Continuing the discussion from The 10 m S2S EU <> VK challenge (Part 1) - #101 by M5OTA.
Previous discussions:
Today I was on a low land summit (HB/ZH-004) and had really good conditions on 10m to the east (despite the low sun activity). I made many QSOs with Japan, even to Fiji, but what about VK? I was heard in VK according to RBN and PSK reporters. Tomorrow I will be active again, around 08 z-time (16:00 Western Australia). I would realy like to have a Sota QSO with you guys. I work with about 30W into a delta loop antenna, in CW, FT4 and SSB.
73 Arthur
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I am in Gran Canaria / EA8 currently.
I would be interested for DX and could be on a summit for sunrise 07h00 UTC on Saturday 6th if any VK/ZL/JP/DX stations are around for 10m / 20m attempts ?
I can be sure to be on the summit on time, this time 
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Hi Tim
I’m in Melbourne (VK3) and I won’t have an opportunity to activate a summit on Saturday for LP on 20m.
73, Andrew VK1AD
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Try 15m in the late morning. You could pick up ZL or VK from there.
Is that straight from the club to the summit?
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Haha. I wouldn’t have put that past me 20 years ago…
Will give it a try !
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My alert is up for Saturday 0630z. On my recent 10 m activations, earliest time of day EA8 logged was 0731z.
I will also pack my 20 m vertical and probably qsy to 14 MHz after 0730.
Ahoi
Pom
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My alerts are up now, corrected for UTC. 07h00z, Hope to work you !
Anyone up for a try tomorrow (Sunday) morning?
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Is the 10m band the only requirement for contacts between the EU and VK? I would say: No.
On Saturday I was activating HB/ZH-004.
As the conditions for 15m and higher were poor that day, I decided to concentrate on the 20m band. I was QRV with a groundplane antenna consisting of a telescopic whip and 5 radials mounted directly on the ground.
SSB with 10 W power. I was very pleased to be contacted by a chaser from VK at around 9h00z. Reports were 53 for us both.
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You are aware that the 10m Challenge is running in 2024 hence the interest in 10m EU VK S2S as opposed to any S2S EU VK?
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For me in VK5 10m DX type QSO are mostly to Japan or ZL/VK.
The long path my afternoon or 06:00 UTC is good to EU on 20m CW.
I did get a QSO with F4WBN on 10m one time but I think he must have a very good home station with good antennas and power. This thread is mostly about connecting during the 10m challenge in 2024 no it’s not about 10m being the only band to QSO with VK/ZL ops.
Please check out any band if you see our Spots on SW3 you never know the path may be open.
Regards
Ian vk5cz …
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Indeed, superb setup, so good his station is the only one that defies my skip zone in the UK.
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Success this morning from Gran Canaria working @VK3PF on VK3/VG-121 while I was on EA8/GC-015.
Thank you! A completed surprise for me… 10w with a 1/4w vertical on 20m. Some pictures of the conditions my end:
Montaña Lobas in the background. Todays objective
Also thank you to @ZL1TM and VK1AO for the Long path QSO’s. 20m was cooking this morning !
Sadly 10m wasn’t up to scratch
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Here comes Saturday’s report.
Lauensteiner Kopf DM/NS-135
28 MHz SSB, IC-705, 40 W PEP, oblong 17 m agl
Brilliant wx with oncoming Sahara dust.
SN was well below 80, so I didn’t have high hopes and wasn’t disasppointed about not having a VK QSO on 28 MHz.
ODX:
ZS5APT & ZS5AYC
New DXCC:
3B8HE
S2S:
EA8/G5OLD/p on EA8/GC-005
EA8DKV on EA8/TF-008.
We’re in the solar maximum. Any EU activator can have VK QSOs on 20 m using some piece of wire, an ATU and 20 W PEP. The challenge is to establish a s2s qso on 10 m, preferably ssb/cw. The only chance for years to do this is now, maybe next year. What adds some spice is sunset in VK which is some hours before the path to EU would be best.
As VK daylight savings ended last weekend and sunset is an hour earlier now, we will probably have to wait for a new attempt until the clock change on 6th October.
Ahoi
Pom
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Hi Tim,
Great to work you S2S from VK3/VG-121! I was very happy to firstly hear you, and then break through your EU pile up.
I was able to drive to the summit via a 4WD track, with lots of scrub encroaching on the track.
I set up on a folding table a few metres from the vehicle and was running 100 W from an IC-7300 to a ZS6BKW doublet as an inverted V, apex at around 9-10 m. Power from a 100 Ah LiFePO4 battery. Not the usual SOTA gear, but sometimes used when I can reach the summit via vehicle.
I started the activation on 40 m CW, working 15 VK stations, including Ian VK5CZ, John VK5HAA & Andrew VK1DA, all on VK5/SE-003.
Looking NW from VK3/VG-121 towards Mount Djoandah VK3/VG-043, with other summits beyond.
I then checked the spots and moved to 20 m, hearing @G5OLD as soon as I moved to his QRG. There were a couple of EU station who continued to call over myself, but Tim managed the pile up well and we had an excellent exchange for my first AF SOTA summit. Many thanks Tim!
Someone called me to QSY down 5. When finished with Tim, I moved down 5 kHz and worked VK6LK. I moved up 10 kHz, as someone had also asked me to move up 5 before I finished with Tim. No callers for a couple of minutes, but MW6YCZ/p called in. Then a move to hunt VK5PAS/p in VKFF-0901 on 20 m SSB.
I then tried 10 m CW, working VK6NU, JA1VVH, JF1OVA, S51RU, JA1VRY, SM5LNE, DJ2MX, JG2KJU and JH1MXV.
I next hunted VK3NDG on 20 m SSB. Dan was with my radio club group camped about 10 km away in VKFF-0321. I had been with the group before heading off to reach the summit.
I then moved to 40 m SSB to call CQ, working 23 stations in the following 20 minutes.
I jumped back to 20 m SSB and was very happy to work Markus F/HB9DIZ/p on F/AM-654 for another S2S.
On another high point of the activation, I closed down and started packing up. The temperature was dropping and the light fading fast.
I exitted via a different 4WD track than used for the approach and then headed for home.
A terrific activation late in the afternoon which also gave me a new Unique and Complete.
Thanks to all who called.
Cheers,
Peter VK3PF
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Hi Peter, thanks for you report, a great read.
Cheers, Geoff vk3sq
Hi Peter
Check your log, our afternoon activation was vk5/se-004. Same points, different ref.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
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