VK JA ZL - EU S2S 10 March 2018 (Part 3)

OK, so I have been busy and before I could read the latest posting, the Part B thread is locked because it reached 100 posts…

I did not post an Alert, but was out on VK3/VT-042.
From my perspective, it was all a little hectic.
Worked S2S:
VK1MIC/p 40 m ssb
VK2IB/3 40m ssb
JF1NDT/1 17m cw
VK6NU/p 20m ssb
ZL1ATH 20m ssb
ZL3CC 20m ssb
LZ1GJ/p 20m cw - my keyer paddle failed before I could send the reference :frowning:
ZL2AJ 20M SSB
YO6PIB 20M SSB
ZL2KGF 20M SSB

Heard many more EU stations on summits but was not heard by them - I am guessing because of stronger more “local” signals.

Started packing up after 0800 as light was fading and I had a long rough drive out from the summit.

Thanks to all for a fun evening.

Cheers,

Peter VK3PF

PS: I started using a KX2 to a link dipole with the centre at about 7-8 m. After the paddle failure, swapped to an FT-817.

3 Likes

Always good to get you in the log Peter.

Thanks for the contact.

John VK6NU

Probably wouldn’t hurt if someone with the necessary power re-titled this one to “VK JA ZL - EU S2S 10 March 2018 (Part 3)”

The previous thread was VK JA ZL - EU S2S 10 March 2018 (Part 2) - #2 by 2E0YYY

The one before that was VK JA ZL - EU S2S 10 March 2018

Edit: And, for the record, I actually really do like the auto-closing of long threads. The hundreds-of-replies-long monsters were a right royal pain in the proverbial, especially when I was trying to read them from places with slower and less-reliable Net connections.

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The thread auto-closing has certainly been a big success. I feel that my life has been enhanced.

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Indeed Richard…

I love sarcasm!

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…and I’m often sorely tempted to take sarcasm absolutely straight, but then my dad was a little prone to over-indulging his sarcastic side sometimes, and taking what he’d said absolutely straight was the best (and sometimes the only) defense.

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I did enjoy the other day, typing a fairly lengthy reply to a thread on a small keyboard (the origin of fingers and thumbs?) only to have it rejected when I hit submit because someone beat me to the 100th post. And the content of their offering? - Post 100🧐
There does seem to be an increase in the number of posts simply remarking on the number of posts :wink:

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Hi Peter,

At my end I certainly did not have any “local” strong stations on either 20m or 30m preventing me working DX. Both bands exhibited an unusual scarcity of signals from Europe and apart from one QSO into Slovenia on 30m and one short distance QSO (but only S7) on 20m, more or less everything else heard from EU was in the noise. By comparison, it was very frustrating to hear a string of VKs and a number of ZLs working Andrew VK1AD/2 yet not be able to get my 30 watts heard when he was not being called by anyone. The same happened with Andrew VK1DA on CW.

I am not entirely sure what was happening - perhaps an element of one way propagation?

73, Gerald G8CXK / G4OIG

Sorry I missed an S2S with you Peter, likewise things were quite frenetic at times and it was rather hard to keep up with rapidly changing events.

Although did not get a really high score was pleased with the results of the S2S event. 30M was the band for me with my 9M squid pole vertical.

A good number of EU CW S2S and was very happy with a S2S with LM10SOTA a special event station in Norway. Have only rarely worked Norway let alone a summit.

Sunday morning bumped into K4QS whom was on a summit on the far eastern side of USA. Quite a challenge.

Again 30M so was worth the camping overnight. Surprisingly Sunday morning was quite mild and really only re set the gear up on a whim.

Thanks to the organisers of the event and looking forward to the next S2S party.

73’s Wal VK2WP

If the goal of these events is more DX S2S QSO’s, we VK’s need to periodically stand by for “DX only” replies. It’s human nature to pick off the rock-crushing signals first, but if locals “consume” the entire opening, that goal has not been achieved. We know EU is going to be weak - that is a given based on where we are in relation to them. I once sat and listened to OH9XX trying to break through the VK wall on a VK2 for over 10 minutes. The wall never crumbled, and the QSO never happened…
73 John VK4TJ

4 Likes

I agree John,

The same comment applies to the DX end as well, I suspect. I had issues finding and holding a frequency as others simply jumped on the frequency that I had spotted. At other times, I called DX stations repeatedly with no responses heard. I also repeatedly called CQ with no response for periods. Probably partly due to low power at my end, but it all seemed to be rather crazy out there…

Apart from a couple of contacts early after setting up, I did not go back to 40 m, mainly listening for and calling DX stations on 20 m and other bands when I saw spots as well as calling CQ. I also swapped between SSB & CW when chasing. No complaints from here about my results - I am happy. Further comments will be posted to my blog in the day or 2.

Cheers,

Peter VK3PF

Hi Peter,
With VK-EU and similar contacts, the added problem is that there may be someone on your frequency that can be heard in Europe but not in Australia and to be fair, he(or she) can’t hear you either.

With some kind of “back-channel” this information can be passed to the activator from the chasers or the other activators.

73 Ed.

Regular in my log Peter, quite a few guys now I know their voice don’t even need to hear the callsign. You might not always be the strongest station but we usually manage to get each other in the log.

Had no real issues on Saturday apart from some European station kept calling Summit to Summit at various times but could not here me.

Never did get his callsign as he never gave it.

John VK6NU

I had that as well - some guy JUST calling “summit to Summit” and not giving a call sign. Nutter!

Ed.

I just looked through all of the spotted and logged contacts and I must say I am really happy with the support that came out for this event. Despite bad weather in the UK and some parts of Europe and those damn mozzies in Australia, all but eight of the alerted summits were activated (about 14% had to cancel). Considering the conditions that still was a very good outcome.

But what really amazed me was the extra 16 summits that joined the event on the day that’s an additional 28 % !! So overall we were 14% up on the expected number of summit activations!

I wish the band conditions had been better, but despite that I hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable activation - once again, from the organisers - THANK YOU for your support - you should all be proud.

For those who like looking at lists - here’s the final list (If I have you marked as not taking part and you did - please let me know):

Alerted before event? First time Spotted/ log Call sign Cont. Summit ETA UTC HF Mode Band(s)
x 08:09 / 08:37 ZS5APT + ZS5AYC AFR ZS/MP-004 06:30 SSB 40,30,20,17,15
x 09:19(L) ZS6BV AFR ZS/LP-208 06:30 SSB+CW 40,20,15
x 06:00 VK1MIC/P ANZ VK1/AC-040 05:45 SSB 40,20,2
x ----- VK1FWBK/P ANZ VK1/AC-042 05:45 FM 2
x 06:25 VK2WP(VK2AOH) ANZ VK2/CT-006 06:15 CW+SSB 40,30,20
x 06:34 VK6NU/P ANZ VK6/SW-039 06:15 SSB+CW 20
x 06:30 VK1AD/2 ANZ VK2/ST-053 06:30 SSB 80, 20,17,2
x 07:09 VK1CT/P ANZ VK1/AC-034 06:30 SSB+CW 30,20,2
x 07:22 VK1DA ANZ VK2/ST-036 06:30 SSB+CW 30,20
NEW 06:36 VK1MBE/P ANZ VK1/AC-037 N/A SSB 20
x 07:15 VK2GPL/P + VK2ARI/P ANZ VK2/IL-005 06:30 SSB 40,30,20
x 07:16 VK2HRX/P ANZ VK2/IL-002 06:30 SSB+FT8 40,20
x 06:14 VK2IB/3 ANZ VK3/VE-021 06:30 SSB+CW 40,30,20
x 06:51 VK2IO/P ANZ VK2/IL-017 06:30 SSB+CW 80,40,20,17
NEW 07:10 VK2LAX/P ANZ VK2/HU-093 N/A SSB 40,20
x 06:52 VK3ARH/P ANZ VK3/VC-032 06:30 SSB+CW 40,20
NEW 06:37 VK3PF/P ANZ VK3/VT-042 N/A SSB 20
x 06:18 VK7JON/P ANZ VK7/NW-062 06:30 SSB 20
NEW 07:17 / 08:55 VK2/VA3OZI/P ANZ VK2/IL-001 + VK2/IL-002 N/A SSB 20
x 06:55 ZL2AJ ANZ ZL1/WK-195 06:30 SSB 40,20,15
x 06:29 ZL2ATH ANZ ZL1/WL-153 06:30 SSB 40,20,15,2
x 07:16 ZL2KGF + ZL2EA + ZL4AV ANZ ZL1/TN002 06:30 SSB 40,20,15,2
x ----- ZL3CC ANZ ZL3/CB-806 06:30 SSB+CW 40,30,20
x 06:04 JH0CJH/1 ASIA JA/KN-022 01:00 CW+SSB 20,17,15,12,10,6
x 06:43 JF1NDT/1 ASIA JA/YN-065 04:00 CW 40,20,17
x 06:14 / 07:13 JI1IHV/1 + JI1UPL/1 ASIA JA/ST-017 05:00 CW+SSB 40,17,15,2,70cm
NEW 06:58 JJ1SWI ASIA JA/TK-035 N/A CW 20
x 07:01(L) JM3URG/3 ASIA JA/NR-026 06:00 SSB 20,70cm
x Too Early JA4RQO/4 ASIA JA/SN-077 06:15 CW 20,17,15
x 06:43 JS6TMW/6 ASIA JA/ON-048 06:15 CW 20,17,15,2,70cm
x 07:08 JP3DGT/3 ASIA JA/OS-012 06:30 CW 20,17
x 07:54 / 06:40 RA9WJV/8 + RK8A + UB9WLJ/8 ASIA R9U/SO-103 06:30 SSB+CW 20,17
x 06:20 9A6CW EUR 9A/DH-082 06:15 CW 40,30,20
NEW 06:05 S56LXN/P EUR S5/CP-035 N/A SSB 40
x 06:32 SP9PND/P EUR SP/BZ-051 06:29 CW+SSB 40,30,20,17,15
NEW 06:16 SQ9MDF/P EUR SP/BZ-054 N/A SSB 20
NEW 07:05 CT2HOV/P EUR CT/DL-004 N/A SSB 40,20
x 07:04 DL4FO/P EUR DM/HE-003 06:30 CW 40,30,20,70cm
x 07:05 DL4TO/P EUR DM/HE-017 06:30 SSB+CW 40,30,20,17,70cm
NEW 08:06 DM2AXL/P EUR DM/TH-066 N/A SSB 40
NEW 07:07 DL/IN3ADF/P EUR DM/BW-156 N/A SSB 40
x 06:41 EA2IF/P EUR EA2/NV-070 06:30 SSB+CW 30,20
x 06:50 HB9DQM/P EUR HB/AR-004 06:30 SSB+CW 30,20
x 06:28 HB9EKO/P EUR HB/SG-046 06:30 SSB+CW 30,20
x 06:12 LB4FH/P EUR LA/RL-092 06:30 SSB 20
x 07:07 LM10SOTA/P (LA3NGA) EUR LA/TM-011 06:30 CW+SSB 40,30,20,15
x 06:46 LZ1GJ/P EUR LZ/RO-144 06:30 SSB+CW 20
x 07:27 / 06:53 OE5AUL/P + OE5YYN/P EUR OE/OO-330 06:30 SSB+CW 20,17
x ----- OE5FDM/P EUR OE/OO-119 06:30 CW 40,20
x 06:52 OE5JFE/P EUR OE/OO-075 06:30 SSB 40,20,2
NEW 06:39 OE5JKL/P EUR OE/NO-281 N/A SSB 40
x ----- OE6FEG/P EUR OE/ST-248 06:30 CW 40,30,20
x 07:44 OE9HRV/P EUR OE/VB-488 06:30 SSB 20
x 06:54 OM1AEG/P EUR OM/BA-004 06:30 SSB 80,40,20,2
NEW 08:15 OM/OK2PDT/P EUR OM/NR-006 N/A CW 40,20
x 06:35 SV2HJW/P EUR SV/MC-077 06:30 SSB 40,20,2
NEW 06:05 SV2RUJ/P EUR SV/MC-075 N/A SSB 40
x 06:14 YO6PIB/P EUR YO/EC-426 06:30 SSB 20
x 07:28 EA2BD/P EUR EA2/NV-092 06:35 CW+SSB 30,20,17
NEW 07:33 EA2GM/P EUR EA1/AT-208 N/A CW 20
x 06:19 DD5LP/P EUR DL/AM-176 07:00 SSB 40,20,17,15
x 06:28 VE7KPM NA VE7/CV-024 06:30 SSB 40,20
x ----- 2E0AXL UK G/CE-004 06:15 SSB 20
x ----- 2E0HZI/P UK G/CE-001 06:30 SSB 40,20
x 07:11 2E0YYY/P + G7LAS/P UK G/CE-002 06:30 SSB 20,2
x ----- 2M0KAU/P UK GM/ES-085 06:30 SSB 40,20
x 07:12 G0WPO/P UK G/SP-005 06:30 SSB+CW 20
x 07:30 G8CXK(G4OIG) UK G/SE-001 06:30 SSB+CW 30,20,17
NEW 07:37 G8JSM/P UK G/SP-017 N/A SSB 20
x ----- GI0AZA/P + GI0AZB/P UK GI/SM-009 06:30 SSB 20
x ----- M0IML/P UK G/SE-015 06:30 SSB 40,20
NEW 08:46 M/SP9MA/P UK G/SE-013 N/A SSB 40
x 06:39 M0NOM/P UK G/LD-050 06:30 SSB 80,40,20
x 07:06 M1EYP/P UK G/SP-015 06:30 SSB+CW 20,2
7 Likes

Im not sure if this is possible ot not but an animation of all the s2s calls drawing arcs on a map would be really cool. I dont have the skills to do this but if someone did it would be fantastic :slight_smile:

3 Likes

Great idea - especially if it could display them over time - then we could see how conditions changed.
I have to admit, I wouldn’t know how to start to create this either …

73 Ed.

A impressive list and thanks Ed for your time.

Noted the query about it being animated like on a map would be quite interesting. The RBN does that and is quick and easy to see.
73 Wal VK2WP

Quite agree and next one of these events comes up will modify my calling for DX only.

Which is the whole point of the exercise instead of a “I got the highest number of S2S” no matter what ego trip.

73’s Wal VK2WP