UK 2m simplex frequencies

On the Bands Operating Procedures
1

In doing a little more research into band usage in G/LD land I noticed some of the 8 and 10 pointers have a very high percentage of 2m QSOs mode from them.

Is this thread from Nov 09 on UK frequencies still valid?

Also its hard to tell if 2m is FM or SSB. Can anyone shed light on what mode is favored on 2m in UK for SOTA activators? I assume its FM but that could be very naive and parochial!

Just trying to determine the right gear to bring and with the high volume of 2m wondered if a handheld 5w FM rig and J pole will be enough to qualify a peak mid week.

Paul

2

Ask the database… it’s there for these questions.

For example for Lake Districts:

SOTA Database and select G - England in the association and LD - Lake District in the region drop downs to see all the summits.

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Click history to get a breakdown of bands and modes used by all the activators on this summit.

c2.JPG827×558 132 KB

3

It should be enough from the popular summits, even though there is less activity mid week. If you can post an alert it will improve your chances a lot. The information in that old thread is still valid.

Brian

4

2m FM is ok for those within easy reach of LD or NW and will probably be relatively easy to qualify.

However for some of us these summits are too far away to get all but a few on 2m FM but using 2m SSB it is possible for us to get at least some of them.

5

Yes it will be but as Stewart says there are people workable if you can run SSB. Now a travel pole, J-pole and handy is trivial to sneak into your luggage.

Remember you need 25kHz (or 12.5kHz) channel spacing and the UK band is 144-146 with FM from 145.00 to 145.800. Calling is on 145.500 and you are expected to QSY from the calling frequency, a fact forgotten by some SOTA people when excited on an activation!

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6

Andy

Thanks for pointing me to the history pages.

A very unscientific poll of a few highly activated G/LD peaks shows a high percentage of 2m FM only. Guess that helps answers my question.

Paul

7

Time to re-read the very “intuitive” Yaesu manual and figure out how to change the frequency step to match the UK frequency plan.

8

Stu

Thanks and to Andy’s comment about looking at the DB data it does seem a fair number of G/LD peaks (using my unscientific method) have been activated with FM only.

In the US western states and especially away from urban areas, 2m is close to a lost cause.

Live and learn!

Paul

9

Paul

2m activity has fallen in recent years so don’t base your planning on what was going on a few years ago.

10

You’re almost guaranteed a couple of contacts from regular chasers in the Lakes. In my experience the remaining contacts tend to come from other walkers, so picking a day/time which is popular with walkers helps (e.g. Good weather, holidays or weekends).

Personal top tip - remote earpiece/mic. The earpiece helps you hear the contact over the wind noise; the mic allows you to hold the radio (and therefore the antenna) above the rock you are trying to shelter behind. Good luck!

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