SOTA Mountain Goat – at last

MG glass blockAfter more than 10 years of activating SOTA summits I have finally achieved 1000 activator points, qualifying me to be a SOTA Mountain Goat.
I made my first SOTA activation at VK3/VC-025 Mt Dandenong on 26 February 2012 using a Yaesu FT7, SSB and a link dipole.

My Mountain Goat activation was at VK3/VC-029 Briarty Hill on 3 July 2022 using an FT817, FT8 and SSB and an inverted L antenna.

I have made 233 activations on 64 different summits, logged 3702 QSOs and 1020 unique call signs. Of these activations 230 were qualified using SSB or FM, two were using CW and one was by FT8.

Most of my activations have been alone but I have done combined activations with Allen VK3ARH, Glenn VK3YY, Kevin VK3KAB, Marshall VK3MRG, Matt VK1MA and Chris, VK3TYG. I have also bumped into Rik VK3EQ and Ron VK3AFW near or on summits doing their own activations.

My most memorable activation so far was at VK3/VT-006, Mt St Phillack with in 2013 where I made contact with Mike, AD5A in Texas on 12m with just 5 Watts on SSB.

SOTLAS and SOTAdata shows my SOTA activities.

VK3ZPF SOTA activationsMy top 10 activated summits

Position Summit Code Name Count
1 VK3/VC-002 Mt Donna Buang 10
=1 VK3/VC-009 Mt Bride 10
3 VK3/VC-029 Briarty Hill 8
4 VK3/VC-025 Mt Dandenong 7
=4 VK3/VC-011 Britannia Range 7
=4 VK3/VC-016 Mt Beenak 7
=4 VK3/VN-027 Mt Gordon 7
=4 VK3/VC-037 VK3/VC-037 7
=4 VK3/VT-040 Spion Kopje 7
10 VK3/VC-003 Mt Ritchie 6
=10 VK3/VC-005 Mt Vinegar 6
=10 VK3/VC-031 Arthurs Seat 6
=10 VK3/VT-078 Gentle Annie 6

My top 10 activation chasers

Position Activator Call sign Count
1 VK3PF 152
2 VK2IO 94
3 VK3YY 92
4 VK5PAS 84
5 VK1MA 68
6 VK3CAT 65
7 VK3AFW 63
8 VK3HRA 54
9 VK3AMB 44
10 VK3ANL 42

Given that it has taken more than 10 years to get my first 1000 activator points I’d suggest it is a safe bet that I won’t be getting to double MG anytime in the next 10 years.

Posted in Amateur Radio, FT7, Radio awards, SOTA | Leave a comment

New VK port-a-log version released named, Warburton_01

Today I have released the latest version of VK port-a-log, named Warburton_01.
This version has the following updates (since Gisborne_02);

  • HEMA logging
  • HEMA spotting (VK only)
  • Silos On The Air, SiOTA, logging and spotting (VK only)
  • revised file name format for WWFF ADIF upload file
  • option to add MY_SOTA reference to the WWFF upload file
  • option to change column 6 in the QSO log display to show name or mode
  • SIG and MY_SIG preference options added (WWFF and SiOTA )
  • change to the my references display at the top of screen – tap to see all references
  • Compatible with Android 5.0 – Android 11
  • Updated ParksnPeaks.org interface to use HTTPS
  • Re-write of sliding panes for smoother transitions
  • Improved text sizing for better viewing on different devices
  • Choice of 6 or 8 digit Maidenhead locator
  • Main ADIF export format improved
  • SOTA V2 csv export file renamed
  • Updated VKFF park listings
  • Bug fix – Leading spaces in <QTH> ADIF field removed
  • Bug fix – KRMNPA spot repost function improved
  • Bug fix – Numbers hot key functionality improved
  • Bug fix – Incorrect capitalisation in names.csv file fixed
  • Bug fix – Multiple mentions of SOTA ref in notes field of SOTA csv file removed
  • Bug fix – restored auto focus to call sign when returning to logging screen
  • Bug fix – excessive save time for WWFF logs over 40 QSOs
  • Bug fix – callsign in title bar disappears when ‘Maiden’ function is used
  • Bug fix – unwanted efault notification sounds – Android 8 and above
  • Bug fix – GPS info was being retained when references were manually changed
  • Bug fix – keyboard selection improved for frequency entry for SOTA and PnP spots

Details of VK port-a-log can be found at vk3zpf.com/vk-port-a-log

Start Up screen2

Posted in Amateur Radio, Android, HEMA, KRMNPA, Radio awards, SiOTA, SOTA, VK port-a-log, VK Shires, WWFF | Leave a comment

New VK port-a-log version released named, Gisborne_02

Today I have released the latest version of VK port-a-log, named Gisborne_02.
This version has the following change;

  • Update SOTAwatch3 interface to use HTTPS

All existing functions and features remain the same.

Details of VK port-a-log can be found at vk3zpf.com/vk-port-a-log

Posted in Amateur Radio, Android, Radio awards, SOTA, VK port-a-log, VKFF, WWFF | Leave a comment

New VK port-a-log version released named, Gisborne_01

Today I have released the latest version of VK port-a-log, named Gisborne_01.
This version has the following additions and changes;

  • Post QSO entry is now available
  • SOTAwatch spots are now processed via SOTAwatch3
  • ParksnPeaks spots are now processed via the new Parksnpeaks API
  • GPS coordinates display on the location screen rounded to 5 decimal places
  • “On this day…” notifications only show once per day
  • SOTAwatch spots can be set to only show latest spot for each call sign
  • ParksnPeaks spots can be set to only show latest spot for each call sign
  • Hot keys can be hidden from the logging screen
  • On-air call sign can be shown at the top of screen
  • Tap SOTAwatch spots title to refresh spots list
  • Tap ParksnPeaks spots title to refresh spots list
  • Added S2S summit reference to SOTA notes field in combined SOTA csv file
  • Increased refresh of Spot sent time
  • Five drop down texts for SOTAwatch spot comments (tap underlined word Comments to access)
  • Five drop down texts for ParksnPeaks spot comments (tap underlined word Comments to access)
  • Short-cuts to common settings from the opening splash screen (tap line starting with asterisk * to open setting box)
  • Option to use last selected SOTAwatch spot comment as default comment
  • Option to clear existing SOTAwatch spot comment when new comment is selected
  • Option to use last selected ParksnPeaks spot comment as default comment
  • Option to clear existing ParksnPeaks spot comment when new comment is selected
  • Improved layout of logging screen with larger space for callsign entry
  • SMS SOTAwatch spots added – including Australia, Europe, North America, Austria, Hungary and Italy
  • SMS ParksnPeaks spots added – VK number only
  • Antenna in use field added to activation settings, ADIF and _all.csv output files
  • Recall of contacted station’s SOTA, WWFF and/or VK Shire reference from the previous QSO on the same local day.
  • Access control has been added to allow blocking VK port-a-log versions from accessing SOTAwatch and/or ParksnPeaks if they are no longer compatible.
  • Minor bug fixes.

Opening screen for VK port-a-log Gisborne_01

 

Posted in Amateur Radio, Android, Radio awards, SOTA, VK port-a-log, VK Shires, VKFF, WWFF | 2 Comments

Changes coming to SOTAwatch and VK port-a-log

The SOTA team who manage the SOTA database, have recently announced the February 29, 2020 shutdown of SOTAwatch2 and full implementation of SOTAwatch3. Details are available here.

So, what does this mean for VK port-a-log users?
For those using any version published before March 2019, including all Moondarra versions, the worst case is all SOTAwatch spot functions within VK port-a-log will stop operating and only SOTA chaser files will be accepted for upload.

Fortunately a small group have been beta testing a new version that is fully compatible with all the published changes that are coming to SOTAwatch. A number of bugs have been found and corrected and final testing is now underway.

In addition to being fully compatible with SOTAwatch3,  the new version also has the following additions;

  • Post QSO entry is now available
  • Short-cuts to common settings from the opening splash screen
  • ParksnPeaks spots are now processed via the new Parksnpeaks API
  • GPS coordinates display on the location screen now rounded to 5 decimal places
  • “On this day…” notifications only show once per day
  • SOTAwatch spots can be set to only show latest spot for each call sign
  • ParksnPeaks spots can be set to only show latest spot for each call sign
  • Hot keys can be hidden from the logging screen
  • On-air call sign can be shown at the top of screen
  • Tap SOTAwatch spots title to refresh spots list
  • Tap ParksnPeaks spots title to refresh spots list
  • Added S2S summit reference to SOTA notes field in combined SOTA csv file
  • Increased refresh of Spot sent time
  • Improved management of access to SOTAwatch and ParksnPeaks
  • Five drop down texts for SOTAwatch spot comments
  • Five drop down texts for ParksnPeaks spot comments
  • Option to use last selected SOTAwatch spot comment as default comment
  • Option to clear existing SOTAwatch spot comment when new comment is selected
  • Option to use last selected ParksnPeaks spot comment as default comment
  • Option to clear existing ParksnPeaks spot comment when new comment is selected
  • Improved layout of logging screen with larger space for callsign entry
  • SMS SOTAwatch spots added – including SMS gateways in Australia, Europe, North America, Austria, Hungary and Italy
  • SMS ParksnPeaks spots added – SMS gateway in Australia only
  • Antenna in use field added to activation settings, ADIF and _all.csv output files
  • Recall of contacted station’s SOTA, WWFF and/or VK Shire reference from the previous QSO on the same local day.
  • Various non-critical bugs have also been fixed.

All going well the next release of VK port-a-log will be made available, via the vk3zpf logger – IO group file section, on Tuesday 28 January 2020.

Posted in Amateur Radio, Android, SOTA, VK port-a-log, VK Shires, VKFF, WWFF | Leave a comment