Hi Derek, I regularly use 20m and love getting DX contacts from outside Europe. You’ll always be welcome to call me if you can hear me.
In fact I welcome all contacts so will generally also be on 40 & 2m too.
From my personal experience, my first dozen or so summits were VHF/UHF only because I did not own a HF radio yet. I found out a few things along the way doing this: you need to be close to a population center to get enough contacts on simplex, your summit also needs to be high enough if you are to cover any distance over 30 miles with an HT, local SOTA chasers will appreciate that you have 2m since they won’t be able to hear you on the HF bands. I also maxed out my potential on VHF before going to HF with a 50 Watt VHF radio with a Yagi mounted on a 25 foot pole.
Most of my activations are local so I hope to catch someone using 2m so I can get that SOTA complete. And it is a blast to operate VHF from any mountain/ hill top.
I think it is fine for a beginner to use what they have and keep it simple. They can build on that as they get more experience activating. I continue to challenge myself with what I can do from a summit, recently adding 75m. My typical log is now around 40 contacts on 5 bands with 2 different modes and am looking to add 160m and digital this year.
BTW, 6m FM is a blast, like 2m FM on steroids!
Ryan
WG4I
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I activate SOTA only with VHF and higher for two reasons: 1) because it is a challenge and 2) because Height Above Average Terrain has a more pronounced effect above 50 MHz.
I’d really like to be working more stations on 2m cw/ssb but the reality is I have to use 2m fm a lot due to the popularity of the mode.
Pro Tip: Don’t criticize other activators’ choice of band/mode. No good will come from it.
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I am trying to teach ‘Grandma to suck eggs’ as it would appear to the FM rubber duck brigade know nothing about horizontal polarisation! Now take note Grandma.
The little sticky up thing on you hand held radio also quite amazingly works very when the whole radio is laid on its side! ergo, horizontal polarisation! aligned at 180 degrees to the station you wish to contact further away than the ones in the valley bottom, quite surprising results can be obtained.
Why not give it a try on your next outing and if I am around I am willing to demonstrate, within a reasonable distance that is, not half way around the globe!
Yours Horizontally
Don [G0NES]
Roger that.
I’m a chaser on 2M.75 uniques summits from my front door and more to come.
I don’t know what anyone would use HF…but then I don’t have the equipment to enjoy that side of the hobby.
Funny story about that: some Goats recent made a summit with out carrying a 2M. Doesn’t bother me at all. I figure Winter Rules are in effect, which means don’t put your self in danger trying to carry summer weight No good comes from slipping and damaging half your equipment.
Each operator carries what suit their interest and everyone lights up the coax!
Safe travels.
A 2M HT and MFJ 5/8th wave whip saved an activation for me last week when I packed a dead battery for my KX2. The greatest distance QSO was only about 45miles… but it was much more exciting wondering if I would make 4 QSO’s on FM simplex than with the HF rig.
IMO It very much depends where you are in the US as to the effectiveness of 2m activation. I operated a couple of peaks in CO and on one occasion made a 140+ mile qso which is a record for me!
If I could be assured of an audience I would lug the FT857 into the woods for 2m SBB / CW contacts too.
In many states I would expect that with a 4ele Arrow antenna and an MFJ 5/8th whip, it would be possible to to make your four and then go play HF.
Richard // N2GBR
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My case may be an extreme one:
Licensed in 1979 (CEPT 1) I did not do a single HF QSO till now. I am not interested in HF but love V/UHF FM and ARoIP contacts. I prefer local chatting on simplex channels AND via terrestrial repeaters (latter not valid for SOTA). That is why most of my activations do not qualify for SOTA (4 QSOs without the help of terrestrial repeaters).
Who cares? Not me! As I expressed some weeks ago SOTA is a challenge for me - not a competition!
I kinda like to think of SOTA as inclusive, and not exclusive. When I pack in for an activation I try to factor in a 2 meter round as I want to make sure those that don’t have HF privileges (or a radio) are included in the event. Our biggest source of new participants come from the Technician Class license, this I try to do my part to include them. Likewise, if I see a 2-meter activation outside of my range it’s not a big deal. But if I think they might be in range I run out to the car (antenna redistricted community) and give em a try.
The thought of putting up an 80 meter antenna on a Southern California peak boggles the mind. The part that didn’t get trampled under foot would be tangled in a kite string while the Ranger is yelling in my ear…
SOTA is too much fun to worry about small details… 73
KG6LI - Mark
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Wow, what a lot of posts and maybe a bit of emotion too.
The reasoning I apply to this is: Use HF QRO if possible, then HF QRP if it’s a long carry but if frostbite and hypothermia are possibilities, I use 2m-FM-only then get out of there fast!
There are many other considerations of course, time available, simplicity, weight, multiple activations in the day etc.
Hope I will work you on 14 MHz one day.
73, John
(GX0OOO/P for SOTA)
Even though the original post is very old, I would like to add something to ponder.
First, I am a SOTA newbie. With only one exception, all of my SOTA activations have been 2m VHF. I invested a great deal of time in the gear I would use, including testing several models of 2m radios for receiver front end rejection and overload resistance. I built several antennas, the most used being a foldable 2 element quad that fits into a small bag and a foldable 3 element yagi which has a boom that doubles as a hiking stick.
I discovered that the Radio Shack HT 202 and the Icom IC-2 had excellent front ends with very good sensitivity. I then acquired perfect examples of each, went through them on the bench and made sure they were 100%. I assembled a small fanny pack that contains everything needed including backup radio, 2 battery packs for the radios that use AA alkaline cells, extra batteries, pepper spray, snacks and water. It all lives in my work truck and is ready to deploy at a moment’s notice. The fanny pack is small and light, and easy to hike with in all conditions.
So, you might say I don’t just use a cheapie HT and give little thought or planning to activations. I put a great deal of thought and preparation into my 2m activations, and so far am having a LOT of fun! I have been first to activate a few summits, and have scheduled several more not-yet activated summits for this year. If I had to drag a backpack full of HF gear to some of these not yet activated summit sites, it would simply never happen.
So, it’s either 2m activation or no activation at all. Besides, I like 2m FM because I can actually hear what people are saying. My hearing is still very sensitive, but nerve damage from a stroke has almost eliminated my ability to copy CW anymore (I used to be a CW OP). That same nerve damage also makes SSB a tough copy for me. Same problem copying people on digital cellphones.
SOTA has something to offer just about everybody. For me, it is FM mode activations, and for simplicity’s sake, it means 2m FM activations. If SOTA offers you something more, that’s great! Why get all upset if what SOTA offers you and me are different?
Very best to you, and 73!
Paul
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Paul,
I think you have exactly the right SOTA attitude: curious and experimental.
73, Andy
BTW: for British readers who might think ‘fanny pack’ sounds a bit naughty, it translates to our ‘bum bag’.
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Is the pepper spray for your sandwiches? 
My xyl (M3ULV) is number 1 in the world for chasers on 6m fm with 94 points 
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Should have added that I am number 3 activator on 6m fm using a vx7r handi with rubber duck.
I always tried to start or finish an activation with a contact on 50mHz.
Most activations were done on 2 or 70 with the Yaesu vx7r.
Mostly for the 2-legged snakes.
I use several types of antenna that improve hugely on the range available from the typical stubby helical “antenna” provided with HTs.
One option is to purchase a telescopic antenna that extends to a quarter wavelength for 2m, about 50cm or 19 inches. This antenna has provided an extra couple of S units over the stubby. They are available with either BNC or SMA plugs. I don’t recommend walking with one of these on your HT, too liable to be damaged - they are not as robust as the helicals, but for the extra distance the provide they are worth carrying with you.
There are even longer telescopic antennas, which seem to increase the range even further. Even more unwieldy but when you suddenly hear someone who was just not there on your smaller antenna, it is worth having it in the pack.
The second option is to use a vertical dipole on a pole. It can be centre fed, requiring an offset boom to get the feedline away from the antenna, as far as possible but I find even 50cm is enough to allow the antenna to work well. I use electrical conduit fittings to attach and offset a dipole from a fibreglass pole.
But for simplicity the coaxial dipole designed and published by VK2ZOI as the “flower pot vertical” and popularised in SOTA circles by Andrew VK1AD is the winner in my view. To support it, you do need a pole of some kind but it weighs almost nothing so one of the thin fishing poles purchased on ebay will do the trick very well. And to make it, you just need some coaxial cable (RG58 type is adequate) and to be able to measure, cut, wind 9 turns on a 25mm former, put a plug onto the cable that suits your radio and then stand back as the big signals pour in and you get complimentary signal reports from far afield. See Portable 2m 144 MHz Coaxial Dipole Antenna | Get out of the Radio Shack and Live Life for details.
I’d also echo the suggestions to try horizontal polarisation with your HT, either with the stubby helical or better yet with the quarter wave antenna. Our experience in VK1 has been consistently better signals when using horizontal polarisation, with all other factors constant. Theories abound about whether horizontal polarisation is less affected by (vertical) trees than a vertical polarisation is, or whether it enjoys lower loss at refraction points, but we will always go to horizontal polarisation when signals are low on the verticals. Log the contacts and worry about the science later.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH
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There are some things that makes a hardcore SOTA activist smile or shake his head:
Roads and cable car to the summit, FM handsets in densely populated areas, digital modes that makes contacts while drinking coffee. Maybe not the pure sota thought.
But it’s all part of it.
If there was still vhf community like 30 years ago, I would immediately be active in vhf doing ssb / cw for 2m DX… certainly with the same effort for the antenna as for hf. Maybe i’ll do it someday. In the 80s I had qso with my IC 202 (3 Watts) and hb9cv from the southern part of the Black Forrest to G and EA. It was pure fun.
I was talking with John, VK2ZOI the other day, when we had a project day of building a 40m dipole at one of the local radio societies in Sydney, about his "Flower Pot" and mentioned how it was being adopted by many in the SOTA world. The design he tells me goes back to the 1930’s or something, he’s just publicising and refining it he says. He also said he gets lots of messages about building the antenna from all over the world, the most crucial bit (and common error he identifies) is the 25mm former. If you don’t use 25mm then it won’t work.
His most out there question was from a vet in NA who wanted to build it to get better range on is foal delivery alert device. Apparently the mare is stitched appropriately and when the stitch is broken that opens a circuit which then turns on a low power transmitter which then alerts the hired help that the foal is on their way. He needed the antenna for 700 or something MHz.
Compton
The 25mm diameter and the number of turns combine with the capacitance between turns to resonate on 146 mhz. Using a different diameter should just mean adjusting the number of turns, or their spacing, to achieve the same resonance. It is effectively a trap for the current on the outside of the coax. In other designs there is another identical trap another quarter wave down the coax, to increase the impedance to current on the outside of the cable.
Yes also I talked with John VK2ZOI recently on 80m one night and he seemed quite pleased to know that the design is being used by SOTA ops. I heard about the 40m dipole construction day. I hope it went well enough to encourage the group to continue making their own antennas.
Andrew VK1DA/VK2UH
I normally activate only on HF CW, but recently I was up in the mountains of northern Georgia (the US state, not the country) to do maintenance work on the Appalachian Trail, and threw the HT and a 300 ohm twinlead J-pole antenna into the pack. Walking out after the work was done, I called on 146.52 and to my surprise immediately had three ops calling back, including one S2S. Turned out there is an active community of SOTA ops living in the general area who routinely activate various peaks. Seems like a great and close-knit bunch. Only on VHF FM, with its LOS propagation, would you find this.