Activation reports and photos from the first
four months of 2010 can be found here.
International SOTA Weekend 2010 - Saturday 1st May
The 2nd International SOTA Weekend was to have a different design for the
Macclesfield team of Sean M0GIA, Jimmy M3EYP and Tom M1EYP. For the inaugural
event last year, we did Gun G/SP-013 for Saturday daytime,
The Cloud G/SP-015 for Saturday night and
Kinder Scout G/SP-001 for Sunday. This time Sean stated
he wanted to do an overnight on Gun. Well, who was I to argue? ISW was Sean's
idea, after all.
Liam was up for the camp, but Jimmy wasn't. However, a plan was hatched and the
three of us set off, late morning on Saturday 1st May 2010. "Kitting up" took
much longer than usual at the parking spot, as I loaded myself, Jimmy and Liam
up with four HF antennas, two SOTA poles, SB270, WASP, walking poles, tent,
tarp, plus two bags of food. I don't normally invite my lads to accept such a
payload, but it was a very short and easy walk. I forgot to start calling them
'Rooster' and 'Peanut' in honour of the situation though!
I decided to get everything set up first, so having pitched the £11 two-man
single skin Sainsbury's tent, I was still putting HF dipoles up when Sean M0GIA
and Daniel arrived. Jimmy made a start on 2m FM using his handheld and the SB270
mounted on WASP Special and Leki pole. I put up the dipoles for 80m, 40m and 30m
on the same fishing pole, and the 20m Magic Moggy on the other one, giving
myself a selection of feeders at my operating spot - a patch of grass a few feet
forward from the tent. It was a calm, sunny and warm afternoon - perfect for ISW.
We knew from the forecast there was likely to be a deterioration later, but now
was to be enjoyed - even the grass was bone dry allowing us to sit anywhere
without a mat and avoid getting wet.
By the time I was QRV, Sean had long been set up. He jibed me that my single
band resonant aerials might be more efficient than his 160m to 70cm system, but
that he a single feeder and was set up long before me even though he arrived
later. I invited him to compare logbooks by the Sunday afternoon, but he was
quick to change the subject at that point! Greg 2E0RXX arrived on summit
for some afternoon SOTA, and it seems, to run around being silly with Daniel and
Liam! It was nice to have an early visit from a fellow Macclesfield radio
amateur.
During the afternoon, I worked on 20m CW and 40m CW. Jimmy did 2m FM and SSB.
Sean was keeping busy on the radio and later plucked up courage to work a few on
80m CW. Liam and Dan played around the trig point and surrounding area. Liam was
enjoying himself so much that he decided he was camping out that night rather
than going home when Marianne picked Jimmy up. S2S made in the first afternoon
session included Tom M3XFG/P and James G7MLO/P on Shining
Tor G/SP-004 and Dave GW7SKR/P on Moel y Gamelin
GW/NW-042. Lunch was served from my flask as usual, but this time it
contained only hot water to pour in our Pot Noodles!
At 4pm, I got a text to say that Marianne was at the parking spot. I invited her
to walk up, as the path was unusually dry, and to see for herself how much fun
Liam was having. She declined as she was expecting visitors for Saturday tea
(the visitors happened to be Sean's XYL Trish and daughter Tash), so I walked
down with Jimmy. The reason for me making the trip was that with Liam's change
of heart, I needed to retrieve another sleep mat and sleeping bag from my car.
Back on summit, I kicked off on 30m CW for a short run before connecting up to
the 6 element 70cm Yagi for the 70cm contest and the 70cm and up contest! The
serial number reached was a breathtaking 005, with 006 added the following
morning. As much as I fancied a beer, I decided to take Sean's advice to leave
it to much later so as not to take the edge off the operating.
A brief dabble on 40m SSB failed to completed the attempted S2S with Mads
LA1TPA/P on LA/TM-048, so it was then onto 80m for the early evening session.
After just four QSOs on CW, things were quiet, so I switched to SSB. Straight
away I worked Bill GW4WSB/P on Y Golfa GW/NW-061,
followed by a good run on 3.655MHz SSB. Switching to 40m CW I snagged S2S with
DK1HW/P on DM/NS-125, HA2VR/P on HA/KD-003 and Z35F/P on Z3/WM-030 in amongst
the other QSOs. I then offered up the summit on 2m FM, but attracted only four
takers, including Steve GW7AAV for his sole point on ISW, and Jimmy M3EYP
enjoying the comfort of the shack and the luxury of a hot buffet!
By now, things had taken a slightly unpleasant turn weather-wise. The warmth
and calm of the day had gone. The wind direction had turned 180 degrees, meaning
that our site was no longer sheltered whatsoever, and it was cold - and getting
colder. Mercifully, there was no rain, but the wind strength increased as the
night wore on.
So much for the social element of the SOTA campover. Both Sean and I were now
zipped away in our respective tents with our respective sons. Liam's company was
a real pleasure as he enjoyed the simple relaxation of the situation somehow, in
conjunction with the survival element! Occasionally he would read one of the two
magazines he had taken with him - Top Gear magazine and (of course) the Auto
Trader - but he was mainly content to huddle in his sleeping bag and emerge
occasionally for food (Southern Fried Chicken wrap) and a drink.
The QSO rate slowed as I hopped frequently around the bands and modes, not
getting into a sustained running period on any of them. 30m CW, 80m CW, 80m SSB
and 40m CW were all sampled. I decided to brave the still worsening weather
around 10pm and delivered a can of Stella across to Sean's tent. Unknown to
Sean, his antenna was down, so I propped it back up again. This was the point
when I eagerly accepted Sean's offer of a couple of swigs from his half bottle
of Tesco blended Scotch whisky. And you know what? It was great! The same
couldn't be said for Sean's comment of "This wind is starting to die down now".
Grrr. Let me know your lottery numbers Sean, so I can pick some different ones!
Back in the tent, Liam was dozing off to sleep, but goodness knows how. It was
really blowing a hooley out there now, and this was rattleing the tent in almost
deafening fashion. I had to turn the volume and the sidetone right up on my 817
in order for it to remain usable! On 40m CW, a contest was in full flow, so I
worked a few of them as I myself began to feel really sleepy. Now I was fully
horizontal in my sleeping bag, which was lovely and warm. The sleeping bag is
rated at "down to -10", and unlike Andy MM0FMF, both Liam and myself found that
T-shirt and pants was more than sufficient nightwear. With my head on the hood
of the sleeping bag - with my other clothes under it to turn it into a pillow -
I had the Mini Palm Paddle inside the bag with me as I chased the 40m
contesters. Occasionally I had to reach my right arm out of the bag to write the
logging, but other than that it was very comfortable operating! It was great fun
working several USA stations on 40m and exchanging 599 reports! The team's
log for the Saturday of International SOTA Weekend was as follows:
2E0MAS |
2m |
FM |
J |
G7MLO/P on Shining Tor SP-004 |
2m |
FM |
J, G |
M3XFG/P on Shining Tor SP-004 |
2m |
FM |
T, S |
GW7SKR/P on Moel y Gamelin NW-042 |
2m |
FM |
J, T |
M3NVJ |
2m |
FM |
J |
2E0RXX |
2m |
FM |
J |
G0OON |
2m |
FM |
J |
G0TRB |
70cm |
FM |
S |
MW3ZCB/P on Y Garn NW-037 |
2m |
SSB |
S |
MW1MAJ/P on Y Garn NW-037 |
2m |
SSB |
J, S |
GW6WRW/P on Fan Fawr SW-005 |
2m |
SSB |
J, S |
G0TRB |
2m |
SSB |
S |
M0SNR |
2m |
FM |
J |
GW4EVX |
2m |
SSB |
S |
G0VOF |
2m |
SSB |
S |
G1INK/P on Shining Tor SP-004 |
2m |
SSB |
S |
2E0DAI |
2m |
SSB |
S |
DL3JL |
20m |
CW |
T |
SM6CMU |
20m |
CW |
T |
9A7W |
20m |
CW |
T |
LA8BCA |
20m |
CW |
T |
2E0BTR |
2m |
SSB |
S |
YL2UZ |
20m |
CW |
T |
HB9BIN |
20m |
CW |
T |
SM7HVQ |
20m |
CW |
T |
G3RMD |
2m |
SSB |
S |
HA5CW |
20m |
CW |
T |
G0LGS/P |
2m |
SSB |
S |
HA5MA |
20m |
CW |
T |
OK1CZ |
20m |
CW |
T |
G3WPF |
20m |
CW |
T |
MW6CSS |
2m |
FM |
J |
2W0TDX |
2m |
FM |
J |
MW0YHB/P on Fan Fawr SW-005 |
2m |
FM |
J |
9A2JG |
20m |
CW |
T |
M3HGH |
2m |
FM |
G |
M0EEG |
2m |
FM |
G |
HA2MN |
20m |
CW |
T |
G7PAL |
2m |
FM |
G |
F5AKL |
40m |
CW |
T |
F5SQA |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL3JPN |
40m |
CW |
T |
ON3ND |
40m |
CW |
T |
F6CXJ |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL2EF |
40m |
CW |
T |
HB9AAQ |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL6KVA |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL4FDM |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL8DXL |
40m |
CW |
T |
M3WJD |
70cm |
FM |
G |
I1GIS |
30m |
CW |
T |
DL6ATM |
30m |
CW |
T |
HA7UG |
30m |
CW |
T |
I2ZBX |
30m |
CW |
T |
OK1HCG |
30m |
CW |
T |
OE7PHI |
30m |
CW |
T |
LZ3SM |
30m |
CW |
T |
HF720S |
30m |
CW |
T |
OE5EEP |
30m |
CW |
T |
OK1FHD |
30m |
CW |
T |
GD0EMG |
70cm |
SSB |
T |
G0BWC |
70cm |
SSB |
T |
G3CKR/P |
70cm |
SSB |
T |
G8OHM/P |
70cm |
SSB |
T |
G5B |
70cm |
SSB |
T |
G4ELZ |
80m |
CW |
T, S |
DJ5AV |
80m |
CW |
T |
G3RMD |
80m |
CW |
T |
G0PEB |
80m |
CW |
T |
GW4WSB/P on Y Golfa NW-061 |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G4ELZ |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G4OBK |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G8BVJ |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G3OHC |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G0RQL |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G0VOF |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G3RDQ |
80m |
SSB |
T |
MM0USU |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G8ADD |
80m |
SSB |
T |
GM7UAU |
80m |
SSB |
T |
DK1HW/P on Bückeberg NS-125 |
40m |
CW |
T |
LA1ENA |
40m |
CW |
T |
SM3EVR |
40m |
CW |
T |
SP3GVX |
40m |
CW |
T |
OK2QA |
40m |
CW |
T |
HA2VR/P on Középsö-Hajag KD-003 |
40m |
CW |
T |
ON3ND |
40m |
CW |
T |
GI4SRQ |
80m |
CW |
S |
Z35F/P on Dve Ushi WM-030 |
40m |
CW |
T |
G0AZS |
80m |
CW |
S |
I2CZQ |
40m |
CW |
T |
G3RDQ |
80m |
SSB |
S |
LA8WF |
40m |
CW |
T |
HB9DDE |
40m |
CW |
T |
G4WSX |
40m |
CW |
T |
GW7AAV |
2m |
FM |
T |
M3EYP |
2m |
FM |
T |
G4OBK |
160m |
SSB |
S |
G0RQL |
160m |
SSB |
S |
G8ADD |
160m |
SSB |
S |
G0PEB |
160m |
SSB |
S |
G1ZGZ |
2m |
FM |
T |
G0NED |
2m |
FM |
T |
IK4PKK |
30m |
CW |
T |
S51WO |
30m |
CW |
T |
EW2BO |
30m |
CW |
T |
SP9GR |
30m |
CW |
T |
G4SSH |
80m |
CW |
T |
EI2CL |
80m |
CW |
T |
G7SKR |
80m |
CW |
T |
G7SKR |
80m |
SSB |
T |
IQ2MG |
40m |
CW |
T |
YR5T |
40m |
CW |
T |
N4AF |
40m |
CW |
T |
YO9HP |
40m |
CW |
T |
IR1Y |
40m |
CW |
T |
I6NXH |
40m |
CW |
T |
IQ9PA |
40m |
CW |
T |
W1KM |
40m |
CW |
T |
K1GQ |
40m |
CW |
T |
UA9MD |
40m |
CW |
T |
IQ1SM |
40m |
CW |
T |
IK8TEO |
40m |
CW |
T |
International SOTA Weekend 2010 - Sunday 2nd May
As we went past the midnight UT day change at 1am BST, I wrote a the new date
of Sunday 2nd May 2010 in my logbook and started a "new" activation. This opened
well with UA2 (Kaliningrad), but then I decided to try and get some sleep. What
I then discovered was that on the fairly uneven ground and with the racket the
wind was making, I could sleep for about two hours at a time, before waking up
for a bit. At 0233 I was surprised to hear strong signals on 145.550MHz FM, so I
broke in and worked both 2E0 stations.
Another two hour sleeping stint, and on nipping outside the tent - as one does -
I was dismayed at the scene of carnage outside. The 20m antenna was flat on the
ground - but that was OK as I had sensibly laid it down at bedtime. However, the
other pole with the three dipoles on it was broken in three places, and the
dipoles all on either the ground or the tent. I decided to go back to bed! I was
interested to note that every time I did wake up throughout the night, that Sean
and Daniel were still chatting away and laughing in the other tent! Liam
continued to sleep "like a baby".
I still didn't have the stomach for remedial action when I awoke again after a
better sleep after 8am. The SB270 on the WASP Special mast assembly was
typically "strong as an ox" and had survived the night better then everything
else. Even my tent had suffered damage, but nothing that couldn't be coped with.
I connected to the 6 element 70cm beam and worked one more station in the 70cm
and Up contest, but then it was time to survey the damage.
The easiest job was to re-erect the 20m Magic Moggy which I had actually lay
down before going to bed. Not so easy was the other pole and three dipoles. In
fact I had assumed that it would just be 20m and VHF today, but a bit of
mind-over-matter later and I was on those bands as well. The largest (bottom)
section of the pole was damaged, and no longer locked into place with its
neighbour. A piece near the top was damaged, but could be made usable by using
the broken bit to insert upside down to strengthen the locking bit. It just meant
that the pole was two sections shorter than its optimum!
The problem was the third broken section, halfway up the pole, where the
weakness was such that it just flopped over in half as soon as there was any
weight on it. I had the idea of using the now moribund bottom section to stand
over the weak section as reinforcement. But how to keep it there? I took a
couple of spare guy cords from my camping stuff and wrapped and tied them around
the pole at the point where I wanted the bigger section to sit. I couldn't
believe it when the whole thing worked! The photos need to be seen to be
believed, and they will appear on my website in due course!
The other part of the clear up operation was due to a rubbish bag being ripped
off my tent. I soon found the bag and recollected all the rubbish, but started
to notice other people's litter and bagged that up too - it seemed only fair.
Everything up and running again, I kicked off the main morning session on 40m CW
enjoying a good run on good old 7.032MHz CW. Before switching antennas, I also
tried my luck on 15m CW, bagging just one QSO. Over on 80m, it was a short but
sweet run of four on SSB and just one on CW, either side of four on 2m FM.
It was then onto 20m CW playing S+P with the contesters. Roger M0GMG - the
chairman of the Macclesfield & DRS summited and was invited to use my "shack"
for whatever band and mode he chose. For I had got the call from Marianne that
she was at the parking spot. Liam was now ready to go home, so I thanked him for
his company and good spirit on the expedition. The idea was to walk down with
him, but he shot away at great speed after I had loaded up his rucksack and his
hands with equipment to be jettisoned - like his sleeping bag etc. I did follow
him down though, with other stuff to dump in my car and hoping to catch a word
with my wife. Halfway down, there was Jimmy M3EYP and his mate Edward ascending,
so I gave Jimmy a few updates and told him I would see him later.
I drove down to Tittesworth Reservoir where Marianne and Liam had gone for a
drink and some lunch. After a brief stop there, I drove back up and ascended Gun
for the third time in two days. Hang on - isn't the idea of an overnighter to
actually do LESS ascents than the number of activations?!?!
I had promised Jimmy he could use the 817 to do HF SSB and 2m SSB on the Sunday,
so I had to be patient while he was operating, just diving in occasionally for
any S2S that were going. These included ON5CMB/P on ON/ON-021 and Steve G1INK/P
on Fair Snape Fell G/SP-007 both on 40m SSB. On 2m SSB,
there was Tony 2E0LAE/P also on Fair Snape Fell G/SP-007 and Geoff 2W0BTR/P on
Beacon Hill G/MW-009.
Steadily, we worked our way through the picnic sent up with Jimmy from Marianne,
and also used another flask of hot water to make up Pot Noodles which were a
welcome source of hot food.
After a couple of QSOs on 2m FM and a couple on 30m CW, it was then 20m CW
virtually to the end of the expedition. This was still in S+P mode in a very
busy contest, but finished with a S2S with Z30A/P on Z3/WM-052 on 14.058MHz CW.
When a self-spotted run on 7.031MHz CW dried up after just four QSOs, I realised
it was time to begin packing away.
Thanks to Jimmy, Edward and myself working together on the task, we were leaving
the summit at around 5.15pm BST, and thoughts turned to the hill opposite. "Have
you ever been up The Cloud?" I asked Edward, but Jimmy immediately piped up "And
I want to see what the fire has done". So that was it, we were
off to the Cloud! The logs from the
Sunday of ISW were as follows:
UA2FL |
40m |
CW |
T |
2E0PHJ |
2m |
FM |
T |
2E0BZU |
2m |
FM |
T |
G3Z/P |
70cm |
SSB |
T |
F5SQA |
40m |
CW |
T |
DF5WA |
40m |
CW |
T |
DJ6AV |
40m |
CW |
T |
9A7W |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL2EF |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL6KVA |
40m |
CW |
T |
LA1ENA |
40m |
CW |
T |
F6CXJ |
40m |
CW |
T |
HB9CGA |
40m |
CW |
T |
SM5IMO |
40m |
CW |
T |
PA7ZEE |
40m |
CW |
T |
LA8WF |
40m |
CW |
T |
HB9BIN |
40m |
CW |
T |
9A4MF |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL8DXL |
15m |
CW |
T |
M6WSB |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G0RQL |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G8ADD |
80m |
SSB |
T |
G3RDQ |
80m |
SSB |
T |
M3EYP |
2m |
FM |
T |
M0GMG/M |
2m |
FM |
T |
GX4MWC |
2m |
FM |
T |
M1HLL/P |
2m |
FM |
T |
G4OWG |
80m |
CW |
T |
EA3/G4WZG |
20m |
CW |
T |
HA7JDV |
20m |
CW |
T |
RT3T |
20m |
CW |
T |
RA3ZZ |
20m |
CW |
T |
UA3MIF |
20m |
CW |
T |
OG6N |
20m |
SSB |
S |
IQ3UD |
20m |
SSB |
S |
IQ2BG |
20m |
SSB |
S |
G7MLO/P on Kinder Scout SP-001 |
2m |
FM |
R |
M3XFG/P on Kinder Scout SP-001 |
2m |
FM |
R |
2E0MAS |
2m |
FM |
R |
G1OPV on Pendle Hill SP-005 |
2m |
FM |
R |
LA1KHA/P on Holtankollen TM-049 |
30m |
CW |
S |
M3NVJ |
2m |
FM |
J, R |
M3VUO |
2m |
FM |
J |
G0VOF/P on Fair Snape Fell SP-007 |
2m |
FM |
J |
M3GHI |
2m |
FM |
J |
GW6MXJ |
2m |
FM |
J |
G0DMV/M |
2m |
FM |
J |
ON5CMB/P on Plantis de Mesnil ON-021 |
40m |
SSB |
T |
G1INK/P on Fair Snape Fell SP-007 |
40m |
SSB |
T, J |
2W0BTR/P on Beacon Hill MW-009 |
2m |
SSB |
T, J |
G4RQJ/P on Black Combe LD-030 |
2m |
SSB |
J |
M3XIE |
2m |
FM |
T |
M0JBC/M |
2m |
FM |
T |
DL3JPN |
30m |
CW |
T |
DL4CW |
30m |
CW |
T |
M3ZRY/P |
2m |
FM |
J |
M3LQY |
2m |
FM |
J |
G3WPF |
20m |
CW |
T |
IQ9AL |
20m |
CW |
T |
OH6M |
20m |
CW |
T |
I0ZUT |
20m |
CW |
T |
IT9RZU |
20m |
CW |
T |
SX1L |
20m |
CW |
T |
YT5A |
20m |
CW |
T |
YO9AGI |
20m |
CW |
T |
HA8TP |
20m |
CW |
T |
UR7GO |
20m |
CW |
T |
YL3FT |
20m |
CW |
T |
LZ1BJ |
20m |
CW |
T |
YT2ISM |
20m |
CW |
T |
Z30A/P on Zelen Breg WM-052 |
20m |
CW |
T |
G4WSX |
40m |
CW |
T |
DC7CCC |
40m |
CW |
T |
G4SSH |
40m |
CW |
T |
DL1DVE |
40m |
CW |
T |
Aerials eh? Potentially a contentious subject, but always a
hot topic for us lightweight portable SOTA ops. Unfortunately, while I am
quite good at doing the maths bits for aerials, things go pear shaped when I
need to start any practical work. I've rarely managed to fit a plug without
the SWR going through the roof, and just don't ask about the soldering iron
and the Bencher paddle...
But fortunately, I've got a couple a local mates who are not only
practically adept, but are SOTA activators. Richard G3CWI got me going with
halfwave dipoles for 80m and 40m, which have always worked really well for
these bands. A 30m dipole has recently been added to increase the fun. (The
40m and 30m dipoles also work acceptably on 15m and 10m respectively).
My other friend (yes, I've got two, I've never been so
popular) Sean M0GIA has lots of ideas. Some of them are dreadful. Some of
them are inspired. International SOTA Weekend must count amongst the latter.
His converted CB aerial for a multiband HF vertical, without doubt, one of
the former. A great big shiny metal rod with dual purpose - an effective
lightning conductor for the summits and the most elaborate but functional
dummy load you ever used. Great on receive, flat SWR, but the effect of a
mesmorizing inverse amplifier on transmit. Truly astonishing.
But then he comes up with an idea (hardly original, but still a good one) to
chase the horizon using a vertical 20m antenna with a groundplane. Four bits
of wire and a feeder. And did it work? Yes - I instructed him that he had to
hand it over to me in return for some leafeting I did for his XYL, and
proceeded to work the world on 5 watts from the summits - UA9, JA, VE, W, LU
etc, 599 both ways being typical. Although the theory of how the antenna was
effective was simple to understand, its performance had a certain "magic"
about it. "Magic M0GIA" was mentioned, soon after which the antenna became
known as the Magic Moggy.
I immediately informed Sean that I wanted one making for 17m. Sean got
straight to work on this, and I only had to deliver about 2200 more leaflets
and wait several decades before he made me one. And Thursday 27th May 2010
was the night it would debut. Jimmy M3EYP was at a scout event at
Barnswood in the Staffordshire Moorlands with his mate Edward, so it was an
easy decision to utilise the two hours of downtime. I continued up the hill
to Gun G/SP-013 and marched to the summit.
I set up the MM17 with the driven element elastic-banded to
the very top end of the SOTA Pole, meaning that the feedpoint was about 7
feet off the ground. The groundplane radials, also acting as guys for the
pole, were angled at about 30 degrees to the horizontal in this arrangement.
I was about to kick off when I realised I had left my phone in the car - so
there would be no self-spot. Fortunately, my alerted QRG of 18.077MHz CW was
clear, and double-fortunately, well-known SOTA chaser Laci HA7UG answered my
very first CQ call. This was great, because it meant I could ask him for a
spot, which he kindly provided. Many thanks Laci.
I then operated continuously for fractionally over one hour making 36
contacts into 18 DXCCs, which were: Hungary HA, Poland SP, Austria OE,
Germany DL, Slovakia OM, Croatia 9A, England G, Belgium ON, France F, Russia
RA, Wales GW, Italy I, USA K, Switzerland HB, Denmark OZ, Ukraine UT, Serbia
YU and Greece SV. The architect of the MM himself, Sean M0GIA came out
for a stroll to the summit, to check on the progress of his latest creation.
He arrived as I was putting QSO number 30 and DXCC number 15 into the
logbook, so was soon musing about the MM12 and the MM10 projects!
If the evening couldn't get any better, the sun was out, the
sky was blue, and the colourful panorama from Shutlingsloe, over The Roaches
and down to Tittesworth Reservoir was stunning. OK, as "views from the
shack" go, it's not quite in the league of Ailsa
Craig GM/SS-246, Great Gable G/LD-005
or Slieve Donard GI/MM-001, but still
pretty good.
Radio traffic eventually dried up just after 8pm, perfect timing for me to
break everything down and drop back down the road to pick Jedward up from
the scout camp. A most enjoyable evening. Thanks to Sean M0GIA for the
excellent MM17 to go alongside the MM20, and to all the SOTA chasers that
came on to work me - it is really appreciated, thank you.
HA7UG |
17m |
CW |
SP9GR |
17m |
CW |
OE6WIG |
17m |
CW |
DF8IF |
17m |
CW |
DL5DF |
17m |
CW |
DL6KVA |
17m |
CW |
SP8BAI |
17m |
CW |
OM3SX |
17m |
CW |
DJ5AV |
17m |
CW |
DL2EF |
17m |
CW |
9A4OE |
17m |
CW |
HA5LQ |
17m |
CW |
HA2ESM |
17m |
CW |
G3WPF |
17m |
CW |
ON4BB |
17m |
CW |
G3RMD |
17m |
CW |
F5SQA |
17m |
CW |
RA3TP |
17m |
CW |
G4OBK |
17m |
CW |
MW0IDX |
17m |
CW |
G3KAF |
17m |
CW |
SP5AHR |
17m |
CW |
F8AAB |
17m |
CW |
SP9GR |
17m |
CW |
SP5DIR |
17m |
CW |
I2ZGA |
17m |
CW |
K1IK |
17m |
CW |
HB9BQU |
17m |
CW |
OZ1CTK |
17m |
CW |
DJ0FX |
17m |
CW |
DB7MA |
17m |
CW |
DL9PT |
17m |
CW |
DF1CZ |
17m |
CW |
UR4UQ |
17m |
CW |
YU1TK |
17m |
CW |
SV1CU/8 |
17m |
CW |
Tuesday 13th July 2010, and the next one - a return to Gun
G/SP-013 for activation #966. My usual MO was somewhat disrupted tonight - I
would normally be QRV in the RSGB 70cm UK activity contest for the full
8pm-10.30pm local, from The Cloud G/SP-015. But
Jimmy needed dropping off and picking up from Barnswood Scout Camp near
Leek, and very near Gun!
It was a rather horrid wet evening, so when I was messaged by G3CWI
suggesting a beer meet, I was momentarily tempted. For it turned out that
his daughter was attending the same event, albeit with slightly different
start/end times to the older Explorer Scouts. Commitment to the cause won
through, and I found myself trudging up the path to Gun summit in grotty
drizzle by around 7.40pm.
I set up just beyond the summit to get out of the worst of the wind, but
there was no way of avoiding the rain, meaning that I was soon inside the
yellow bothy bag. As usual, many of those worked were members of the Bolton
Wireless Club, where I had been the previous evening to do a talk about
SOTA. "Are you in that yellow tent thing you showed us?" was mentioned in
most QSOs with Bolton members! As an aside, what a superb radio society the
Bolton club is. Well worth a visit if you get a chance, and any radio
amateur in the vicinity really should join up - although their healthy
membership numbers and massive participation in VHF contests suggests that
they already have!
So it was the (slightly) unusual reference of SP-013 and locator IO83XD that
I was issuing during the evening, as I worked my way to 34 QSOs - 32 on 70cm
SSB, 1 on 70cm CW and 1 on 70cm FM. Unfortunately, by then it was 9.15pm and
I had to pick Jimmy and his mate up from the scout camp, so probably missed
out on maybe another 15 QSOs and the JO squares which tend to present
themselves in the later stages of the UKACs. Not a strong contest effort,
but a perfectly healthy SOTA activation nonetheless.
I picked the lads up from Barnswood, and Jimmy M3EYP reported that he had
bumped into Richard G3CWI and had a natter with him. We drove home
accompanied by the unique sounds of Frank Sidebottom's "A, B, C & D" and "E,
F, G & H" compilation CDs that were no doubt causing an unexpected spike in
Amazon's sales profile at that time!
2E0TXT/P |
70cm |
SSB |
2E0UOG |
70cm |
SSB |
GW8ASD |
70cm |
SSB |
G4ZAJ |
70cm |
SSB |
M0EMM |
70cm |
SSB |
G3NYY/P |
70cm |
SSB |
G8ZRE |
70cm |
SSB |
G2ANC |
70cm |
SSB |
M0GMG/P |
70cm |
SSB |
M0OBW |
70cm |
SSB |
G4JSR |
70cm |
SSB |
M6MRD |
70cm |
SSB |
G4HGI |
70cm |
SSB |
G8VHI |
70cm |
SSB |
G4APB |
70cm |
SSB |
G0LGS/P |
70cm |
SSB |
M0LTT/P |
70cm |
SSB |
G8OHM |
70cm |
SSB |
G4CLA |
70cm |
SSB |
G8DTF |
70cm |
SSB |
M1ZRP |
70cm |
SSB |
G4AGE |
70cm |
SSB |
2E0MWB/P |
70cm |
SSB |
G0WTM |
70cm |
SSB |
M0SDA |
70cm |
SSB |
MM0GPZ/P |
70cm |
SSB |
G4APJ |
70cm |
SSB |
2E0BMO |
70cm |
SSB |
2E0XTL/P |
70cm |
SSB |
G1LAT/P |
70cm |
SSB |
G1SMI |
70cm |
SSB |
M3ZPJ |
70cm |
SSB |
G3VCA |
70cm |
CW |
M3OUA |
70cm |
FM |
|