This post shows that, apart from anything else, our hobby is play that should bring us a lot of fun 
Chapeau bas Rob 
73, Jarek
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1969 Series II 88" Land Rover 2.25l petrol. Mavis
1974 Range Rover/Defender Hybrid V8. The Hybrid
1986 Defender 110 tdi. Reggie
1987 Defender 130 V8 camper. Dora
2019 VW Polo Gti. 2.0l turbo. Gizmo
I surely can’t be the only one that names my cars?
erecting a delta loop on Reggie for a Bunkers on the Air activation, in the rain
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I had an Opel Manta GT/E a long, long time back. I saw a model info plate under the bonnet saying “Adam Opel Gmbh” so he was Adam from then on. Most of the others haven’t told me their names. But the last 2 German cars had/have autopilots (cruise control!) called Jürgen. What else could the German autopilot be called 
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2010 Land Rover LR-4. The whole back goes flat, giving a length of just under 7 feet aft of the front seats, adjusted forward.
Back is is covered with 2-inch layer of foam, a flannel sheet, and down comforter. All that makes an hotel that goes anywhere. All the overnight gear, packs, 6-foot folding table, Yetti cooler, goes aft during travel, daytime etc.
We can go out for several days using this setup. Love it so!
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My mode of transportation is a 1998 Honda Accord. I bought it new and paid cash for it. It’s never broke down and the only work I’ve done to it is brakes and oil changes. For me, the most important features of a car are reliability, gas mileage, and a few comforts like AC, a nice stereo, auto windows, etc.
This car can get me to trailheads as long as it’s not a 4 wheel drive road. If it gets too bad, I walk the rest of the way, or, I pick a peak that doesn’t require 4WD.
The car is only front-wheel drive, but with Blizzak snow tires, I’ve never missed a ski day. If I can’t get there, then probably nobody can get there.
In a pinch, I can put the back seat down and sleep with my feet in the truck and body in the car. Not the best, but it works. If I’m staying several days, I set up a tent.
When I see old friends, they say, “You still have that car!”
The car has been faithful to me. And I’m faithful to the car 
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ISTR that going up hill works better in reverse if you have front wheel drive… puts more weight on the drive wheels, and doing a bit of zig-zag helps even more. The fact you can barely see where you are going adds excitement to the activation. It’s helpful if you have free tow service. 
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Since the last thread I upgraded to a bigger footbike (Yedoo Trexx)
If I can’t bring it to the summit I just lock it to a tree
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Field day this past June in my '77 Westfalia:
I have used the VW bus to get to a few summits, but usually I either use my '88 Toyota Hilux or my Yamaha TW200 dual sport.
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Am I an outlier? VW ID.3 Electric car.
Sometimes the Campervan which is a Citroën Relay.
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Ah… a Johnny Cab.
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Not completely. We’ve got an ID.3 too. Occasionally used as SOTA transportation. More often use the Campervan which is a … VW T5. Here it is parked up for my activation of Mynydd Troed GW/SW-009 the other day.
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I’m impressed the body/paintwork on your 46yr old bus is in such lovely condition.
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The eBike takes the sting out of some trips
I just need to sort out a supply from the battery to my radio……
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Not if you’re intending to do SOTA activations
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You’re quite right, only for non qualified hill top radio play. Although it won’t move if you don’t pedal, it’s not completely in the spirit of just human effort from the valley bottom.
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I’m fairly sure the problem isn’t using the bike to get up the hill, it is getting the power for your radio from a vehicle…“No part of the station may be connected in any way to the motor vehicle”. There are quite a lot of activators using bikes to access some hills, and there are even some drive on summits (but very few in the UK), but the station needs to be out of the vehicle and powered by something else.
Lots of activators add their own challenges ( Public Transport, Not Activating the same hill twice with the same callsign, Only using home-brew radios or being handicapped during the activation with two Spaniels… ), but my take is that I’ll try and drive to a point that is reasonably close to the summit where it is safe and sensible to park a vehicle, and if I didn’t have dogs as accompaniment I’d be using a bike to get to the start of the climb…
…anyway to bring it back on topic I’m afraid the Landrover 300 TDi 110 which was great for getting to the hills (But that required the driver to wear full mountaineering gear in cold weather as quite a lot of the weather found its way into the cab) went with a case of tin worms. (I can do some mechanical things but not welding). Retirement came with a rather nice camper which (If you can find space to park it) provides hot and cold drinks, central heating, food and a shower at the end of an activation… 73. Paul
(GM/WS-154 in the background - I’m saving it for next time…)
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Thanks for the clarity and congratulations on a terrific looking camper van, I can imagine some wonderful adventures are in the pipeline.
The bike battery is around 40v and can whack out some terrifying amps. The tackle to bring that down to QRP radio use is probably heavier than my fag-packet size LiPo radio battery😂 The bike has been to the top of a few of the hills here in Snowdonia. I’m not sure it’s easier, much of it is like riding motorcycle trials but it is certainly quicker!
73
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So if i remove the battery from the bike at home and walk up the hill carrying an ebike battery i can use it to power a sota activation.
If I cycle up the hill and the battery is still on the bike I can’t do SOTA with it.
What about if i remove the battery from the bike whilst on the hill? Can I then use it for SOTA?
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