S50LEA

Stephanie S55KM activated Gora S5/PK-043 on 25th November and made a single contact on 70cms.

70cms News


Well, the winter bonus certainly got a few people out onto the summits after a quiet November, but overall the amount of 70cms activity was little more than the previous month. It was good to see logs being entered by some of the regulars that hadn’t been out since August – September time, with the bulk of activity once again being centred around Slovenia. I plan to prepare a review of the past 2 years and hopefully this will be available for inclusion in the next Summitsbase News.

So to the activity -

Slovenia

Activity got underway on Saturday 4th December when Bojan S56LXN activated Mrzlica S5/BI-004 and made a single contact on 70cms. The following day he activated Slatnik S5/JA-035 from where 3 contacts were made. Zvone S57PZ was also out on 5th December on the summit of Vrhovcev gric S5/CP-010 with 2 contacts made on the band.

Marijan S52TC activated Šentanski vrh S5/KA-029 on Friday 10th December and made 3 contacts on 70cms. On Saturday 11th he activated Tolsti vrh (Kriška Gora) S5/KA-017 with 4 contacts in his log. Bojan S56LXN activated Sveti Križ S5/KS-040 the same day from where 5 contacts made.

Sunday 12th December saw a considerable increase in activity. Bojan was out once again, this time from the summit of Vrhovcev gric S5/CP-010, the 3 contacts made being S2S with Zvone S57PZ and the Radioklub Marmor Hotavlje callsign S53DGM on Sivka S5/TK-022 and Marijan S52TC on Struška Kocna (Veliki vrh) S5/KA-009. By coincidence, the logs of Zvone, the Radioklub and Marijan all included 3 contacts on 70cms. Bojan activated a second summit that day, Škofje S5/CP-016 from which he made 2 contacts on the band. The summit that Marijan activated was a double summit, so a second activation was carried out on the Austrian side of the border - Bärentaler Kotschna OE/KT-103 with 2 contacts made on 70cms.

Also in action on Sunday 12th December was Marko S57MS who activated Pri turnu S5/BI-051 with a single contact made on 70cms. Slavko S53XX was on the summit of Miklavška gora S5/CP-018 the same day from where he made 2 70cms contacts. Aco S52Q and Marjan S56IHX activated Veliki Javornik S5/BR-005 and both made a single contact on the band. Finally, Jure S57XX made 3 QSOs on 70cms from the summit of Lubnik S5/CP-012.

Activity during the following week was sparse. Marijan S52TC activated Altemaver S5/CP-001 on Tuesday 14th December, 5 contacts being made on 70cms. On Thursday 16th, 2 contacts were made from Kahlkogel OE/KT-117. Slavko S53XX was also in action on the Thursday from Velika Golica S5/KA-013 making 2 contacts on the band.

Bojan S56LXN activated Veliki Slom S5/GS-010 on Sunday 19th December, but made just 1 contact from that summit. On Thursday 23rd December he activated Molakov vrh S5/KS-035 and again just a single contact was made on 70cms.

First to go up the hills after Christmas was Jaka S51JS who activated Skorno S5/KS-062 on 26th December with 5 QSOs in his log. On Monday 27th December there was a considerable amount of activity with quite a number of S2S contacts made. Bojan S56LXN was on the summit of Cicelj S5/BI-024 with 3 70cms contacts in his log. Marijan S52TC made the same number of contacts from Blegoš S5/CP-003. Also out on the summits were Milos S57D, Sabina S56BNX and Jan S57DJ (congratulations on the call Jan) from Krim S5/RG-010. 4 contacts were made including S2S with Zvone S57PZ who was out with Jure S53JP on Malenski vrh S5/CP-009. Zvone and Jure each worked 4 stations on 70cms.

Activity continued on Tuesday 28th December with Marko S57MS activating Vivodnik S5/KS-028 to make an excellent 8 contacts on 70cms. Marijan S52TC activated Porezen S5/CP-002 and worked 5 stations. The same day, Slavko S53XX activated Slivna S5/BI-018 and 3 contacts were made on the band. Jaka S51JS and Toni S51TS were on the summit of Hom S5/KS-055, both making a single 70cms contact.

Wednesday 29th December saw Bojan S56LXN in action again, this time from the summit of Porezen S5/CP-002, his log sporting 7 contacts made on 70cms including S2S contacts with Zvone S57PZ and S53JP on Pasja ravan S5/CP-011. Zvone’s log shows 6 contacts made on the band and Jure’s log shows 7, so plenty of QSOs were being made. Another to work Zvone and Jure was Marko S57MS who was on Lonica.Marijan S5/BR-008. S52TC was on Plece S5/KA-027 and made 3 contacts and Jaka S51JS similarly made 3 contacts from Boskovec S5/KS-025.

On Thursday 30th December, Lovro S50LD activated Tošc S5/CP-013, 3 contacts being made on 70cms including S2S with Marko S57MS on Velika Vremšcica S5/BR-013 and Milos S57D on Velika Slivnica S5/RG-009. Marko and Milos also made a S2S contact. Milos made a total of 5 contacts on 70cms. Also out on the summits were Marijan S52TC from Kozji vrh S5/KA-024 with 2 contacts made and Jaka S51TS from Sveti Križ S5/KS-040 from where 3 contacts were made.

New Year’s Eve saw further activations. Marko S57MS was out again, this time from the summit of Polhograjska Gora S5/CP-024 with a single 70cms in the log. Slavko S53XX activated Plešivec S5/KA-028 and 2 contacts were made on 70cms from that summit. Martin S59MP made his sole entry into the action this month from Grmada S5/CP-028 making 4 contacts on 70cms and Ivan S57TI activated Bezgovica S5/KS-054 making 5 contacts.

I was amazed to find that all this activity produced just 4 spots on SOTAwatch. You will see that the list includes two entries that I have not even reported on -

Sunday 5th December, 11:07, S56LXN/P on S5/JA-035, 433.400 fm
Wednesday 29th December, 11:34, S51JS/P on S5/KS-025, 433.400 fm
Friday 31st December.12:32, S51JS/P on S5/BI-004, 433.400 fm
Friday 31st December, 14:51, S56JAZ/P on S5/KS-027, 433.400 fm

As usual, all the 70cms contacts made by the Slovenian activators were made on FM.

The UK spots this month were –

Saturday 11th December, 12:30, G0PEB/P on G/SE-008, 432.222 ssb
Monday 20th December, 15:18, GW8OGI on GW/NW-051, 433.575 fm
Tuesday 21st December, 11:32, MC0TWC/P on GW/NW-067, 432.222 ssb
Tuesday 28th December, 11:27, MC0TWC/P on GW/NW-071, 432.222 ssb
Thursday 30th December, 11:26, GW0PEB/P on GW/NW-025, 432.222 ssb
Thursday 30th December, 12:42, G4OIG/P on G/NP-002, 432.222 ssb
Friday 31st December, 11:19, GW0PEB/P on GW/NW-045, 432.222 ssb

More spots than S5, less activity!


Signing off

Well, it has yet again been another month without any input from sources other than SOTAwatch and the SOTA database – no photographs to show you. However, I can recommend looking at the links placed on the SOTAwatch reflector by Milos S57D and Zvone S57PZ which show recent activations in the winter snow.

Best wishes to you all for a Happy and Prosperous New Year. As usual, please keep safe out on the hills and mountains.

73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News

As I checked on activity on the SOTA database, I started to wonder whether the first three weeks of January were a National Holiday in Slovenia. In all 21 activators were out on the summits during the month. This amounts to over 50% of the total number of activators using 70cms during the month and a check on the alerts for the final few days has revealed others preparing to use 70cms from the summits. My report is based on the database as of the evening of 28th January.

While the bulk of activity is based in Slovenia, I was encouraged to find activators in other countries using the band continuing what they had started in 2010. Of particular note are Costas SW1KYQ and José EA4WT who are both fairly new to SOTA. Also it was good to see a return to SOTA by Alan M1EYO after a gap of almost 5 years. Hopefully 2011 will bring new activators with interest in the band.

Slovenia

True to expected form, the action started in Slovenia on New Years Day with several activators out on the summits. Zvone S57PZ and Jure S53JP jointly activated Vrhovcev gric S5/CP-010 and each made 6 contacts on 70cms. Also out was Marko S57MS, the summit activated being Lubnik S5/CP-012 with 2 contacts made on the band.

On Sunday 2nd January, Zvone and Jure were on the summit of Krim S5/RG-010 – so were Milos S57D, Sabina S56BNX and Jan S57DJ. The number of contacts ranged from 5 to 7 apiece, so there was a lot of 70cms action. Marijan also kicked off his 2011 activations on 2nd with 2 70cms contacts made from Bärentaler Kotschna OE/KT-103.

Far from a halt in activity after the weekend, Monday 3rd January saw Martin S59MP on the summit of Debela pec S5/JA-029 from where 6 contacts were made. The same day, Bojan S56LXN was on the summit of Veliki vrh S5/BI-039 and later also on Veliki Javornik S5/BI-006, a total of 5 contacts being made on 70cms. The following day Bojan made 4 contacts from Kranjska Reber S5/KS-029 and on Wednesday 5th January another 4 from Limbarska gora S5/BI-033. Marijan S52TC was also out on 5th January, the summit being the double of Košutica S5/KA-008 / Loibler Baba OE/KT-097 from where a total of 3 contacts were made on the band.

There was no 70cms activity between 6th and 8th January, but on Sunday 9th January several activators were up on the summits. Marko S56CW started his 70cms activating with a single contact from the summit of Gradišce (Njivica) S5/KS-020. Milos S57D and Sabina S56BNX activated Kum S5/BI-001 and both worked 6 stations on 70cms. Marko S57MS activated Kranjcev vrh (Kota 1226) S5/KS-060 and made summit to summit contacts with Negro S55KM and Bojan S56LXN who were jointly activating Orožev vrh S5/KS-030. Negro and Bojan made 2 contacts apiece on 70cms. Another joint activation took place on 9th January, that by Ivan S57TI and Rozalija S55TR who were on the summit of Skorno S5/KS-062 from where 4 contacts were made. The following day, Monday 10th January, Ivan and Rozalija activated Sveti Križ S5/KS-040 and Gora Oljka S5/KS-051and made 4 contacts from each.

Tuesday 11th January was another day devoid of action, but on the Wednesday Marijan S52TC was out again with 4 contacts made from Šentanski vrh S5/KA-029. On Friday 14th January Marijan activated Tolsti vrh (Kriška Gora) S5/KA-017 and made 5 contacts on 70cms. Also out activating was Bojan S56LXN who was on (s5cp032|Kljuc)) S5/CP-032 and made 2 contacts on the band.

Saturday 15th was another active day. Martin S59MP activated Rodica S5/JA-030 and made 5 contacts. Zvone S57PZ and Juri S53JP activated Pasja ravan S5/CP-011, each making 7 contacts on the band. Marijan S52TC activated Storžic S5/KA-005 from where 6 contacts were made on 70cms. Bojan activated Mladi vrh S5/CP-006 and made an excellent 9 contacts including summit to summits with Marko S56CW and The Radioklub Marmor Hotavlje S53DGM on Plešivec S5/KA-028. Marko’s log shows 3 contacts made on the band. Jaka S51JS and Toni S51TS activated Kranjska Reber S5/KS-029 and their logs show 5 contacts made including summits to summits with Janko S57RPJ and Joze S57VJM, but no summit reference was given. Kostja S56KM activated Krn S5/JA-022 and made 4 contacts on the band.

Sunday 16th was also rather busy with Miro S52ON making his first activation of the year from Boskovec S5/KS-025 with 5 contacts in his log. Marjan S56JAZ activated Velink S5/KS-048 making 2 contacts including an S2S with Darko S57AX/P on Šentanski vrh S5/KA-029. Darko’s log shows 7 contacts including summit to summit contacts with Marjan and with Marijan S52TC on Plece S5/KA-027. Marijan made 5 contacts. Others activating summits were Jaka S51JS who activated Velika Kopa S5/PK-002 and made a single 70cms contact from the summit. Marko S56CW on Kranjska Reber S5/KS-029 who made 2 contacts and Milos S57D carried out an interesting activation from Mokrc S5/RG-016, making 9 contacts on 70cms plus one on 4m.

There was further activity on Monday 17th January when Slavko S53XX activated Srednji vrh S5/KA-012, 2 contacts on 70cms being part of his log. Marijan S52TC was out again, this time from the double summit of Kahlkogel OE/KT-117 / Velika Golica S5/KA-013 and a total of 3 contacts made the log. Negro S57KM was on the summit of Boskovec S5/KS-025 also making 2 contacts on the band. The following day Negro activated Veliki Rogatec S5/KS-027 and made a single contact on 70cms.

The next activity logged for the band was on Saturday 22nd January when Marijan S52TC activated Veliki Javornik S5/KA-018 followed by Javorce (Konjšcica) S5/KA-021 a total of 5 contacts made.

On Sunday 23rd January the amount of activity increased. Marijan S52TC was on the double summit Techantinger Mit­tagskogel OE/KT-104 / Trupejevo Poldne S5/KA-010 making 4 contacts from each side of the border. Miha S54KM and Marko S56CW teamed up to activate a trio of summits - Koprivnik S5/CP-005, Mladi vrh S5/CP-006 and Malenski vrh S5/CP-009. Miha jogged 9 contacts and Marko 11. Others out activating were Bojan S56LXN who was on Uršlja gora S5/KS-018 to make 6 contacts and Darko S57AX made an excellent 9 contacts from Lubnik S5/CP-012.

As usual, all the 70cms contacts made by the Slovenian activators were made on FM. This month I have reported everything that I downloaded from the database. However, if the level of activity increases then I will have to consider concentrating on specific points, possibly concentrating on a few activators each month, on specific summits or limit the report to S2S contacts, joint activations or some other aspect of the activity. If anyone has any thoughts on this, please let me know.

Signing off

This month’s report was produced early as I am away as of tomorrow (30th January)in the Lake District to make my first activations of 2011. Hopefully a few 70cms S2S contacts will be forthcoming. I note several others have alerted for the band – OE/S57MB for Schlossberg OE/ST-319, with Fürstenstand OE/ST-299 noted as possibly to follow. Lovro S50LD has alerted for Tosc S5/CP-013. I see Marijan S52TC is activating Wertatscha OE/KT-070 as I write and Marko S56CW is on Brana S5/KS-006, so more 70cms contacts are expected from them.

It certainly looks like 2011 will be a good year for 70cms activity, so keep the band in mind when you are on the summits. In the past I have appealed for more use of the band for SOTA. Unfortunately the response has been sporadic, but the activity in Slovenia shows what can be achieved.

Best wishes to all activators. As usual, please take care and keep safe out on the hills and mountains and I wish you safe travel to and from the summits.

vy 73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News

Comment

When I saw notice of the Slovenian Winter Activity Days posted on the SOTAwatch reflector, I sort of knew that this would be a bumper month for activity on 70cms. Indeed the number of contacts were so plentiful that I just could not even start to mention every activation, so apologies to those that have not been mentioned this month. I am sure that you enjoyed your activations and the many S2S contacts that resulted over the activity period.

Activity also grew this month in Germany, with 7 activators now registering logs on the database. There are also 5 activators using 70cms in Czechia, but elsewhere the increase in activity has been rather slow. Last month I reported on activity by Costas SW1KYQ and José EA4WT. Nothing more to report from Greece this time around, but José certainly registered another activation and I start with his record this time.

Slovenia

While I can report activity in other countries in their fullness, I have no such opportunity with the activity in Slovenia. The logs entered this month are a just amazing. A total of 36 activators recorded 70cms contacts and I extracted 146 activation logs from the database (email me for a copy if you want to see where the action was) and there is no way I can report on them all. I am therefore going to take a different approach this month and mention summits that are not particularly commonly activated – so if you are reading this and you activated summits like Malenski vrh S5/CP-009 then apologies.

However, first up is a welcome to newcomers. First up is Dragan S55Z (ex S57TDA) who activated Krim S5/RG-010 on 11th February and made 4 contacts on FM. Milan S55DX also activated Krim, but 3 days earlier making 10 contacts, 6 of which were S2S. Milan also activated Jance S5/BI-029 and Obolno S5/BI-031on 12th February making a further 3 contacts on the band. Armin S56AC activated Suhi vrh S5/TK-009 on 7th February with 4 70cms contacts in the log including Franc S52Q on Altemaver S5/CP-001– there I had to mention a fairly regularly activated summit! Also new to my lists is Mitja S57PNX who activated Slavnik S5/BR-012 on 5th February making 4 S2S contacts with S57D, S51TS, S51JS and S57MS.

So to the less-well activated summits – well, my selection at least region by region -

BI

Osrenca S5/BI-072 - activated by Marjan S56IHX and Matej S56LCH on 20th February with 3 contacts made.

BR

Velika Vremšcica S5/BR-013 - activated by Marko S56CW on 7th February with 4 contacts made.

CP

Nothing rare activated.

GS

No activations

JA

Nothing rare activated.

KA

Vajnež S5/KA-030 - activated by Marijan S52TC on 1st February with 7 contacts made.
Srednji vrh S5/KA-012 - activated by Marijan S52TC on 5th February with 5 contacts made.
Visok Kurji vrh S5/KA-014 - activated by Marijan S52TC on 9th February with 3 contacts made.
Dovška Baba S5/KA-011 - activated by Marijan S52TC on 24th February with 3 contacts made.
Klek (Petelinjek) S5/KA-015 - activated by Marijan S52TC on 24th February with 2 contacts made.
Javorce (Konjšcica) S5/KA-021 – activated by Marko S56CW on 8th February with 4 contacts made including 2 S2S
Veliki vrh S5/KA-031 - activated by Bojan S56LXN on 19th February with 3 contacts made

KS

Komen S5/KS-019 - activated by Jaka S51JS and Toni S51TS on 5th February with 2 S2S made with Lovro S50LD and Mitja S57PNX.
Vovar S5/KS-044 - activated by Marjan S56JAZ on 20th February with 2 contacts made and by Marijan S56IAA and Bojan S56LXN on 26th February with 9 contacts made.
Smodivnik S5/KS-045 - activated by Negro S55KM and Monica S55NM on 8th February with 2 contacts made.
Lomek S5/KS-065 - activated by Mladen S57PY on 5th February with 3 S2S made with Miro S52ON, Toni S51TS and Jaka S51JS.

PK

Mulejev vrh S5/PK-003 - activated by Marjan S56JAZ on 19th February with 2 contacts made.

TK

Already mentioned – activation by Armin S56AC

RG

Goteniški Snežnik S5/RG-001 - activated by Franc S52Q and Marjan S56IHX on 13th February with 3 contacts made.
Osojski vrh S5/RG-041 - activated by Matej S56LCH on 20th February with 4 contacts made including S2S with Zvone 57PZ and Jure S53JP.

Rareness factor in this case is just what my brain tells me as not being entered into the 70cms report on a regular basis – indeed the selection may not be rare when viewed against all bands and all activations, but I feel that it is good to mention some new ones. Apologies if I’ve missed someone on a particularly rare summit or someone out on a multi-operator activation. The amount of information has been very difficult to get through!

If you are intending going out to a summit that has been activated only a few times before and probably never on 70cms, then pleased email me about your activation.


Signing off

So as can be seen, so far 2011 has been a good year for 70cms activity, particularly in Slovenia. Elsewhere use of the band for SOTA is slowly increasing, but it is taking time to get established. Considering that the antennas for the band are very small and add little weight to the backpack and that many modern rigs cover the band, I see no reason for operators not giving the band a try. Having taken delivery of a new tri-band whip primarily for use on my 23cms rig, I can see a BNC to SMA adaptor being added to the 70cms handheld.

So as usual I send my best wishes to all 70cms activators. Trusting that you will all keep safe out on the hills and mountains that you are afforded safe travel to and from the summits.

73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News

This month’s “hot” news is the effect that the UHF Activity Day on Sunday 27th March had on 70cms activity in the UK. The event was generally well supported and doubled the number of activators in the 2011 table for both England and Wales and there was a truly magnificent seven-fold increase in Scotland. The latter activity has been much reported in the account by Andy MM0FMF on the SOTAwatch reflector. Generally the idea was not taken up across Europe, but several activators did turn out on Sunday 27th March to put 70cms on the air.

I think the UHF Activity Day has shown many what can be achieved on the band. However, despite all the advantages that 70cms can offer in terms of small antennas and its relatively easy access through modern multiband multimode rigs, the band continues to be seen as an add-on. I am not suggesting that it should become a priority band over, say 2m, but there are clearly many summits where its use as the prime activation band is valid. Of course the opposite is true – there are clearly summits where the use of 70cms is inappropriate due to topography, but if more activators would give the band a try as a prime operating band wherever and whenever they can, hopefully there will be an increase in the use of the band generally. I don’t know the reason why Slovenia should stand out above all other countries. Perhaps someone who has had experience operating 70cms in both Slovenia and other countries might be able to shed light on the reason. I for one would like to hear of their experiences.

I have decided to revise my reporting this month by omitting the details of how many QSOs have been made from the summits. I have come to the conclusion that making a single contact from a particular summit may be considerably harder to achieve than 20 from another and since I cannot know the summits and their attributes, I feel it may be inappropriate to mention QSO details. The database is free to all to peruse if readers want to know the details of a particular activation. If anyone holds a view on this, particularly as to whether this detracts from the report, please let me know.

Slovenia

Activity in Slovenia continues to be extremely strong, with Marijan S52TC storming the summits to add a further 28 to his tally during March alone. Some might ask whether he has been at home at all during the month. Congratulations to Marijan for attaining Mountain Goat and well done on making contacts on 70cms from all of the 28 summits activated – a brilliant achievement!

Several others have been very active, with Darko S57AX and Marko S57MS adding 10 summits to their 2011 totals and Bojan S56LXN another 8 to his. On the other hand, several regular activators did not get out onto the summits at all.

Again this month there were several new activators on the band. There were 4 new entries into the SOTA database, with the total activators recording contacts now having risen from 39 to 43. One of the new entrants to the 2011 70cms table is Stane S56SNR who activated Kojca S5/CP-007 on 8th March. Zlatko S51TZ made an entry by using 70cms from Stolpnik S5/PK-012 on 13th March. On 26th March the Lesce Club callsign S59UAR was used from the double summit of Bärentaler Kotschna OE/KT-103 / Struška Kocna (Veliki vrh) S5/KA-009 and the fourth new entrant was Franci S57MZO who activated Porezen S5/CP-002 the same day.

Once again I searched the database this month for those less activated summits. I don’t know whether this article is well read in Slovenia, but a number of activators appear to have heeded my words and activated summits that I have not reported on before. So, this month’s selection of the less-well activated summits (again my selection) region by region is as follows -

BI:
Just one activation in this region included contacts on 70cms –
Mrzlica S5/BI-004 - S57AX,13th March

BR:
Just two activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –

Veliki Snežnik S5/BR-001 - S57PNX, 6th March
Razsušica (Glavicorka) S5/BR-010– S57MS, 26th March

CP:
23 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –
some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Partizanski vrh (Kotlic) S5/CP-004 - S52TC, 21st March
Vancovec S5/CP-008– S56LXN 11th March
Mohor S5/CP-019– S57AX, 6th March
Štedel vrh S5/CP-037– S52TC, 10th March

GS:
No activations in this region included contacts on 70cms. It is a shame that Zlatko S51TZ did
not manage any contacts on the band from Maceljska gora S5/GS-005 when he activated it on 6th March.

JA:
8 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –
some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Jerebikovec S5/JA-036– S52TC, 29th March
Kravja Crna gora S5/JA-067– S52TC, 5th March
Kokošinjca (vrh 1401) S5/JA-068– S52TC, 7th March
Planski vrh S5/JA-069– S52TC, 29th March

KA:
11 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms -
some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Kepa S5/KA-003– S52TC, 31st March
Struška Kocna (Veliki vrh) S5/KA-009– S57AX, 5th March
Stegovnik S5/KA-019– S52TC, 20th March
Pristovnikova planina S5/KA-020– S52TC, 23rd March
Petelinjek S5/KA-025– S52TC, 25th March

KS:
8 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –
some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Strojna S5/KS-039– S56LXN, 5th March
Špilk S5/KS-043– S56LXN, 27th March
Skorno S5/KS-062– S51JS and S51TS, 5th March
Lomek S5/KS-065– S56LXN, 26th March

PK:
3 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –

Stolpnik S5/PK-012– S51TZ, 13th March
Gora S5/PK-043– S57TI and S55TR, 20th March

RG:
7 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –
all worth a mention –

Debeli vrh S5/RG-002– S57MS, 20th March
Trdinov vrh S5/RG-006– S57MS, 6th March and S57D, 20th March
Mošnjevec S5/RG-007 – S57MS, 20th March
Velika Slivnica S5/RG-009– S57PZ and S53JP, 20th March
Brinoh S5/RG-052 – S57MS, 12th March

TK:
11 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms –
some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Praprot S5/TK-006– S57MS, 5th March
Bevkov vrh S5/TK-020– S57AX and S57AJJ, 7th March, S57MS, 10th March, S56LCH, 20th March, S57PZ and S53JP, 25th March and S52TC, 30th March
Marutnik S5/TK-024– S56LCH, 18th March
Jelenk S5/TK-035– S57AX, 11th March

To put names to calls not already mentioned (you all know who you are anyway) – Darko S57AX, Mitja S57PNX, Marko S57MS, Bojan S56LXN, Jaka S51JS, Toni S51TS, Ivan S57TI, Rozalija S55TR, Milos S57D, Zvone S57PZ, Jure S53JP, Jurij S57AJJ and Matej S56LCH.

So I guess you all now rush off to S5/GS and make lots of contacts on 70cms………

Signing off

Apologies for the late report this month. I am finding it hard to find time to get all the data sorted out and formulated into a decent report in my free time which seems to be getting shorter and shorter. I would very much like to have the time to do some investigation into how the band has developed over the past two years or so that I have been running these reports, but I just don’t have the time. Ideas of bar charts and graphs go around in my head, but so far they have stayed there.

As you see, no photographs this month. Nothing was sent to me and my own activations were from misty grey summits, so nothing of interest to show – you’ve all seen my dual band beam anyway!

So once again my best wishes to all 70cms activators. Keep safe out on the hills and mountains. I wish to all safe travel to and from the summits.

73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News


The surprise this month was the major increase in activity recorded on the database for England. The total last month stood at 26 and this has now has risen to 43. A few of these were late logs for the UHF Activity Day that took place on 27th March, but the majority are for activations during April which indicates that the appetite for UHF operation from the summits has been suitably whetted by the event. There has been an increase in activity in Scotland and Wales with the number of GM activators having increased from 7 to 10 and GW activators from 4 to 7. During the same period the increase in activity in DM (Germany – Low Mountains) was up from 8 to 10 and in S5 (Slovenia) up from 43 to 46. Elsewhere there has been very little 70cms activity. 3 of the 6 Czech 70cms activators recorded activations and there are two new areas of activation courtesy of EA1GHE and KD9KC.

Reporting on 70cms activity from Slovenia remains a major headache. During the period under review I extracted 115 activations from the 70cms database. In fact there is little option, but to continue to concentrate on the rarer summits. The continued success of activations on the band makes me wonder whether anything more is required than a report on general trends and a welcome to new activators.

So to the activity -

Slovenia

This month the 3 new activators recorded in the database certainly made me pay attention. First was the major ingress into the 2011 70cms table by Jani S57CJ, in fact straight into 16th position. Jani carried out a total of 16 activations during the month, of which 10 included contacts on 70cms. That is some record. It seems the SOTA bug has bitten!

Also making entry to the 70cms database for 2011 though more modestly are S51DSW and S58DOD. S51DSW is the callsign of the RadioKlub Mozirje. The summit activated was Šentjoški vrh S5/KS-037 on 27th April, the log including an S2S with Marjan S56JAZ/P who was on Rzenik S5/KS-016. Danijel S58DOD might have read the recent Summitsbase News when I indicated that S5/GS was a sparsely activated region. On 23rd April he activated Boc S5/GS-001 and Plešivec S5/GS-003, working Toni S51TS and Ivan S57TI from the higher summit – well done Danijel!

In looking through the more regular activator’s logs, it would seem that a number have possibly deserted 70cms, maybe as a result of trying to get several summits activated during a day. Others continue to use 70cms consistently and I would say that I am particularly impressed with the series of activations that have been carried out by Marijan S52TC, Bojan S56LXN and Marko S57MS on lesser known summits. Is the interest in activating uniques catching on in Slovenia like it seems to be in the UK?

So to the regional reports:

BI:

Quite a number of activations took place on the S5/BI summits this month, but just 19 included operation on 70cms. The most interesting summits are –

Slivna S5/BI-018 – S56IAA, 3rd April
Goljava S5/BI-023 – S56LXN, 26th April
Lisca S5/BI-065 – S57AX, 16th April
Osrenca S5/BI-072 – S56IHX and S52Q, 9th April
Bukovica S5/BI-077 – S56LXN, 26th April


BR:

Again there have been relatively few activations in this region. Just 6 activations included contacts on 70cms and the most interesting summits are –

Tinjan S5/BR-033– S57MS, 26th April
Kaštelir S5/BR-034 – S57MS, 26th April
Visoc S5/BR-035 – S57MS, 25th April

CP:

37 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms. These are some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Šorta S5/CP-014 – S56LXN, 2nd April
Crvov vrh S5/CP-015 – S56LXN, 3rd April
Polhograjska Gora S5/CP-024 – S56LXN, 9th April and S57AJJ, 25th April
Kožljek S5/CP-027 – S58MU, 11th April
Šmarjetna gora S5/CP-030 – S57CJ, 12th April
Vrh Staneta Kosca (Rašica) S5/CP-031 – S57AJJ, 25th April

GS:

At last! - an activation in this region included contacts on 70cms – see my report above relating to Jani S58DOD.

JA:

9 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms. These are some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Kanjavec S5/JA-007 – S59MP, 3rd April
Police S5/JA-044 – S52TC, 3rd April
Boršt S5/JA-048 – S52TC, 3rd April
Lopa S5/JA-056 – S52TC and S59UAR, 23rd April
Mali Draški vrh S5/JA-061 – S52TC, 20th April

KA:

Again 11 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms. These are some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Dovška Baba S5/KA-011 – S57AX and S57AJJ, 2nd April
Klek (Petelinjek) S5/KA-015 – S56CW, 17th April
Pristovnikova planina S5/KA-020 – S56CW, 16th April
Kozji vrh S5/KA-024 – S56IAA, 9th April
Vajnež S5/KA-030 – S56CW, 10th April

KS:

A significant increase this month to 21 activations that included contacts on 70cms. These are some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Kordeževa glava S5/KS-009 – S56LXN, 18th April,
Govca (Govešca) S5/KS-015 – S56LXN, 19th April
Mozganov vrh S5/KS-026 – S56LXN, 16th April
Cofatijev vrh S5/KS-024 – S56LXN, 16th April
Kranjcev vrh (Kota 1226) S5/KS-060 – S56LXN, 15th April

PK:

Quite a few activations were carried out in this region this month, but I could not find any that included contacts on 70cms.

RG:

6 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms. These are some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Šop (Novaška gora) S5/RG-020 – S56LXN, 22nd April
Vinji vrh S5/RG-021 – S57MS, 1st April and S56LXN, 22nd April
Srebotnik S5/RG-034 – S56LXN, 22nd April
Mackovec S5/RG-053 – S57MS, 3rd April

TK:

9 activations in this region included contacts on 70cms. These are some of those less frequently activated on 70cms –

Suhi vrh S5/TK-009 – S56LXN, 25th April
Marutnik S5/TK-024 – S57AX, 17th April
Vrh Sv. Treh Kraljev S5/TK-025 – S57AX and S57CJ, 14th April
Ulovka S5/TK-028 – S57AX, 25th April

Austrian border summits:

4 summits were activated on 70cms this month.

Hochstuhl OE/KT-063 – S56CW, 10th April
Kahlkogel OE/KT-117 – S56CW, 3rd April
Kärntner Stor­schitz OE/KT-121 – S56IHX, 9th April and S56CW, 16th April
Göriacher Berg OE/KT-126 – S57MS, 23rd April

To put names to calls not already mentioned – Darko S57AX, Marko S57MS, Marko S56CW, Milan S58MU, Jurij S57AJJ, Marjan S56IHX and Marijan S56IAA. Apologies to anyone who I have missed and to anyone who has activated a particularly rare summit that I have not picked up on.


Signing off

It has been a balancing act this month – nothing to report on from many countries, but a welcome upsurge in interest in the UK and steady growth maintained in Slovenia. Exactly how this will pan out over the year, I don’t know, but at least the word seems to be slowly getting around that the band is eminently suitable for summit operations.

So once again my best wishes to all 70cms activators. Keep safe out on the hills and mountains and I wish you all safe travel to and from the summits.

73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News


There are some interesting items of news to report this month. Firstly I was very pleased to see activations on 70cms from Bartek SQ9OJN which are the first from Poland to be entered on the database. This is excellent news and I hope to be able to report further on his activations in coming months. The summits activated were Mogielica SP/BZ-014 on 22nd May, Luboń Wielki SP/BZ-031 on 25th May and Mędralowa SP/BZ-015 and Jalowiec SP/BZ-022 on 29th May.

Activity has increased in Slovenia, Norway, Germany, Switzerland and the UK, but elsewhere there has not been any activity. The meteoric rise of activity in the UK has levelled out much as expected. Reporting on 70cms activity from Slovenia continues to be a major task. During the period under review I extracted 113 activations from the 70cms database with 25 activators entering logs containing 70cms into the database. Several of these operators also entered logs without 70cms contacts, so the level of SOTA activity across the bands in the country is very high. This month I actually have an excuse to continue to concentrate on the rarer summits with Bojan S56LXN having activated a string of them.

So to the activity –

Slovenia

This month another 3 activators recorded 70cms contacts in the database taking the total so far this year to 49. Of the top 22 activators, only one was not out on the summits making 70cms contacts this month. In all 25 activators made 70cms entries in the database. This shows the high level of commitment to the band by the top activators.

So to the regional reports:

BI

The big news this month is the activity by Bojan S56LXN. On 7th May he activated Strešni vrh S5/BI-078 and Kota 836 (Kraje) S5/BI-069 On 9th May he was on Kamnik (Veliki vrh) S5/BI-020 and Kotecnik S5/BI-032. Then on 13th the summits were Vinski vrh S5/BI-047, Ostenik (Žrebljev hrib) S5/BI-071 and Reška planina S5/BI-013. On 18th May he activated Orljek S5/BI-067 and Veliko Kozje S5/BI-064 followed by Lisca S5/BI-065. Ojstrež S5/BI-066 and Sveta Trojica S5/BI-068 on 22nd May. As if that were not enough, he went on to activate Tolsti vrh S5/BI-021 and Hum S5/BI-054. The database shows that only 2 of these summits have been activated more than 10 times, several no more than a couple of times before Bojan’s activation. Marko S56CW, Jani S57CJ, Darko S57AX, Marko S57MS. Ivan S57TI and Rozalija S55TR were also on summits in the region during the month, so there was plenty of activity on the band.

BR

Just two activations contained 70cms contacts this month. Bojan S56LXN activated the rare summit of Strgarija S5/BR-007 on 1st May and Marko S56CW activated Veliki Snežnik S5/BR-001 on 28th May.

CP

This region continues to be popular, though none of the summits were particularly rare. I picked out the activations by Aco S52Q of Grmada S5/CP-028 on 11th May and those by Marko S57MS and Jani S57CJ of Straža S5/CP-029, carried out on the 1st and 20th respectively, as being those least activated. Even so each of these has had 15 activations. Others active in the region were Marko S56CW, Darko S57AX, Zvone S57PZ, Jure S53JP, Milos S57D, Sabina S56BNX, Negro S55KM and Jure S57XX.

GS

Once again no 70cms activations to report from this region.

JA

I noted the activations of Police S5/JA-044 and Planski vrh S5/JA-069 on 2nd May by Jurij S57AJJ, Jani S57CJ and Darko S57AX, but there do not appear to have been any other activations on 70cms in the region this month.

KA

Many activators carried out at least one activation in this region this month. A number of summits were rare. Bojan S56LXN activated Vajnež S5/KA-030 on 3rd May, as did Marjan S56JAZ on 22nd May. Marko S56CW activated Veliki vrh S5/KA-031 on 8th May and Marjan S56IHX was on the summit of Virnikov Grintavec S5/KA-022 the same day.

KS

Marijan S52TC activated 7 summits in this region during the period under consideration. The least common summits were Kalški greben S5/KS-007 activated on 6th May and Grintovec S5/KS-001 on 24th May. Marko S56CW also activated KS-007 on 20th May. Marko started the month on 5th May activating Vovar S5/KS-044. Other relatively rare summits activated were Rzenik S5/KS-016 by Marijan S56IAA on 7th May, Goli vrh S5/KS-017 by Marjan S56IHX on 8th May, Kavnikov vrh S5/KS-032 by Ivan S57TI and Rozalija S55TR on 9th May and Kavnikov vrh S5/KS-032 by S52ANG Alojz the same day. I must also mention new activator Ferdo S52OA who was on the summit of Vivodnik S5/KS-028 on 1st May.

PK

Just one activation included 70cms this month – that by Lovro S50LD of Velika Kopa S5/PK-002 on 7th May.

RG

Only 2 activations in this region this month. Marko S57MS was on the summit of Ljuben S5/RG-047 on 22nd May and Sergej S51ZJ activated Blošcek S5/RG-015 on 29th May.

TK

There was limited activity in this region. Zvone S57PZ and Jure S53JP activated Marutnik S5/TK-024 on 1st May. Marko S57MS activated this summit on 13th May together with Ulovka S5/TK-028. He had activated Kobalove planine S5/TK-026 earlier in the month on 6th May and then Vrh Sv. Treh Kraljev S5/TK-025 on 27th May.


Austrian border summits

5 summits were activated on 70cms this month.

Koschutnikturm OE/KT-079– Marko S56CW 7th May
Bärentaler Kotschna OE/KT-103– Jurij S57AJJ 14th May, Jani S57CJ 26th May
Techantinger Mit­tagskogel OE/KT-104 – Marko S56CW 29th May
Kahlkogel OE/KT-117 – Jure S57XX 7th May, Darko S57AX, Franci S57MZO and Jani S57CJ 22nd May,
Dreiländereck OE/KT-149 – Marko S57MS 14th May


Signing off

Well all I can say is thank goodness for felt tip pens to mark up list after list! It has taken quite a bit of sorting out once again, but it is still good to report such a high level of activity. Let’s hope for more from other countries next month.

As usual I send my best wishes to all 70cms activators, hoping that you all stay safe out on the hills and mountains and I wish you all safe travel to and from the summits.

73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News


This month is one of ups and downs and one very notable stationary statistic – that being the number of activators in Slovenia which has not increased this month. The downs were in the amount of activity, particularly in Slovenia where the high level of activations carried out in May was not sustained into June. Nonetheless, there were a further number of rare summits activated and indeed a first for Marjan S56JAZ when he activated Vernar S5/JA-070 on 25th June.

There were an increased number of entrants into the 70cms database in Poland where two other activators put their logs online. In Hungary, Feri HA4BF has now been joined by three more activators using the band. Armin DL5MGH put the first activation in this year in the DL (High Mountains) and three activators are now using the band in the EA2 region of Spain.


So to the activity (all activity on FM unless otherwise noted) –

Slovenia

As noted above, there was significantly less activity in Slovenia during June However, the total of 40 activations was more than double that for the UK. Several operators once again sought out the less frequently activated summits. As there are relatively few activations, I will mention them all -

BI

Bojan S56LXN was on the summit of Golevec S5/BI-036 on 4th June. The following date three summits were activated – Col S5/BI-053, Veliki špicek S5/BI-043 and Plešivec S5/BI-040. On 11th June he was on the summit of Obolno S5/BI-031and on 29th June on Pri turnu.S5/BI-051.

BR

I noted a 70cms spot for Marko S57MS on 30th June as I was setting up this report. The summit was Golic S5/BR-015. As far as I know, this was the only activity on the band in BR region during the month.

CP

Just three activations this month in this region. First up was Marko S56CW who activated Crni vrh S5/CP-036 on 12th June. Marijan S56IAA was out on 21st June on the summit of Porezen S5/CP-002 and Jure S57XX worked Marijan S56IAA/P from the summit of Miklavška gora S5/CP-018 on 25th June.

GS

No activity this month

JA

Darko S57AX and Jani S57CJ were out on 1st June on the summit of Debela pecS5/JA-029. On 10th June Marjan S56JAZ activated Slatnik S5/JA-035. Marko S56CW was on the summit of Kravja Crna gora S5/JA-067 on 12th June.

Marijan S52TC activated Tolminski kuk S5/JA-025 and Mahavcek (Veliki Bogatin) S5/JA-062 on 16th June. Marjan S56JAZ was out again on 25th June activating Vernar S5/JA-070. The following day Marko S56CW activated Mali Draški vrh S5/JA-061 and Mesnovec S5/JA-039. On 29th June, Jure S57XX was on Planski vrh S5/JA-069 from where he worked Marijan for an S2S.

KA

On 4th June Marko S56CW was on the summit of Tolsti vrh S5/KA-017 and the following day the choice of summit was Begunjšcica (Veliki vrh) S5/KA-007. He activated Šentanski vrh S5/KA-029 on 11th June. Marijan S56IAA was on Veliki vrh S5/KA-031 on 17th June, Srednji vrh S5/KA-012 on 25th June and on Veliki Javornik (Ženiklovec) S5/KA-018 on 29th June.

KS

Four activations were carried out using 70cms in this region during June Immediately before that Marijan S52TC activated Planjava S5/KS-004 on 31st May. On 11th June, Negro S55KM was on the summit of Velika Raduha S5/KS-012. There was then a break of two weeks before Marko S56CW activated Velika Zelenica S5/KS-010 on 25th. The following day Marjan S56IHX was on Kranjska Reber S5/KS-029 and Toni S51TS activated Uršlja gora S5/KS-018 on 29th June.

PK

No activity this month

RG

Four activations in this region starting off with Marko S57MS who was on the summit of Šop (Novaška gora) S5/RG-020 on 4th June and on 12th June the summit was Srebotnik S5/RG-034. Also on 12th June, Sergey S51ZJ activated Stene Svete Ane S5/RG-022 and on 18th June Bojan S56LXN activated Petelinjek S5/RG-004.

TK

Just three activations in this region this month. On 10th June Marko S57MS activated Mrzovec S5/TK-005 and a week later on 17th June he was on the summit of Goli vrh.S5/TK-023. Bojan S56LXN activated Ulovka S5/TK-028 on 15th June.

Austrian border summits

Only one summit was activated on 70cms this month which was on 26th June when Marko S57MS activated Steinberg (Kamnik) OE/KT-131.


Signing off

Well I got my wish this month as there was considerably more activity from other countries. I still continue to be surprised how overall 70cms operation is still a rare activity from the summits, particularly as the band is ready available on the more popular rigs and antennas are small making the band an easy add-on to the main operation. One month I think this report is having an effect, the next I am not so sure. Only time will tell if we all take the band to heart as they have in Slovenia.

So my very best wishes to all 70cms activators for successful activations. I hope that you will all stay safe, both out on the summits and on your travels.

73

Gerald G4OIG

70cms News


From what I have seen on the database, July has been another unusual month in terms of 70cms SOTA operations. I found no activity in Norway, Austria, Hungary or Czechia, but we have new activators on the band in Spain and Switzerland. The number of activators has also risen in Germany, with a total of 20 now active this year across the two associations. However, the main piece of news is that Italy is now firmly on the 70cms map and I start with that (as usual all activity is on FM unless otherwise noted) –

Slovenia

The amount of activity picked up this month. Of the total of 50 activators that have now submitted 70cms logs to the SOTA database around 50% make contacts on a regular basis. There has not been much movement in the order of the top group of activators and Marijan S52TC continues to hold top spot in the 2011 rankings despite just a single activation logged this month.

It was good to see Iztok S53IZ putting in his first 70cms entry for 2011. Several S2S contacts were made during the activation, so he may be encouraged to carry out some more activations soon. Several activators log the S2S contacts made in their database entries which is pleasing to see as it gives an indication of the level of activity. In total, as of 21:00UTC on 29th July, the number of entries made for 70cms contacts during July numbered 59.

So to the activity, which I am giving in shorthand this month as time is unfortunately restricted in preparing this report -

BI

16th – Limbarska gora S5/BI-033 – Milos S57D (70cms only activation) and Sabina S57BNX
17th – Obolno S5/BI-031 – Matej S56LCH
17th – Osrenca S5/BI-072 – Jure S57XX
29th – Limbarska gora S5/BI-033 - Marijan S56IAA

BR

9th Veliki Javornik S5/BR-005 – Milos S57D and Sabina S57BNX

CP

1st - Vrh Staneta Kosca (Rašica) S5/CP-031 S2S S56IAA on S5/KS-010 – Bojan S56LXN
10th Porezen S5/CP-002 S2S S56CW and S52TC – Milos S57D, Sabina S57BNX, Jan S57DJ, Zvone S57PZ and Jure S53JP
17th Vrh Staneta Kosca (Rašica) S5/CP-031 – Milos S57D

GS

No activations this month

JA

2nd – Vernar S5/JA-070 – Marko S56CW (only second activation of this summit)
3rd - Slatnik S5/JA-035 – Milos S57D (including 9 contacts on SSB), Sabina S57BNX and Jan S57DJ
8th – Triglav S5/JA-001 - Marijan S56IAA
9th – Triglav S5/JA-001 – Marko S56CW
9th – Kokošinjca (vrh 1401) S5/JA-068 – Bojan S56LXN (only fifth activation of this summit)
10th – Kanjavec S5/JA-007 – Marko S56CW and Marjan S56JAZ (only fifth activation of this summit)
11th – Veliko špicje (Lepa špica)S5/JA-015 – Marjan S56JAZ (only second activation of this summit)
17th – Mesnovec S5/JA-039 - S2S with S57D – Negro S55KM


KA

3rd – Kepa S5/KA-003 – Marko S56CW
3rd - Tolsti vrh S5/KA-017 S2S with S56CW and S57D – Marjan S56IHX
3rd - Javorce (Konjšcica) S5/KA-021 – Marko S57MS
8th – Kepa S5/KA-003– Zvone S57PZ and Jure S53JP

KS

1st – Velika Zelenica S5/KS-010 S2S S56LXN - Marijan S56IAA
2nd – Veliki Rogatec S5/KS-027 - Marjan S56JAZ
9th – Vovar S5/KS-044 – Marko S57MS
10th – Skuta S5/KS-003 – Marijan S52TC
16th – Veliki Rogatec S5/KS-027 S2S with S53IZ - Marijan S56IAA and Bojan S56LXN
17th – Gradišce (Njivica) S5/KS-020 – Darko S57AX and Jurij S57AJJ
19th - Velika Zelenica S5/KS-010 – Negro S55KM

PK

No activations this month

RG

7th – Mackovec S5/RG-053 – Bojan S56LXN (only fifth activation of this summit)
23rd – Turn S5/RG-003 - Marko S57MS

TK

2nd - Kuk S5/TK-012 S2S S56CW on S5/JA-070 – Bojan S56LXN
15th – Debeli hrib S5/TK-037 – Marko S57MS (only fifth activation of this summit)
16th - Sveti Lovrenc (Gora) S5/TK-021 S2S S56LXN / S56IAA on S5/KS-027 – Iztok S53IZ
17th Ulovka S5/TK-028 – S57D Milos

Austrian border summits

3rd - Mittagskogel OE/KT-074 – Marko S56CW
8th - Mittagskogel OE/KT-074 – Zvone S57PZ and Jure S53JP
17th - Oisternig OE/KT-088 - Marko S57MS
17th – Starhand OE/KT-099 - Marko S57MS


Signing off

Apologies for the lack of detail this month. Time has been short and it has been difficult to prepare the report for the Summitsbase News and this trend looks set to continue for the remainder of the year. There will not be a report in the next edition of the Summitsbase News as I will be away during August and have family commitments immediately thereafter. Hopefully I will be able to pick up the reins in September.

For some time now I have been seeking ways of providing news that is of interest. With the enforced break in report writing, I may start with a new format from September which is in the form of highlights rather than a general report. This may allow me time to look at producing some simple graphics, but I am not promising anything. Certainly any photographs relevant to 70cms activations would be appreciated for inclusion in the reports.

So I hope all activators using 70cms have successful activations. Stay safe on the summits and take care on your travels.

73

Gerald G4OIG