In reply to G0VOF:
Is there anywhere that the list could be placed so that it would be easy to keep the magnitude of the problem apparent, or don’t go to these hills if you want to use 2 metres and have a VX7 etc.
I agree that a note on the individual summit page would be a good idea as well.
I must admit I thought of your video when I put Billing on the list!
Colin
G8JSM
In reply to G8JSM:
Hi Colin,
I think that while individual summit pages are the best place for detailed information on “problem” summits, if you look at the list above, which so far only covers UK summits that people have taken the time to post here, globally this could end up being a very long list.
The 2m “pager” problem is nothing new, & is probably the most widely known due to the number of amateurs with access to 2m hand-held equipment who just happen to frequent hill tops that sometimes have high power pager transmitters on.
There will be other summits with different problems on different bands that may not be due to poorly designed equipment. Maybe the primary user of a particular band has a transmitter on a summit that sits right in the part of the spectrum amateurs use for communication. I am thinking more of the microwave part of the spectrum here, but we already have a similar situation on MF & HF on the bands were we are secondary users, & sometimes where we are primary users too! As far as SOTA goes, that would probably not be relevant to this topic unless the transmitter is actually on a hill top.
Certainly this problem doesn’t only affect the UK, & the facility to have a definitive list of all “problem” summits worldwide in one place might be advantageous. I was thinking of something along the lines of the “All Summits” excel file, which is downloadable from the SOTA database. A simliar file could be maintained that could possibly include columns on the right for each amateur band, with a two letter code to indicate any problems there may be? Two letters would give 676 possible “problem codes” but you could have as many as you wish. Maybe instead of two letter codes you could have a simple hyper link to a cell on a separate worksheet within the same workbook with detailed text for that particular summit + band. Actually, that make the file unfeasibly large, so maybe not a good idea.
With that in mind, maybe keep the individual summit pages for detailed information, with the excel “problem summits” list simply indicating the type of problem you may encounter on a particular band on a particular summit.
Then of course you would need a method of collating the information, & validating it too.
It soon becomes a much bigger job than it might first appear Hi!
It was just an idea I had floating around in my head over the past week or so, but I’m sure there are much better ways of doing this.
Thanks & 73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G8JSM:
“All of the reports seem to be interference to fm handies with wideband receive, how many ssb handies are there?”
As far as I know there has only ever been one available in this country, the Mizuho,(sp?) they are nearly as rare as hen’s teeth and eagerly sought after by the microwave fraternity.
73
Brian G8ADD
PS Perhaps the list could also be supplied to Summitsbase.
In reply to G8ADD:
As far as I know there has only ever been one available in this
country, the Mizuho,(sp?) they are nearly as rare as hen’s teeth and
eagerly sought after by the microwave fraternity.
I don’t think they are sought after by the microwave community. Most microwavers use the FT-290 FT-817 or IC-202S for use with transverters.
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
Because they can’t get mizuhos? My information is that their small size and light weight makes them desirable for portable work, but they are not easy to find and expensive. A friend of mine has one and has been offered silly money for it - but he isn’t selling!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G0VOF:
I agree it is a relational database problem, but I was thinking more of a simple list possibly segregating into hf, vhf and uhf just flagging possible problems,the idea being to make the problems more easily visible, it would then be up to the user to investigate further and look at the activation reports before they started out for the summit
It may be better to have a section in the country regional summits that was for Problem Summits where users could answer a questionnaire, select summit and tick boxes on type of interference, Callsign, type of rig used, band and show running totals of answers. When the number of responses exceeded a certain number the summit goes onto the permanent list,this should help with validation and no more data needs to be collected, the only info that needs to be stored and displayed is that the summit has a problem, it is then up to the individual to make the decision to go to that summit, as for further validation, I am sure if something is not right it will soon become apparent.
One question that comes to mind. How do people choose summits to activate? Information about possible problems needs to be available early on in this process.
I wonder if this is getting too complicated and a simple list maintained by the local community and placed somewhere in the region summits info might be a better idea. When I started the original list I trawled through quite a lot of the reflector and activation reports and made a list, then threw it open to comments, but there is nowhere to put it!
I hope something comes comes of this,
Colin
In reply to G8JSM:
Hi Colin
Mountains and molehills spring to mind. If you are minded to keep a list it would be easy for you just to put it on the internet somewhere and add a link to it from each summit on the list. The solution you propose seems over-complicated for something that is not really a huge issue.
On the other hand, as Brian suggested, the Summitsbase may be the perfect platform for your idea above.
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
Where’s the list gone?
We now have a thread with no list in it.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
We had a little list and it never will be missed! (Humble apologies to G&S!)
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to G3CWI:
In reply to G8ADD:
As far as I know there has only ever been one available in this
country, the Mizuho,(sp?) they are nearly as rare as hen’s teeth
and
eagerly sought after by the microwave fraternity.I don’t think they are sought after by the microwave community. Most
microwavers use the FT-290 FT-817 or IC-202S for use with
transverters.
There was a 70MHz version of the Mizuho, the only commercial ssb equipment for 4m at the time.
Microwave link systems often used 70MHz as an IF, which meant that a lot of surplus gear was 70MHz friendly - that may have been a factor. (There was, and is, probably a lot less activity on 4m to break through, as well)
It worked the other way around for me, I built quite a lot of 4m gear in the 1970s because I had access to lots of nice 70MHz test equipment! The Mizuho was far too expensive for me at the time, and I’ve never got my hands on one.
Adrian
In reply to G8ADD:
They’re a bit rubbish in comparison to an IC-202. The 202 was famed for its exceptionally low phase noise. This meant that when you cranked the Henry up to troposhere melting powers you still had a clean contest signal! The tuning knob isn’t reliable or particularly usable either.
I had a Mizuo MX14s, the 20m model. I acquired it as a result of period of intense horse-trading of gear, some years back, when I had some cash hanging about. I did intend to use it for SOTA when the sun woke up. But considering it was mint and unused taking it out portable would only devalue it. I kept it safe for 3 years and sold it for a significant profit to a collector.
They come up on eBay regularly. Even the 2m ones. I’d get it moved on and lighten the wallet of a collector and put the money to something useful.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to G8ADD:
Oops clicked on delete, not edit.
Summits with 2metre interference problems 01 December 2011
GW/NW-044,Moel Famau__disputed
G/CE-001,Cleeve Hill
G/SP-017, Billinge Hill
G/SP-010, Winter Hill
G/SP-015, The Cloud
G/WB-010, The Wrekin
G/CE-005, Wendover Woods
GW/NW-062, Hope Mountain
GW/SW-026, Bryn Arw
GW/SW-020, Graig Syfyrddin
G/SC-010, Dundry Down
G/WB-002, Brown Clee
G/LD-038, Grayrigg Forest
G/WB-004, Titterstone Clee Hill__5 * 16GW erp each on 24cms
GW/NW-043, Cyrn-y-Brain
G/CE-003, Bredon Hill
GW/NW-070, Great Orme
GM/SS-056, Green Lowther__5x16GW erp 24cms ATC Radar,GB3LA 2m repeater.
GM/NS-151, Mount Eagle__VX170 sotabeam, 817 ok
G/SP-013, Gun.VX8 dipole
GW/SW-033, Wentwood VX7 dipole
GW/MW-026,Long Mountain Beacon Ring__ VX7 dipole
sorry about the formatting
In reply to MM0FMF:
An 80m Mizuho has just turned up on eBay. Don’t all bid at once, there’ll be another one along in a minute!
Andy
MM0FMF