SOTA NEWS JANUARY 2013 (Part 2 of 2)
G0VPW AND G4OBK ACTIVATION OF CROSS FELL G/NP-001. 18 December
The summit of Cross Fell is the highest point in the North Pennines at 2930 ft. The plateau on which the summit lies also carries Little Dun Fell and Great Dunn Fell where a NATS air traffic radar installation is located. The largest white Radome can be seen on a good day from the A66 in the Eden Valley. The average annual rainfall on the summit is around 110 inches and the summit can be an inhospitable place, especially when the cross shelter on the summit is covered in a snow drift, as it was on our visit of 18 December 2012.
On my previous visit in December 2008 the weather was cooler, with mist and a hoar frost. Today there was more lying snow, patchy thick mist and wind of around 20 mph on the summit. In addition it was not possible to reach the usual parking place at the radar station gate (NY 716316 2480 ft ASL) due to ice and lying snow on the access road, so Terry G0VWP parked the car in a passing place at NY 712306 at 2000 ft ASL. I’ve known Terry personally for just over a year, although we have made contacts on ham radio regularly since 2009. He lives in York, around 30 miles from my home in Pickering.
Terry picked me up at 06.00 am and we were parked up on the road and walking by 0835 am. As we got nearer the gate the road conditions became worse and it was plain to see that the only vehicle which had climbed as far as the gate had caterpillar tracks. We continued on the road to the second gate which is the perimeter of the Great Dun Fell Radar site and then turned off right to follow the fence which (eventually) led us to the Pennine Way. As we continued the partly frozen snow and mist made progress difficult and we ended up crossing a shake hole some distance off the Pennine Way before we eventually found it. The route taken meant we crossed on the south west flank of Little Dunn Fell.
After we crossed over a Shake Hole we had to back track. This was when Terry had noticed he had lost his glasses - a 20 minute search returning back to where we had stopped to check and correct our position was unsuccessful - the glasses were not found… We continued on to the depression of Crowdundle Head which is the source of the River Tees. From here the trig point and shelter were a long time in coming. With the thick mist you could not see the join between sky and snow at times, however we eventually made it. After we had kicked some of the snow out of the way Terry set up his station for VHF on the 2m band in one corner of the shelter. After I had a sandwich and flask of tea I set up my HF Short Wave station on the opposite side. We both used separate Yaesu FT-857 transceivers.
Terry operated entirely on voice using FM and SSB on the 2 Metre Band and then on the 20m Band using my station. I operated in Morse (CW) on 30m and 20m and then on 2m VHF on FM and CW using Terry’s station. We used a link dipole on HF on a 7m pole and a SOTA Beams MFD on VHF mounted around 2m above ground. Using SSB on 2m with the MFD Terry G0VWP worked as far south as Devon when he worked Don G0RQL. The only station I worked on 2m CW was John G0TDM in Penrith. Our final total in 90 minutes operating was 113 contacts with 25 countries, the furthest on HF being with USA, Canada and Asian Russia.
We left the summit at 1.20 pm. Needless to say my hands were frozen as it is not possible to operate a Morse key for over an hour with gloves on. However I recently purchased some German Army Surplus fur lined mittens which I was carrying. Without any liner gloves my hands were warm as toast within five minutes! A good purchase…
We saw no other person and no wildlife, apart from one earwig crawling over the surface of the snow! As we made our way back over Little Dun Fell on the better return route, we found part of the flagged section of the Pennine Way uncovered by the snow. The mist was clearing from time to time and this allowed us views over the Eden Valley and down to Dufton Pike (G/NP-027) below us.
Once we reached the radar station and the road we could see that there was a light thaw on and the gate to the station had been unlocked. Again there were only caterpillar tracks, so the maintenance crew must use a specialist vehicle which is kept in a nearby village to access the station during the winter months. We completed the arduous walk of 8.5 miles with 2000 feet of ascent at 3.15 pm. As Terry’s eyesight was affected by not having his glasses I drove his car back to Pickering.
I will be revisiting the summit on May 1st 2013 with Geoff M6PYG when we will again operate for Summits On The Air, whilst taking part in Wainwright’s Pennine Journey, a long distance walk of 247 miles.
73
Phil G4OBK
2012 END OF YEAR STASTISTICS from Tom M1EYP
ACTIVATORS
World all-time top 20 activator table (points)
1) GM7PKT - 5580 2) DJ3AX — 4172
3) DL2HSC -- 4100 4) DG0JMB - 3960
5) G1INK --- 3869 6) HB9AFI – 3755
7) G4YSS --- 3621 8) OK8PKM - 3605
`9) OE5HCE - 3604
10) OK1DDQ - 3511
11) OE5RTP – 3129
12) DJ2AY — 3101
13) OE5IRO – 3078
14) DH0DK — 2962
15) DM2KL — 2929
16) HB9BAB – 2877
17) DG0OCZ – 2851
18) DL3AWK - 2850
19) DH3ZK — 2638
20) DH7WW – 2535
World 2012 top 20 activators (points)
1) OK1DIG -- 1379 2) OE5HCE - 1305
3) HB9BIN -- 1274 4) OK2PDT - 1025
5) OK2BDF -- 972 6) OK1DVM - 877
7) KE5AKL -- 863 8) OE5IRO – 846
=8) OE5RTP – 846
10) Z35BY ---- 794
11) MM0YCJ - 793
12) DM1LE — 792
13) OK8PKM - 746
14) OK1DDQ - 723
15) S57MS — 668
16) OK3EQ — 663
17) KT5X ------ 650
18) OE5HFM – 634
18) OE5MOM - 634
20) WO6M ---- 609
World all-time top 20 activators (uniques)
1) LX1NO --- 561 2) G1INK — 525
3) HB9AFI -- 508 4) G4WSB – 500
5) DJ3AX --- 424 6) OE5HCE - 418
7) HB9BIN -- 390 8) G4MD ---- 389
`9) S56LXN – 386
10) G4OIG — 385
10) G3CWI — 385
12) OE5RTP - 345
13) HB9BAB - 341
14) GM7PKT - 326
14) S57MS — 326
16) OE5IRO – 320
17) DG0OCZ - 302
18) M1EYP — 296
18) M0HGY — 296
20) GM4COX - 294
World 2012 top 20 activators (uniques)
1) HB9BIN --- 272 2) OK1DIG — 202
3) OE5HCE -- 198 4) OK2BDF – 164
5) OK2PDT -- 160 6) HB9AFI — 155
7) OK1DVM - 152 8) S56LXN – 132
`9) S57MS — 131
10) S57NAD - 125
11) M0JLA — 121
11) MM0YCJ - 121
13) OE5RTP – 116
14) OE5IRO – 114
15) M6BWA – 108
16) OK3EQ — 104
17) OE5MOM - 99
17) OE5HFM – 99
19) WO6M ---- 98
19) OK2BWB – 98
World all-time top 20 activations with most QSO’s
1) 706 - EA5WP ----- EA5/CS-001 Penyagolosa, 3/Sep/2011 2) 491 - EA5ER/P — EA5/AT-039 Ifach, 20/Nov/2011
3) 471 - EA3EGB/P - EA3/GI-018 Santa Magdalena de Cambrils, 16/Dec/2012 4) 451 - EA5ER/P — EA5/VL-013 Silla, 2/Oct/2011
5) 449 - EA3EGB/P - EA3/GI-032 Puig Sou, 15/Dec/2012 6) 430 - HA3HK/P — HA/DD-012 Fonyódi-hegy, 20/Jun/2011
7) 429 - EA5ER/P --- EA5/AT-035 Segaria, 10/Dec/2011 8) 405 - EA3HP/P — EA3/BC-008 Turó de L´ Home, 11/May/2012
`9) 402 - EA5ER/P — EA5/VL-009 Benicadell, 4/Jun/2011
10) 401 - DL8JJ/P ---- DM/HE-037 Eisenberg, 24/Mar/2012
11) 387 - EA4MZ/P — EA4/MD-035 Cabeza Piñuecar, 22/Jan/2012
12) 381 - HA3HK/P — HA/DD-018 Kastély-domb, 21/Apr/2011
13) 370 - EA2RKG/P – EA2/SS-055 Ollagon, 22/Jan/2011
14) 369 - MW1EYP/P - GW/NW-012 Cadair Berwyn, 2/Aug/2011
15) 364 - SM3TLG/P – SM/GA-001 Blacksås, 11/Aug/2010
16) 362 - EA7HNY ----- EA7/GR-002 Veleta, 2/Sep/2012
17) 360 - EA5FL/P ---- EA5/AT-037 Llorensa, 24/Dec/2011
18) 352 - EA4RCC/P — EA4/CC-005 Panera, 12/Aug/2012
19) 341 - EA2RKG/P — EA2/SS-047 Jaizkibel, 2/Jan/2011
20) 337 - Z35M/P ------ Z3/WM-046 Krstovar, Vodno, 20/Mar/2010
World 2012 top 20 activations with most QSO’s
1) 471 - EA3EGB/P - EA3/GI-018 Santa Magdalena de Cambrils, 16/Dec/2012 2) 449 - EA3EGB/P - EA3/GI-032 Puig Sou, 15/Dec/2012
3) 405 - EA3HP/P -- EA3/BC-008 Turó de L´ Home, 11/May/2012 4) 401 - DL8JJ/P — DM/HE-037 Eisenberg, 24/Mar/2012
5) 387 - EA4MZ/P -- EA4/MD-035 Cabeza Piñuecar, 22/Jan/2012 6) 362 - EA7HNY ---- EA7/GR-002 Veleta, 2/Sep/2012
7) 352 - EA4RCC/P - EA4/CC-005 Panera, 12/Aug/2012 8) 319 - EA5ER/7 — EA7/JA-005 Cabañas, 14/Oct/2012
`9) 301 - EA5GZY/P - EA5/CS-015 Espaneguera, 31/Mar/2012
10) 299 - TK/DH7KU - TK/TK-121 Punta Pozzo di Borgo, 10/Oct/2012
11) 273 - EA5URV/P - EA5/VL-001 Erilla, 11/Aug/2012
11) 273 - EA3EGB/P - EA3/BC-010 Tubau, 20/May/2012
13) 269 - EA4ESP/P - EA4/CC-018 Gordo, 27/May/2012
14) 263 - EA5GZY/P - EA5/CS-020 Campanilles, 7/Apr/2012
15) 257 - EA5ER/P – EA5/VL-006 Caroch, 9/Oct/2012
16) 251 - EA3HP/P – EA3/TA-008 Talaia del Montmell, 14/Dec/2012
17) 249 - HA8FY/P – HA/KD-030 Csobánc, 18/Apr/2012
18) 246 - EA3HP/P – EA3/GI-012 Costabona, 6/Oct/2012
19) 240 - EA5GZY/P - EA5/CS-019 Escanes, 7/Jan/2012
20) 238 - 2E0YYY/P – G/WB-004 Titterstone Clee Hill, 15/Sep/2012
World all-time top 20 activators (number of activations)
1) M1EYP --- 1279 2) G1INK ---- 915
3) GM7PKT -- 887 4) HB9BAB – 884
5) G3CWI ---- 755 6) DL2HSC – 754
7) HB9AFI --- 744 8) G4RQJ — 693
`9) DJ3AX — 667
10) LA1KHA - 599
11) G4WSB – 564
12) LX1NO — 561
13) OE5HCE - 558
14) S56LXN – 518
15) DH0DK — 503
16) OE5RTP – 498
17) HB9BIN – 496
18) DG0JMB - 489
19) G4YSS ---- 480
20) OE5IRO — 473
World 2012 top 20 activators (number of activations)
1) HB9BIN --- 272 2) OK1DIG — 205
3) OE5HCE -- 200 4) OK2BDF – 165
5) OK2PDT -- 162 6) OK3EQ — 159
7) HB9AFI --- 155 8) HB9BAB – 155
`9) OK1DVM - 148
10) S56LXN — 134
11) S57MS ---- 131
12) S57NAD – 125
13) M0JLA — 124
14) MM0YCJ - 121
15) M1EYP — 118
16) OE5RTP – 115
16) OE5IRO – 114
18) M6BWA – 110
19) MW0IML - 107
20) OK2BWB - 100
World all-time top 20 activators (number of QSO’s)
1) G1INK --- 32727 2) LX1NO — 22132
3) HB9AFI -- 21304 4) M1EYP — 20709
5) HB9BIN -- 16749 6) DJ3AX — 15527
7) G4WSB -- 14903 8) G4RQJ — 14723
`9) OK1DDQ - 14301
10) HB9BAB - 14170
11) GM7PKT - 13525
12) OK3EQ — 13276
13) 2E0YYY — 13215
14) S57XX ---- 12343
15) DL3SBA – 12295
16) G4YSS ---- 12151
17) HA7UL — 12029
18) HA2VR — 10416
19) S53X ------ 9469
20) LA1ENA – 9335
World 2012 top 20 activators (number of QSO’s)
1) 2E0YYY ---- 8324 2) HB9BIN ---- 8079
3) OK3EQ ---- 6447 4) OK1DIG — 5562
5) HB9AFI --- 4500 6) OK2PDT – 4357
7) OK2BDF -- 3705 8) G4WSB — 3273
`9) S57MS ---- 3260
10) DM1LE — 3228
11) F6HBI ----- 3184
12) OE5EEP – 3138
13) HB9BQU – 3104
14) M1EYP ---- 3036
15) OK1DDQ – 2725
16) OE5HCE — 2668
17) OK1DVM – 2643
18) G1INK ------ 2608
19) HB9BAB — 2399
20) MW0IML — 2309
CHASERS
END OF YEAR, ALL ASSOCIATIONS, ALL TIME HONOUR ROLL as of 0001 UTC 31st December 2012
CW-----G4SSH----72500
SSB-----G0RQL----32899
FM-----G4BLH-----6776
END OF YEAR TOP CHASER SCORES BY MODE FOR THE LAST 3 YEARS
---------2010---------2011-------2012
CW-----10359------14456------18864
SSB------4618------6139--------8998
FM-------3992------5846--------3735
CW and SSB chaser scores continue to increase, but FM shows a fall on the previous year.
On behalf of the 2700 chasers listed in the SOTA data base (2000 last December) I would like to thank all activators for their contribution to the programme. The foremost aim of these tables is to recognise the effort and dedication that all activators have put into the SOTA programme. The abandonment of many attempted activations in blizzard and snowdrift conditions during December served to highlight the difficulties that can be encountered by activators.
Roy G4SSH
CW REPORT FOR DECEMBER 2012 - by Roy G4SSH
Bad weather, including record amounts of rainfall in the UK resulted in no increase in the low level of CW activity during the month, which again saw activation points limited to less than 10 per day, from just one or two activations per day. My own log showed a reduction of about 20% in CW activations logged in the three weeks of the run up to Christmas, as compared with last December.
This all changed during the last week in the month when there was a flurry of activity commencing on the 27th with more than 130 spots daily, helped by multi-summit activations from Dan OK1DIG, Miro OK1DVM, Zoli HA3HK and Jurg HB9BIN.
There was also data activity from some Spanish activators. Phil G4OBK reports a contact with EA3EGB/P Manuel on 30m RTTY on 15th Dec on EA3/GI-032 and also logged EA4WT/P Jose on 17m PSK31 EA4/GU-001, (a 10 pointer) on the 27th. Perhaps some EA activators received a Laptop or Tablet for Christmas?
Amomgst the highlights was Jarda OK1HDU who was active from summits on Lanzarote Island in the Canaries, giving the elusive African continent to grateful CW chasers. No problems reported from snow or ice from that location.
On the 1st Dec Chris OE3CHC was active on HA/ND-001 from Hungary, then jumped over the border fence to operate under his own call as OE/BL-001
Jurg HB9BIN kept things rolling over from DL and F middle of month
Colin M0CGH was on G/NO-011 on 3558 KHz CW on the 16th the first SOTA CW 80m for a long time and this was followed by Vaclav OK1DCS on the 30th.
Phil G4OBK and Gerald GM4OIG were heard using used CW on 2m during the month.
Gerald F6HBI worked split on 14 MHz whilst on F/AM-461 on the 17th
Kurt HB9AFI worked Split on 7 MHz on HB/VD-035b on the 31st
Phil also used split working on 10118 and 14063 KHz on NP-001 on the 18th
David G4ASA was on one of his regular trips to Ireland, active from EI/IS
Peter DL6CGC attempted to work chasers by numbers on DM/SA-020 on the 31st which was only partly successful because stations were too busy sending their callsigns to listen to instructions from the activator.
Extracts from the Data Base compiled by Kevin G0NUP (As of 23/12/12)
SOTA CW ACTIVATORS SUBMITTING ENTRIES TO THE DATA BASE ABOVE 7 MHZ DURING DECEMBER 2012
10 MHz
AA4GA, DC8MH/P, DF3MC/P, DJ3AX/P, DK4TN/P, DL/HB9BAB/P, DL/HB9BIN/P,
DL8DXL/P, EA2BD/P, EA2BDS/P, EI/G4ASA/P,
EI/GI4ONL/P, F/HB9BIN/P, F5UKL/P, F6ENO/P, F6HBI/P, G0HIO/P, G3RDQ/P,
G4AFI/P, G4ASA/P, G4OBK/P, G4RQJ/P,
HA/OE3CHC/P, HA3HK/P, HB9BAB/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9IIO/P, K0JQZ, K7ATN,
KE5AKL, KR7W, KU6J, M0CGH/P, MM0FMF/P,
MW0IDX/P, N1EU, OE/HB9DST/P, OE3CHC/P, OE3WYC/P, OK1DIG/P, OK1DVM/P,
OK1MLP/P, OK2BDF/P, OM/HA5CQZ/P, S52CU/P,
SV/PA3Q/P, W4TZM, W7TAO, WO6M
14 MHz
AA4GA, DL/HB9BIN/P, EA1AER/P, EA2BD/P, EA4ESP/P, EA8/OK1HDU/P,
EI/G4ASA/P, F5UKL/P, F6ENO/P, F6HBI/P, F8FEO/P,
G4AFI/P, G4OBK/P, G4RQJ/P, HA3HK/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9IIO/P, K0JQZ,
K1JD, K4ADV, K6ILM, K6TW, K7ATN, K7SO,
KD7WPJ, KE5AKL, KR7W, KU6J, M0CGH/P, M1EYP/P, N1EU, N6JZT, NE1SJ,
OE3WYC/P, OK1DVM/P, S52CU/P, VA2VL/P, W4TZM,
W6UB, W7TAO, WA2USA/P, WA6ARA, WH6LE, WO6M, Z35M/P
18 MHz:
EI/G4ASA/P, F/HB9BIN/P, F5UKL/P, F6HBI/P, G4AFI/P, HA2PP/P, HB9DGV/P,
K7ATN, KU6J, OK1DIG/P, OK1DVM/P,
S52CU/P, W4TZM
21 MHz:
F5UKL/P, F6HBI/P, HA5CQZ/P, K0JQZ, KD7WPJ, KU6J, WO6M
24 MHz
F5UKL/P, F6HBI/P, G3RDQ/P, WO6M
28 MHz
F6HBI/P
CONTESTS DURING JANUARY 2013
The following scheduled contests are expected to cause QRM to SOTA activity, especially on the 40m band. Activators should plan accordingly with alternate spots/bands. This is not a complete list of contests.
1st only 0800-1100 SARTG RTTY Contest
1st only 0900-1200 AGCW Happy New Year Contest CW.
5th-6th 1800-2359 ARRL RTTY Roundup
13th only 0001-2359 SKCC Weekend Sprint
19th 20th only 1200-2359 Hungarian DXD contest
22nd-23rd 1200-1200 BARTG RTTY Contest
26th-27th 0600-1800 REF CW Contest
26th-27th 1200-1200 BARTG RTTY Contest
26th-27th1300-1300 UBA SSB DX Contest
SOTA News is normally published around noon UTC on the last day of each month and can only be as interesting as the items submitted. 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 SOTA enthusiasts all across Europe and beyond, in a total of 24 different countries. 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
I would like to thank all who have sent in contributions to SOTA News during 2012, both the regular team members and occasional contributors; your input has been greatly appreciated.
The SOTA News team wish all activators, chasers, SWL’s and their families a very Happy New Year 2013.
73
Roy G4SSH
SOTA News Editor
g4ssh@tiscali.co.uk
U.S. and Canadian reports to:-
Fred K6DGW [aka “Skip” on the radio]
Canada/US SOTA Reporter Dude
Auburn CA
k6dgw@foothill.net