Welcome to the August 2021 Quarterly News. I am afraid that we have very few contributions to this quarters SOTA news. We have GM4TOE Barry’s awards report, a Yorkshire Day report from Phil G4OBK and an interesting extract from the PNW newsletter with thanks to Etienne K7ATN for permission to copy.
We’ll kick off with the latest awards report from Barry GM4TOE.
SOTA Awards May to July 2021
This report covers award claims for the period May to July 2021
Events of note are the Chaser score of EA2CKX (150k) but even more noteworthy is that he has chased 10,000 summits! SOTA has taken off in Indonesia in a big way and we have numerous claims for Awards including two Shack Sloths. HB9DST has reached 5000 Activator points and Sid and Adele Tyler (ZS5AYC and ZS5APT) have jointly achieved Mountain Goat.
Congratulations to all who have reached their own significant milestone this quarter
Trophies Issued
Mountain Goat
G0EVV David Stansfield
N4SFR Ron LaGrone
HA8BJ Weber Karoly
G4HQB Philip Sandell
HB9GHJ Urs Gredig
K3OG Peter Fahringer
K7JRO John O’Brien
K7TAB Chris Tabor
AA7OY Dale Jensen
Shack Sloth
NM5BG Brian Geery
YC1ME Mawan Darmawan
DK6HS Sven Hammer
KX6I Jeff Isaacson
K6MAA Aleksandr Muravev
HB9GHJ Urs Gredig
DL3NM Hannes Schmidt
WA6WV Sergio Fernandez
KI7QEK Ryan Zink
Certificates Issued
Activator
HB9DST Paul Schreier 5000 points
OE6KYG Klaus Koppendorfer 2500 points
ZS5AYC Sid Tyler 1000 points
K9OZ Bruce Plantz 1000 points
ZS5APT Adele Tyler 1000 points
YO8SST Tatiana Done 1000 points
M1CJE Andrew Eastland 1000 points
HB9GHJ Urs Gredig 1000 points
OK1CHP Libor Tomsik 1000 points
EI6FR Declan Craig 500 points
KF7SEY Troy Greenburg 250 points
SV6NOL Rena Chrysa Tzortzi 250 points
M0WBG Neil Challis 250 points
G7WKX Simon Davis-Crane 250 points
K1BAA Bret Aguilar 100 points
YG3DEB Ajib Muzakki 100 points
N4DCW Michael Whitman 100 points
SV6NOL Rena Chrysa Tzortzi 100 points
SV6KVG Tolis Kiochos 100 points
KI7ADV Eric Keefer 100 points
M7NDC Nic Davis-Crane 100 points
OE5IRS Robert Schneeberger 100 points
G5AIB Peter Talbot 100 points
Chaser
EA2CKX Pedro Chinchurreta 150k points
WC0Y Ward Hall 15000 points
W7HO Ron Schlitzkus 10000 points
KF6HI Brian Hamerski 2500 points
EA1AXW Oscar Trueba 2500 points
ZL1BQD Roly Runciman 1000 points
K6KMH Kevin Haywood 1000 points
DC8YZ Michael Stark 1000 points
KI6SLA Michael Carter 1000 points
YC1ME Mawan Darmawan 1000 points
JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 1000 points
K0DAJ Donald Jarvinen 1000 points
VE6AGR Ken Smith 1000 points
N0PBR John Pabst 1000 points
HB9GHJ Urs Gredig 1000 points
IS0LYN Mario Lumbau 1000 points
DL3NM Hannes Schmidt 1000 points
JN1MSO Tetsuya Hirose 1000 points
YC2VOC Galih Suryananto 1000 points
EA5ITW Jose Fernandez Candela 1000 points
WA6WV Sergio Fernandez 1000 points
ON8PHD Philippe Delacauw 1000 points
YB1TIA Tia Atiah 500 points
YC2VOC Galih Suryananto 500 points
K0MGL Greg Liverman 500 points
G4TCI Michael Soars 500 points
KI6SLA Michael Carter 500 points
LB6GG Hans Ostnell 500 points
IZ1UMJ Marco Giulini 500 points
KF6FLJ Vincent LeVeque 500 points
WA6WV Sergio Fernandez 500 points
DL3GJ Grzegorz Jacykowski 250 points
KI6SLA Michael Carter 250 points
TI5JCJ Jorge Jimenez 250 points
M1CJE Andrew Eastland 250 points
WA6WV Sergio Fernandez 250 points
MW7GWR Name withheld 100 points
YB0GIN Ginanjar Taufiq 100 points
YC3ATK Atik Sutarti 100 points
KI6SLA Michael Carter 100 points
YD3DCZ Gatot Soeryanto 100 points
YC1WEU Adi Ashodieq 100 points
YB0SHR HJ Sahara Sultan 100 points
YC9CRV I Kadek Ariasa 100 points
M7NTD Natalie Tate 100 points
PD0JMH Jos Holtermann 100 points
YD1AGY Wahyu Rahadianto 100 points
YD4SIO Erwin Setiawan 100 points
PU1KGE Fabio Luiz de Souza 100 points
UT8UU Sergey Usmanov 100 points
YO5OTA Constantin Pascal 100 points
AB6D Brian Mathews 100 points
Activator Unique
JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 100 summits
Chaser Unique
EA2CKX Pedro Chinchurreta 10000 summits
W7HO Ron Schlitzkus 1000 summits
K9OSC Robert Brock 500 summits
ON8PHD Philippe Delacauw 250 summits
Summit to Summit
M0JLA Rod Archard Platinum
W0MNA Gary Auchard Silver
HB9LEK Martin Neukomm Silver
JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki Silver
W0ERI Martha Auchard Silver
HB9GHJ Urs Gredig Silver
K6RIN Ronald Nelson Silver
M0KPW Chris Leviston Bronze
M0WBG Neil Challis Bronze
M1CJE Andrew Eastland Bronze
NS7F Ross Tucker Red
KJ7NOY Marcia Elliot Red
G7WKX Simon Davis-Crane Red
Mountain Explorer
N4DCW Michael Whitman Bronze
Mountain Hunter
YB1TIA Tia Atiah Silver
DL3GJ Grzegorz Jacykowski Bronze
YB1TIA Tia Atiah Bronze
LB6GG Hans Ostnell Bronze
YO5OTA Constantin Pascal Bronze
Microwave Award
ON6ZQ Christophe David 200 km 23 cm
F8DLS Marc Becard 200 km 23 cm
ON6ZQ Christophe David 100 km 23 cm
ON4KBE Edgard Buet 100 km 23 cm
ON5TA Eric van Offelen 100 km 23 cm
N6ARA Ara Kourchians 100 km 23 cm
Deliveries to me of merchandise are being significantly held up – a result of the UK leaving the EU. However I have just received the Polo Shirts and Sweatshirts that I advised were on their way last quarter! I just need to get them listed on the website.
PayPal are still playing games – payments made by PayPal Express are credited immediately and the confirmation is sent out by the shopping site; regular PayPal payments are not confirmed and I have to manually intervene to ensure that the confirmation email is sent. I plan a clean-up of the site and this option will be replaced. If you have not received confirmation but your PayPal payment has been processed please contact me and I will check all is well.
Payment by Bank Transfer will remain available but I will not process an order until payment is received at our bank. Details of the bank account are available on the website but I would encourage you to use PayPal if at all possible.
I will not be processing any orders in September so if you place an order on, or after, 21 August you will have to wait until October for the order to be processed
That is it for this quarter – stay safe on the hills and keep away from anybody carrying that infernal virus
73
Barry GM4TOE
SOTA Awards Manager
From Yorkshireman Phil G4OBK
Yorkshire Day SOTA activations
G/NP-004 Whernside G5ZX/P G0UOK/P M7SHZ/P
G/NP-006 Great Shunner Fell G5ZX/P
G/NP-008 Great Whernside M0HQO/P
G/NP-009 Buckden Pike G4OBK/P
G/NP-010 Pen-y-ghent M0YCJ/P
G/TW-002 Cringle Moor G3TQQ/P
G/TW-003 Gisborough Moor G6PJZ/P M6GYU/P
G/TW-004` Bishop Wilton Wold G4OOE/P
Yorkshiremen in EU listening out: DD5LP & OE6FEG @ Graz Club Stn OE6XUG
The annual August 1st Yorkshire Day started in 1975. This is a yearly celebration to highlight the historic county, made up of four parts - North, South, East and West Yorkshire, which cover a large part of what is termed “Northern England”. This year ten SOTA Activators went out to celebrate the day by activating 8 out of the 23 summits in the County. Other operators were listening out, including Yorkshiremen Matt OE6FEG in Graz, Austria and Ed DD5LP in Bavaria.
Three operators decided to go to the highest point in our County at 736m. Like everyone else operating the on Yorkshire summits, the weather was excellent. The operators were Mark G0UOK, Sharron M7SHZ and Steve G5ZX who climbed Whernside G/NP-004. Described by Steve as a “jaunt on the Yorkshire Hills” they had lovely weather and used an FT-857D, SOTA mast and Wimo 2m HB9CV to exchange some banter on 2m with the many Yorkshire chasers and S2S activators on the air. Steve went on to HF to target a few S2S contacts and managed five, HB9LEK/P, I1WKN/P, DD2ZN/P and Mark M0NOM/P on G/LD-050 Gummers Howe. Mark incidentally, worked most of the Yorkshire Day activators in his own right!
Pictured above is Sharron M7SHZ, Mark G0UOK and the nearby Ribblehead Viaduct.
Steve G5ZX must have been feeling good as he walked up to G/NP-006 Great Shunner Fell on his way back home - and made a handful of contacts from there
Moving over to the coastal side of Yorkshire, Andy G6PJZ and David M6GYU met for the first time by chance on the summit of G/TW-003 Gisborough Moor. Andy did the morning shift in the shelter on Voice, with David taking over the shelter using Morse in the afternoon. A local net on 2m were celebrating their 500th consecutive day of activity since the Covid restrictions came on in March 2020. What a coincidence this was to happen on Yorkshire Day!
Andy operated on 2m and HF with Dave concentrating as he always does, on HF CW with his trusty HB1B QRP mini TRx. Andy was one of the few to work MS0TA (Andy MM0FMF) who was on the summit of GM/WS-242 Meall Tairbh, as well as several of the other Yorkshire activators. Andy wondered whether Manuel EA2DT ever leaves his shack during the daytime hours!
Dave M6GYU missed out on working several of the other Yorkshire activators who were QRT by lunchtime, however he did make contact with Nick G4OOE who made a record number of contacts from 45 miles south of him on the “drive on” summit of Bishop Wilton Wold G/TW-004. After 80 minutes and a session on 10 MHz David pulled the plug and headed home for a late Sunday Dinner.
Back to Nick G4OOE then, who started early for a long session on his camping table and chair some distance from the car on G/TW-004, his “local office”. Nick who was operated from the grass verge of a country lane on the expansive Garrowby Hill summit, as it is known locally, hammered the HF bands with 30 watts from his FT-857D and link dipole. Occasional departing to work activators on 2m FM meant he completed 146 QSOs in his own right (19 X S2S). Well done Nick in staying on the radio for so long (0659z-1337z) – I’m surprised you didn’t have a cushion on the folding wooden seat!
Yorkshireman born and bred, Dave, G3TQQ was on the air from Cringle Moor G/TW-002, making many HF S2S contacts before heading off to meet up with family:
Surprise activation of the day was Colwyn MM0YCJ who was down in England visiting family. Colwyn was active as M0YCJ/P on the most popular Yorkshire summit of Pen-y-ghent. This was after his recent activations of Great Shunner Fell, Dodd Fell Hill and Ingleborough in July. Colwyn took the shortest route up via the flagged path and short scramble, on the Pennine Way long distance route. He stayed just 30 mins and worked 11 stations on VHF including Mark on G/LD-050 Gummers Howe and Pete M0HQO on G/NP-008 Whernside.
Pete M0HQO and Phil G4OBK shared a car to reach the parking place at the top of Park Rash near Kettlewell. At 08:30 BST Pete headed up to Great Whernside G/NP-008, Phil went to Buckden Pike G/NP-009. This was Pete’s first activation for almost a year - due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Pete had a long session on 2m FM finishing off with one HF QSO as he had a problem with his KX2 after just one 20m contact – but at least this was an S2S with prolific activator Nuno CT2HOV, who was on CT/BA-010. The KX2 was subsequently fixed when he returned home with a firmware update. Not having mobile coverage made things harder on HF for Pete, but the Yorkshire Day session still left him saying he would be back activating as soon as an opportunity arose!
Meanwhile after working Pete S2S from Buckden Pike G/NP-009, Phil G4OBK was mixing 2m FM with HF from 60m down to 20m. Due to callers he had to leave HF from time to time to pick up the occasional 2m FM S2S, however the distraction of HF meant he sadly missed hearing Colwyn on G/NP-010! Phil did however hear the Whernside threesome calling CQ 2m and most of the others on 2m FM, including an extra station - GB0YD who was picked up by most of the operators on 2m FM – this was the Yorkshire Day Special Event Station operated by Pontefract ARC in South Yorkshire.
Here is the Polish war memorial on the day on Buckden Pike, just 25m from where the G4OBK station (KX2 and link dipole at 5m with 2m handheld and RH770 whip) was located against a dry stone wall:
So was this SOTA Yorkshire Day a success? I would say so – with August 1st falling on a Sunday the operators with jobs and not just the retirees were able to get out on to the hills. With 355 QSOs being made from the eight Yorkshire summits activated, I would say this was an unqualified success and it is hoped that operators will save the day for Monday 1st August 2022 and once again rise to the challenge of activating even more of the Yorkshire hills and mountains! Several Yorkshire chasers operators stayed home, including Terry, G0VWP who worked five out of the eight summits activated and also Alan, 2E0AGB who worked three.
73 Phil G4OBK
Take part in HamCensus.
“What do amateur radio operators worldwide, think of their passion? What do we wish for? What are we frustrated about? How many of us are active, versus those that are taking a break? Do we have favorite radios, antennas, or even favorite cw paddles? Do we prefer one contest over another?”
Express your views at https://hamcensus.org/
I thought this is inspiring and worthwhile reproducing this from the PNW Newletter thanks to Etienne K7ATN
Out and About with SOTA by Charlie-W7RTA
Last summer, I had been seeing a pain psychologist. He told me to replace the things that I was no longer able to do since my brain injury diagnosis. So, I purchased an off-road scooter to replace my mountain biking activities. The scooter has been a lot of fun and has taken me to areas I would no longer be able to experience. He gave me another homework assignment to replace other activities. I struggled all winter trying to find something and I realized that I still had my Technician ham license. I began playing with the radios and realized that I had to upgrade my license to enjoy the hobby. An upgrade would require me to study and pass a General Class test. The studying was very difficult for me. I could only study a half hour per day. It was all my brain could handle. I worked for nearly two months and at the end, I took practice tests but was not doing well. Out of 400 possible questions,
I would have to get 26 out of 35 correct to pass. When I finished the test and clicked the “submit” button I could not believe what the result was. I got 35 out of 35. I cried. It was very emotional for me.
I love the Metolius area and found a summit to activate there – W7O/CN-100. It looked very simple and had potential for my scooter to get me close. I reviewed maps and satellite photos in preparation.
I attempted to get near the summit from the east but found myself bushwhacking through thick Manzanita. I attempted to walk up the hill as far as I could and going very slowly – one, because of the thick brush. Two, because of my brain injury. I turned back after about 100 yards. The Manzanita was like a cheese grater on my legs. I regrouped and studied the maps and saw that there was a road on the west side that might get me closer to the summit. I rode my scooter that way but there were
downed trees blocking me from getting to another primitive road heading towards the summit.
Climbing over the downed trees, I moved up the road. At first it looked clear of Manzanita, but that changed quickly. I was going very slowly and resting often. I had set my goal and I was not going to fail. I had lots of time to complete this. I used Google Satellite view to give me an idea if I was headed the right direction. After over an hour of pushing through the brush, I made it to the summit. If I wasn’t so tired from the climb, I would have cried.
I took in the scenery while eating a snack and drinking water. I set up my Xiegu G90 and a 41’ endfed random wire. My first contact was a S2S to Arizona. My second contact was a shock. The ham gave me S57S call sign. I repeated his call sign and he confirmed. He was in Slovenia! Here I am sitting on top of this summit with a wire talking to a guy in
Slovenia. Wow! I was so excited. I made nine other contacts. I did not realize that one of the nine was with France. I wrote down all the call signs and when I was logging them on my computer, I realized I made contact with F4WBN! Sitting on that summit I made contact with folks in Slovenia, France, Alaska, Washington, California, Montana, Arizona and Utah. I stayed on the summit for a bit longer just taking in the beautiful views. I was successful in completing my goal, but with a price. My brain was hurting. I had to rest often on the way down as I was getting light headed and dizzy. I took it easy going back to my camp on my scooter. Would I do this again? Nope. But I had to do it to prove to myself I
could do it. It does give me hope that some much easier walks to a summit might be possible. I will do much more homework in planning on doing future summits.
Charlie-W7RTA
You can read more of the PNW Newsletter at http://www.pnwsota.org/sites/pnwsota.org/files/downloads/K7ATN/PNW%20SOTA%20Newsletter%20Jul-Aug-Sep%202021.pdf
Final Comment.
Well that is it for this quarter. Not a lot. This news depends on contributions so why don’t you submit something for the next edition in October 2021. Till next quarter stay safe on the hills.
73 Jim G0CQK
