SOTA NEWS - OCTOBER 2013
EDITORIAL – by Roy G4SSH
Welcome to the October 2013 edition of SOTA News. My thanks go to the following contributors:- Barry GM4TOE, Marq CT1BWW, Allen VK3HRA, Skip K6DGW, Elliot K6EL, Nick G4OOE, Mark G0VOF, Rob & Audrey G4RQJ, Chris DL8MBS, Ed. WA3WSJ, Viki M6BWA, Kevin G0NUP.
SOTA AWARDS - SEPTEMBER 2013 - by Barry GM4TOE SOTA Awards Manager
Once again the number of claims this month has been enormous; I guess that is going to be a fact of life in the future. Congratulations to all of those who achieved the significant milestones of Mountain Goat or Shack Sloth but special mention to Vicki, M6BWA, whose Goat claim is all VHF and VE2JCW whose claim was in fact for 10k points not just the 1k of the normal Sloth claim.
What has happened is that some awards are reaching their planned top limit and consideration now has to be made for the future (see later). Meanwhile congratulations to MW0BBU on reaching Platinum Mountain Hunter and even more spectacular HB9BCB for achieving Platinum Summit to Summit in the space of just about six months from the inception of the award – somebody needs to attach a ball and chain to Heinz’s leg to slow him down (or tie his keying hand behind his back perhaps?). One other mention, just because this claim grabbed my attention: PA3FYG for a Gold Mountain Explorer, no mean feat for somebody who comes from one of the flattest countries on Earth. Just how many driving miles did Hans clock to achieve this?
Trophies
Mountain Goat
DB7MM Dr Michael Multerer
KD5ZZK Andrew Norman
M6BWA Vicki Archard
M0JLA Rodney Archard
Shack Sloth
VK1MDC Mark Cairns
K1JD John G DePrimo
VK2JI Ed Durrant
VE2JCW Jean Charron
VK3FPSR Peter Rentsch
VK3BYD Warren Brown
VK5LA Andrew Williss
Certificates claimed
Activator
HB9BIN Dr. Jurg Regli 3000 points
PA3FYG Hans Smit 1000 points
DB7MM Dr Michael Multerer 1000 points
M6BWA Vicki Archard 1000 points
VK3PF Peter L Freeman 500 points
OE6KYG Klaus Koppendorfer 250 points
HA3LV Balazs Borbely 250 points
GW4VPX Allan Jones 100 points
MW0BBU Steve Lloyd 100 points
LA1EBA Hans Christian Palm 100 points
Activator Unique
PA3FYG Hans Smit 250 summits
Chaser
G0RQL Don Roomes 40000 points
NS7P Phillip Shepard 20000 points
G3XQE Ken Brown 15000 points
W0MNA Gary Auchard 10000 points
MW0BBU Steve Lloyd 5000 points
M0MOL Gareth Mollard 2500 points
M0JLA Rodney Archard 2500 points
GW4VPX Allan Jones 1500 points
DL4TO Gerhard Sedlak 1500 points
M0MOL Gareth Mollard 1500 points
VK1MDC Mark Cairns 1000 points
K7JFD Jim Davies 1000 points
N0EVH John Watkins 1000 points
NE4TN Walter Beaton 1000 points
VK3GHZ Rhett Donnan 1000 points
VK2JI Ed Durrant 1000 points
VK3FPSR Peter Rentsch 1000 points
VK3BYD Warren Brown 1000 points
K5RWP Ralph Phelps 1000 points
K5WI William Warner 1000 points
HB9BQB Guido Giannini 1000 points
VK5LA Andrew Williss 1000 points
VK5HCF Colin Huon 500 points
KD5ZZK Andrew Norman 250 points
LA1EBA Hans Christian Palm 250 points
HA3LV Balazs Borbely 250 points
DD2BI Walter Irmer 100 points
N0HYD Burke Jones 100 points
IZ2JNN Stefano Paolini 100 points
W4JBB Joel Black 100 points
VK2KEV Kevin Purves 100 points
KC6SSE Michael Dranginis 100 points
Chaser Unique
G3XQE Ken Brown 2500 summits
MW0BBU Steve Lloyd 1000 summits
DL4TO Gerhard Sedlak 250 summits
VK3PF Peter L Freeman 250 summits
M0MOL Gareth Mollard 250 summits
PA2WJZ Wim Zonneveld 100 summits
VK2JI Ed Durrant 100 summits
VK5LA Andy Williss 100 summits
Mountain Explorer
PA3FYG Hans Smit Gold
KD5ZZK Andrew Norman Silver
VK2JI Ed Durrant Bronze
Mountain Hunter
MW0BBU Steve Lloyd Platinum
VK3PF Peter L Freeman Bronze
VK2JI Ed Durrant Bronze
VK1NAM Andrew Moseley Bronze
HA3LV Balazs Borbely Bronze
Summit to Summit
HB9BCB Heinz Baertschi Platinum
EC2AG Antonio Garcia Bronze
DB7MM Dr Michael Multerer Red
VK5PAS Paul Simmonds Red
SOTA Complete
G4OBK Philip Catterall 100 summits
First, many thanks to everyone who contacted me about the potential for the microwave award. I need to discuss this with the originator of the idea and see what terms and conditions we can come up with.
For some reason this month the number of claims that were either inaccurate (or just plain wrong) was enormous; I think ten claims in the first batch I processed this month needed clarification or correction before they could be issued. In some cases this was simply claiming an Activator award when the correct claim was for a Chaser award, or perhaps making the wrong selection on the drop down menus, in others it was a total misunderstanding of the conditions for the award or claiming something which just does not exist. This all adds significantly to the workload because it involves, at the least, an exchange of emails and sometimes work on the database by Andy to discover what is really going on. Time for all of us is at a premium so please double check before sending your claim and, if in doubt, email me first (I only bite when I am tired or overloaded!). Remember too, nothing on the database means no award issued.
Some award claimants have now reached the upper planned limit of some of the awards (Summit to Summit and the Mountain Explorer/Hunter awards in particular). The Summit to Summit award will now be made open ended by issuing endorsements for higher levels going in steps of 5k points after the Platinum level; that means I have a month or so before Heinz gets there so can determine how to do it! The levels after Platinum for the Mountain Hunter and Mountain Explorer are much more difficult as there is an intercontinental aspect to both and the “Worked All Associations†has become a rapidly moving target with the regular introduction of more and more Associations. Two proposals have been made and now is the time to see what the reaction is to these ideas before jumping in and introducing changes. The first suggestion is to introduce endorsements for something like “Worked all US States†or “Worked all European Associations†whilst the other suggestion is to introduce endorsements based on the number of Associations worked which then culminates in the “Worked All Associations†as an upper limit; (for “worked†also read “activatedâ€). I will start a thread on the reflector for this discussion just so I can gauge reactions.
Processing times for award claims and merchandise sales seem to be approaching the top limit, mainly due to the volume and also my sometimes, rather pressing, real work (which may be of interest: a bike computer for a blind cyclist which speaks the current speed and elapsed distance and a simple gizmo to remind somebody to swallow). This means that I will attempt to clear claims in ten days but don’t shoot me if this goes out a few days. I usually process the data at a weekend, provided I don’t have to look after the xyl’s emporium, so please cut me a little slack if your sheepskin is not winging its way to you instantly.
Finally a big thank you to those individuals who have made donations towards running the SOTA programme, your generosity is very much appreciated.
Hopefully I can find time to get back out activating now my back problems are under control (last activation October 2011), chasing from here is impossible until I find the source of the “DC to light†interference which has started in the last two weeks.
Whichever hill I choose won’t be on the rare list but it will start GM/ES…(I need a lift to the start and collection afterwards although there are two or three within easy walking distance from the village, so how about a sweepstake to guess which it will be?).
Keep safe on the hills
73
Barry GM4TOE
SOTA Awards Manager
SOTA News also congratulates:-
Mickey, 2E0YYY on reaching his 1000th Summit to Summit contact from the Gun G/SP-013 on the 3rd September.
Jirka OK1DDQ reached 4000 activator points
Erwin OE5PEN, on achieving Mountain Goat
Robin GM7PKT who gained 6,000 activator points on the 14th
Jean VE2JCW on reaching 10,000 Super Sloth chaser points
John N0ENH on gaining Shack Sloth
Jim K7JFD on gaining Shack Sloth
Jirka OK1DD on passing his 4000 points activator milestone
Ralph K5RWP on passing 1000 chaser points on the 19th September.
Congrats to the two latest Shack Sloths from Arizona, N7CW(Bud) and W7/DL1UF (Reinhard).
Wendell N7WM for gaining Shack Sloth status
Antonio EC2AG for achieving 1000 points S2S, summit to summit, being the first EA to reach this total.
Mike G6TUH on reaching the 10000 Chaser point milestone
Phil G4OBK on passing his 40,000 pointer chaser milestone
Information for the above achievement list is gained from e-mails received, comments on the Reflector and personal knowledge. It is not intended as a supplement to the official awards list but as an acknowledgement of personal goals reached which are perhaps not recognised with an official award but are nevertheless an achievement worthy of note. They may also have reached the requirements for, but have not yet applied for the award. If you have passed a personal milestone of which you are justifiably pround, please drop me a note – Ed.
Nick GD4OOE and Geoff MD6PYG will be active from the Isle of Man from Monday 7th to Friday 11th October. CW, SSB, 2m FM.
SOTA and HuMP’s
SOTA CT REPORT by Marq CT1BWW
Still Missing activation 1 Region (BA Beira Alta) to complete all CT Regions
All summits in Region ES (Estremadura) references have now been activated.
Since beginning of CT-SOTA only few activators still working on activation summits. But we can see good prospects growing here .Until present date during 2013, were first CT YL SOTA Activator, Monica CT5JLD/P and others like Paul CT1FCI, Charles CT1DYH , Tony CT1MH/P, Charles CT1BQH /P (Charles were one of the first SOTA enthusiast in Portugal as a Chaser)) and Tony CT2IXQ last weeks we can see good activations by John CT1BHG/P on PSK.
SOTA CT Coordinators (Dave, CT1DRB, Peter CT7AEZ and myself) are still working hard on promotion SOTA Program on Ham meetings and radioScouting Meetings. Trying to send the message of importance on Chasers and Activatores. Specialy on VHF and UHF if there are NO Chasers those who are operating 2 Mts or 70 Cms get frustrated.
During this year we had some visitors from EA, G, GM, W, HA, S5 some of them with good activations. Thanks to G8TMV/P, MM0CWJ/P, HA2VR/P.
For visitors please look to the SOTA Mappings Tracks, a great Tool for planning a activation, please select Region and Summit and you will find a track .
Some info about callsign for visitors can be seen on the SOTA-CT website (www.sotaportugal.com)
If you are interesting to receive any info from SOTA CT, please send us e-mail and we will introduce you on our data base email for correspondence and news.
Good luck to all of you - and vy 73
Marq CT1BWW
SOTA VK REPORT by Allen VK3HRA
Hi all,
SOTA continues to grow down under. It has been another very busy month.
There has been increased activity with the new associations coming
online bringing new activators and chasers to the activity. With VK2,
VK4 and northern VK5 operations during the middle of the day, 40 metres
is proving inadequate. We are discovering the limits of current
practices and introducing new bands into the fold. An increasing number
of activation’s are routinely involving 20m whilst 80, 30, 17, 12 & 6
metres are all being explored. Whilst pushing the limits and evolving
is an interesting by-product of SOTA it has always been a feature of
amateur radio.
Behind the scenes there has been a renewed push to get VK6 online.
Western Australia will present interesting DX opportunities for both VK
and the rest of the world.
Major events coming up include VK2 will formally launching in October
and VK5 celebrating their first year anniversary. VK2 invites all to
join in a SOTA QSO party on Sunday 13th October and the first year
anniversary of SOTA in VK5 will be celebrated with co-ordinated
activities on Sunday 6th October.
Attention is being directed towards increasing S2S QSO’s this summer.
There is a growing desire to get S2S contacts into Europe or the US.
This will involve operating into the night with multi bands to achieve.
Summer will present great opportunities for extended activation’s so
listen out for VK’s in the dark coming soon.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
Congratulations go out to out newest Shack Sloths. These new sloths
prove to be a sloth one must not be slothful with VK3KAN Rick
accumulated over 1000 chaser points either mobile or mobile, including
pedestrian mobile and skimobile. Others sloths this month include,
VK3GHZ Rhett
VK3FPSR Peter
VK5LA Andy
VK1MA Matt
VK2JI Ed
VK3MRG Marshall
New Activators. With new associations come new activators. This month
was seen the biggest growth with,
VK1DR James
VK2RH Stephen
VK2AET Scott
VK2MEV Brenton
VK2LAX Rod
VK2JOS Joshua
VK2YW John
VK2IB James
VK3XPT Perrin
VK4FSCC Glenn
VK4FADI Brendan
VK4OZY Dave
VK5TX Ben
Joining in.
Other milestones include 500 points for VK3PF Peter and
250 Points for,
VK3MCD Brian
VK3KAB Kevin
VK3YY Glenn
100 Point chasers include-
VK5CZ
VK3WAM Wayne
VK5HCF with XX points
VK1RX Al
It has been a big month and is not looking like backing off yet. We only have a couple of weeks left to take advantage of the seasonal bonus I’m so off to prepare maps for next week.
Also increased interest and activity with the NP based portable activities.
What SOTA was done for hams radio in Australia is amazing.
73’s
Allen VK3HRA
NORTH AMERICAN SOTA REPORT FOR SEP 2013 by Skip K6DGW
I’m writing the report a bit early because we’re going to be gone over
the coming weekend. I downloaded the statistics on 26 Sep [2130Z], so
anything after that won’t be reflected.
STATISTICS:
Total Activations: 458 [404]
Nr Unique Activators: 147 [123]
Total Chaser QSO’s: 7651 [5215]
Nr Unique Chasers: 258 [200]
Total Summits Activated: 448 [1221]
Unique Summits: 326 [380]
2m: 227 (2%) [177]
6m: 14 (0%) [3]
10m: 6 (0%) [0]
12m: 167 (2%) [22]
15m: 237 (3%) [62]
17m: 334 (4%) [118]
20m: 4946 (64%) [3772]
30m: 358 (4%) [185]
40m: 1356 (17%) [873]
60m: 1 (0%) [0]
80m: 0 (0%) [0]
160m: 2 (0%) [2]
Unk: 3
CW: 4890 (63%) [3442]
SSB: 2531 (33%) [1592]
FM: 225 (2%) [177]
AM: 2 (0%) [0]
Data: 0 (0%) [0]
Other: 2 (0%) [4]
Unk: 3
Activations declined some from August which may stem from schools
starting and vacations ending. The weather in the mid-section of the US
was positively nasty also. Chaser activity was up significantly
however, a few of them were mine. 
I haven’t had time to look at
past reports but September may have marked the first NA 60m SOTA QSO.
Not all radios will do 60m, but 5MHz was very commonly used for
in-country * military nets in SE Asia many years ago
and might do well in solving the skip problem on 20 and above.
AWARDS AND ACHIEVEMENTS:
At the top of the list is Phil, NS7P in Oregon who has now achieved
Double Super Sloth status with over 20K chaser points. Every time I
find a chance to chase an activation, Phil is there first.
Congratulations Phil, that’s a huge number of needed QSO’s for
activators too.
And Jean, VE2JCW, has the honor of becoming the first Canadian Super
Sloth with 10K points.
Andrew, KD5ZZK, has made it to Mountain Goat status with 1,000
activation points … and did it all on SSB! I’m guessing Andrew is the
only Mountain Goat in Louisiana with either 2 or 4 legs, the state is
noted more for large lizard-like things with short legs and a big mouth.
Ralph, K5RWP has become the 6th Shack Sloth in the W5T Association. 141
activations in 23 Associations did the trick for him.
NEWS:
Joel, W4JBB, reported that the W4A-Alabama Association had appeared on
the SOTA Database and I’m sure the ARM is posted by now.
Elliott, K6EL, compiled some statistics for the annual NA SOTA Weekend
"During the annual NA SOTA Weekend of September 7th and 8th, 2013, the
first spotted activator was W4ZV at 12:39 UTC, on his way to 314 points.
The following stats are based on spots only."
“There were 57 available NA peaks on day one and 27 more on day two, for
a total of 84. Seven of those were in Canada, 2 on the first day and 5
on the second.”
“Points available were 402 on the first day and 188 the second, totaling
590. Many more points were realistically available from outside NA.
For example, out of the first 10 contacts made on day one by chaser
N4EX, 90% were European. On day two, 70% were.”
“Many unfamiliar calls were heard, and that was our goal.”
REPORT OF THE MONTH:
Scott, AD0EO, is new to SOTA and reported on his first activation with
his son, also Scott, KD0WBB:
“On September 7, 2013, my son (KDØWBB) and I undertook our first SOTA
activation. After way too much delaying while I got my portable setup
“just right,” it was NA SOTA Weekend and I had no more excuses. We got a
late start in the morning and arrived at the Horsetooth Mountain
[W0/FR-102] trailhead around 10:30am.”
“My son carried his mostly empty REI Flash 18 while I carried our Yaesu
FT-857d, a 12V/7.5Ah AGM battery, too many Buddipole parts, and an
assortment of cables to connect everything together in an REI Lookout
40. After climbing about 1600’ over two and a half miles, we arrived at
the summit.”
“Being a Saturday, the summit itself was a mob scene. So that our
equipment wouldn’t be in the way, we chose a small but pretty flat ledge
within the 75’ activation zone to set up the station.”
“I got so engaged in setting everything up that I forgot to take any
pictures once we were actually on the air. My antenna that day was a
full-sized quarter-wave for 20m. This consisted of four 22-inch antenna
arms and the 9.5’ long telescoping whip. The antenna parts attached to a
VersaTee mounted on top of the 9.5’ telescoping mast. I did not bring
the tripod (thankfully) and opted, instead, to lash the mast to some of
the (prickly) scrub on the side of the mountain. This proved less than
ideal as the entire assembly nearly took a long fall off the side of the
mountain. Had I not attached the wire radial and been holding the end of
it as I was stringing it through a piñon pine, the antenna would have
been lost.”
“After a little more lashing, I was ready to get on the air. I spotted
myself with the SOTA Goat app and started calling CQ on 14.346MHz. My
son had zero luck making any contact on 2m, but once I was set up on
20m, I made 10 unique contacts, including 3 summit-to-summit contacts,
and claimed my whopping one activation point for Horsetooth Mountain.”
I have so much to learn about SOTA and portable ops and I’ve already
started figuring out how to lighten my load (the 857 and AGM probably
add up to about 10 pounds before I even have an antenna or water in my
pack). Huge thanks to my “SOTA Elmer” Matt/K0MOS for all of his patience
and help talking me through my setup and logging."
“It was a great day and I know that once the flood waters subside and
the weather starts to cool, I’ll be activating more summits.”
More and more the reports of activations are including family and
friends which is just one more benefit of SOTA.
ANDY, MM0FMF: What would we do without you? A big thanks to you for
all your work on the SOTA Database. The server switchover seems to have
gone flawlessly [although I know those sort of things always have
surprises buried in them.] California probably has the world’s highest
density of technology knowledge over in Silicon Valley, and the state’s
government can’t make computer systems work. We could use you!
That’s it for September, hope to work a lot of you in the California QSO
Party on 5-6 Oct. I’ll be one of the CW ops at N6M in Alpine County.
73,
Skip K6DGW
Canada/US SOTA Reporter Dude
SOTA HAWAII REPORT
New Sota-KH6 association, effective September 1st by Elliot K6EL
The inauguration of the new association in Hawai’i went well, with the first contact a summit to summit QSO at zero hour between K6EL/KH6 and KH7AL. Since then, at least a half-dozen peaks have been activated, gladdening many chasers who thereby achieved the elusive Platinum Mountain Hunter Award (Hawai’i is on the Oceania/Australia continent).
Five operators from the USA indicate they are planning to climb in KH6 in the next four months while vacationing, in addition to ongoing climbs by locals. Of the eight island/regions, six are open to the public. Two of those, Maui and the big island, have drive-ups as their high points.
For their hard work in putting together this new association, thanks go to N7UN, GØCQK, K6EL & KH7AL. For their encouragement and early interest, thanks also to AH6OY, WB6RAW, DF3MC, W7IMC & MMØFMF.
Elliott, K6EL
Hello all,
I am working on an Appalachian Trail Repeater Guidebook.
The AT runs 2,177 miles through fourteen states from Georgia to Maine
This guide will list all the 2m, 1.25m and 70cm repeaters along the AT route.
The guide will also list every SOTA Summit that is on or within a half mile of the Appalachian Trail. Finally, the guide will list a few of the major broadcast AM and FM radios stations that are closer to the AT.
http://www.wa3wsj.homestead.com/
73,
Ed, WA3WSJ
AN AUTUMN DAY OUT - G/NP-003 Burnhope Seat.17 Sep 2013. By Nick G4OOE
I realised that I had a free day and I wanted a relatively easy one that I could comfortably do from Scarborough. Up at 0445 and on the road for 0535. The forecast was a bit contradictory but I reckoned that I should be able to qualify one way or the other on HF/VHF.
The drive was quite pleasant especially along Teesdale with hardly any traffic about. I parked opposite the deserted quarry at NY774371 just above Darngill Bridge. As I was only doing one I had time for a leisurely cup of coffee before making a start. Phil G4OBK had sent me his gps track which I followed, past the broken stone sheep pen and on across tough uneven moorland although I did manage to find part of an old quad bike track for a little while. Then I caught sight of the Ski Tows frame that Phil had walked past on his way down. The fence that leads to the summit soon came into view so I went over to follow its line. The ground here is very boggy and I was very wary about where I was treading (I had read Tom M1EYP’s account on SOTAwatch although he came up a slightly different way.) The summit trig point came into view and it sits on quite a large concrete base looking like a smaller version of the Cheviot trig point. I gingerly made my way to the trig in strong winds. I laid out my fibreglass pole and SOTA multiband dipole, tied the pole to the trig point and I was able to get some shelter from the wind behind the concrete base. I also connected my 2m SOTAbeam MFD and I was ready to go!
I gave Roy G4SSH a quick call on my mobile then I keyed the FT857 with the palm keyer. The dahs were working but the dits weren’t. Another quick call to Roy and I decided to go ahead using the dah paddle as a straight key. I suspected that my keyer on the rig had been switched off but I had forgotten how to reset it and I could see that time was limited with a storm heading straight towards me so no time to waste! I did manage 11 contacts on 7-cw so thank you to all for your perseverance! Then it was a quick QSY and I worked another 25 contacts on 7-ssb. Then it poured down so I quickly rescued the rig and the rest of the non waterproof equipment and put them safely in the rucksack. My only option left was to try 2m with my VX7R but after several CQ calls on s20, I had no takers. The descent wasn’t so good as visibility had dropped dramatically around the summit in the heavy rain. I decided not to go back by the Ski Tow and just retraced my track back to the car.
A relatively easy 6 points summit with good views of Cross Fell and Teesdale if the wx is kind! If the wx was better I would have stopped to have a look at the High Force waterfall on the way back, ah well maybe another day. I was home by 1515 so quite a short day compared with other SOTA expeditions from Scarborough.
Thanks for the spots Roy and I have now turned on the FT857 keyer ready for next time!
Stats:
FT-857 100w 5A 11.1V 3S LiPo battery 7Mhz dipole configured as inverted vee with walking poles to support the ends.
7-cw DL, G, HB9, ON, PA - 11 contacts
7-ssb DL, EA, G, GM, ON - 25 contacts
145-fm nil
73
Nick G4OOE
SOTA ON TOP BAND - Mark G0VOF
Hello everyone & welcome to this month’s edition of SOTA on Top Band.
Four activators ventured onto Top Band during September, with three making successful QSO’s.
During the month, leading 160m activator John G4YSS activated several summits in the North of Scotland with Top Band being tried from three of them. Unfortunately, given the remoteness of these summits & the distance from suitable equipped chasers no QSO’s were made on the band, although success was had on 80m. John has posted detailed reports on his Scottish trip with two featuring 160m being below:
http://www.sotawatch.org/reflector.php?topic=8592
http://www.sotawatch.org/reflector.php?topic=8571
Thanks for the reports & for giving 160m a try John.
The month got off to a busy start with two activators calling on the band on Sunday 1st. Colin M1BUU/P called on 160m during his activation of G/SP-008 Boulsworth Hill – Lad Law & he has kindly sent me the following report:
“I’ve been busy this summer building KD1JV MTRs, I’ve built four of the things! I don’t have an antenna at home so I’ve been using SOTA activations (mostly Rombalds Moor NP-028) to test out the rigs. I can safely say that I’ve had my fill of MTR kits now, two are back in USA, whilst one is mine and one went to Reading.
I decided recently to stop building kits and concentrate with the operating side of things, I’ve turned down further requests to build gear. Winter is my main SOTA activity period so I want to start using the lower frequency bands again. I’m hoping to use 160m and 80m from summits during the coming months.
My wife felt sorry for me earlier in the month so gave me a SOTA pass to use whilst she went to Ikea with the kids. I decided to activate Boulsworth Hill as I haven’t done that hill for a long time and it is one of the nearest summits to my QTH. I was packing up my gear when I came across the G4YSS loading coils, so I thought that I should give the system a ‘pre winter check’. I planned to use 2m and 70cm with my beam but it was far too windy, so the beam got left in the car.
Once on the summit, the G4YSS system along with the SOTAbeams Band Hopper 4 80m dipole seemed to tune up OK using the settings I remember from last winter. I didn’t really expect any replies from my CQ’s in the middle of the day with 5w, although I was hoping that maybe I would catch either yourself or possibly Roger G4OWG. I was later to learn the sad news about Roger from two weeks prior. It came as a real shock.
I’d been calling CQ on 1832kHz for a few minutes when a pair of Rangers came to ask me what I was doing, I explained about amateur radio and briefly about SOTA, I removed my earphones from the FT817 so that they could hear the radio, when, Phil G4OBK came on the frequency and sent something - ‘QRL’ I think. I replied with my call sign and we had a QSO, whilst the Rangers watched on. The Rangers then left me, but weren’t over friendly in manner.
Phil’s signal was pretty good actually to say it was 1240utc, but then again he was using 200w! I wouldn’t have thought that my 5w and dipole would have got much signal to Pickering, but Phil’s inverted L is obviously good at hoovering up what’s left! Further CQ’s brought no more contacts but I was pleased that I least I know that I’m in good shape for the next bonus season
From 160m, I moved on to 12m, where I worked Phil again! The signal on 12m was awful, probably some form of backscatter, it sounded almost auroral, very raspy. Goodness knows what my QRP sounded like in Pickering!
73,
Colin, M1BUUâ€
Thanks for the nice report Colin & sorry I missed you!
Also on 1st of the month, Klaus DF2GN/P was active on 160m from DM/BM-228 Hummelsberg. Klaus had a very successful time logging 12 CW QSO’s on the band.
On Monday 2nd September, Ricky MW6GWR/P activated GW/NW-063 Ffridd Cocyn & made one SSB QSO on the band.
On Tuesday 10th, Klaus GF2GN/P was again active on the band from DM/BW-042 Rainen making a fantastic total of 15 CW QSO’s & 1 SSB QSO. I was even fortunate enough to work Klaus myself so your antenna was obviously working well Klaus!
On Thursday 12th, Klaus activated DM/BW-057 Lupfen again having a good run of 4 CW QSO’s.
Klaus returned to DM/BW-228 Hummelsberg, this time making 9 CW QSO’s.
Klaus’s final Top Band activation of the month at the time of writing was on his return to DM/BW-042 Rainen. This time he made another fine total of 13 CW QSO’s.
Klaus posts his activation report to the reflector on the topic below:
http://www.sotawatch.org/reflector.php?topic=8044
Klaus has been very successful on Top Band & his antenna experiments are obviously paying dividends. The following comment from Klaus in an email to Roy G4SSH:
“After checking my logs, I noticed 54 QSO’s on top band during September.- not bad for QRP es inv.L. antennaâ€
Not bad at all Klaus! Very well done on your Top Band activations!
Thanks to all who ventured onto Top Band this month
At the time of writing, those were the only Top band activations during September that I am aware of, if I have missed any others please let me know.
On 1st September, Colin M1BUU/P activated G/SP-008 Boulsworth Hill – Lad Law & made 1 QSO using CW.
On 1st September, Klaus DF2GN/P activated DM/BW-228 Hummelsberg & made 12 QSO’s using CW.
On 2nd September, Ricky MW6GWR/P activated GW/NW-063 Ffridd Cocyn & made 1 QSO using SSB.
On 10th September, Klaus DF2GN/P activated DM/BW-042 Rainen & made 16 QSO’s (15 CW & 1 SSB)
On 12th September, Klaus DF2GN/P activated DM/BW-057 Lupfen & made 4 QSO’s using CW.
On 14th September, Klaus DF2GN/P activated DM/BW-228 Hummelsberg & made 9 QSO’s using CW.
On 22nd September, Klaus DF2GN/P activated DM/BW-042 Rainen & made 13 QSO’s using CW.
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
MOUNTAIN GOAT and MOUNTAIN GOAT VHF By Viki M6BWA
After nearly 3 years of quite hard work I achieved my two Mountain Goat awards in the Lake District on 10 September by activating Robinson (G/LD-021, Mountain Goat) and then Dale Head (G/LD-020, Mountain Goat VHF) along the ridge above Honister in the Northern Lake District. I now feel I have time to remember and share some of the more memorable incidents during the search for 1000 points.
I started SOTA, under the guidance of M0JLA, on 3 December 2010 on the local Black Hill GW/SW-041 and quickly discovered a) it was a very cold activity and b) even colder when you struggled to get 4 contacts. The VX3 and ‘twig’ reached Cheltenham but not too many were listening, however I eventually succeeded and got my first points.
My 4th activation, Snowdon (GW/NW-001) was my first solo effort, in crampons for the last few hundred feet up from PenyPass, and I quickly realised that altitude could compensate for lack of power and length of aerial. This was my first encounter with proper chasers including G6ODU who also celebrated both Mountain Goat activations with me - thank you Bob! The Snowdon visit turned into the activation with the most stunning views as the cloud gradually descended beneath me while I was working and out came the sun with a few peaks poking through the cloud. There was a fabulous Brocken spectre which lasted for longer than I could afford to spend on the summit as I had a long and careful walk down to Llanberis. Thank you SOTA, without it I would have gone back down into the cloud long before the sun appeared.
Over the course of the 306 activations I have seen some beautiful sunsets (I don’t DO sunrises!), run down a hill as the thunder rolled and lightning flashed, admired a sparrowhawk who landed on the car door just after I had opened it to start putting my boots (I know The Begwyns is rather flat and short of good perches but …), trudged through snowdrifts wondering why I was bothering as the wind howled and the mist was down, arrived at the top of a hill (eventually) and discovered the vital pegs were left at home (at least 3 times), been invited by an initially slightly hostile landowner to the real summit which is in his field rather than perch on a nearby footpath or lay-by like everyone else, been watched by not one but two gamekeepers who were rearing many hundreds of pheasants and were very suspicious that we were descending a public footpath in the gloaming just past the pens and then roared off on quad bikes – only to hide further down the road to ensure that we were leaving the valley completely (there is not always a welcome in the valleys…!),been chased by a large herd of cows (they don’t like my bundle of white poles) who got so close that I got through a barbed wire fence that I would normally consider uncrossable, gone up a hill in the dry only to have the heavens open just as I started to set up (many times), gone up a hill in thick cloud which gradually thinned and a glorious view emerged (not often but recently on the Aran ridge) and cracked a rib by slipping on the approved (and very eroded) path down Cadair Idris.
Why did I get so enthusiastic and keep on with the challenge? I now can’t really believe it was for the thrill (?) of being called a ‘Mountain Goat’ so it must have been for the challenge of reaching 1000 points and the excuse to go up so many hills that I had not visited for a long time but I knew were worth the effort if I had an incentive. I have also discovered many smaller hills that had been ignored before and are certainly worth the effort (including Burrow, Caer Caradoc and Callow Hill in the Welsh Borders – 014, 006 and 015) and a few NEVER NEVER AGAIN (Foel Cae’rberllan GW/NW-057 is at the top of that list!)
After some problems with the VX3 I acquired a VX7 which, along with a dipole made of overflow pipes which aren’t quite strong enough to support the weight required so the aerial is usually more parabolic than vertical in any sort of wind, have been my usual equipment up on the hills. Only occasionally have I had to ask for help and use a few contacts on 40m, using Rodney’s 817, to get the required 4. Apparently, the FM score was only 6 points behind the overall score, hence a quick stroll along the Robinson/Dale Head ridge was sufficient to reach the VHF Mountain Goat as well. I have no wish to go for more sophisticated (and heavier) equipment as I prefer a longer walk rather than a ‘smash and grab’ exercise if weather and time will allow. I also enjoy the challenge of getting 4 contacts within the limited range provided by the VX7 and 5 watts – assuming this is at all possible!
Certainly midweek activations during our Scottish trip in late April were sometimes protracted as I desperately sought for more contacts but I eventually built up, once again, a loyal band of local contacts who did everything they could to ensure that I qualified the hills. I am very grateful for these local contacts, usually from people who are not SOTA chasers but as one said recently “I heard the desperation in your voice so I found a high place to park the car and replied…†(if I mention that he was on the Knighton to Clun road and was my first contact after over 30 mins of calling from amongst high trees you will understand the relief when I actually heard his voice.) This was on Pen y Garn Goch (GW/MW-016, 15 km West of Builth Wells – you understand my problem??) where I eventually got my 4 contacts on VHF thanks to a) Sean MW3PZO on Snowdon but it was a struggle b)Rodney finally crawling through the right block of trees and finding a summit covered in small rocks and with a clearing in the trees and and then c) and d) Tom and Jimmy MW1EYP and MW0HGY who were on the summit of Allt Fawr (GW/NW-025) so I managed a couple of summit to summits just using the VX7 and helical stick as I had finally packed away the dipole in despair. A SOTA activators life is not always a easy one…! My mood was slightly dampened after we had pushed through a different set of trees back to the track and then down to the car when I discovered that the VX7 looked smaller than usual. The helical stick had been grabbed by some vegetation on the way down and I hadn’t even notice although it was in a holster round my waist!
This brings me to the large selection of people around the country who have answered my CQ calls although some may have regretted it as one of my strengths is scrambling call signs and also forgetting names. I apologise to everyone and especially to my more regular contacts who find it difficult to believe that I can be quite so incompetent/lazy/forgetful. I hesitate to use the more common term of ‘chasers’ for the amateurs I work as I feel sure that over 50% of my contacts do not collect SOTA point and a significant proportion have no idea what SOTA is at all but just realise I’d like someone to talk to me. This is especially true in rural Wales and other more sparsely populated areas and also the deep South Wales valleys where getting any distance on 2m is almost impossible so the frequency for the local net (usually 400) is often monitored rather than the 500 calling channel. People have gone out of their way to help me with a contact by leaving the shack and going up a hill for a better contact, finding other family members and dragging them to the mike, stopping at a good spot when driving, getting the car out and driving up a hill or even driving to the coast. Thank you all very much and I hope that we have many more contacts in the future. I see that the list of my most frequent contacts contains:
(35) MW0JLA/P (we starting going up separate summits so that we could get a summit to summit and I would achieve at least 1 contact – and then swap over. This takes some planning!), (32) G0LGS (thank you Stewart in Cheltenham for the many, many spots), (29) G6ODU (already mentioned), (28) G0RQL (I’m amazed we manage to make contact this often Don but thank you for your perseverance), (27) G4VCH (Chris in Kington my staunchest local supporter), (21) GW4ZPL 21 (John near Llanberis) followed by (20) 2E0XYL and 2E0YYY (thanks for all the S2S and encouragement, Karen and Mike).
It is interesting to see that over 306 activations the most frequent chaser has only managed 32 contacts. This obviously reflects the short range of my signal and my need to find an almost completely new set of contacts when I stray away from the ‘home territory’ of the Welsh Borders and South Wales. However it is interesting to see how my range improves with altitude as, on the recent trip to the Northern Lake District I managed one contact with Northern Ireland (MI3GRZ Geoff at Larne). one in Wales (MW3UDA Gareth in Holywell), a few contacts in Scotland including Kilmarnock and there should have been one from the Isle of Man as I heard the “I think I recognise that voice. This is MD3…†when there was a thump and the radio went strangely quiet. It was our first summit in the Lakes, Dent (G/LD-045) a lowly summit with a shortish walk through the trees and then on to the open summit. I had heard a bit of a crack from the bundle of poles attached to the outside of the rucksack and had had to untangle myself an overhanging branch and had thought no more of it as the poles frequently get tangled up in low trees but sustain no damage. When unpacking the kit by the summit cairn (we VHF activators have to be very hardy as I need the best take-off and the highest altitude I can find, unlike a certain canny HF operator who finds a dip or cliff face or a big ditch in which to lounge as he talks to all and sundry) in a strong and cold wind with rain threatening I noticed that one of the arms of the dipole was not quite as vertical as it had been so shoved it back in the T-joint, re-adjusted the parcel tape (my equipment is nothing if not high-tech!!) and set up as usual. However, on this occasion the wind decided to terminate my contacts by removing the top piece of the overflow pipe dipole and the first I knew was the thump as it landed a few feet away. My memorable comment over the airwaves “the top of my dipole has just blown away†unfortunately did not travel very far (a few feet?) and my attempts at repairing my rig in the worsening weather conditions were not sufficiently successful for me to resume the activation. I never did get another contact with the Isle of Man and would like to apologise to the person concerned and hope that we have another chance some other time.
I would like to end with some more thanks – first to Rodney M0JLA for his wise guidance, excellent navigational skills and companionship on our walks also many thanks to Andy MM0FMF for his hard work on the database which makes this SOTA challenge possible.
Lastly a quick suggestion for others still struggling to reach the magic figure of 1000 – don’t forget the winter bonus! I’m really only a three-quarter goat as 252 of my 1000 points were a free gift from those who make the British SOTA rules. This is higher percentage than most others round me in the table (have a look) and has been a great help in piling up the points. One word of warning, the weather can be a lot more unfriendly in Winter and the days are also a lot shorter but a 5-pointer is much more worthwhile than a 2-pointer so start preparing now for 1 December and watch yourself go zooming up not only the hills but also the SOTA table!
Viki M6BWA
Vicki (but shortened to VIKI for SOTA purposes as it takes less time to
spell on a cold hillside!!)
THE VIEW FROM THE NORTH - 57 - by Rob and Audrey G4RQJ
This month it’s time for our regular attack on the Welsh Borders and fortunately our own car has returned from its stay at the body shop so we don’t have to worry about the hire car and the narrow lanes. Most of the hills we will attack are regularly activated and well known but we will try to give a visitors eye view of the area which may help others planning holidays. Our usual base is in Marsh Brook mid way between Church Stretton and Craven Arms, nicely close to most of the targets and to Telford for the rally.
Sunday and first off to Ironbridge for the rally. The area is full of museums celebrating the local industrial heritage. Not too far away is the superb RAF Cosford Museum and close to it is the David Austin Rose Specialists, a must for gardeners. The rally is smaller than it was but a real pleasure to visit, lots of bits and pieces, perfect for those of us who live out in the wilds rally wise. After we climbed the Wrekin which is nearby, don’t ask your sat nav, well not ours anyway! Eventually we arrived at the start point SJ638094 to find the car park and the surrounding lanes to be full of cars as the hill is a popular Sunday walk for people with bull terriers! The climb is stony and a reasonable slope and affords extra fun avoiding the dog droppings, those not swinging from trees in plastic bags. Once past the café things improve and once out in the open the summit area is quite large and quite decent. As we reached the open area we saw a party descending with obvious Sota poles etc. A quick query and we met for the first time with Rod and Vicki, M0JLA and M6BWA who had just activated the summit. A very pleasant chat ensued. Vicki at this stage was very close to Mountain Goat which she achieved the following week when we were back at home. Sorry we missed you in the Lakes Vicki, the tangle of scaffold round the antenna made vhf almost impossible. Congratulations from us both. Onwards and upward and a windy summit needed coats. We spent too long on the summit as usual and by the time we returned to the car it was standing in splendid isolation.
Monday and we attacked the two favourites Long Mynd and Stiperstones. The only worrying factor here is the road from Church Stretton to Long Mynd which is steep and narrow. Single track with passing places with no barrier on the exposed side with a drop of several hundred feet, one member of our radio club claims to have nightmares about it having driven it some years ago. The best plot is to go up via this route then go on to Stiperstones thus avoiding the descent on the exposed side. Long Mynd is a very simple, almost level ten minute stroll to a level grassy summit. There is a lot of passing through walking traffic with a potential for taking offense at our activities so sensitive antenna placement is a good idea. We have given several impromptu sota talks to quite large interested groups. Wardens are active here and anti sota by all accounts but we have yet to meet them. The road to Stiperstones is a much less daunting descent and the parking for the summit is good. The ascent is easy, the trig is not easily accessible being atop of a rock outcrop. The worst thing about the summit is the going underfoot, fields of sharp upturned rocks make walking uncomfortable in spite of good boots. The return to civilization from here is painless.
Tuesday and Titterstone Clee and View Edge are on the menu. On the subject of menus Ludlow Food Centre is on the way to Titterstone Clee and worth a quick visit, foodies will love it. Titterstone Clee is an interesting place that has suffered hugely at the hand of man but still manages to rise above it. The views from the summit are superb and today we managed to operate from the very top. Some of the breakthrough seems to have returned but nowhere near as bad as it used to be. During our stay it was nice to be visited by Clive M1MST a local who we had worked earlier. View Edge is a different kettle of fish, a summit with no real top and next to no parking. We pulled into the only real parking space which is by a disused gate into View Edge Quarry now an SSSI. There is room for one car right in by the hedge and as Audrey struggled to get out and into the hedge she noticed a credit card size piece of card in the grass. This turned out to be Tom M1EYP’s YHA membership card, small world. We reunited him with it later by post. We operated from the field side path on the other side of the road and it was a real struggle to qualify the hill even with help from Mike 2E0YYY, just four contacts including two summit to summits and a mobile.
Wednesday, Brown Clee and Callow Hill but first a trip round Stokesay Castle a beautiful old place, unbelievable that it has stood so long and manages to feels as though the people are still there. Brown Clee was the usual climb, interesting to see that the red telephone box at the start of the climb has been converted into a small free lending library. By the time we reached Callow Hill it was early evening and we were fancying a pleasant relaxed activation in the warm sunshine. Once up the ramp like path and back along the ridge almost to the tower we spotted a tree stump that looked promising as a seat but decided in favour of our ground sheet. As we set about operating we were beset by clouds of flying ants that seemed to live in the tree stump. Pretty soon we were reduced to operating on the hoof to reduce their impact; fortunately our 2m beam and mast can be used hand portable. It was noticeable that the ants favoured pale colours to sit on. Audrey was in dark blue, I was in khaki, maybe I just smelt nicer (to them). All this lead to an early retreat, a shame as this is a nice summit.
Thursday, Corndon Hill and Burrow. The first of these was a new one for us and we were slightly concerned about reports of its steepness. In reality the grass path looked dauntingly steep but it did not take long to climb to the handy seat on the summit. A great top and one we will visit again. Burrow is a totally different proposition surrounded by standing crops at this time of year; A path seems to have developed from the point where the Shropshire Way emerges from the trees. It curves upward and inward across three fields to the seat at the summits woodland edge. Once over the stile and into the woods follow the tracks to the summit.
That completed our sota activities for the week, just in time as the weather broke to rain with cloud on the hills. Ludlow is good for a day of browsing the shops, no chain stores, just old style shops. We can also recommend Acton Scott working farm of TV fame and The Land of Lost Content in Craven Arms a huge collection of artefacts covering the last hundred years or so, bet you say â€We had one of thoseâ€
Enough commercials and back home to no HF antenna and a VHF antenna surrounded by scaffolding. The following weekend had an awful forecast which lived up to its reputation so no activation. The following weekend again had a bad forecast so we decided on Claiffe Heights where we watched the cloud clear from all the higher tops and the sun come out. Still it was nice to see Claiffe Heights in its summer garb, the fern is so deep that HF antennas are quite difficult to erect, soon now it will be gone. Several interested spectators two of which departed promising to look at the SOTA site. The coming Sunday is looking good so hope to get a bigger summit done, hope to catch you from it. ‘till then
Take care out there
73 Rob and Audrey
G4RQJ
CW REPORT FOR OCTOBER 2013 - by Roy G4SSH
In Europe the long summer ended on the 9th September when the glorious sunshine and high temperatures, which had been enjoyed for months, suddenly changed, to be replaced by plunging temperatures, high winds, fog and hail.
This was dramatically reflected in the SOTAwatch spots which reached an all time peak on the 7th September at 2040 UTC with 570 spots recorded in the past 24 hours.
In addition to this, the number of EU spots were almost overtaken by the combined number of VK and USA spots. However the following days saw the total fall back to the average of 100-150 spots in 12 hours with Klaus DF2GN requesting short QSO’s due to a temperature of just 6c, accompanied by wind and rain. Fortunately the weather did improve during the last week in September.
Klaus DF2GN also continued with his antenna experiments, often after dark, where his excellent signals generated big chaser pile-ups. He was heard working split (1 up) on 40m CW on the 11th. Klaus has been concentrating on either the lower bands (where top band is his favourite) or 24 MHz for working DX stations. Remember that Klaus has no home-based shack so he takes the opportunity to work DX whilst portable. As we go to press Klaus is on a 48 hour “24 MHz summit tour†activating 10 summits on 24 MHz only.
Lutz DJ3AX was active from the DM/TH region of Germany with Peter DK2RMP during a tour in the early part of the month. Sake also activated as DL/PA0SKP for a few days in the NW region, Norby activated 3 summits in the RP region as DL/LX1NO and a trio of HB9 calls (HB9BHW, HB9BAB and HB9BYZ) were also heard operating from German summits during the month. It was also a pleasure to hear my friend Vlado Z35M active from his local summit Z3/WM-036 again, after a long break.
Freddie F5IRO was very active during the latter half of the month with multiple summits and DK1IO was also very active from Spain using EA5/DK1IO.
Dave G4ASA and Eric HB9IAB were active from Ireland during the month, Zoli YO2BR was active from Romania and DominikMM0DHY was on the air from Sardinia.
I find it interesting to note the wide range in CW sending speed used by activators and recorded by the spots from the RBN network, where the average works out at about 18-22 wpm. It is also a healthy sign that there are quite a few newcomers using 12 wpm, who are made most welcome. However, there is one activator who routinely sends at 37 wpm, which is fine for ex-professional ops, but I would hazard a guess that more than 75% of chasers cannot read CW at this speed. I did ask the person if his shack was on fire, but I did not get a response. Klaus DF2GN often slows to 12 wpm to work any newcomers at the end of his pile-up’s.
There has been a great deal of comment regarding the phonetic alphabet on the reflector. My experience shows that I have had in excess to 18,000 SOTA QSO’s and to date I have not had a single problem with phonetics…
SOTA CW ACTIVATORS SUBMITTING ENTRIES TO THE DATA BASE ABOVE 7 MHZ DURING SEPTEMBER 2013. By Kevin G0NUP
T
This file produced on 29/Sep/2013
Mode: SOTA CW on 10MHz: activity for September,
9H3RV/QRP, 9H4RH/P, AA4GA, DF2GN/P, DF3MC/P, DJ2FR, DJ3AX/P,
DJ9MH/P, DK7MG/P, DL/HB9AGO/P, DL/HB9BQB/P, DL/HB9BRJ/P,
DL/LX1NO/P, DL/ON6ZQ/P, DL1DVE/P, DL4MHA/P, DL4TO/P, DL6AP/P,
DL8DXL/P, DL8DZL/P, DL8JJ/P, EA1XN/P, EI/G4ASA/P, F/G4AFI/P,
F/HB9BQB/P, F/HB9IIO/P, F/ON6UU/P, F/ON6ZQ/P, F5PLC/P, F5UKL/P,
F5VGL/P, F6ENO/P, F6HBI/P, G4ASA/P, G4ISJ/P, G4RQJ/P, GM4COX,
GM4OIG/P, GM4YSS/P, GW0HIO/P, GW0NMD/P, GW3RDQ/P, GW4TJC/P,
HA/PB2T/P, HA5AZC/P, HA5LV/P, HA5MA/P, HA6QR/P, HA7UL/P,
HB0/OE9AMJ/P, HB9/PB2T/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BAB/P,
HB9BCB/P, HB9BHW/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQB/P, HB9BQU/P, HB9BRJ/P,
HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P, HB9CZF/P, HB9DGV/P, HB9DST/P, HB9IIO/P,
HB9TVK/P, IK5/DL4MHA/P, IV3RJH/P, K0JQZ, K1JD, K3EL, K3KYR/VE2,
K6EL, K7ATN, K7JFD, K7SO, KB9ILT/P, KD5KC, KE5AKL, KH2TJ, KI0G,
KR7W, KU6J, LA1EBA/P, LA1ENA/P, LA8BCA/P, M1BUU/P, M1EYP/P,
MM0GYX/P, MW0BBU/P, MW6GWR/P, N4EX/P, N5XL, N6JZT, N7AZ,
NA6MG, NE1SJ, NG7A, NM5S, OE/DL4MHA/P, OE2SNL/P, OE3CHC/P,
OE3HPU/P, OE5EEP/P, OE6RDD/P, OE7PHI/P, OE9AMJ/P, OH2NOS/P,
OH6FQI/P, OH9XX/P, OK/DL6AP/P, OK1DO/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BDF/P,
OK2BMA/P, OK2BTK/P, OK2BWB/P, OK2PYA/P, OK2QA/P, OK2SAM/P,
OK2VWB/P, OM/OK2VWB/P, OM3CUG/P, ON4FI/P, ON6UU/P, PA0SKP/P,
PA9CW/P, S5/OE6WIG/P, S52CU/P, S53X/P, S53XX/P, S57X/P, VA2OTA,
VK3BYD/P, W0DW, W4ZV, W6AH, WA2USA/P, WA2USA/VE2, WA6ARA, WB5USB,
WG0AT, WS0TA, WT5RZ, YO2BP/P
Mode: SOTA CW on 14MHz: activity for September,
9H3LA, 9H4RH/P, AA4GA, AD5A, AE5KA, AE7UT, CJ2OTA, CT1DRB/P,
DD5AM, DF2GN/P, DF3MC/P, DJ2FR, DJ3AX/P, DJ9MH/P, DK7MG/P,
DL/HB9AGO/P, DL/HB9BRJ/P, DL/LX1NO/P, DL/OE7PHI/P, DL/PA0SKP/P,
DL1DVE/P, DL4TO/P, DL6AP/P, DL6WT/P, DL8DZL/P, DL8JJ/P,
EA/IZ1KSW, EA1AER/P, EA1WK, EA1XN/P, EA2BD/P, EA2EA/P, EA5/DK1IO/P,
EI/G4ASA/P, EI/HB9IAB/P, F/HB9BQB/P, F/HB9IIO/P, F/ON6UU/P, F5IRO/P,
F5UKL/P, F5VGL/P, F6ENO/P, F6HBI/P, F8FEO/P, G0PEB/P, G4ASA/P,
G4CCQ/P, G4DDL/P, G4ISJ/P, G4RQJ/P, GM0BKC/P, GM4COX, GM4OIG/P,
GM4YSS/P, GW0NMD/P, GW3NYY/P, GW4TJC/P, HA2VR/P, HA5AZC/P, HA5LV/P,
HA5MA/P, HB9/PB2T/P, HB9AFH/P, HB9AFI/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BAB/P, HB9BCB/P,
HB9BIN/P, HB9BQB/P, HB9BQU/P, HB9BRJ/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P, HB9CGL/P,
HB9CKV/P, HB9CZF/P, HB9DAQ/P, HB9DGV/P, HB9HVK/P, HB9IAB/P, HB9IIO/P,
HB9TVK/P, IZ5GHD/P, K0JQZ, K1JD, K3EL, K3IDX/P, K3KYR/VE2, K4ADV,
K4ALE, K6EL, K6XM, K7ATN, K7JFD, K7NEW, K7NIT, K7RR, K7SO, KB9ILT/P,
KD5KC, KE5AKL, KF7PXT, KH2TJ, KH6/K6EL, KI0G, KK4RR, KR7W, KU6J,
KX0R, LA/PA5JD/P, LA1EBA/P, LA1ENA/P, LA8BCA/P, LA8NHA/P, M0IML/P,
M1BUU/P, M1EYP/P, MM0FMF/P, MM0GYX/P, MM0ROV/P, MW0BBU/P, MW6GWR/P,
N0PCL, N1EU, N3GJ, N4EX/P, N5XL, N6IV, N6JZT, N6ZA/VE6, N7CW, N7KRN,
N7WM, NA6MG, ND7PA, NE1SJ, NG7A, NK0E, NM5S, NS0TA, OE/DK1AX/P,
OE/DK7MX/P, OE/S58R/P, OE1MVA/P, OE3CHC/P, OE3HPU/P, OE5EIN/P,
OE6PKF/P, OE7OPJ/P, OE7PHI/P, OE9AMJ/P, OH2NOS/P, OH3KRH/P,
OH9XX/P, OK/DL6AP/P, OK1DDQ/P, OK1DIG/P, OK1DO/P, OK1DVM/P,
OK1MLP/P, OK2BMA/P, OK2BTK/P, OK2BWB/P, OM3CUG/P, ON/PA0SKP/P,
ON3SEA/P, ON4FI/P, PA0SKP/P, S52CU/P, S52ON/P, S53X/P, S53XX/P,
S57X/P, S58R/P, VA2FDT, VA2OTA, VA2VL, VE2DDZ, VE3DTI, VE7ETS,
W0CCA, W0DW, W4EON, W4RK, W4ZV, W5QC, W6AH, W6UB, W7TAO, W7USA,
WA2USA/P, WA2USA/VE2, WA6ARA, WA7JTM, WA7NCL, WB5USB, WG0AT,
WS0TA, WT5RZ, YO2BP/P
Mode: SOTA CW on 18MHz: activity for September,
AA4GA, DC8MH/P, DF2GN/P, DJ9MH/P, DL6AP/P, EI/G4ASA/P,
F5UKL/P, F6ENO/P, F6HBI/P, G0PEB/P, G3VQO/P, G4ASA/P,
G4ISJ/P, GM4OIG/P, GW0NMD/P, GW3RDQ/P, HA2VR/P, HB9AGO/P,
HB9BCB/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQU/P, HB9BRJ/P, HB9CBR/P, HB9CGA/P,
HB9IIO/P, HB9TVK/P, K1JD, K3EL, K7ATN, KU6J, KX0R, M0LEP/P,
M1EYP/P, MM0FMF/P, MM0GYX/P, N0PCL, N1EU, N4EX/P, N5XL, N6KZ,
N7CW, NE1SJ, OH2NOS/P, OH6FQI/P, OK/DC8MH/P, OK/DL6AP/P,
OK1DDQ/P, OK1DVM/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BMA/P, OM3CUG/P, ON4FI/P,
PA0SKP/P, S52CU/P, S57X/P, UU4JIM/P, VE2DDZ, VE7ETS, W4RK,
W4ZV, W6AH, W6UB, WG0AT,
Mode: SOTA CW on 21MHz: activity for September,
DF2GN/P, DJ9MH/P, EA2EA/P, EI/G4ASA/P, F5IRO/P, F6HBI/P,
G0PEB/P, G3NYY/P, G4ASA/P, G4ISJ/P, GW3NYY/P, HA2VR/P,
HB/OE9AMJ/P, HB0/OE9AMJ/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BAB/P, HB9BCB/P,
HB9CGA/P, HB9CZF/P, K0JQZ, K1JD, KD5KC, KU6J, KX0R, M1BUU/P,
M1EYP/P, MM0FMF/P, N1EU, N5XL, NA6MG, NE1SJ, NM5S, OE/DK1AX/P,
OK1DVM/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BMA/P, OM3CUG/P, ON4FI/P, S52CU/P,
VE3DTI, W4RK, W4ZV, WT5RZ,
Mode: SOTA CW on 24MHz: activity for September,
AA4GA, DF2GN/P, DL4MHA/P, EA2EA/P, EI/G4ASA/P, F5UKL/P,
F6HBI/P, G3NYY/P, G4ASA/P, G6DTN/P, GW3RDQ/P, HA2VR/P,
HB9AFH/P, HB9AGO/P, HB9BCB/P, HB9BIN/P, HB9BQB/P, HB9BQU/P,
HB9CZF/P, HB9TVK/P, K0JQZ, K3EL, KD5KC, KH2TJ, KU6J, M1BUU/P,
M1EYP/P, MW1EYP/P, MW6GWR/P, N1EU, N2YTF/P, N5XL, NA6MG,
OE/DL4MHA/P, OE5EEP/P, OK1DIG/P, OK1DVM/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BMA/P,
ON4FI/P, S52CU/P, UU4JIM/P, W4ZV,
Mode: SOTA CW on 28MHz: activity for September,
EI/G4ASA/P, F6HBI/P, G4ASA/P, HB9CBR/P, NA6MG,
OE/DK1AX/P, OK1MLP/P, OK2BMA/P, S52CU/P,
CONTESTS DURING OCTOBER 2013.
The following scheduled contests are expected to cause severe 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.
5th-6th 0800-0800 Oceania DX contest SSB
6th only 0600-1000 ON UBA SSB contest
12th – 13th 0800-0800 Oceania DX contest CW
12-13th 1200-1200 Scandinavian SSB Activity contest
13th only 0001-2359 UBA CW Contest
12th only 0001-2359 SKCC weekend sprint CW
13th only 0600-0900 ON UBA CW contest
19th-20th 1500-1500 Worked all Germany CW and SSB contest
26th -27th 0001-2300 CQ World-Wide SSB DX contest (Major QRM to 40m)
WORKED ALL GERMANY CONTEST from Chris DL8MBS
A little notice for your October issue regarding the contest section at the end: Worked All Germany Contest WAG (for which I´m mangaer since this year) has contest free segments to allow good neighbourhood with the Scout’s JOTA activity. On 40m SSB this segment is from 7080 to 7140, so I can encourage activators to not feel deterred from working 40m SSB. On CW the contestfree segment is only above 7040 but during daytime there should be no overwhelming activity of WWDX-like character as we have no singleband categories. And from my observation: A regular SOTA pileup in CW is good to keep a frequency clear 
So you may make a little note about our contest free segments, listed in complete form here Seite nicht gefunden - DARC , and espcially the 40m phone occasion. On 20m the contestfree segments are above 14280 and above 14060.
73 es cu,
Chris DL8MBS
WAG Contest manager
SOTA News is normally published around noon UTC 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 SOTA enthusiasts all across Europe, the USA, Australia 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.
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
Australian input to:-
Allen VK3HRA
VK Reporter
arharvie@gmail.com
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