The SOTA Management Team launched a special challenge for 2026: a distance-based scoring challenge using CW and SSB on the 2m and 70cm bands. The announcement is here on the SOTA reflector.
The basic idea is to encourage SOTA contacts using CW or SSB on these two bands. Because the scoring is based on distance, you need to enter the location of the other station. When chasing a summit, the location is already known by the SOTA database, but you need to have your location entered into the logging system. Summit-to-Summit contacts are easy to log because both locations are known. The hassle comes up when you are activating a summit and need the chaser’s location. An easy way to share location info is using the 6-character grid locator (e.g., DM78av at my house). Some chasers may know their 6-character locator but you may need to look it up. I usually ask the other operator if they are operating at home so I can look up the grid later. If they are away from home, I ask for enough information to be able to determine their grid.
W0C Activity
I wasn’t sure how many folks would pursue this challenge here in Colorado, but we are off to a good start. Here’s the current activator summary:
K0JJW and I have activated 5 times for the challenge, and have been pleasantly surprised with the number of chasers who get on, primarily using 2m SSB. It seems that some hams have 2m SSB capability, but don’t have many opportunities to use it. So they come out to play!
There are a few things to be aware of when operating these bands and modes:
Antenna Polarization
The first thing we ran into was the need to make sure both stations have the same antenna polarization. Common practice on VHF/UHF is to use vertical polarization for FM (and similar modes), but use horizontal polarization for CW/SSB and other weak-signal modes. The serious stations on CW/SSB will tend to have large Yagi antennas, horizontally polarized. But we soon found that many of the chasers at home were using vertical antennas on CW/SSB, because that’s what they have set up. No problem, on the summit we just flipped our handheld Yagi antenna to be vertical. The point is that antenna polarization should be taken into account, else you can experience a substantial signal loss.
Tuning in SSB
Another issue that surfaced is the need to do more precise tuning when using SSB. For FM, you can just dial in 146.52 or whatever and call it good. If there is a small frequency difference between stations, it does not matter. On SSB, a few hundred Hertz of frequency difference (which is common) causes the familiar “Donald Duck” effect, so you need to tune more carefully.
Most people know that the 2m SSB calling frequency is 144.200 MHz, so they start there. But if you hear an activator on 144.2001, you should tune to match their frequency when you call them. Don’t just sit on 144.200 and think “the other station is off frequency.”
Calling Frequency
Some sources list 144.100 or even 144.060 as the 2m CW calling frequency. These frequencies can be used, but common practice in Colorado is to just call CW or SSB on 144.200 MHz. That way, people monitoring the band for activity can find it more easily. Same thing with 432.100 MHz on the 70 cm band. Clearly, posting spots on SOTAwatch can really help with making CW & SSB contacts.
When activity picks up, the calling frequency can get busy. This is why most radios have a big knob on the front of the radio that allows you to tune up or down. Standard practice is to move up 5 or 10 kHz, as needed. If you are operating on the calling frequency for a long period of time, you should not be surprised if other people show up on the frequency. It works best if everyone cooperates, shares the frequency, and moves to adjacent frequencies when possible. This is similar to how 146.52 MHz can get busy on FM, so people shift to other simplex frequencies, such as NAAF 146.58 MHz, to spread things out.
Quansheng UV-K5
Various people have hacked the Quansheng UV-K5, a dualband HT, to operate using CW and SSB. The modification consists of loading new firmware and, in some cases, doing a simple hardware modification. This video provides an overview of how this works. Many people are having fun modifying this HT, and it is an inexpensive way to get up and running on CW/SSB.
So come on out and give CW/SSB a try on VHF/UHF.
73 Bob K0NR
We accessed Red Mountain 3 (RM3) by taking Highway 550 to Red Mountain Pass. The road for RM3 is County Road 14 but is not well marked. The turnoff (shown on the map above) is just south of Red Mtn Pass, going to the east (37.89587, -107.71369). County Road 14 is a narrow but easy road, barely 4WD, that leads to the gate (37.89476, -107.70774). We parked there and hiked up the road.
