT, N7CW,
NA6MG, NM5S, NS1TA, NS7P, OE/HB9DQM/P, OE/HB9FVF/P, OE5EIN/P,
OF2NOS/P, OK/AI4SV, OK1MLP/P, OK2BWB/P, OK2PDT/P, OK2TRN/P, PB2T/P,
S51RU/P, S52CU/P, S53XX/P, SP9MA/P, SV1RHL/P, VK1DA, VK2AOH,
VK2IO/P, VK3ANL, VK3BYD/P, VK3CAT, VK3JBL/6, VK3PF/P, VK4JAZ,
VK6MSC, VK6NU, W1EJ, W2CAM, W5ODS, W7USA, WA2USA/P,
WA6ARA, WA7JTM, WB0USI, WB5USB, WC6J, WC9G, WG0AT,
WS0TA, WW7D, YO2BP/P, YU1CA/P, ZL1BYZ
Mode: CW on 18MHz: activity for January
AC1Z, AD5A, CT9/HB9JOE/P, DL/OE5EEP, DL6FBK/P, EA8/HB9DQM/P, EA8/OK1CZ/P,
F6HBI/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9DGV/P, HB9SOTA/P, JF1NDT/1, JF1NDT/5,
JG1GPY/1, JI1IHV/2, JO3ALU/3, JP1QEC/1, JP1QEC/2, JP3DGT/3, JS1UEH/1,
JS6TMW/6, K1JD, KX0R, NS1TA, OK/OE5EEP, OK1MLP/P, VK2IO/P,
W5ODS, WA2USA/P, WG0AT, WS0TA
Mode: CW on 21MHz: activity for January
AA0BV, AD5A, AX2IO/P, DL/OE5EEP, DL6FBK/P, JF1NDT/1, JF1NDT/5,
JI1IHV/2, JO3ALU/3, JP1QEC/1, JP3DGT/3, JP3PPL/3, JS1UEH/1, K1JD,
K2JB, KR7RK, NS1TA, OK1MLP/P, VK2AOH, VK2IO/P, VK5CZ,
VK6NU, WG0AT, WS0TA
Mode: CW on 24MHz: activity for January
JP3DGT/3, OK1MLP/P
Mode: CW on 28MHz: activity for January
DL6FBK/P, DM7N, JP3DGT/3, KR7RK, OK1MLP/P
Mode: CW on 50MHz: activity for January
JH0CJH/1, JJ1SWI/1, OE1WED/6
Mode: CW on 1240MHz: activity for January
Mode: FM on 28MHz: activity for January
Mode: FM on 50MHz: activity for January
JI1TLL/1, JN3PDF/3, KK4OSG
Mode: FM on 1240MHz: activity for January
EI3IX/P, G7HEM/P, GW7HEM/P, JG6CRU/6, JN3PDF/3, JS1GRO/1, VK2HRX,
VK2KXN/P
Mode: SSB on 28MHz: activity for January
AB4WL, DC8TM/P, DF3TS/P, DL6FBK/P, DO5TMM/P, HB9FVF/P, KR7RK,
S56LXN/P, VK1DI/P, VK1MA, VK1MBE, VK3ANL, VK3TST
Mode: SSB on 50MHz: activity for January
AA0BV, JA1KHZ/1, JG1GPY/1, JG1VCH/1, JH0CJH/1, JH1EWV/1, JI1IKC/1,
JI1TLL/1, JJ1SWI/1, JO3ALU/3, JR1NNL/1, JS1UEH/1, K0NR, K7JFD,
KD7WPJ, KK4OSG, N0PCL, OK1MLP/P, S56LXN/P, VK1AD/2, VK1AD/P,
VK1DA, VK2IO/P, VK3ANL, W7USA, WA7JTM
Mode: SSB on 1240MHz: activity for January
VK3JBL/P
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.
We receive many e-mails during the month containing details of activations, milestones reached and general SOTA news. Unless advised otherwise we will use this information in the next edition of SOTA News. It is important therefore that you advise us 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.
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Mark G0VOF
SOTA News Editor
mark@brownhill.demon.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