The February 2010 Quarterly News is due to be published to the reflector early in that month, As usual I can only compile whatever is submitted so if nothing is, then no news will appear, so this is a call for submissions. Have you any newsworthy items that you would like included in the February 2021 Quarterly SOTA News? I am well aware that circumstances have not been good for SOTA with restrictions and lockdowns but maybe you might have something to share about what you have done to fill in the great hole that has been left in your schedule by restrictions to your SOTA activity.
Any contributions however small will be welcomed.

Please note that if you receive this as an email from the reflector then you cannot reply by email as it goes nowhere. You need to message me directly via a PM or if you prefer via email to my email address as per QRZ

Importantly if you have something to be added to the February 2021 Quarterly News, do not post it as as reply to this otherwise it will be instantly seen by everyone here and will no longer be news.
Jim

1 post - 1 participant

Read full topic

Welcome to the February 2021 Quarterly News at a time when Covid-19 lockdown is seriously impacting many Associations and many of our regular reporters are out of action. However there is some light peeking through the clouds by way of all the new emerging Covid vaccines. I have had my first. Many thanks to Barry GM4TOE, Tom M1EYP, Luc ON7DQ, Ken G0FEX. Colwyn MM0YCJ and Allan GW4VPX for their contributions.

SOTA Awards November 2020 to January 2021

This report covers award claims for the period November 2020 to January 2021.

Highlights are: VK3PF, OE6BID and OE6PID all reach 5 x Mountain Goat, NE4TN reaches 75k Chaser points and AC1Z 50k Chaser points while IK2LEY achieves the Amethyst Summit to Summit Award.

Congratulations to all who have reached their own significant milestone

Trophies Issued

Mountain Goat

N6MKW Michael Williams

EA4DON Alejandro Caballero

EA4DOS Elena Ortega

KC7MSU Dan Devlieger

N3BZ Robert Fridell

VE6VID Ken Smith

Shack Sloth

DF1AI Armin Irlacher

M0DHP R. Benitez

KD7ICW Brad Jenkins

JG4LCS Harada Seiji

KF6HI Brian Hamerski

N4ARY Aaron Ray

K6RIN Ronald Nelson

JP3PAD Michihisa Ueta

K5RHD Randolph Diddel

VK5FMAZ Marija Simmonds

DL6HH Sascha Hoffmann

KF4BY Stan Nafziger

7N1FRE Kazuhiro Idenuma

KL7HM Hugh McLaughlin

Certificates Issued

Activator

VK3PF Peter Freeman 5000 points

OE6BID Barbara Schantl 5000 points

OE6PID Peter Schantl 5000 points

OE6BID Barbara Schantl 2500 points

OE6PID Peter Schantl 2500 points

KI4TN Ron Burns 2500 points

EA4DON Alejandro Caballero 1000 points

EA4DOS Elena Ortega 1000 points

IK2LEY Fabio Pellizzoni 1000 points

S58R Konrad Krizanec-Rado 1000 points

VE6VID Ken Smith 1000 points

K0DAJ Donald Jarvinen 500 points

N1RBD Richard Dervan 500 points

N5AAS Lane Dossett 250 points

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 250 points

WD8LQT John Playford 100 points

SP9MTJ Michal Janecki 100 points

KC1HQZ Enrico Nuttoli 100 points

KD4CB Charlie Brown 100 points

VK2VRO Joel Buckley 100 points

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 100 points

Chaser

NE4TN Walter Beaton 75000 points

AC1Z Bob Daniels 50000 points

K1LIZ Elizabeth Burns 10000 points

M5OTA Tony Hickson 1000 points

K6RIN Ronald Nelson 1000 points

JP3PAD Michihisa Ueta 1000 points

K5RHD Randolph Diddel 1000 points

VK5FMAZ Marija Simmonds 1000 points

DL6HH Sascha Hoffmann 1000 points

K2LT Lee Trudeau 1000 points

N3SW Scott Walker 1000 points

ON4BCA Patrick Janssens 1000 points

7N1FRE Kazuhiro Idenuma 1000 points

KL7HM Hugh McLaughlin 1000 points

N1RBD Richard Dervan 1000 points

JG4LCS Harada Seiji 1000 points

JS2ITI Reiji Tanaka 500 points

SP9MTJ Michal Janecki 500 points

KB7JJG John Gesell 500 points

JI8UCI Hiroto Miura 250 points

ON4KJM Jean-Marc Meessen 100 points

9A5MPV Vladimir Ivkovic 100 points

KB9LLD Tony Nass 100 points

VK2VRO Joel Buckley 100 points

YC2VOC Galih Suryananto 100 points

Activator Unique

M6BWA Vicki Archard 500 summits

M0JLA Rod Archard 500 summits

F5IUZ Moise Dautricourt 100 summits

Summit to Summit

IK2LEY Fabio Pellizzoni Amethyst

HB9EIV Michael Rass Gold

OE6BID Barbara Schantl Gold

OE6PID Peter Schantl Gold

EI6FR Declan Craig Silver

VK2JDL Phil Clancy Silver

JP3OYB Naoyuki Taniguchi Red

Mountain Explorer

M5OTA Tony Hickson Bronze

KD4CB Charlie Brown Bronze

N5AAS Lane Dossett Bronze

Mountain Hunter

KF6HI Brian Hamerski Gold

KB9JMU James Adams Bronze

9A5MPV Vladimir Ivkovic Bronze

Microwave Award

KM6TWI Alan Bauer 50 km 23 cm

Royal Mail once again have increased the costs of postage, this is on top of the incredible increase in postal costs to the USA that were introduced in the middle of 2020. In addition, with the UK leaving the EU , any package sent to the EU member states now will attract VAT and other Customs charges (and means I have to complete a Customs Declaration for every package that leaves the UK). I cannot under declare the value but everything is sent as a “gift” and, for items such as trophies I declare the actual cost without any value added, such as engraving.

Many people have continued to make donations towards the running costs of SOTA and this is really welcomed. Although the data processing gurus on the MT seek ways of minimising the costs (successfully I should add) the cost of the hosting, and other services, is quite considerable but profits from sales of merchandise and Awards, plus these donations, do keep the programme running in a stable financial state. Thank you for all your continued support.

The various lockdown conditions around the World are causing a significant impact on the number of Activations able to take place leading to higher numbers of folk chasing these limited activations. I can only hope that this virus will come under control soon so that we can all return to some form of normality. Meanwhile I have noticed that the “silly season”, which normally occurs before the winter bonus season is upon us, has returned with several folk joining in with playing “Mornington Crescent”, even from the antipodes!!! (For those of you not aware of what this is you can find an explanation at :https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mornington_Crescent_(game) ). I think we are all suffering from cabin fever!

That is it for this quarter – stay safe on the hills and keep away from anybody carrying that infernal virus

73

Barry GM4TOE

SOTA Awards Manager

From Tom M1EYP. - Lockdown

Well exactly what I didn’t want - life without SOTA! I thought I’d got it sorted. I had two SOTA summits within 20 minutes drive from my home QTH, and both in my local council area. I had a third that was right beside my commute route on workdays. I’d ticked the “Stay Local” box and the “Essential Travel” box. Then along came Lockdown 3, with similarly tight restrictions to Lockdown 1 back in March/April 2020. “Exercise” replaced “Exercise and recreation” as a reason to be outdoors and away from one’s home. Exercising “from home if you can” made driving out to a parking spot in the countryside socially unacceptable, if not illegal.

Back in Lockdown 1, I had respected the restrictions, and worked within them to devise what I called my “Lockdown Walks”. These were circular routes of between 5km and 35km, starting and ending at my home QTH on a large housing estate in the town of Macclesfield. The countryside could be reached within 10-15 minutes of walking from home, and lots of fantastic public footpaths were discovered for the first time, despite them being on my doorstep for half a century! I chained them together to create my routes, which I mapped, photographed and described on my website http://tomread.co.uk/lockdown_walks.htm

Lockdown 3 would mean a return to that Lockdown Walks project. It wasn’t SOTA - but I could still take a handheld VHF rig out with me. Several other local radio amateurs got into the habit of bringing hand-portables out with them on their local exercise walks. A sense of community prevailed, especially as we started sharing and comparing our routes.

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The local press took an interest in the project, and the Macclesfield Express newspaper ran an article about the “Lockdown Walks” in one of its January editions.

InYourArea.co.uk – 18 Jan 21

2048×1538

Hiker creates routes to walk round Macclesfield within Covid regulations

Tom Read helps people stay local in lockdown for exercise

Local People Magazine https://www.localpeoplemacclesfield.com asked me to write a monthly article about them for the coming 12 months. The greatest satisfaction came though when someone who was unknown to me signed my website guestbook with the following comment:

Hi Tom - I’ve just done the first of your lockdown walks. I’m fairly new to Macc, so it’s a great way for me to get my bearings of the local area and also to get out and about.

While I was out I bumped into a couple who were also doing one of your walks - they’d just set out from Henbury.

I realised halfway through mine that I’d done it the opposite direction to the one you suggested, but bar a few bogs and mud baths, it was a lovely stroll and I look forward to doing the rest!

An old friend and musician colleague of mine from 25+ years ago saw the newspaper article and got in touch. He wanted my advice on routes he could do in the Macclesfield area that would clock up 11,000 steps. This was for his participation in the March the Month fundraising and awareness-raising event in support of Prostate Cancer UK. I was only too pleased to help, and recommended my Lockdown route 5 http://tomread.co.uk/lockdown_5.htm , which passes close to his home.

The 11,000 steps is in recognition of the 11,000 lives lost to prostate cancer every year in the UK. This phone call from a dear friend proved to be inspirational, and by the end of it I was signing up to take on March the Month myself! SOTA or no SOTA, I will definitely keep myself busy in March - and hopefully in decent shape too.

marchthemonth.prostatecanceruk.org

1200×800

March the Month with Prostate Cancer UK

March the Month is a virtual walking challenge everyone can get involved with.

Despite lockdowns, a back injury and being unpleasantly ill for two weeks with Covid-19, I still managed to rack up my greatest number of SOTA activations in a calendar year in 2020 - 536. 2021 looks like a sharp contrast already. I commenced the year with five activations of two local summits in the first four days of January. But on the evening of January 4th 2021, Lockdown 3 was announced, which put a stop to all that!

So, as well as the Lockdown Walks project, what else have I been doing to fill my time? Well, I’ve not had that much time to need filling as it turned out. Obviously all my tour gigs for the year were cancelled, but fortunately I had my experience as a maths teacher to fall back on. I’m currently working at a lovely school in the Staffordshire Moorlands. It’s a four day week, with three days working from home delivering live online lessons via Microsoft Teams, and one day on campus supervising the vulnerable and keyworker children. But that still leaves my non-work free time to fill!

I’ve taken the opportunity to finally try to learn how to do multitrack recording and video editing. As a musician of many years standing, it may come as a surprise to learn I knew next-to-nothing about these seemingly important professional disciplines! I noticed a number of bands doing new recordings and producing “lockdown videos”. The idea being that each individual member would record (and video) their own part, and email (or more likely WeTransfer) it into the person coordinating, who would than mix the tracks and edit the video.

My own initial attempts at these are useful in giving me self-feedback on what I need to do to improve. Like acquire better equipment - I’ve since got an XLR-to-USB lead for taking my bass guitar signal from the Valeton Dapper multi-effects/amp emulator pedal into the PC. We’ve also binned the cheap karaoke microphone and invested in a Rode-NT USB microphone with boom stand. I’m currently using freeware - Audacity for recording and audio editing, and OpenShot for video editing. Both are pretty good for free, but both have limitations as one would expect. One of the things I need to do is update my version of Audacity so I can use the panning plug-ins and create a much more pleasant stereo mix. Ultimately I’ll probably need to invest in Cubase, and a much more up-to-date faster PC, but it’s difficult to justify investing in a business that is currently producing zero income!

So here you go, warts-an-all (distortion, mic clipping, video syncing issues, lack of vocal effects and panning), our latest attempt at a Lockdown recording and video:

Crazy - Liam Read Band ft Lisa T1280×720

Crazy - Liam Read Band ft Lisa T

Of course the “Stay at Home” way of life has brought a welcome return to people’s lives of nice old-fashioned traditional things like families spending quality time with each other, home-cooking and baking, gardening, DIY, board games etc. Home delivery services are now a major growth industry, and some of our particular favourites have been Treacle Town Pies, Wincle Beers, Red Rock Brewery and Cherry Blossom Bakery. A young Indian couple took over the running of our local corner shop, and the young lady Priyanka regularly cooks authentic Northern Indian dishes to order. We enjoy these as they are very traditional and home-style - and not at all like what one would normally expect from a curry house or take-away.

image960×720 109 KB

Somewhat out of the blue, Jimmy @M0HGY and I started making homemade Scotch eggs. We’ve become rather good at them, and even made special ones with cranberry for Christmas, and with haggis for New Year’s Eve. These have proven highly popular, and our batch size now needs to be over 20 each time, such is the demand from friends and family!

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Tastes in TV entertainment have changed remarkably. Some of the teatime briefings from No. 10 have been gripping, while others have been beyond boring. I have tended to enjoy the mathematics and modelling presented though, as well as the tension between the understandable “spin” tone of the PM and cabinet ministers, against the steadfastly “non-spin” tone of the medical and scientific advisors!

Match of the Day used to be far-and-away my favourite television programme, and just about the only thing I would definitely sit down to watch every week. I still do - but its appeal gets less and less with every viewing. The intrusion of VAR (video assistant referee) into the game has stripped so much of its simplicity, excitement and spontaneity, not to mention Jock Stein’s famous quote “Football is nothing without fans”.

Facebook live streaming concerts, usually involving musician friends and colleagues, “Virtual Open Mic” nights etc have become more regular viewing on the Big Telly in the lounge. Marianne has even got me into “The Crown”, a series on Netflix. Yes, for the first time in 26 years of marriage, I am watching “normal” television with my wife of an evening!

So yeah, life has changed unrecognisably. And that’s without chalk and projector being replaced with antibacterial spray, facemask and headset microphone as the go-to equipment for a school teacher! Yet somehow I seem to be as busy as ever, as motivated as ever, and with as many current projects on my mind as ever.

Stay safe - we’ll get through this.

From LUC - ON7DQ

The OST Morse Box DG

In a previous SOTA News, I reported about The OST Morse Box (see SOTA Quarterly News August 2020).

For our German friends, the OST Morse Box article has also been published in the 02/2021 edition of CQ-DL.

Since this Covid thing will be with us for some time … we still had time to think about what more we could do with our basic concept.

So I came up with some ideas … and my friend Gil, ONL12523 started programming and designing again.

What’s new in 2021?

We now have an extension of the original OST Morse Box with a CW Decoder and an AF Generator , but it is fully compatible with the existing hardware, no need to build a new Morse Box.

Of course, if you haven’t done already, you will need to build the basic OST Morse Box first, see

github.com

on7dq/OST-Morse-Box

Interface for transmitting CW with an FM transceiver, has built-in keyer, touch paddle, random exercises, and much more …

In case you need a PCB for that basic project, Vic GI4ONL still has a few available, send him a PM for further details.

The information for the extension project is here:

github.com

on7dq/OST-Morse-Box-DG

Extension of the original OST Morse Box with a Decoder and AF Generator, but fully compatible with the existing hardware.

The OST Morse Box can be extended in software and hardware, to include a CW decoder for transmitted AND received signals. For receiving, a small extra PCB must be assembled, and connected to input D2 (connect at the Paddle Test jumper). There are two versions of the decoder:

• one is based on a simple circuit with an LM567 Tone Decoder, and can be built with only a handful of through-hole components (easy). You can even build this one on a piece of perfboard.

Decoder Luc3089×2265 1.21 MB

• one is based on a bandpass filter and level detector, and is only available in an SMD version (something for advanced builders)

Decoder Gil2454×1636 812 KB

For alignment purposes, the OST Morse Box now also contains an AF Generator, which can provide a test signal for general use (sine wave only, range 50 Hz – 2000 Hz).

The Windows program has been updated with the necessary extra functions, and some other improvements.

There is now also a quick and easy way to program the firmware into the Arduino Nano, using the program XLOADER.

A 20 page manual describing the new functions is available in Dutch and English (volunteers to translate it into other languages are welcome!).

We hope you find these extensions useful and fun!

73,

Luc - ON7DQ

From Allan GW4WPX

Radio Tales from Wales by Allan GW4VPX

We are still in lockdown in Wales and it looks as if this will be in force for at least another 3 weeks when a new review and announcement of the situation is expected by the Welsh Government. I don’t hold out too much hope of a relaxation of the rules even after this announcement.

As I mentioned the last time I wrote a report, Roger Dallimore MW0IDX (Region Manager for Wales) started a new Facebook group entitled GW SOTA (Summits on the Air). It has been steadily gaining new members in Wales and indeed further afield although with the lack of activity, postings have dropped off since lockdown.

When we are allowed and you are venturing on to the hills and mountains of Wales please send me a brief report and especially some pictures of your activation so that I can include them here.

Useful Blogs and SOTA Mapping (most of these are now up to date)

If you are intending to visit Wales to activate a summit the following blogs contain valuable information.

Information on routes to our summits in Wales are also on SOTA Mapping https://www.sotamaps.org and is an useful and essential first port of call.

Simon G4TJC continues to find new routes in North Wales with historical links and they can be found on his blog http://g4tjc.blogspot.com/

Allan GW4VPX continues to add reports and routes to ‘Radio Tales from West Wales and beyond…’ [https://gw4vpx.blogspot.com/ ]

Phil G4OBK … a wealth of information http://catterblog.blogspot.com/

Tom M1EYP …summit info as well as useful advice on places to stay and eat [http://tomread.co.uk/] (click on his link to SOTA on his website).

Andrew M1CJE http://blog.m1cje.uk/ well worth a visit with interesting presentations and information linked to summits in Wales

Paul M0PLA http://m0pla.blogspot.com/ well worth a visit with interesting presentations and information linked to summits in Wales

Facebook:- GW SOTA (Summits on the Air)

73 and Stay Safe …. Allan GW4VPX

From Colwyn MM0YCJ

Activating Vaud for the first time.
2020 has been a busy SOTA year and, despite Covid-19, I achieved a trio of radioing from all the summits of one European country; The Netherlands (both summits!) And from every summit in one region in the UK; The Isle of Man. However, for me the best of the trio, on the 7th September 2020, was radioing from all of summits in the Swiss Canton of Vaud.
The Canton of Vaud is in the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The capital and largest town is Lausanne.
The final summit in my quest was HB/VD-007 (007, James Bond style!) the Tête à Pierre Grept (2903m, more than twice the height of any mountain in my native Scotland). It was not an easy mountain to ascend, and we (my wife and I) had previously failed in our first attempt to reach the summit! The fine alpine hut, the Cabane de Plan Névé (2265m) would have been the usual overnight staging post for a summit attempt, but Covid-19 had closed the hut for overnight stays.
Some 18 days earlier we had also succeeded in climbing, and radioing from HB/VD-011, the Haute Pointe (High Point!) on the absolutely stunning Arête de l’ Argentine (2421m). We used climbing equipment for the final summit rocks, to get to the top. The Arête is a popular climbing route and is well equipped with fixed bolts and pegs for safety, protection, and abseiling in descent.
A year before on the 14th August 2019 the Petit Muveran (2810m, HB/VD-008) had been the target and was successfully activated for the first time. The day was not without interest. I had abandoned my XYL (with her consent!) on a sunny, comfortable, commodious, although precarious ridge, while I scrambled up loose rock to finally reach the large, flat, and (for me) relaxing summit. I also rescued(!) a local man by making sure he followed me down some of my ascent route to safety. Guiding him down proved to be a good distraction from my own growing safety concerns; I found it was not an easy peak to ascend. These three peaks (007, 008 and 011) were the ones I found technically the hardest summits in the Vaud Canton.
If I may be so audacious as to offer advice to my fellow SOTA enthusiasts; never leave the hardest summits until last!!! As I write, I see that no one else has succeeded using a radio from these three summits!
The hardest physically was on 11th March 2020; HB/VD-013 (Wittenberghorn / Witteberghore) where I had to wade through waist deep snow up the summit ridge for an hour (too steep and deep to ski), to finally reach the top. I felt I had earned my winter bonus that day! In descent we skied down across masses of avalanche debris triggered by my earlier efforts! At all times of the year it pays to be super safe in the mountains.
It had all started (although I did not realise it at this stage) in August 2016 when we climbed the Tour de Mayen (HB/VD-045) above the village of Leysin, close to where Dougal Haston died in an avalanche. Two days later we climbed the Via Ferrata (Klettersteig) on the Tour d’Aï (HB/VD-014). These two prominent limestone summits started my (still unconscious) Cantonal quest and in July 2017 the sole Vaud summit I activated was HB/VD-023 (Rochers de Naye) towering above the city of Montreux; helped by the fine mountain railway that almost reaches the summit of this prominent peak.
The 2018 year saw two visits, with a total of 11 Vaud summits activated. The first was a winter skiing trip immediately after I retired from the day job (3 skiing summits), and then a September summer visit (8 summits) including the two highest Vaudois summits; Les Diablerets (VD-001 with the summit glacier) and the Oldenhorne (VD-002), climbed on consecutive days from the Les Diablerets hut, the second squeezed in on the day the hut closed for the 2018 summer season. Another highlight was a wartime route onto the summit of La Grande Dent de Morcles (HB/VD-005, 2968m); I highly recommended you follow this unlikely route to the summit.
During 2019 I was fortunate enough to activate 23 further summits, 3 again while out skiing in March and April. It was at about this time that I logged in to SOTAWATCH and opened the Swiss Vaud region summits page and was surprised to see that I had activated, what I thought, was most of the summits (actually turned out to be 17 of 44). However, the seed was planted in what turned out to be fertile ground. Switzerland is a beautiful country, Vaud is a lovely area to visit, that I knew (or so I thought!) and perhaps I might be the first person to activate all of the 44 Vaud summits, although there was the challenge of a number of previously unactivated summits, which, for me really just added interest to such a pointless endeavour.
My ambition (obsession?) was clear as the next 20 summits were activated during August and September in the summer of 2019. This included the unactivated Petit Muveran (HB/VD-008) on 14th August. Once back down safely I understood why! At the year-end it was 37 ticked from 44, real progress.
2020 was the crunch year. Another 3 summits were ticked while skiing. Sadly, the Swiss ski resorts closed because of Covid-19, but thankfully the mountains remained open for ‘essential exercise.’ It was during the lockdown on 18th March that we had a long day out on the fine Le Tarent (HB/VD-009, 2547m) from the village of L’ Etivaz. Thanks to the three young skiers also taking essential exercise who cut the uphill track and showed us the way, while remaining socially distanced, in reality because we couldn’t catch up with them.
The final 4 were timetabled for summer 2020 and, after ticking PA/PA-006 (Signaal Imbosch) on 13th August, after post Covid travel was allowed, I managed to activate both HB/VD-039 and HB/VD-047 on 15th August; both modest summits but giving very pleasant walking, especially a somewhat crowded HB/VD-039 from a Covid-19 viewpoint.
On 20th August we set off from the car park at Pont-de-Nant at 08:06 hours and took the shorter hiking trail towards a farm called Le Richard. This was a steep but pleasant start through the forest, and we realised we were getting close to the farm as we could smell pigs and goats. They had 29 large piglets in a fenced enclosure complete with a muddy wallow.
From here the vegetated south flank of the Haute Pointe soars above and we took a steep pathless route to eventually reach a saddle on the main ridge of the Arête de l’ Argentine. We used climbing gear to climb the short, exposed section from the saddle up to the highest point. There were 2 in-situ bolts we used for safety, and we used the abseil station above them on the left to belay the second and later for abseiling back to the saddle. The summit of the Haute Pointe is just that, the highest point, with little else to define it. The ridge is wide and long enough to safely set up a 20-metre-long inverted-V dipole antenna.

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Tette de Pierre Grept descent400×547 90.3 KB

Summit ridge450×600 81.9 KB

From Ken G0FEX.
Changing Times

Just lately we have had many newcomers participating in the Sota programme , this is great news for the hobby, quite a few feel the need to give out their callsigns numerous times when chasing a station , this only adds qrm for the activator .

I only give my call once and then leave a break before calling again, some just call & call & call (why ?).

I have even heard a some chasers trying to bully an activator into giving them a report, I presume just to gain the point’s, this is not what it is all about, Sota is a hobby and not a contest or competition , I have even had a chaser tell me I was creating qrm, this station is one of the worst for this.

A bit like the kettle calling the pot as they say, I enjoy chasing Sota, it is not a contest for me, as I have said in the past what I do not gain today I can always get the next day .

Some chasers are quite aggressive when they are chasing again I do not understand why, if one waits all good things come to us all.

I am calling for calm when chasing Sota, it is not a case of beating the person in front of you, if one waits you will gain the points required.

Many thanks to all the Sota management team & more so to all Activators well done girls & guys, it is appreciated .

Best Wishes to all.

Ken G0FEX.

More from Colwyn MM0YCJ with Ronan MM0IVR.

High Tech versus Low Tech, maximising resilience when operating portable:

Ronan (MM0IVR) recently posted on the Cockenzie & Port Seaton Amateur Radio Club (CPSARC) Facebook page about direct logging for SOTA contacts using his mobile phone. The software / App is called VK port-a-log. In this article Ronan and Colwyn (MM0YCJ) consider different approaches to portable operating and logging.

Ronan’s SOTA experience.

OK, I’ll not lie here; I’m very much a beginner at the whole SOTA thing. When I first heard about SOTA it seemed like a great idea and something that may actually encourage me to haul my ever-expanding carcass up the odd hill or two. My partner, Dot, has been a keen hillwalker since her early years and would spend every weekend out in the hills if she had her way. We’ve done a fair few hills together but SOTA, it seemed, would give me more of an incentive to join her on her walks… My first few SOTA activations in October 2019 were in the Lake District. Attempt no.1 was on Helvellyn which was a bit of a punch in the face as I wasn’t prepared for the struggle of juggling radio, antenna, logbook and pen while crouched behind the summit cairn trying to look inconspicuous in the pouring rain. I still managed two contacts on my little Yaesu VX-6. Well, I say two contacts, they were with the same person on two different bands so that didn’t count as an activation but it DID encourage me to try again which I did the next day, and the next day AND the next…. Three successful activations; of Skiddaw, Place Fell and The Old Man of Conniston - all on 2m FM at under 5 watts. I was triumphant and was obviously now a SOTA force to be reckoned with.

Returning from the Lake District, I packed away the radio and tatty paper logbook ready for my next outing………… which wasn’t until August 2020 (insert Covid excuse) when a trip to Islay gave Dot and I the opportunity to pop over to Jura to climb Beinn an Oir (GM/SI-013). I did manage to activate the hill but dropped and lost my Yaesu radio somewhere in the boggy bog-from-hell walk back to the car. A few more hills followed, using a new-to-me Yaesu FT2D coupled with a home-made slim-jim hanging on a cheap 5m telescopic pole from decathlon. Great results and very good audio reports from the new radio. I highly recommend building one of these antennas for this sort of thing as they work a gazillion times better than the default “rubber duck”. They’re easy to deploy too. Just look at Dot effortlessly balancing the 5m telescopic mast in the wind – such grace.

I was still struggling with the paper log though which is when I stumbled across an Android app called VK port-a-log. Now, I’d already tried a few logging apps on my phone and, to be honest, they were all awful - awkward to use and not very intuitive. Despite this, I decided to give VK port-a-log a try on a walk-up Ben Vane and was REALLY impressed with how easy it was to use. No longer was I struggling to scrawl log info on a paper pad in the cold/wet/rain with my freezing hands and dubious handwriting, I could simply prod the info into the phone! Setting up the App is very quick. You enter your callsign and your on-air callsign if that’s different (/M /P etc). These don’t have to be entered every time. You click the activation type (SOTA in this case) and enter the SOTA summit reference. It takes less than a minute to enter in the relevant details and the app is ready to go. This can all be done ahead of time.

Your SOTA reference is up at the top along with time in UTC and your locator which is automatically calculated using the phone’s GPS. The screen scrolls down to reveal more data fields if you need them such as the other station’s SOTA reference if this is a summit-to-summit contact. Swiping left and right on the screen brings you to other pages. One of these is for sending a “SPOT” to the SOTA website which alerts other operators that you are up a hill shouting at the clouds. Data entry in the logging screen is sensibly laid out and easy to navigate.

Another screen shows a list of recent spots posted to the SOTA website. One really nice thing about the app is that it exports an ADIF file correctly formatted for direct upload to the SOTA website so there’s no more typing when submitting an activation log and harvesting those hard-earned points. All-in-all a very well thought out logging App and streets ahead of the others that I’ve tried on the Android OS.

Now, I realise that relying on a mobile phone to stay operating in the harsh conditions of a mountain top might be a bit silly but I am NOT a hardcore mountaineer, I’m very much a fair weather walker so my kit won’t be subject to the harsh conditions in which Colwyn might find himself. I generally carry a powerbank and cable to re-charge the phone if necessary. I do still take a backup pen and waterproof pad in case the phone aborts the mission before I do.

So, that’s my current not-really hi-tech approach to portable logging. I’ll hand it over to Colwyn who dabbles a bit in SOTA, so I hear. He can rip my set-up to shreds and tell us exactly why this is wrong……

Colwyn’s SOTA experience.

I have heard about the VK port-a-log and even seen it in use by a Belgian activator in Germany if you believe that! But I have never used any phone-based logging tool. However, on occasion I have taken a laptop up hills for an activation, but only on dry midsummer trips with a good weather forecast. I used the spreadsheet Microsoft excel with autofill for time, date, band, etc. Again, the extra weight, care needed with the laptop and typical Scottish weather means it is rarely used. So I actually still use a waterproof notebook and a pencil; I typically get one for Christmas!

The shelf of old notebooks is a reference library that allows me to go back and check dates and QSOs or correct mistaken callsigns etc. Unlike a mobile phone, a paper notebook never has a flat battery, or no signal. Twice I have arrived on the summit of a SOTA hill with a flat phone battery (far preferable to a flat radio battery!) I am much more careful about charging my phone properly nowadays, and often switch it off during the walk in if it will take many hours. My wife Ann’s phone (different network) is also registered on Sotawatch so I can use that if required, with permission of course! The flat battery issue I now apply to all of my equipment. When walking, climbing or skiing etc. up a hill, I now no longer use internal batteries in case the radio (or headtorch) is accidentally switched on inside my rucksack. This also allows me to quickly change batteries during a long activation. Having leads which allow me to use every battery with every radio covers all of the options. So, no matter what goes wrong I will always have at least one radio that should work! This goes as far as carrying a spare radio on occasions. By the time I reach a summit, with the time, fuel and effort expended, I want to be certain I can use a radio so that I don’t need to do it again! An Elecraft KX2, with inbuilt ATU is now my preferred main radio on short wave (all SSB). I also carry a Yaesu VX7 for VHF QSOs (larger than Ronan’s VX6 plus a separate PTT microphone). My spare radio is a Yaesu FT817 (both HF and VHF capable) which I probably take with me on about half of my days out. It is heavy enough that I do not carry it all of the time, and usually not on very long days out.

The other issue is when you arrive on a summit and there is no phone signal, so the phone is largely useless, although you can still collect QSO data offline. This happens less often than previously, but still influences my radio behaviour.

The Scottish weather is the final influence. Hiding under a bivouac shelter usually keeps the rain away from the radios (the VX7 is waterproof, the KX2 and FT817 definitely are not!) A notepad with waterproof paper and a few propelling pencils (just in case one doesn’t work) means that I can record QSOs underwater. That has never happened, but on occasion I have been very wet from driving rain and my mobile phone would perhaps not survive. I can also write down a callsign and signal report wearing gloves, not always possible using a mobile phone despite gloves made with conductive yarn!

Finally, I carry a small kit to effect repairs to my antenna in the field. Spare wire, cord, cable ties and a small multi tool. On GM/SS-207 I recently used some of the large cable ties to repair a broken fence!

So, am I a luddite with my notebook and pencil, maximising resilience when out radioing on the hill? Call me a pessimist, but I am happy about the title! In the meantime, I may well download the app VK port-a-log onto my mobile phone, one further option maximising resilience, thanks Ronan!
73
Ronan Cantwell / Colwyn Jones

Just a couple of extracts from the PNW SOTA Newsletter Jan-Feb-Mar 2021 with thanks to Etienne K7ATN.

image722×395 97.9 KB

“Surprise” Mountain Goat Summit-to-Summit Party for Roland-K7FOP!
After 310 Activations and more that four years –
that’s what it takes for an Oregon SOTA activator to
make 1000 points – Roland did it in style with a good
long hike - 12 miles RT and 3300 feet of gain to
W7O/WV-050 – Huckleberry Mountain.

There was lots of activity for Roland with 35 total
QSOs; 16 of them local folks on 2m FM that came on
to congratulate him for this “Surprise” S2S MG Party.
Roland is well known for sharing a trail, a summit and
his knowledge with others – he’s an Elmer at heart.
Here he is talking about his SOTA experience with the
All Portable Discussion Zone.

Roland with a background of Mount Hood at ease
working the HF pile up from Huckleberry.

If you would like to read more of what goes on in PNW take a look at:

http://www.pnwsota.org/sites/pnwsota.org/files/downloads/K7ATN/PNW%20SOTA%20Newsletter%20Jan-Feb-Mar%202021.pdf

That’s it!

Before we go let me remind you that the Auction for a ATS-4B CW Transceiver closes in 8 days time at at 09.00 hrs UTC on 8 February 2021

Well that is it for this quarter. As we go through the next quarter please consider recording some of your experiences of escape from Covid-19 restrictions for the next quarterly news to be published in May 2021.
Till next quarter.
Stay Safe.
73 Jim G0CQK.

4 posts - 3 participants

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The May 2021 Quarterly News is due to be published to the reflector early in that month, As usual I can only compile whatever is submitted so if nothing is, then no news will appear, so this is a call for submissions. Have you any newsworthy items that you would like included in the May 2021 Quarterly SOTA News? Perhaps you have some tales of how you managed to activate a summit during this pandemic. If you were inactive because of restrictions, how have you got back into activating. assuming that you have.

Any contributions however small will be welcomed.

Please note that if you receive this as an email from the reflector then you cannot reply by email as it goes nowhere. All contributions can be sent to me directly via a PM or if you prefer via email to my email address as per QRZ

Importantly if you have something to be added to the February 2021 Quarterly News, do not post it to the reflector otherwise it will be instantly seen by everyone here and will no longer be news.

I will be on my first break away from home since lockdown from the end of this month so I am not sure when exactly I can post the news but as I will have internet access and my laptop with me, I should manage in the first week of May.
Jim

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Welcome to the May 2021 Quarterly News. Covid-19 is still seriously impacting many Associations but here in the UK we have made amazing progress to normality as I believe has also the US, Australia, New Zealand and some eastern Asian countries. Anyone want to give a perspective on their country? I have had my second vaccination almost 3 weeks ago so I am supposed to have reached as much protection as I will get, fingers crossed. Contributions are rather thin on the ground for this quarter but many thanks to Barry GM4TOE, Andy MM0FMF, Ken G0FEX. Allan GW4VPX, Simon G7WKX, Etienne K7ATN, Elliot K6EL, Oleh KD7WPJ and Guru EA2IF for their contributions. Have I missed anyone? We will start with the latest awards status from Barry GM4TOE

SOTA Awards February to April 2021

This report covers award claims for the period February to April 2021

The effects of lockdown, and restriction in Activations, is very obvious in the claims received but there are some significant claims this quarter.

Congratulations to Martha W0ERI with 150k Chaser points, outstanding and consistent chasing on her part. Significantly we have several claims from fairly new Associations in Indonesia and Taiwan with the first Shack Sloth in Taiwan – BX8AAD.

Please ensure you order the correct Award, I am not psychic and my crystal ball is broken!! The Activator and Chaser Awards are based on POINTS accrued, the Activator and Chaser Unique Awards are based on the number of SUMMITS and the SOTA Complete Award requires you to have both Activated AND Chased each and every summit claimed. If in doubt please ask.

Congratulations to all who have reached their own significant milestone

Trophies Issued

Mountain Goat

KB1HQS Stuart Thomas

LA9XGA Tor-Atle Sandal

CT2HOV Nuno Gomes

HB9ELZ Markus Frauenknecht

JS1JNM Kensuke Orito

KM3A David Wise

Shack Sloth

6K5XZE ChulHwa Jung

JI1AVM Shinichi Kanamori

W7JKC John Calnan

LA9XGA Tor-Atle Sandal

HL5BMF Yonggyeom Kim

KF7WI Dwight Carlson

BX8AAD Gene Anderson

W6OBI David Fulmer

EA3Y Manel Lopez

Certificates Issued

Activator

KB1HQS Stuart Thomas 1000 points

IU1AUG Diego Chiari 1000 points

DL3TU Roman Brunel 1000 points

HB9ELZ Markus Frauenknecht 1000 points

JS1JNM Kensuke Orito 1000 points

VK1DA Andrew Davis 1000 points

KM3A David Wise 1000 points

JI1AVM Shinichi Kanamori 500 points

EA2EHX Bidal Iriate 500 points

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 500 points

HL5BMF Yonggyeom Kim 250 points

TI2YO Minor Barrantes 100 points

KE4EA David Ivey 100 points

HB9HCS Stefan Kirchofer 100 points

IV3GVY Maurizio Dose 100 points

YD3AJO Agus Wahyuono 100 points

KF6FLJ Vincent LeVeque 100 points

Chaser

W0ERI Martha Auchard 150k points

EA5K Miguel Campos 20000 points

G0FVH David Dolling 15000 points

K7VK Vick Applegate 10000 points

KF7SEY Troy Greenburg 1000 points

KE4EA David Ivey 1000 points

ZL3QR Geoff Gillman 1000 points

JI1AVM Shinichi Kanamori 1000 points

W7JKC John Calnan 1000 points

W4NLT Andy Kubishen 1000 points

DL8NDG Axel Bienefeld 1000 points

EA4EMC Miguel-Angel Fernandez Garcia 1000 points

HL5BMF Yonggyeom Kim 1000 points

KB7JJG John Gesell 1000 points

KF7WI Dwight Carlson 1000 points

HB9ELZ Markus Frauenknecht 1000 points

SP9MTJ Michal Janecki 1000 points

EA4EMC Miguel-Angel Fernandez Garcia 500 points

G7WKX Simon Davis-Crane 500 points

K6MAA Aleksandr Muravev 250 points

KB9JMU James Adams 250 points

G4TPJ Richard Mepham 100 points

YC1ME Mawan Darmawan 100 points

YC1RIK Wandi Riswandi 100 points

XE1ELI Ricardo Andrade 100 points

YD3AJO Agus Wahyuono 100 points

YF3CLS Mujianto 100 points

Activator Unique

HB9ELZ Markus Frauenknecht 100 summits

VK1DA Andrew Davis 100 summits

Chaser Unique

KD8DEU Allan J Van Brocklin 1000 summits

HL5BMF Yonggyeom Kim 100 summits

HB9ELZ Markus Frauenknecht 100 summits

Summit to Summit

VK1DA Andrew Davis Platinum

HB9IIO Daniel Mottier Platinum

DL1CR Christopher Muenzer Platinum

DL3TU Roman Brunel Gold

DL6GCA Armin Kreutner Gold

HB9ELZ Markus Frauenknecht Silver

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki Bronze

SP9MTJ Michal Jarecki Red

Mountain Hunter

DL2YBG Klaus-Peter Dreessen Platinum

KF6HI Brian Hamerski Platinum

K6MAA Aleksandr Muravev Bronze

YC2VOC Galih Suryananto Bronze

YC1ME Mawan Darmawan Bronze

YC1RIK Wandi Riswandi Bronze

HB9LEK Martin Neukomm Bronze

I am hoping to re-stock Polo Shirts and Sweatshirts carrying a revised version of the SOTA logo, similar to the one on our hats, these will be available in limited colours and sizes until I establish potential demand.

Paypal have, yet again, changed their method of communicating to merchant websites which means that sometime you will receive confirmation of Paypal payment but no confirmation of the receipt of your order. I generally manage to logon to the shopping site to ensure these orders are correctly registered but would appreciate a “heads-up” from you if you have not received this confirmation. Hopefully this will be sorted soon.

If you order certificates to be sent to you by email please ensure you use an email address which accepts incoming mail from the shopping site email provider. Gmail works but many personal email service providers block the emails. Similarly this can happen with the confirmation of the placement of your order. If I spot it I will let you know (by PM via the Reflector).

That is it for this quarter – stay safe on the hills and keep away from anybody carrying that infernal virus

73

Barry GM4TOE

SOTA Awards Manager

From Andy MM0FMF.

News for Scotland

The lockdown restrictions have been easing over the month of April enabling much greater scope for activations. Before then there were a few lucky people who had SOTA summits within the vaguely described government limits who activated, but now travel anywhere in mainland Scotland is OK there are plenty of people getting out. By the time you read this the limit on staying away overnight should have been lifted and Jack GM4COX has plans to activate a number of infrequently activated Argyll summits.

A group of (relatively) new SOTA activators are now out regularly including MM0ZFG, MM0EFI and GM4JXP. Gavin GM0GAV has been out making use of a new off road bike to activate some properly remote summits.

Finally I expect to submit some GM summit changes. The have been lurking for years due to the generally low number of activators and activations happening but as there has been some noticeable growth then it’s time to get the changes in place. Expect to see the details published in May and the actual summit deletions to happen by the end of September/October 2021.

Andy MM0FMF
GM Association Manager

From Elliott K6EL

“Hold that date”… October 16, 2021 is our ninth annual free SOTA lunch at ARRL Pacificon in the Marriott Hotel, San Ramon, California, hosted by K6EL. Details to follow in August.
Thanks,
Elliott

From Oleh KD7WPJ

SOTA give an opportunity to work with very low power stations.

In March during activations of North Chalone (W6/SC-149) and South Chalone (W6/SC-153) Peaks I made contacts with QRPP station NR0R. His power is only 100 mW (!). The distance is approximately 2347 km (1467 miles).

73! Oleh

From Simon G7WKX

Just a quick note for the news. I completed my first SSTV chase on 10th April, when I worked Tom M1EYP/P on his summit G/SP-013. I’ve attached a couple of pictures. My next target is an SSTV activation and ideally an SSTV S2S!

Images:

Simon

From Ken G0FEX.

HB15SOTA
What a brilliant event, organised by the Swiss Sota Team, I have and still am enjoying this event.
It has been quite challenging at times with the conditions on the bands, but we all struggle on and try to make the contacts.
There is still a few days to go before it ends, but I as many others have really enjoyed the chase, it is not about who gets there first, but all about the taking part.
So from myself and I am sure I speak for many others, a big thank you to all HB15SOTA organisers and activators, very well done, it has been a pleasure to participate.
Thank you all : Ken G0FEX

ISLAND ACTIVATION - Shetland Isles
On the 1st of May 4 members from the Humber DX Amateur Radio Club will be travelling to the Isle of UNST they will be based in Norwick, and I understand they will be activating various summits on the Island they will be using GB0SI as their call, this will take place from the 1st of May until the 8th.
As you can appreciate the dates may vary due to ferry times etc.
Ken

From Allan GW4WPX

Radio Tales from Wales by Allan GW4VPX

As Wales eased out of lockdown many within the country including myself made tentative steps up on to local summits and it was so nice to hear the voices of regular chasers and to get the occasional Summit to Summit with fellow Welsh activators. The real difference took place when the border restrictions between England and Wales were eased then a flurry of activations took place and I noted that it was reminiscent of the ‘good old days’ with summit to summit contacts coming thick and fast and I’m happy to say it is still ongoing.

The new Facebook group entitled GW SOTA (Summits on the Air ) has really taken off and it’s good to see so many in the group taking an active part in uploading all sorts of interesting information and activation reports of their exploits on the mountains in Wales after lockdown. If you regularly operate SOTA on the mountains in Wales then please do join the group and share your experiences. You can also tap into the activation experiences of members that have been in SOTA for a long time and know the best and appropriate routes to the summits in Wales.

I’m keeping an eye on the SOTA database as there are a few who are working hard on the mountains of Wales to try and attain Mountain Goat in the not too distant future. Ian 2W0IWM managed 500 activation points a few weeks ago so well done Ian and we look forward to seeing you progress to Mountain Goat.

Ian 2W0IWM on Fan Fawr GW/SW-005

All - Please send me a brief report and especially some pictures of your activation so that I can include them here.

Useful Blogs and SOTA Mapping (most of these are now up to date)

If you are intending to visit Wales to activate a summit the following blogs contain valuable information.

Information on routes to our summits in Wales are also on SOTA Mapping https://www.sotamaps.org and is an useful and essential first port of call.

Simon G4TJC continues to find new routes in North Wales with historical links and they can be found on his blog http://g4tjc.blogspot.com/

Allan GW4VPX continues to add reports and routes to ‘Radio Tales from West Wales and beyond…’ [https://gw4vpx.blogspot.com/ ]

Phil G4OBK … a wealth of information http://catterblog.blogspot.com/

Tom M1EYP …summit info as well as useful advice on places to stay and eat [http://tomread.co.uk/] (click on his link to SOTA on his website).

Andrew M1CJE http://blog.m1cje.uk/ well worth a visit with interesting presentations and information linked to summits in Wales

Paul M0PLA http://m0pla.blogspot.com/ well worth a visit with interesting presentations and information linked to summits in Wales

Facebook:- GW SOTA (Summits on the Air)

73 and Stay Safe …. Allan GW4VPX

From Etienne K7ATN

On 17th April we had unexpectedly beautiful weather for a “Willamette Valley Summit-to-Summit Party.” We had 31 Activators on 22 summits making hundreds of contacts over about an hour and a half to work most all of the permutations. Tim-N7KOM posted a trip report and he looks quite relaxed on the fire lookout catwalk:
http://www.pnwsota.org/blog/n7kom/2021-april-17/devils-peak-2021-wv-s2s-party-snowshoe.

From Outside Magazine: Inside the Summit-Obsessed World of Ham Radio – “It’s like biathlon, but for geeks” https://www.outsideonline.com/2421479/ham-radiohobby-summit.
See the photo on the last page with the “Very Difficult Trail” warning.

All of the PNW newsletter can read at http://www.pnwsota.org/sites/pnwsota.org/files/downloads/K7ATN/PNW%20SOTA%20Newsletter%20Apr-May-Jun%202021.pdf

Final Comment

Well that is all for this quarter unless I have missed something of which someone will remind me. A little bit thin this quarter so I would like to encourage Association Managers to consider submitting a brief report from their association to share with the rest of community even if only a line or two.

Some of you may have noticed that the report of activity in Spanish speaking associations that has previously been a regular feature has been missing recently. As Guru EA2IF tells us, SOTA software changes have meant that a new process needs to be developed to produce the data that Guru requires. Andy MM0FMF is very busy with current work but is looking to find time this year to set up a data provision.

Change your Call Sign - Do not register your new call sign. Post to the reflector and we will update your current ID. Why should I not just delete my existing account and register again? Well firstly If you have ever posted you will most likely find that you cannot as we have set some parameters because posts in this Discourse software are directly linked to your userid/callsign and if your account is deleted these dissappear leaving holes in any topics to which you contributed… Next your account contains an invisible record of what you have ever read and where you are in any topic or thread. (we cannot see that) so with a new registration, that would be lost and you would be back at square one, having to wind your way through every topic to re-establish where you are up to. If we change your call sign all your current posts and reading lists are retained with your new call sign.

Till next quarter stay safe. I hope that we can all return to nearer the normality that we had before this pandemic.
73 Jim G0CQK

13 posts - 6 participants

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The August 2021 Quarterly News is due to be published to the reflector shortly, As usual I can only compile whatever is submitted so if nothing is, then no news will appear, so this is a call for submissions. Have you any newsworthy items that you would like included in the August 2021 Quarterly SOTA News? Perhaps you have some tales of how you managed to activate a summit in this last year of pandemic. If you were not able to activate because of restrictions, have you plans to get back into activating now.

Any contributions however small will be welcomed.

Please note that if you receive this as an email from the reflector then you cannot reply by email as it goes nowhere. All contributions can be sent to me directly via a PM or if you prefer via email to my email address as per QRZ

Importantly if you have something to be added to the August 2021 Quarterly News, do not post it to the reflector otherwise it will be instantly seen by everyone here and will no longer be news.

I am currently on a break away from home till 8th August so I am not sure when exactly I can post the news but as I will have internet access and my laptop with me, I should manage in the first week of August.
Jim

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Welcome to the August 2021 Quarterly News. I am afraid that we have very few contributions to this quarters SOTA news. We have GM4TOE Barry’s awards report, a Yorkshire Day report from Phil G4OBK and an interesting extract from the PNW newsletter with thanks to Etienne K7ATN for permission to copy.

We’ll kick off with the latest awards report from Barry GM4TOE.

SOTA Awards May to July 2021

This report covers award claims for the period May to July 2021

Events of note are the Chaser score of EA2CKX (150k) but even more noteworthy is that he has chased 10,000 summits! SOTA has taken off in Indonesia in a big way and we have numerous claims for Awards including two Shack Sloths. HB9DST has reached 5000 Activator points and Sid and Adele Tyler (ZS5AYC and ZS5APT) have jointly achieved Mountain Goat.

Congratulations to all who have reached their own significant milestone this quarter

Trophies Issued

Mountain Goat

G0EVV David Stansfield

N4SFR Ron LaGrone

HA8BJ Weber Karoly

G4HQB Philip Sandell

HB9GHJ Urs Gredig

K3OG Peter Fahringer

K7JRO John O’Brien

K7TAB Chris Tabor

AA7OY Dale Jensen

Shack Sloth

NM5BG Brian Geery

YC1ME Mawan Darmawan

DK6HS Sven Hammer

KX6I Jeff Isaacson

K6MAA Aleksandr Muravev

HB9GHJ Urs Gredig

DL3NM Hannes Schmidt

WA6WV Sergio Fernandez

KI7QEK Ryan Zink

Certificates Issued

Activator

HB9DST Paul Schreier 5000 points

OE6KYG Klaus Koppendorfer 2500 points

ZS5AYC Sid Tyler 1000 points

K9OZ Bruce Plantz 1000 points

ZS5APT Adele Tyler 1000 points

YO8SST Tatiana Done 1000 points

M1CJE Andrew Eastland 1000 points

HB9GHJ Urs Gredig 1000 points

OK1CHP Libor Tomsik 1000 points

EI6FR Declan Craig 500 points

KF7SEY Troy Greenburg 250 points

SV6NOL Rena Chrysa Tzortzi 250 points

M0WBG Neil Challis 250 points

G7WKX Simon Davis-Crane 250 points

K1BAA Bret Aguilar 100 points

YG3DEB Ajib Muzakki 100 points

N4DCW Michael Whitman 100 points

SV6NOL Rena Chrysa Tzortzi 100 points

SV6KVG Tolis Kiochos 100 points

KI7ADV Eric Keefer 100 points

M7NDC Nic Davis-Crane 100 points

OE5IRS Robert Schneeberger 100 points

G5AIB Peter Talbot 100 points

Chaser

EA2CKX Pedro Chinchurreta 150k points

WC0Y Ward Hall 15000 points

W7HO Ron Schlitzkus 10000 points

KF6HI Brian Hamerski 2500 points

EA1AXW Oscar Trueba 2500 points

ZL1BQD Roly Runciman 1000 points

K6KMH Kevin Haywood 1000 points

DC8YZ Michael Stark 1000 points

KI6SLA Michael Carter 1000 points

YC1ME Mawan Darmawan 1000 points

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 1000 points

K0DAJ Donald Jarvinen 1000 points

VE6AGR Ken Smith 1000 points

N0PBR John Pabst 1000 points

HB9GHJ Urs Gredig 1000 points

IS0LYN Mario Lumbau 1000 points

DL3NM Hannes Schmidt 1000 points

JN1MSO Tetsuya Hirose 1000 points

YC2VOC Galih Suryananto 1000 points

EA5ITW Jose Fernandez Candela 1000 points

WA6WV Sergio Fernandez 1000 points

ON8PHD Philippe Delacauw 1000 points

YB1TIA Tia Atiah 500 points

YC2VOC Galih Suryananto 500 points

K0MGL Greg Liverman 500 points

G4TCI Michael Soars 500 points

KI6SLA Michael Carter 500 points

LB6GG Hans Ostnell 500 points

IZ1UMJ Marco Giulini 500 points

KF6FLJ Vincent LeVeque 500 points

WA6WV Sergio Fernandez 500 points

DL3GJ Grzegorz Jacykowski 250 points

KI6SLA Michael Carter 250 points

TI5JCJ Jorge Jimenez 250 points

M1CJE Andrew Eastland 250 points

WA6WV Sergio Fernandez 250 points

MW7GWR Name withheld 100 points

YB0GIN Ginanjar Taufiq 100 points

YC3ATK Atik Sutarti 100 points

KI6SLA Michael Carter 100 points

YD3DCZ Gatot Soeryanto 100 points

YC1WEU Adi Ashodieq 100 points

YB0SHR HJ Sahara Sultan 100 points

YC9CRV I Kadek Ariasa 100 points

M7NTD Natalie Tate 100 points

PD0JMH Jos Holtermann 100 points

YD1AGY Wahyu Rahadianto 100 points

YD4SIO Erwin Setiawan 100 points

PU1KGE Fabio Luiz de Souza 100 points

UT8UU Sergey Usmanov 100 points

YO5OTA Constantin Pascal 100 points

AB6D Brian Mathews 100 points

Activator Unique

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki 100 summits

Chaser Unique

EA2CKX Pedro Chinchurreta 10000 summits

W7HO Ron Schlitzkus 1000 summits

K9OSC Robert Brock 500 summits

ON8PHD Philippe Delacauw 250 summits

Summit to Summit

M0JLA Rod Archard Platinum

W0MNA Gary Auchard Silver

HB9LEK Martin Neukomm Silver

JR8MHA Katsuyoshi Aoki Silver

W0ERI Martha Auchard Silver

HB9GHJ Urs Gredig Silver

K6RIN Ronald Nelson Silver

M0KPW Chris Leviston Bronze

M0WBG Neil Challis Bronze

M1CJE Andrew Eastland Bronze

NS7F Ross Tucker Red

KJ7NOY Marcia Elliot Red

G7WKX Simon Davis-Crane Red

Mountain Explorer

N4DCW Michael Whitman Bronze

Mountain Hunter

YB1TIA Tia Atiah Silver

DL3GJ Grzegorz Jacykowski Bronze

YB1TIA Tia Atiah Bronze

LB6GG Hans Ostnell Bronze

YO5OTA Constantin Pascal Bronze

Microwave Award

ON6ZQ Christophe David 200 km 23 cm

F8DLS Marc Becard 200 km 23 cm

ON6ZQ Christophe David 100 km 23 cm

ON4KBE Edgard Buet 100 km 23 cm

ON5TA Eric van Offelen 100 km 23 cm

N6ARA Ara Kourchians 100 km 23 cm

Deliveries to me of merchandise are being significantly held up – a result of the UK leaving the EU. However I have just received the Polo Shirts and Sweatshirts that I advised were on their way last quarter! I just need to get them listed on the website.

PayPal are still playing games – payments made by PayPal Express are credited immediately and the confirmation is sent out by the shopping site; regular PayPal payments are not confirmed and I have to manually intervene to ensure that the confirmation email is sent. I plan a clean-up of the site and this option will be replaced. If you have not received confirmation but your PayPal payment has been processed please contact me and I will check all is well.

Payment by Bank Transfer will remain available but I will not process an order until payment is received at our bank. Details of the bank account are available on the website but I would encourage you to use PayPal if at all possible.

I will not be processing any orders in September so if you place an order on, or after, 21 August you will have to wait until October for the order to be processed

That is it for this quarter – stay safe on the hills and keep away from anybody carrying that infernal virus

73

Barry GM4TOE

SOTA Awards Manager

From Yorkshireman Phil G4OBK

Yorkshire Day SOTA activations

G/NP-004 Whernside G5ZX/P G0UOK/P M7SHZ/P
G/NP-006 Great Shunner Fell G5ZX/P
G/NP-008 Great Whernside M0HQO/P
G/NP-009 Buckden Pike G4OBK/P
G/NP-010 Pen-y-ghent M0YCJ/P
G/TW-002 Cringle Moor G3TQQ/P
G/TW-003 Gisborough Moor G6PJZ/P M6GYU/P
G/TW-004` Bishop Wilton Wold G4OOE/P

Yorkshiremen in EU listening out: DD5LP & OE6FEG @ Graz Club Stn OE6XUG

The annual August 1st Yorkshire Day started in 1975. This is a yearly celebration to highlight the historic county, made up of four parts - North, South, East and West Yorkshire, which cover a large part of what is termed “Northern England”. This year ten SOTA Activators went out to celebrate the day by activating 8 out of the 23 summits in the County. Other operators were listening out, including Yorkshiremen Matt OE6FEG in Graz, Austria and Ed DD5LP in Bavaria.
Three operators decided to go to the highest point in our County at 736m. Like everyone else operating the on Yorkshire summits, the weather was excellent. The operators were Mark G0UOK, Sharron M7SHZ and Steve G5ZX who climbed Whernside G/NP-004. Described by Steve as a “jaunt on the Yorkshire Hills” they had lovely weather and used an FT-857D, SOTA mast and Wimo 2m HB9CV to exchange some banter on 2m with the many Yorkshire chasers and S2S activators on the air. Steve went on to HF to target a few S2S contacts and managed five, HB9LEK/P, I1WKN/P, DD2ZN/P and Mark M0NOM/P on G/LD-050 Gummers Howe. Mark incidentally, worked most of the Yorkshire Day activators in his own right!

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Pictured above is Sharron M7SHZ, Mark G0UOK and the nearby Ribblehead Viaduct.
Steve G5ZX must have been feeling good as he walked up to G/NP-006 Great Shunner Fell on his way back home - and made a handful of contacts from there
Moving over to the coastal side of Yorkshire, Andy G6PJZ and David M6GYU met for the first time by chance on the summit of G/TW-003 Gisborough Moor. Andy did the morning shift in the shelter on Voice, with David taking over the shelter using Morse in the afternoon. A local net on 2m were celebrating their 500th consecutive day of activity since the Covid restrictions came on in March 2020. What a coincidence this was to happen on Yorkshire Day!
Andy operated on 2m and HF with Dave concentrating as he always does, on HF CW with his trusty HB1B QRP mini TRx. Andy was one of the few to work MS0TA (Andy MM0FMF) who was on the summit of GM/WS-242 Meall Tairbh, as well as several of the other Yorkshire activators. Andy wondered whether Manuel EA2DT ever leaves his shack during the daytime hours!
Dave M6GYU missed out on working several of the other Yorkshire activators who were QRT by lunchtime, however he did make contact with Nick G4OOE who made a record number of contacts from 45 miles south of him on the “drive on” summit of Bishop Wilton Wold G/TW-004. After 80 minutes and a session on 10 MHz David pulled the plug and headed home for a late Sunday Dinner.
Back to Nick G4OOE then, who started early for a long session on his camping table and chair some distance from the car on G/TW-004, his “local office”. Nick who was operated from the grass verge of a country lane on the expansive Garrowby Hill summit, as it is known locally, hammered the HF bands with 30 watts from his FT-857D and link dipole. Occasional departing to work activators on 2m FM meant he completed 146 QSOs in his own right (19 X S2S). Well done Nick in staying on the radio for so long (0659z-1337z) – I’m surprised you didn’t have a cushion on the folding wooden seat!

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Yorkshireman born and bred, Dave, G3TQQ was on the air from Cringle Moor G/TW-002, making many HF S2S contacts before heading off to meet up with family:

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Surprise activation of the day was Colwyn MM0YCJ who was down in England visiting family. Colwyn was active as M0YCJ/P on the most popular Yorkshire summit of Pen-y-ghent. This was after his recent activations of Great Shunner Fell, Dodd Fell Hill and Ingleborough in July. Colwyn took the shortest route up via the flagged path and short scramble, on the Pennine Way long distance route. He stayed just 30 mins and worked 11 stations on VHF including Mark on G/LD-050 Gummers Howe and Pete M0HQO on G/NP-008 Whernside.
Pete M0HQO and Phil G4OBK shared a car to reach the parking place at the top of Park Rash near Kettlewell. At 08:30 BST Pete headed up to Great Whernside G/NP-008, Phil went to Buckden Pike G/NP-009. This was Pete’s first activation for almost a year - due to the Covid-19 restrictions. Pete had a long session on 2m FM finishing off with one HF QSO as he had a problem with his KX2 after just one 20m contact – but at least this was an S2S with prolific activator Nuno CT2HOV, who was on CT/BA-010. The KX2 was subsequently fixed when he returned home with a firmware update. Not having mobile coverage made things harder on HF for Pete, but the Yorkshire Day session still left him saying he would be back activating as soon as an opportunity arose!
Meanwhile after working Pete S2S from Buckden Pike G/NP-009, Phil G4OBK was mixing 2m FM with HF from 60m down to 20m. Due to callers he had to leave HF from time to time to pick up the occasional 2m FM S2S, however the distraction of HF meant he sadly missed hearing Colwyn on G/NP-010! Phil did however hear the Whernside threesome calling CQ 2m and most of the others on 2m FM, including an extra station - GB0YD who was picked up by most of the operators on 2m FM – this was the Yorkshire Day Special Event Station operated by Pontefract ARC in South Yorkshire.
Here is the Polish war memorial on the day on Buckden Pike, just 25m from where the G4OBK station (KX2 and link dipole at 5m with 2m handheld and RH770 whip) was located against a dry stone wall:

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So was this SOTA Yorkshire Day a success? I would say so – with August 1st falling on a Sunday the operators with jobs and not just the retirees were able to get out on to the hills. With 355 QSOs being made from the eight Yorkshire summits activated, I would say this was an unqualified success and it is hoped that operators will save the day for Monday 1st August 2022 and once again rise to the challenge of activating even more of the Yorkshire hills and mountains! Several Yorkshire chasers operators stayed home, including Terry, G0VWP who worked five out of the eight summits activated and also Alan, 2E0AGB who worked three.
73 Phil G4OBK

Take part in HamCensus.

“What do amateur radio operators worldwide, think of their passion? What do we wish for? What are we frustrated about? How many of us are active, versus those that are taking a break? Do we have favorite radios, antennas, or even favorite cw paddles? Do we prefer one contest over another?”
Express your views at https://hamcensus.org/

I thought this is inspiring and worthwhile reproducing this from the PNW Newletter thanks to Etienne K7ATN

Out and About with SOTA by Charlie-W7RTA

Last summer, I had been seeing a pain psychologist. He told me to replace the things that I was no longer able to do since my brain injury diagnosis. So, I purchased an off-road scooter to replace my mountain biking activities. The scooter has been a lot of fun and has taken me to areas I would no longer be able to experience. He gave me another homework assignment to replace other activities. I struggled all winter trying to find something and I realized that I still had my Technician ham license. I began playing with the radios and realized that I had to upgrade my license to enjoy the hobby. An upgrade would require me to study and pass a General Class test. The studying was very difficult for me. I could only study a half hour per day. It was all my brain could handle. I worked for nearly two months and at the end, I took practice tests but was not doing well. Out of 400 possible questions,
I would have to get 26 out of 35 correct to pass. When I finished the test and clicked the “submit” button I could not believe what the result was. I got 35 out of 35. I cried. It was very emotional for me.

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I love the Metolius area and found a summit to activate there – W7O/CN-100. It looked very simple and had potential for my scooter to get me close. I reviewed maps and satellite photos in preparation.

I attempted to get near the summit from the east but found myself bushwhacking through thick Manzanita. I attempted to walk up the hill as far as I could and going very slowly – one, because of the thick brush. Two, because of my brain injury. I turned back after about 100 yards. The Manzanita was like a cheese grater on my legs. I regrouped and studied the maps and saw that there was a road on the west side that might get me closer to the summit. I rode my scooter that way but there were
downed trees blocking me from getting to another primitive road heading towards the summit.

Climbing over the downed trees, I moved up the road. At first it looked clear of Manzanita, but that changed quickly. I was going very slowly and resting often. I had set my goal and I was not going to fail. I had lots of time to complete this. I used Google Satellite view to give me an idea if I was headed the right direction. After over an hour of pushing through the brush, I made it to the summit. If I wasn’t so tired from the climb, I would have cried.

I took in the scenery while eating a snack and drinking water. I set up my Xiegu G90 and a 41’ endfed random wire. My first contact was a S2S to Arizona. My second contact was a shock. The ham gave me S57S call sign. I repeated his call sign and he confirmed. He was in Slovenia! Here I am sitting on top of this summit with a wire talking to a guy in
Slovenia. Wow! I was so excited. I made nine other contacts. I did not realize that one of the nine was with France. I wrote down all the call signs and when I was logging them on my computer, I realized I made contact with F4WBN! Sitting on that summit I made contact with folks in Slovenia, France, Alaska, Washington, California, Montana, Arizona and Utah. I stayed on the summit for a bit longer just taking in the beautiful views. I was successful in completing my goal, but with a price. My brain was hurting. I had to rest often on the way down as I was getting light headed and dizzy. I took it easy going back to my camp on my scooter. Would I do this again? Nope. But I had to do it to prove to myself I
could do it. It does give me hope that some much easier walks to a summit might be possible. I will do much more homework in planning on doing future summits.

Charlie-W7RTA

You can read more of the PNW Newsletter at http://www.pnwsota.org/sites/pnwsota.org/files/downloads/K7ATN/PNW%20SOTA%20Newsletter%20Jul-Aug-Sep%202021.pdf

Final Comment.

Well that is it for this quarter. Not a lot. This news depends on contributions so why don’t you submit something for the next edition in October 2021. Till next quarter stay safe on the hills.
73 Jim G0CQK

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Welcome to the November 2021 Quarterly News. I am afraid that we have very few contributions to this quarters SOTA news as I almost forgot about it. We have GM4TOE Barry’s awards report (thank-you), and an interesting extract from the PNW newsletter with thanks to Etienne K7ATN for permission to copy and to Troy KF7SEY and Amos KT7WW, who did not anticipate appearing here…

We’ll kick off with the latest awards report from Barry GM4TOE.

SOTA Awards August to October 2021

This report covers award claims for the period August to October 2021

Many claims were received over the last three months, particularly for Chasers. Special note for AC1Z, Bob Daniels, for achieving the Amethyst Summit to Summit Award and to JP3DGT, Katsushige Oiji, reaching the Platinum level. JA1VVH and W4KRN have reached the 30k Chaser point milestone as well. We are seeing claims for Activator and Chaser awards coming in from Brazil, Mexico and South Korea reflecting the growing globalisation of SOTA

Congratulations to all who have reached their own significant milestone this quarter

Trophies Issued

Mountain Goat

K0MOS Matthias Schnizer

DS5SQS Kim Jiho

DF1AKR Andreas Kirchner

EA2WX Marcial Vecilla

VE6AGR Ken Smith

Shack Sloth

G4IPB Paul Hodgkinson

GI4OSF John McNiece

KO4BVB Tony Altman

WB7QDR Brian Vietri

DS5SQS Kim Jiho

K7RMO Rusty O’Shaughnessy

IT9ETC Danilo Contino

Certificates Issued

Activator

ON4TA Filip Rogister 1000 points

M0YDH David Holman 1000 points

EA2WX Marcial Vecilla 1000 points

DD5LP Ed Durrant 1000 points

VE6AGR Ken Smith 1000 points

SQ9JTR Lukasz Macalka 500 points

DL7RAY Bjorn Kagelmacher 500 points

KI7ADV Eric Keefer 250 points

N4DCW Michael Whitman 250 points

PY2TTN Marcio Cabral Barbio 100 points

EA5ITW Jose Antonio Fernandez 100 points

W6RT Noam Shendar 100 points

KN6GOG Miguel Molina 100 points

M7SHZ Sharron Baines 100 points

OM4MX MilanStancel 100 points

PU2OYH Daniel Vianna 100 points

G4TGJ Richard Tomlinson 100 points

MM0IVR Ronan Cantwell 100 points

SQ9JXW Jakub Kasprzycki 100 points

Chaser

JA1VVH Tadayoshi Katano 30000 points

W4KRN Karen Russo 30000 points

KU4R Robert Warden 20000 points

SP9LEE Damian Rawski 2500 points

M0TMD Helen Melhuish 2500 points

DL3NM Hannes Schmidt 2500 points

ZL3QR Geoff Gillman 2500 points

WB5CTS Stephen Hutcherson 1000 points

2E0VRX Craig Bradley 1000 points

G7WKX Simon Davis-Crane 1000 points

DL2RVL Rainer Lotsch 1000 points

M0TYM Alastair Hopkins 1000 points

W5WIL Dennis Walden 1000 points

K7RMO Rusty O’Shaughnessy 1000 points

IT9ETC Danilo Contino 1000 points

G4TPJ Richard Mepham 1000 points

XE1MYO Mayolo Martinez Ruiz 500 points

OE5LXR Alexander Entinger 500 points

IT9ETC Danilo Contino 500 points

SQ9JXW Jakub Kasprzycki 500 points

N6MST Michael Thompson 250 points

YB0GIN Ginanjar Taufiq 250 points

G1ACD Peter Hughes 250 points

OE5LXR Alexander Entinger 250 points

MW7EJH Leigh Batten 250 points

G4TGJ Richard Tomlinson 250 points

G1ACD Peter Hughes 100 points

KJ7AAI Jeffrey Orgill 100 points

M7SHZ Sharron Baines 100 points

OE5LXR Alexander Entinger 100 points

MW7EJH Leigh Batten 100 points

PY2BIL Guillermo Cremerius 100 points

KE0FXN Joe Bertie 100 points

EA4HJG Rodolfo Serrano 100 points

Chaser Unique

W4KRN Karen Russo 2500 summits

KU4R Robert Warden 1000 summits

Summit to Summit

AC1Z Bob Daniels Amethyst

JP3DGT Katsushige Oiji Platinum

WB0USI Rick Loughrey Gold

DF1AKR Andreas Kirchner Gold

VE6VID Malen Vidler Silver

M0JCQ James Stevens Silver

VK1MCW William Kirkwood Silver

DL7RAY Bjorn Kagelmacher Bronze

DC8YZ Michael Stark Bronze

KG7VLX Chris Freund Red

YO5OTA Constantin Pascal Red

DC8YZ Michael Stark Red

XE1MYO Mayolo Martinez Ruiz Red

DJ5VY Werner Pohl Red

DC8YZ Michael Stark Red

G4TGJ Richard Tomlinson Red

Mountain Hunter

YC2VOC Galih Suryananto Platinum

M0MZB Matthew Barker Gold

WD5GRW Jim Hart Bronze

DK1TBL Thomas Leiser Bronze

XE1MYO Mayolo Martinez Ruiz Bronze

TI5JON Jonathan Alfaro Bronze

G4TGJ Richard Tomlinson Bronze

I was on vacation throughout September (actually from the last week of August) which meant orders placed after the August deadline were not dealt with until October. I know there are a number of narrowboat enthusiasts out there so they will understand that our vacation was extended due to lack of water stranding the boat in Huddersfield!

Merchandise levels are back to normal and so Sweatshirts, Polo shirts and khaki baseball hats are once more available.

My thanks to the many individuals who support SOTA by means of donations which go a long way to ensure the viability of the programme and continued availability of SOTAwatch and the database (Donations | SOTA Awards). I try to respond to all donations but if I have missed thanking you please accept my apologies.

Christmas is coming and the deadline for posting to some of the remote (and not-so-remote) countries approaches rapidly. I will place a reminder on the reflector but if you can place orders early (especially for trophies which take time to process) then I would be most grateful.

That is it for this quarter – stay safe on the hills and keep away from anybody carrying that infernal virus

73

Barry GM4TOE

SOTA Awards Manager

A couple of interesting articles from the PNW Newsletter.

Southwest Idaho SOTA Party – a Report by Amos-KT7WW

Southwest Idaho is a wonderful place for Summits on the Air. There are so many summits, sometimes the hardest part is deciding which one to activate. For VHF and above, the region is all you could ever ask for- high elevations- 6,000 to 9,000 feet with the valley floors around 3,000 feet elevation. Any summit with a clear line of sight to the Boise area can be activated with a 5-Watt handheld as there is a very large and active group of hams in the area that monitor VHF and UHF simplex. There are many summits in the area where this is possible, and many close enough to other summits to make a multiactivation day easy to accomplish.

Leading up to my planned activation on Saturday July 10, 2021, with the help of K7ATN, I worked to coordinate to have multiple activators on multiple summits in the area. By the morning of the activation, we had K7MK heading to W7I/BC-083, KG7VLX heading to W7I/BC-059 and moving later in the day to do a first activation of W7I/BC-081. I (KT7WW) headed to Sunset Mountain W7I/BC-062 with my twelve year old son KT7WWW, and KG7DO with plans of heading to Pilot Peak later in the day.

The road from Mores Summit on Highway 21 to Sunset Mountain was in good shape, and typical of most of the dirt forest roads in the region. After winding our way from the highway to the parking area just below the summit and fire lookout, KG7DO and I unpacked the gear, and loaded it in a cart. The cart made the trip to the top with equipment very easy, and I may refine this some for future summits that are short walks, or near drive-ups to speed up deployment. After getting the equipment to the top, I started deploying a UHF and VHF station while KG7DO worked on setting up the HF station. KG7DO didn’t activate either this SOTA was all about and to test an HF antenna and a couple of LiFePo4 battery packs he had built.

As soon as I had the VHF station up and running, I made several S2S contacts, as did my son KT7WWW. First KG7VLX on W7I/BC059, then K7TPH on W7I/SR-042, then K7MK on W7I/BC-083. Then, one of the locals from Caldwell – KJ7BJS put out his call at the top of Thorn Creek Butte- W7I/BC-066. He didn’t know much about SOTA, but KG7VLX was able to find his summit reference, and we were able to turn his nice motorcycle ride into a SOTA activation for him. As the contacts came in, we would ask if they had worked the other activations, and then hand them off to the other activators.

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KT7WWW was happy to make the minimum number of contacts, and then ventured off to read a book, eat some snacks, and chase butterflies and grasshoppers around the mountain. I continued to make contacts on VHF, UHF, 20-meter SSB, 40-meter SSB, and then one contact on 15-meter SSB for a total of 56 contacts including five S2S contacts.

We then packed up the station, hauled everything to the car, headed down to Mores Summit, crossed the road, and headed up to Pilot Peak. By this time it was early afternoon, and starting to get a bit warm. With the amount of motorcycle and OHV traffic, we decided to go just below the summit in a clump of trees for shade, and to be a little more out of the way. Once the VHF station was operational, I made contact with KG7VLX on his second summit for the day; W7I/BC-081. KT7WWW made 5 contacts on VHF, then went back to his book. I made nine contacts on VHF, 15 contacts on 20-meter SSB with an S2S contact with AG7GP on W7O/CS-012 Pelican Butte, and even one contact on 10-meters SSB. By then the heat, dust, and biting flies won out, and we decided to pack up and head back to home.

It was a great day on the mountain. The fun factor was multiplied greatly by having several simultaneous activations. I hope that in the future this becomes an annual or semi-annual event for SOTA in Idaho

SOTA, A Family Affair – by Troy KF7SEY

When I started SOTA nearly ten years ago, most of my trips revolved around taking the family with me. During this time I have learned on what I can and cannot get away with. Now, if your family enjoys using the radio maybe some of them have their license… then it may be different on how you handle your trips. My family does not want to be on the radio, they just want to be outdoors and spend-time together. So first one, and maybe the most important one, is they are generally not as eager as I am to get summits. Which is why I try to find summits that are easier so we can do it together. Compromises are regularly made.

And yes, sometimes there is bribing that occurs. One and two-point summits are generally what we do as they are more easily accessible for everyone. Not that we have not done others, just not the norm. I generally gauge this by how difficult the summit is. If it is a long hike, then there has to be some encouragement to keep it fun, and if that doesn’t work then the bribes come out [Hi Hi]. Sometimes it takes a lot longer than it would be if I was by myself, so I give extra time on the alerts just to be safe. When we are on the summit, I try to keep it short so they don’t lose interest but allows enough time for chasers, usually about an hour. I enjoy CW but they do not enjoy it like I do. So running phone can help as they can hear the other stations and be a part of the action.

Having my family help me with setup and tear down is one thing we regularly do together. We sometimes leave markers like spelling out SOTA with pine cones or rocks and the XYL and daughters paint rocks to leave. Maybe you have come across some of them. We would love
to hear from you if you have.

Getting a souvenir like a rock from a summit to take home and add to a collection. In the end family first, points second, has been my philosophy. Sometimes you may have to just turn around and try another day.

You can read more of the PNW Newsletter at http://www.pnwsota.org/sites/pnwsota.org/files/downloads/K7ATN/PNW%20SOTA%20Newsletter%20Jul-Aug-Sep%202021.pdf

Final Comment.

Well that is it for this quarter. Not a lot. This news depends on contributions so why don’t you submit something for the next edition to be posted in February 2022. I will try not to forget about it until too late. If you have an association newletter in your part of the world why not let me have a copy so that I can share articles of general interest with the broader community. It doesn’t matter what language as conputer softrware can do a reasonable translation job for readers.
Till next quarter stay safe on the hills especially as winter kicks in.
73 Jim G0CQK

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To celebrate the 20th anniversary of the start of the SOTA program in Scotland on 1st July 2002, I have obtained a special event call GB2OGM. The call sign is valid for the month of July. UK special event call signs are only valid for operation from a fixed place that has public access. The location for this call is from the summit of Scotland’s most popular SOTA summit, Tinto Hill GM/SS-064. I hope to activate the summit several times during the month on as many bands as possible. I’ll be happy for anyone to contact me and we can do a joint activation if they too want to use the callsign.

Roger MW0IDX had some problems with the call GB20SOTA and so I decided that I’d get a call that looked like it had a 20 in it as it could be applied for using the online process.

So the call is GB2OGM or Golf Bravo Two Oh Golf Mike

(And yes, I expect that to cause problems for some people! )

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Facts and figures about the progression of SOTA since 2002 - annual update

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