Walk 500 miles in a year. Fail? According to my phone I walked 429 miles, not sure how accurate it is but I’ll go with that
Actually activate a SOTA summit: Pass - Activated 7! I did want to get to 50 activator points but weather and work got in the way.
Activate G/SP-013 Gun and see if I can beat my previous logged station record of 116 QSOs: Fail! Just never got around to it.
Get the FT227 working properly: Fail never got to it, although I got some RF out of the Uniden 2030 2 Meter FM transceiver.
This year: Walk 500 Miles,
Reach 60 activator points
Activate a 10 Pointer (Not doing Snowdon again)
Activate a summit using 23cms
Get the FT-227 Working
Use The Uniden 2030 to Activate a summit (Does it qualify for a electric handbag event?)
Tick of few more Hills/Mountains off Hill-bagging.co.uk
Achieve homebrew goat i.e. 1000 points with a homebrew transceiver. My first 71 points were with commercial gear but now every activation is qualified with one of my homebrew transceivers. Currently on 1055 points so need 16 more.
Achieve super sloth. Currently on 8594 chaser points so should manage that this year just from S2S.
Complete my latest homebrew transceiver.
Rewrite the code for the transceiver in rust.
Make some more antennas specifically for the 2m/70cm SSB/CW challenge.
Build a loop on ground receive antenna to see if it makes chasing from home easier.
It was a bright cold day in January, and the clocks were striking seventeen. Paul G4IPB his chin nuzzled into his breast in an effort to escape the vile wind, slipped quickly through the glass doors of his QTH, though not quickly enough to prevent a swirl of gritty snow from entering along with him.
The hallway smelt of coffee and spaniels. At one end of it a small room with a computer and a couple of radios which sat hissing and squawking. On the computer screen the face of a man of about forty standing on top of an improbably big mountain wearing a wooly hat grinning and clutching a radio.
Paul made for the computer which was displaying a post of last years targets. Twelve of them, nothing like doing it by halves. The ministry of truth was going to need to work overtime on these. The first one was easy - it only involved getting six more points, the second 100 competes had also somehow also been completed and the last one was hopeful too, no mountain rescue teams involved but as for the other nine that bit of history was going to take some re-writing.
Where to start. G/LD complete? With 5 summits still remaining it could possibly be argued that it was mostly complete and access to one of them was proving a bit difficult. I suppose it could be be explained that it was part of a three year plan and that the IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH statement from the ministry might help, but where to start with the rest? Three of the targets involved Scotland and IPB had only just managed to get to the border at Peel Fell and operated from the English side…and that pesky goat thing seemed to have got away again. The best bet appeared to be once again to rely on IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH and explain that Woody ate the targets….
So bearing this in mind I’d better set some targets for this year, and probably fewer than last year.
1 - Finally get to MG which with only 87 to go ought to be possible….
2 - Complete at least one, and preferably more than one activation using 2m SSB. This ought to be possible as the MK2 Yagi just needs a bit of final adjustment.
3 - Get back to Scotland
4 - Apart from Swinside complete G/LD… and finally if I took last years as a three year plan then it might be more possible!
I’d like to figure out my Summit–to-Summit Completes (i.e. summits I have chased from a given summit and worked from that summit). In other words two summits that I have worked both ways. There must be an interesting way to extract that info from a spreadsheet.
I’d like to do my 15th first ever activation. Probably in Nevada or New Mexico.
I’d like to do a backpack activation - a summit I couldn’t do in a day.
…and I’d also like to do an SSB 2m activation or two,
Research into microwave/QO-100 technology/operations and how I can make a lightweight way to do SOTA activations for this. My primary driver is I want to learn more based on what I learnt from the full. - Not done, but with the 2026 challenge of 2m SSB this may end up amalgamating. I did find out about the G-QRP club though, which I have joined and seems a very good way to learn beyond the full.
Chip away towards MG, try to do more unique summits in Wales. Another DXpedition holiday might be planned for Scotland/Ireland, I really had a blast in September - I’d consider this successful, I did not really do a DXpedition holiday focussed on radio, but did bring the radio out to Switzerland which worked well.
Try to capture my activations/adventures better and inspire others to get involved, and help those new to the hobby. This might be in the form of blog posts/videos but I want to make it entertaining and informative - Partially successful I’d say, I have started a blog site to document my adventures, but did not really do much on the video side of things.
This years:
Get mountain goat, with 105 points away now it should be possible, which will then form into my later goals, and the way I operate:
Get to 150 uniques, I was happy to reach 100 this year, and I am sitting at 105, so I think 45 should be a good amount that is doable
Look at potential multi-day operations, with looking at camping overnight. I am then planning to go to the Belledonne Alps in August so then this could be a good option as I could do multiple exotic summits and camp in the mountains, if a hut is not possible.
I haven’t really set New Year goals in any year but fancied having a go at putting a list together. Most of my goals for this year are fitness, running, and mountaineering related, which lends itself to SOTA anyway!
My SOTA goals 2026:
Activate all of the UK Three Peaks (not in one big 24hr session, though).
Activate all South Pennines Summits (I have 6 left).
Activate at least one SOTA as a ‘fell run’, probably with minimal 2m kit.
I have a few other things I’d like to get involved with like the 2m/70cm challenge, being regular with the RSGB Backpackers Contest, and I have some HF antenna builds on my mind so I have enough to get on with this year!
My 2025 SOTA year has been filled with enjoyment and memorable experiences, continuing the same spirit as in previous years. Looking ahead, I have set the following goals for my SOTA activities in 2026:
Achieve My Third Mountain Goat
Work towards completing my third Mountain Goat award before the end of the winter bonus season which is on 15 March 2026.
Activate More Unique Summits
Continue to broaden my SOTA experience by activating summits that are unique to me.
This includes visiting additional Scottish island summits and exploring new GM islands with my family throughout 2026.
Complete All Summits in England
Aim to finish activating every summit in England.
The remaining summits for me to complete are located in the northern regions: G/LD, G/NP, and G/SB.
Expand My Operating Bands
Increase my operating time on 20m, alongside my usual 40m and 2m activity, to enable more reliable contacts with SOTA friends overseas.
Organise the GW SOTA S2S Party & Hog Roast
Plan and deliver the GW SOTA S2S party and Hog Roast event, giving activators and chasers the opportunity to meet face‑to‑face, strengthen friendships, and share stories.
Maintain Enjoyment, Fitness, and Community Engagement
Continue enjoying the many friendships made on the air, keep physically active through hiking, and work as many unique summits as possible throughout the year.
I believe these goals reflect the spirit of adventure, community, and personal growth that SOTA brings.
Try and repeat last years activation score of 349, that would bring me to 916 points for this year.
Stretch goal would be to achieve Mountain Goat by the end of the year.
Also try some different bands, I have got into a habit of just doing 20m and 2m. Because the 20m telescopic ground plane antenna, is so quick and easy to deploy.
Reach 40.000 points as chaser. (Easy, I got yet 39080).
Make some activations (Not so easy due to my heart diseases: now I can only activate drive-up summits, and in my zone these are far away or reachable only in summer)
MG x 1.4 - It took 10 years for MG so adding another 140 points in 2025 seems a reasonable target. Done!
Qualify each summit on FT8. 20% achieved
Release an updated VK port-a-log - it’s been 3 years since the last major revision. (this was also in 2024 goals). Almost done
Activate and qualify a summit in VK3/VG region. Done!
Activate and qualify a summit outside of VK3. Done, Done, Done!
Activate and qualify a summit on 160m. Done, Done, Done!
My 2026 SOTA goals:
MG x 1.6 - just need 177 points this year, 18 points already in the bag.
Release an updated VK port-a-log - it’s been 4 years since the last major revision. (this was also in 2024 & 2025 goals). This will happen in January to assist with the 2026 SOTA challenge!
Activate and qualify at least 10 summits on 2m SSB.
