8 January 2023. In 2023 VK1 is celebrating 10 years of the amateur radio Summits on the Air (SOTA) awards program which for VK1 officially commenced on 1 February 2013.
To help celebrate the 10 year milestone our esteemed local VK1 SOTA Manager, Wade VK1MIC sought and gained permission from the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for the issue of a special event callsign ‘VI10SOTA’, Victor-India-Ten-SOTA.
Wade kicked off the 10th year celebrations on 1 January 2023 with VI10SOTA by activating Mount Ainslie VK1/AC-040 in the heart of Canberra, Australia’s Capital Territory (ACT).
Yesterday evening I combined VI10SOTA and Mount Stromlo VK1/AC-043 for an opportunity to promote the special event callsign for enthusiastic Dx SOTA chasers to work. My aim was to work Europe long path in the 90 minute window before VK east coast sunset at 0920 UTC or 2020h local time.
In the past week HF propagation conditions have been mixed, my expectations of a good LP opening were tempered by past experiences, nevertheless I was prepared to stick out the activation from 0800 to 0920 UTC and I am glad I did 🙂
Below is an extract of my SOTA activator log and although not the highest number of LP SOTA chaser contacts I have made on 20m SSB. Given the propagation conditions on 20m I am happy with the results of my first outing with VI10SOTA, celebrating 10 years of SOTA in VK1. During this activation I was very pleased to work three JA stations, which is three more than usual.
At 0810 UTC 20m LP propagation paused, there may have been a complete 20m fadeout, did someone turn off the LP switch? 😦 Suddenly at 0840 UTC 20m reopened and I continued to complete a successful activation IMHO 🙂
VI10SOTA on VK1/AC-043 (Mt Stromlo), 08 Jan 2023
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 07:42 | ZL1SKL | 20m | SSB | Soren s58 r55 |
| 07:44 | JG0AWE | 20m | SSB | Hiroaki s53 r33 |
| 07:45 | VK6NU | 20m | SSB | John s56 r41 |
| 07:46 | F4WBN | 20m | SSB | Chris s58 r55 |
| 07:48 | ZL2STR | 20m | SSB | Stewart s58 r33 |
| 07:50 | JH1MXV | 20m | SSB | Hideo s58 r52 |
| 07:51 | ZL2ATH | 20m | SSB | Wynne s55 r31 |
| 07:52 | UW8SM | 20m | SSB | Andri s55 r33 |
| 07:53 | S57S | 20m | SSB | Alek s57 r32 |
| 07:54 | ZL3MR | 20m | SSB | John s59 r42 |
| 08:07 | 7N1FRE | 20m | SSB | Kaz s55 r35 |
| 08:30 | VK3PF | 40m | SSB | Peter s58 r56 |
| 08:37 | VK2NNN | 40m | SSB | Darren s59 r43 |
| 08:42 | OH6GAZ | 20m | SSB | Juha s57 r51 |
| 08:43 | SA4BLM | 20m | SSB | Lars s58 r52 |
| 08:53 | 2E0YYY/P | 20m | SSB | Mike s52 r33 portable |
| 08:56 | 2E0VRX | 20m | SSB | Craig s58 r41 |
| 09:14 | G4OBK | 20m | SSB | Phil s58 r44 |
Countries worked on 20m: New Zealand, Japan, France, Ukraine, Slovenia, Finland, Sweden and the UK. In Australia on 40m and 20m, VK2, VK3 and VK6 🙂
VI10SOTA QSOs map
My radio gear: Antenna is a 20m 1/4 wave ground plane with four elevated radials combined with a Yaesu FT-857D @ 25watts. Battery is a 8.4Ah 4S LIFEPO4.
Get out of the Radio Shack and Live Life 