SOTA NEWS - MARCH 2014
EDITORIAL Skip, K6DGW:
ROY: Sadly, Roy’s son Andrew lost his fight with cancer on the 7th of February and he has asked me to remain as SOTA News editor for a couple of months whilst he is still involved in travelling to assist Andrew’s family in London. Roy will then return as Editor.
He would like to thank the many SOTA activators and chasers who have sent messages of condolence and sympathy. These were very much appreciated.
SKIP: I am happy to ease Roy’s difficulties right now and I know we all offer our sympathy and condolences during this very difficult time for him. I am still working on my “interaction” with the Reflector and how it “helps” me getting the newsletter out. 
It strips out repeated spaces and tabs, and formats everything in a single typeface, so please bear with me as I experiment a bit.
My thanks to my contributors this month: Andy, MM0FMF; Barry, GM4TOE; SOTA Portugal; Mark, G0VOF; Rob, G4RQJ and Audrey; Phil, G4OBK; Elliott, K6EL, and all the usual suspects here in the New World.
SOTA MANAGEMENT TEAM NEWS:
Andy, MM0FMF, Database Manager:
New Associations and Updates:
For the 1st of March there are updates to the YO and VE7 associations. Also VK8 - Australia Northern Territory is a new association. The ARMs will be/have been uploaded by now.
The update to SOTAwatch normally follows a day or two behind so you should be able to log these new summits, you may not yet be able to alert or spot them.
Don’t thank me, I merely push a button or two. The real work is done by the AM’s (and their helpers) and by the other members of the MT.
SWL Logging:
The database has been updated to support SWL logging. The code and
files have been uploaded but SWL features are currently disabled. This was so I could check the changes for SWL logging had not affected normal SOTA activities. Thanks to Michael DB7MM who spotted an issue and helped me resolve it. SWL features will be rolled out over the coming weeks.
12m Challenge user logging errors:
Can I ask all people logging 12m i.e. 24MHz activations/chases etc. to be sure they have select 24MHz and not 24GHZ. There are a number of 24GHZ entries which I’m fairly sure are 24MHz contacts.
Also on 22-Feb-2014 we gained user number 7000 on the database.
Barry GM4TOE - SOTA Awards Manager:
February was another quiet month for awards but congratulations are in order for S53EO, Milos, WK0X, Gary, and VK5HCF, Col, on their Shack Sloth awards. DG0JMB, Joerg, has achieved 2500 Activator points which is no mean feat while NS7P and IK3GER have amassed 25k Chaser points. Finally, Martha, W0ERI, has joined her partner W0MNA, as a Supersloth!
TROPHIES:
Shack Sloth:
S53EO, Milos Oblak
WK0X, Gary J Esler
VK5HCF, Col Huon
CERTIFICATES CLAIMED:
Activator:
DG0JMB, Joerg Brueckner, 2500 points
SQ9ORC, Slawomir Kordula, 500 points
SQ9KDP, Rafal Karas, 500 points
WB0USY, Rick Loughrey, 100 points
DL4TO, Gerhard Sedlak, 100 points
SQ9APD, Bartosz Kuzma, 100 points
VK3FTRV, Ben Trevorrow, 100 points
Chaser:
NS7P, Phillip Shepard, 25000 points
IK3GER, Paolo Corsetti, 25000 points
W0ERI, Martha Auchard, 10000 points
VK5HCF, Col Huon, 1000 points
VK3FQSO, Amanda Bauer, 500 points
VK2LAX, Rod Jarman, 250 points
VK1NAM, Andrew Moseley, 250 points
VK3FTRV, Ben Trevorrow, 250 points
VK4OZY, Dave Clodd, 100 points
Mountain Hunter:
W0MNA, Gary Auchard, Platinum
EA2BDS, Marcial Vecilla, Gold
WB0USI, Rick Loughrey, Bronze
S53EO, Milos Oblak, Bronze
Summit to Summit:
VK2JI, Ed Durrant Red
SOTA Complete:
HB9BCB, Heinz Baertschi, 100 summits
This month the Management Team announced that Guy N7UN had been awarded the “Sherpa Award†for his extensive contribution during 2013 towards the SOTA programme. This award was kindly sponsored by Richard, G3CWI, of SOTAbeams in order to recognise significant effort made towards the success of SOTA. When considering who should receive this award the MT drew up a (not very) short list of potential candidates all of whom had made significant contributions of effort towards the programme. The final outcome was unanimous but was a very difficult decision to make as so much effort had been put voluntarily into the success of SOTA by all of these individuals. Although they shall remain unnamed our congratulations to all those considered and, of course, in particular, Guy as the winner and Richard for his sponsorship.
There was a slight glitch earlier this year with merchandise stock being suddenly depleted. Matters are now in-hand and stock levels are back to acceptable, if not large. Many thanks to anyone who had to wait for delivery of their purchase for their patience. I also found out this week that an envelope containing certificates took three weeks between the UK and Eastern USA; I guess the postman had to swim the Atlantic!
I had hoped by now to announce the final arrangements for the microwave award, however it is still being considered by the UK Microwave Group but we should hear back from them shortly. The details will then be finalised and Andy will work his magic with the database ready in time for a summer launch.
Finally, there have been a number of serious accidents in the last month on the Scottish hills, mainly caused by abnormal weather on western facing slopes. Where individuals survived the conditions it was apparent how well equipped they were (and correctly trained) which should be a lesson to everybody venturing onto high ground in winter. Soon the thaw will come and, once more, SOTA activity will peak (pun intended)!
POSSIBLE CONTEST CONFLICTS:
There are two world-wide SSB contests scheduled for March that could pose a problem for activators:
ARRL WW DX [SSB]: 0000Z 1 Mar to 2359Z 2 Mar
CQ WPX [SSB]: 0000Z 29 Mar to 2359 30 Mar
Check www.hornucopia.com/contestcal/contestcal.html for possible local contest conflicts.
FIRST ANNUAL SOTA MEETING - COIMBRE, PORTUGAL:
[sota@sotaportugal.com]
Dear SOTA Friends,
Just to inform you that March 22 , COIMBRA [Industrial Aerodynamic Laboratory of Coimbra] will receive SOTA Enthusiast Activators and Chasers for the 1st Meeting in 2014.
All are welcome and participation is free. Program will include presentations about QRP and SOTA activities. The lunch cost is Eur 8,00 per person (Buffet style) just for Saturday. Thanks in advance for reading.
73 from
SOTA PORTUGAL
[Ed note: There were maps and other graphics included which I cannot include on the Reflector. I’m sure you can obtain them at the above email address. I’m moderately fluent in Spanish - grew up in So. California - turns out I can make a little sense out of Portugese too. :-)]
SOTA ON TOP BAND:
Mark G0VOF
Hello everyone & welcome to this month’s edition of SOTA on Top Band. This report was going to be very Spartan; as up until the evening of Friday 28th February there had been no activations on Top Band.
I had already submitted my report but when I arrived home from work on Friday I had not even taken off my coat when I noticed the Klaus DF2GN/P had been spotted on 1868KHz SSB on DM/BW-228 Hummelsberg. I quickly powered up my station & listened for him & amazingly I could hear him, despite my local noise. I dropped my power to 32 Watts (The UK legal limit on that part of 160m) & called Klaus to let him know I could tell he was there & if possible to try CW. I’m not sure if he heard me, but later he did call on 1822KHz CW & this time I could run the radio at full power (100Watts) although Klaus did hear my first call when I was still running 32 Watts.
As I had literally just walked in from work I only had my 80m loop to work on but after a couple of calls Klaus came back with a report of 559. At this point Klaus was also 559 but as I listened to his further calls he increased in strength to be 589 at one point.
So a very good end to the week & at least one Top Band activation to report!
I don’t have any details regarding how many contacts Klaus made as his activation is still in progress as I type this “revised†report. Thank you very much Klaus!
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 …
THE VIEW FROM THE NORTH:
Rob, G4RQJ, and Audrey
The intro for this month could be the same as last month, endless rain, wind and mud, just more of it and by far the worst year of winter bonus since SOTA inception. Twelve extra turns on the coil don’t help either. Still at least we’re not under water like so much of the country.
Enough moaning, nice to see new folks starting out on CW both as activators and chasers. I (Rob) have made most of the common mistakes in the past and still find new traps to fall into. My current one is a different speed for numbers and letters and losing the plot when word reading in the head and suddenly being faced with numbers. Moral, learn on mixed groups rather than the on “Oh you’ll pick up numbers easy Just count them” WRONG.
Beginners, as soon as you pick up a key, you’re a cw operator, remember that. The barriers are in your head. Listen to someone sending perfect 35+ stuff, once they were worse than you. Stick at it and good luck, give us a call.
Chasers, don’t be too polite, listen to the target for a while, chances are they will be working contest style (a necessary evil). If so resist the urge to demonstrate your new abilities by giving your name, qth etc in long hand, just a quick exchange of reports will do. It may seem rude to you at first and I still hate doing it but it’s necessary. Don’t be afraid to run at a speed that you’re comfortable with, any decent operator will drop down to help you but bear in mind that if he’s running an '817 or similar he will probably leave the letter speed the same and leave bigger gaps (try fiddling with the '817 menu in gloved hands!).
If your speed is very slow try waiting until things ease off a little, most ops will look for QRS stations towards the end of the session when things calm down. Don’t send faster than your receiving speed (tempting and I do sometimes) you only end up missing stuff when he comes back at that speed and you can’t copy it. Try leaving a fraction longer after your first call before a repeat, remember the activator is probably writing on a pad on his knee in gloved hands and holding a pencil as he sends. (Oh to be ambidextrous!)
Activators, please don’t set your autocall at 35+ WPM we can’t all copy that fast. Personally I prefer to do all calling by hand which gives more scope for mistakes, hi.
Sunday Feb16th and at last a half decent day so off to one of our little local hills Arnside Knott. This is the smallest of the Lake District summits and very straightforward. It will suit people passing through the area on the M6. From the North take J35 and follow the A6 north to Milnthorpe. At the traffic lights turn left to Arnside a little Victorian seaside spot with views across Morecambe Bay to the greater part of the Lake District beyond. There are cafes and a well thought of chip shop, almost always open.
If northbound rejoin the M6 at J36. Retrace your steps to Milnthorpe, turn left onto the A6 northbound at the traffic lights and continue to join the A590 eastbound to the M6. If southbound, reverse the route. If you’re just passing through the area and fancy another one pointer, at Milnthorpe traffic lights go straight ahead and head for Burton in Kendal. There go through the village and take Dalton Lane on the left for a couple of miles where there is a small car park at an old quarry. This is the start of a route up Hutton Roof Crag, LD-052 Watch out for the mud and limestone pavements .Return to the M6 via Burton but not Milnthorpe it’s quicker even if you’re heading south.
Meanwhile back in Arnside follow the road along the prom and up the hill, take Red Hills Road on the right and the next turn on your left is a lane where you can park on the right (go to the top and turn) Walk up the lane to the top and turn left. This is a private road with access but no parking. About 200yds along on your right is an iron kissing gate into the woods. Follow the path out onto the open field and the route to the top is obvious.
In winter a fallen tree at an angle a little southeast of the trig makes a really pleasant seat. In summer it’s hidden by the undergrowth. Today we had warm sun on our backs for the first time in ages. Still needed all the usual warm gear though!
Sunday 23rd Feb. The local forecast is for 100mph gusts on the hills with a steady 60mph gale, torrential heavy rain, 40mm or so with cloud down to the lowest tops so there go some more winter bonus points. As G4YSS John pointed out on the reflector this has been going on pretty steadily since mid December and has badly upset SOTA in these parts (and he is a bad weather expert). UK postings are few and far between and it’s not surprising.
Well all for now, take care out there
SOUTHWEST ENGLAND ACTIVATIONS
Phil Catterall G4OBK
Saturday:
G/SC-004
We arrived in the Taunton area, our overnight staging post at about 3.30pm and continued a few miles on to Staple Hill G/SC-004. This was an easy activation in Woodland. I qualified on 2m FM in 5 minutes and then moved to HF CW/SSB. 40 QSOs completed.
Sunday:
G/DC-005
I drove a short way down the M5 and turned off at Cullompton and used the narrow lanes to get to DC-005 Christs Cross, a drive on summit. I operated in a muddy field by a fence and it rained hard midway through the activation. I ran back to the car to get my brolly to save the FT-857 from getting drenched. Activation was cut short after 36 QSOs. The XYL understandably remained in the car.
G/DC-001
I continued to Okehampton, We parked up on Dartmoor as near to the summit than I thought we would be as the MoD have extended the narrow strip of tarmac a further 1 Km from previous reports. It rained hard on our way to High Willhays but stopped by the time we got there. It was an excellent activation, accompanied by XYL Judy. I again qualified on 2m FM within 5 minutes with 57 QSOs completed - mostly on HF.
Monday:
Persistent rain and gales all day which meant there was no SOTA. We visited Godolphin House which is a National Trust House.
Tuesday:
G/DC-006
Showers were forecast so we headed to the north coast and the south west corner of it to activate Watch Croft DC-006. This was an easy walk up a track, again accompanied with my XYL. We had torrential rain on our arrival so just hunkered down in the shelter on Watch Croft until it stopped. When it did I rigged the HF antenna and made 61 QSOs. I didn’t bother with 2m FM as too far west and a long way from any centres of population. After that we visited St Ives and then headed to DC-004 Hensbarrow Beacon - a strange and horrible place in the midst of China Clay quarries north of St Austell. Lorry after lorry carrying loads away somewhere passed by every minute or two. The adjacent slag heap is higher than the summit at 312m. The roadside measured in at 296m. It was raining persistently so even a roadside activation was impossible. We returned to the hotel.
Wednesday:
G/DC-006
We visited the famous Eden Environmental Project which is close to DC-004 Hensbarrow Beacon and St Austell. We revisited the DC-004 summit after our Eden Project tour but it was again raining persistently and it was just not possible to activate. The BBC weather forecast had been bang on though all week and they had forecast a dry hour or two from 4.00pm. So we headed back to Helston and the most south westerly summit remaining instead. This was DC-006 Carnmenellis. It was important to complete this one, more than Hensbarrow as it was further away from the north of England where we live. Judy XYL stayed in the car with a book. It was a short but rough walk over heath land but there was good shelter under some large slab like rocks by the trig. I just had a few spits and spots of rain and managed 27 QSOs before the rain came again.
Thursday:
G/DC-003
Last day. We left the hotel at 9.15am. Despite driving to within 5 miles of Hensbarrow Beacon I wasn’t going to visit there again so I gambled on Kit Hill DC-003 near Callington offering sufficient shelter - and it did. A drive on summit, the car park is within 50m of the top. I got behind the old mine chimney there in the Country Park at 1115am with my brolly to protect the FT-857 and completed 44 QSOs on the 40m band in CW and SSB. There was a super greasy spoon called Louis Café at the bottom of the hill and we had scones and tea before heading off north. We had two comfort stops and a meal break late afternoon on the M42 for KFC at the Motorway services. It rained persistently all the way back and the M1 roadworks around Mansfield meant stop start driving for several miles, so it was 9.00pm before we got home.
On reflection with what the WX had thrown at us I was pleased of what was achieved with 265 QSOs over the six summits. DC-002 Brown Willy and DC-004 Hensbarrow Beacon will have to wait. I now need to activate 12 South Central, 10 Southern England and 2 Devon Cornwall to finish England off.
Miles driven: 1158
SOTA QSOs: 265
Bands used: 40m, 30m, 20m CW/SSB and 2m FM
For more details and photos of this trip search out Catterblog on Google.
VK SOTA REPORT
Allen, VK3HRA
VK1 celebrated one year and has been leading the DX efforts. Andrew
(VK1NAM and VK1DA) have regularly been gaining EU S2S and chaser
contacts. This reflects a great deal of effort planning and timing so
well earned.
VK2TWR has gained 500 points activating in the last 4 months. Setting a
cracking pace and new standards for all. There was a SOTA Dinner held at
Wyong (Tuggerah) whilst the Field Day SOTA info desk experienced a high
amount of interest. VK2 activity is growing with new activators and
chasers alike.
VK3 has been sweltering and experiencing fires closing access to several
parks. There was enough to do including celebrating 2 years of SOTA with
MDRC again hosting a Saturday lunch event at its club rooms. This was
well received with 30+ attendants. It was a great morning and nice to
catch up with the SOTA bunch. There were several topics presented
ranging from associations summary, CW and lightweight activations, SOTA
home brew gear, SOTA protocols and navigational skills. The open forum
question time
Here we have some interesting statistics from Wayne (VK3WAM)
demonstrating the interest and growth in SOTA for VK3;
2012
1,249 activator points across 19 activators
212 activations averaging 11.16 activators per activator
169 CW activator points with 28 CW activations
40 chasers registered in SOTA database with 4,155 chaser points
2013
6,717 activator points across 95 activators
137 chasers registered in SOTA database with 77,706 chaser points logged
1,479 activations averaging 15.57 activations per activator
415 CW activator points with 82 CW activation
Ron VK3AFW and Tony VK3CAT are showing great patience by hosting SOTA CW
Practice session on Thursdays nights on 7.045 at 20:30 local time. The
intend is to promote and support CW activations and help chasers alike.
Progress is slow but we are all looking forward to activity. Attendance
is dependent on conditions with participation from VK3, VK2 and VK5.
VK4 has been quite with so far only summits in the South East and
Darling Downs Regions having been activated.
VK5 was sweltering with fires with activity picking up towards the end
of month. Time not wasted with congratulations going to Col VK5HCF for
achieving Shack Sloth status. Also a VK5 SOTA & Parks symposium has been
planned for 9th March. It is to be held at the Guides Hall / AHARS shack
at Blackwood commencing at 9.00 a.m. Contact VK5PAS Paul for further
details.
Whilst VK6 has not released a summit list yet, there are several chasers
appreciating the higher band activity.
VK8 will become part of SOTA at 00:00 UTC on the 1st March. There are
246 qualifying summits in the NT. In 3 geologically defined regions. Far
north, central and south west. We are all looking forward to new summits.
NORTH AMERICAN SOTA NEWS
Skip, K6DGW
Mother-in-Law is in the hospital with a small problem which has been using up time so this will be a bit more concise than usual.
Statistics:
NORTH AMERICA TOTALS
Total Activations: 306 [289]
Nr Unique Activators: 90 [85]
Total Chaser QSOs: 5879 [5145]
Nr Unique Chasers: 186 [178]
Total Summits Activated: 306 [1643]
Unique Summits: 218 [293]
2m: 125 (2%) [50]
6m: 2 (0%) [0]
10m: 85 (1%) [31]
12m: 1777 (30%) [998]
15m: 224 (3%) [320]
17m: 208 (3%) [129]
20m: 2481 (42%) [2797]
30m: 316 (5%) [324]
40m: 658 (11%) [493]
60m: 0 (0%) [1]
80m: 0 (0%) [0]
160m: 0 (0%) [0]
Unk: 3
CW: 3445 (58%) [3157]
SSB: 2309 (39%) [1936]
FM: 122 (2%) [50]
AM: 2 (0%) [0]
Data: 0 (0%) [0]
Other: 1 (0%) [0]
Unk: 3
Overall, activity seems to have increased some over February. 12 meters is really getting a work out these days! We do have a number of formerly SSB/FM-only folks taking up CW but the CW/SSB split is holding about the same. I haven’t had time to tackle the activator & chaser standings problem in my statistics program so we’ll forgo that again this month.
Awards and Achievements:
Glenn, N4MJ, has passed the 10,000 chaser point level and is in the rarified territory of Super Sloths now. Congratulations Glenn!
Pete, WA7JYM, has become the 7th Mountain Goat in the Western Hemisphere, and he did it in less than a year [47 weeks]! Contratulations Pete
Just in case you missed it at the top of this report, after much consideration and many candidates, the SOTA Management Team has awarded the SOTA Sherpa award to Guy, N7UN. The award is sponsored by Richard, G3CWI, of SOTAbeams to recognize extraordinary contribution to the success of SOTA. As SOTA was starting out in North America, Guy was highly instrumental in the huge tasks of defining appropriate Association boundaries and cataloging the myriad of summits. Much of North America is, shall we say, very bumpy with lots of peaks. Congratulations Guy, it is a very well deserved award.
Activation Reports:
A Plea. Over the course of the month, a great number of activation reports are posted to the NASOTA Yahoo group – way more than I can cram into this report. I have been picking one or two that seemed interesting, however that really isn’t working well since I took on the SOTA Report in Roy’s absence. In return for fame and fortune, I’d welcome a volunteer who would gather the postings [a number are to blogs] and write a consolidated report of the interesting activations, information gained by the activators, and the like. Just drop me an email at my QRZ email I’ll set you up. OK, I made the “fortune” part up.
That’s going to be it for the March issue.