The first activation, and of course the first point of 2011, took place for
me at the relatively late stage of January 2nd, 2011. Jimmy M3EYP and I headed
out at 11am on the Sunday morning, inspired to activate on two fronts - the
Macclesfield club's New Year SOTA outing, and the VHF Fun Day. Joining us
for the club multi-op activation were Greg 2E0RXX and Simon M0TGT. Knowing that
those two, and Jimmy were all going to be on 2m, I decided to keep my nose out
of the VHF Fun Day and concentrate on building my New Year score in the G3WGV UK
CW Table.
After meeting at the parking spot and ambling up the hill, Jimmy set up for
2m FM (vertical) while Greg and Simon set for 2m SSB (horizontal). I erected the
halfwave dipole for 30m. Greg and Simon seemed to be doing good business on 2m
SSB with several S2S QSOs, and the same appeared to be true for Jimmy. On 30m
CW, I limped to 23 QSOs and 14 DXCCs on 500mW as I hadn't prepared properly and
had a virtually flat SLAB!
What had been prepared properly was the flask of Baxter's Haggis Broth soup,
which Jimmy and I shared while Simon and Greg ate their packed sandwiches. It
was very cold, and the warming broth was very welcome. We were joined on summit
by social visitors Ray M1REK and Richard G3CWI who walked up to exchange New
Year pleasantries. (This was also the case on 30m where every QSO was appended
by two-way 'HNY's). Richard had just completed his first activation of 2011,
over on The Cloud G/SP-015. I must visit that hill
sometime...
After packing away, we drove down the hill to Rushton Spencer, where the five
of us (M0TGT, 2E0RXX, G3CWI, M3EYP, M1EYP) reconvened at the Rushton Inn for a
pint or two of Flowers IPA. Another enjoyable winters outing, thanks to all
callers.
PA3CWG |
30m |
CW |
T |
HA7UG |
30m |
CW |
T |
SP2WXZ |
30m |
CW |
T |
EA1DFP |
30m |
CW |
T |
OE7PHI |
30m |
CW |
T |
DF5WA |
30m |
CW |
T |
G7RYN |
2m |
FM |
J |
G0IBE/P on Bredon
Hill CE-003 |
2m |
FM |
J |
GW7AAV |
2m |
FM |
J |
2E0XTL/P on High
Vinnalls WB-012 |
2m |
FM |
J |
F5SQA |
30m |
CW |
T |
OZ4RT |
30m |
CW |
T |
HB9DGV |
30m |
CW |
T |
DL3HXX |
30m |
CW |
T |
OE6WIG |
30m |
CW |
T |
DL6KR |
30m |
CW |
T |
DL2HWI |
30m |
CW |
T |
DJ5AV |
30m |
CW |
T |
F8AAB |
30m |
CW |
T |
G3WPF |
30m |
CW |
T |
LA8BCA |
30m |
CW |
T |
I1GZG |
30m |
CW |
T |
IK1GPG |
30m |
CW |
T |
G1JTD/P on Great
Whernside NP-008 |
2m |
FM |
J |
EA2CTB |
30m |
CW |
T |
DL2HUM |
30m |
CW |
T |
M0GMG |
2m |
FM |
J |
M3VUO |
2m |
FM |
J |
M3XIE |
2m |
FM |
J |
OK1FFU/P on
Bradácov US-007 |
30m |
CW |
T |
2E0BTR/P on High
Vinnalls WB-012 |
2m |
SSB |
J |
M6PMA |
2m |
FM |
J |
GW0WTT |
2m |
FM |
J |
M6OXO |
2m |
FM |
J |
M0GIA |
2m |
FM |
J |
G4ZRP |
2m |
FM |
J |
G1OKW |
2m |
FM |
J |
OE8SPW |
30m |
CW |
T |
No matter how early I set my alarm, I always manage to wake up before it goes
off. And it still happened on Friday 3rd June 2011, even though the alarm was
set for 4am BST! It didn't seem like four o'clock in the morning, for it
was bright and sunny outside, so it felt quite natural to be having breakfast -
cereal, yoghurt and a smoothie for those that like to know. It was a slightly
longer drive than usual, as I was heading for Gun G/SP-013 in the Staffordshire
Moorlands.
The often watery boggy ascent path was dry as a bone, and I was able to walk up
in my trainers. There was also hardly any wind, so I set the MM20 up right by
the trig point on the summit. I was QRV twenty minutes ahead of schedule,
and the first contact, with EA3FAG, went into the logbook at 0439z. I sat by the
trig point, using one face of it as a backrest. This meant I had my back to a
rising and very bright sun, which was providing natural lighting to the
wonderful view in front of me - the Cheshire Plain stretching outwards between
the distinctive pillars of Bosley Cloud and Sutton Common.
It was a very enjoyable and productive activation of 142 QSOs, with 137 on 20m
CW and 5 on 2m FM. The highlights were contacts into California (W6OAR) and
Japan (JA8RJE), especially pleasing as it was them that called into my running
frequency.
To be honest, I had no idea how many QSOs I had made - I thought it was about 60
or 80. It wasn't until I counted them at home I realised it was just 8 short of
my highest total! Not that I would or could have pressed on to set a new
personal record. TV aerial contractors were booked to arrive at home at 10am, so
the QRT at 9.05am BST was absolutely necessary. Quite a few of the callers
were regular SOTA chasers - many thanks to all for entering the pile-up to work
me.
EA3FAG |
20m |
CW |
OK2QX |
20m |
CW |
HA6NW |
20m |
CW |
RU4HD |
20m |
CW |
RA4FBG |
20m |
CW |
F5UKL |
20m |
CW |
LZ1HDA |
20m |
CW |
RD3AD |
20m |
CW |
U3AZ |
20m |
CW |
OE8SPW |
20m |
CW |
HB9CGA |
20m |
CW |
HA3LI |
20m |
CW |
OK2BAQ |
20m |
CW |
OK1DNZ |
20m |
CW |
F9OQ |
20m |
CW |
LZ2CF |
20m |
CW |
I5FLN |
20m |
CW |
HA7LJ |
20m |
CW |
HA8TI |
20m |
CW |
S51RV |
20m |
CW |
DL1NKS |
20m |
CW |
LY3BG |
20m |
CW |
UX1IM |
20m |
CW |
IT9IYZ |
20m |
CW |
UA4ATL |
20m |
CW |
LZ2FH |
20m |
CW |
DL2JES |
20m |
CW |
DL3JON |
20m |
CW |
YO2BBX |
20m |
CW |
SQ9DH |
20m |
CW |
UT0MF |
20m |
CW |
LZ2FH |
20m |
CW |
UA1AVU |
20m |
CW |
UR9MB |
20m |
CW |
OK1QM |
20m |
CW |
DL1AKP |
20m |
CW |
RA9AC |
20m |
CW |
OH2BLD |
20m |
CW |
RV3LO |
20m |
CW |
UA4LMV |
20m |
CW |
R2DW |
20m |
CW |
IK3DRO |
20m |
CW |
RA3CQ |
20m |
CW |
F5PLC |
20m |
CW |
DF7UL |
20m |
CW |
RA6AR |
20m |
CW |
DL1EBR |
20m |
CW |
R7NA |
20m |
CW |
W6OAR |
20m |
CW |
UA9ZC |
20m |
CW |
OK2HI |
20m |
CW |
IT9DVZ |
20m |
CW |
UA3CS |
20m |
CW |
SP2B |
20m |
CW |
OK2RU |
20m |
CW |
UA6JZ |
20m |
CW |
LZ1XX |
20m |
CW |
HA7UG |
20m |
CW |
RV1CT |
20m |
CW |
S58AL |
20m |
CW |
UV5ERY |
20m |
CW |
UA4LF |
20m |
CW |
R3LB |
20m |
CW |
IK1GPG |
20m |
CW |
UF8T |
20m |
CW |
ES0NW |
20m |
CW |
UA9FGJ |
20m |
CW |
F5MCC |
20m |
CW |
F5IAE |
20m |
CW |
R9AB |
20m |
CW |
SP5KCR |
20m |
CW |
UT5UKY |
20m |
CW |
HA4XG |
20m |
CW |
DH7KU |
20m |
CW |
OK1PR |
20m |
CW |
9A2N |
20m |
CW |
OK1APV |
20m |
CW |
ON4ON |
20m |
CW |
JA8RJE |
20m |
CW |
SQ5WWK |
20m |
CW |
OH3OJ |
20m |
CW |
SP4NKU |
20m |
CW |
G4AYO |
20m |
CW |
YU1GU |
20m |
CW |
SM5CJW/3 |
20m |
CW |
YU7LS |
20m |
CW |
RK1PWA |
20m |
CW |
UA3LAR |
20m |
CW |
GW7AAV |
2m |
FM |
GW7AAU |
2m |
FM |
2E0YLO |
2m |
FM |
CT1BQH |
20m |
CW |
HA8WV |
20m |
CW |
S51ZG |
20m |
CW |
HA5LV |
20m |
CW |
DL3JPN |
20m |
CW |
DL4JYT |
20m |
CW |
EA1SB |
20m |
CW |
LZ1HA |
20m |
CW |
DL1DTF |
20m |
CW |
HA2ESM |
20m |
CW |
RK9DM |
20m |
CW |
HB9IIO |
20m |
CW |
G3WPF |
20m |
CW |
SM0GNS |
20m |
CW |
9A2TD |
20m |
CW |
EA6UN |
20m |
CW |
HA0LG |
20m |
CW |
UR5WCA |
20m |
CW |
DF1IAQ |
20m |
CW |
EA5Y |
20m |
CW |
DJ5RE |
20m |
CW |
ES4RR |
20m |
CW |
E77O |
20m |
CW |
YU3A |
20m |
CW |
YT2RX |
20m |
CW |
HA0IH |
20m |
CW |
SP2SWI |
20m |
CW |
RV1OM |
20m |
CW |
UA6FZ |
20m |
CW |
EW4DX |
20m |
CW |
DL2HWI |
20m |
CW |
RD3R |
20m |
CW |
SP9DLY |
20m |
CW |
OH8LXT |
20m |
CW |
OK1AVG |
20m |
CW |
OM3MB |
20m |
CW |
HB9DOT |
20m |
CW |
OK1MNI |
20m |
CW |
DJ7BA |
20m |
CW |
EA8WH |
20m |
CW |
UA1OIW |
20m |
CW |
IK2GPQ |
20m |
CW |
IK1DFH |
20m |
CW |
UT2UB |
20m |
CW |
EA4AYD |
20m |
CW |
SP4GDC |
20m |
CW |
HA5CW |
20m |
CW |
LY3I |
20m |
CW |
IS0LYN |
20m |
CW |
GW0WTT |
2m |
FM |
G3CWI |
2m |
FM |
On Saturday 11th June 2011, it was a
return to Gun G/SP-013, which unlike The Cloud
G/SP-015, is within a WFF area - GFF-014. I was awake by 4.20am BST, so
decided to go and have a play. The weather was lovely with bright
clear views and only a breath of wind. It was rather chilly though. It was a
return to 20m, and a productive activation of 1 hour 51 minutes saw 108 QSOs
entered into the log - so the clock just about beat me! Best DX was JA,
worked at 0627z. I couldn't stop any longer, for I had to be home by
9am for Liam's birthday trip to Waterworld.
LY5G |
20m |
CW |
DL1DVE |
20m |
CW |
DL9LM |
20m |
CW |
UA2FT |
20m |
CW |
U3AZ |
20m |
CW |
UA3TCQ |
20m |
CW |
UX1IM |
20m |
CW |
OH3GZ |
20m |
CW |
OK1US |
20m |
CW |
UA6GG |
20m |
CW |
RU6UR |
20m |
CW |
RU4HD |
20m |
CW |
EA1EYG |
20m |
CW |
RK6J |
20m |
CW |
SM0DXT |
20m |
CW |
UA3CS |
20m |
CW |
LZ4GL |
20m |
CW |
SP2AOB |
20m |
CW |
RW6MBC |
20m |
CW |
OK1GT |
20m |
CW |
UR3LM |
20m |
CW |
IK1RQQ |
20m |
CW |
RN7G |
20m |
CW |
I1YRL |
20m |
CW |
DK2AI |
20m |
CW |
UY6IM |
20m |
CW |
YO4ASG |
20m |
CW |
S53AF |
20m |
CW |
RV1CT |
20m |
CW |
UA4QK |
20m |
CW |
S51GL |
20m |
CW |
OK1AFO |
20m |
CW |
R3QJ |
20m |
CW |
UX0IM |
20m |
CW |
OK1FIM |
20m |
CW |
US5VX |
20m |
CW |
RW2L |
20m |
CW |
UA4NAL |
20m |
CW |
LZ1OJ |
20m |
CW |
UA4UBW |
20m |
CW |
UR3LM |
20m |
CW |
OM3FR |
20m |
CW |
YT1E |
20m |
CW |
UT3UY |
20m |
CW |
OK1APR |
20m |
CW |
UR5CLN |
20m |
CW |
UT5PI |
20m |
CW |
UX5CU |
20m |
CW |
EU4CK |
20m |
CW |
UU7JD |
20m |
CW |
HA3OD |
20m |
CW |
DL7SBV |
20m |
CW |
RA6AR |
20m |
CW |
OE6WIG |
20m |
CW |
9A3YT |
20m |
CW |
YT1KS |
20m |
CW |
Z35M |
20m |
CW |
UA9YE |
20m |
CW |
R2DO |
20m |
CW |
OH1BLD |
20m |
CW |
OK2PAY |
20m |
CW |
UX1DC |
20m |
CW |
OK1KRJ |
20m |
CW |
EU1TX |
20m |
CW |
OZ4RT |
20m |
CW |
UT5PI |
20m |
CW |
LY2ER |
20m |
CW |
HA0IV |
20m |
CW |
IT9XUA |
20m |
CW |
IK2EKO |
20m |
CW |
RA9LT |
20m |
CW |
LZ1CY |
20m |
CW |
YO3BAP |
20m |
CW |
IK1GPG |
20m |
CW |
YO3JW |
20m |
CW |
RX3DBG |
20m |
CW |
EA1DR |
20m |
CW |
DK3DUA |
20m |
CW |
SP9BRP |
20m |
CW |
R2PA |
20m |
CW |
OH1CM |
20m |
CW |
IZ2MGN |
20m |
CW |
UX3IO |
20m |
CW |
SM5TSP |
20m |
CW |
RX3AGD |
20m |
CW |
F8BBL |
20m |
CW |
JA8RJE |
20m |
CW |
SP4NKU |
20m |
CW |
9A1DX |
20m |
CW |
UA4HY |
20m |
CW |
9A3NM |
20m |
CW |
UA4CTE |
20m |
CW |
UV5ERY |
20m |
CW |
DJ5AV |
20m |
CW |
UA3AAM |
20m |
CW |
UR8GM |
20m |
CW |
SP9BGL |
20m |
CW |
RM6J |
20m |
CW |
SQ5STN |
20m |
CW |
F6FTB |
20m |
CW |
UT1IG |
20m |
CW |
I1EEW |
20m |
CW |
UX2IQ |
20m |
CW |
9A4W |
20m |
CW |
R7AA |
20m |
CW |
RU4SO |
20m |
CW |
HB9DPZ |
20m |
CW |
SP9EWM |
20m |
CW |
I was up giga-early at 4.00am on Saturday
18th June 2011, and set off to activate Gun G/SP-013 via a bowl of Coco
Pops. It was a bit breezy at the summit, and the best shelter was on the
face of the trig point that affords the least comfortable sitting position.
QRV on 20m CW, it turned out to be a quiet morning. Laci HA7UG was there as
usual, but the other SOTA chasers or WFF collectors were not. After a
slow-going 22 QSOs on 20m CW, I took the antenna down and replaced it with
the 40m dipole. This garnered 23 QSOs on 40m CW, but none on 15m CW. Some
interesting contest calls were heard on the latter, but try as I might, ZC4
and 3V did not hear me. Neither did Norby DL/LX1NO/P for a S2S on 40m, so
that one will have to go in the SWL log.
I was back at home, as intended, at 8.55am BST. Weird to be feeling
disappointed with 45 QSOs all before 0700 UTC! Thanks for the
contacts. BTW, I keep winning all these votes with a vote of one, of my own,
at present. I will continue to do so, because I only do requests when I am
asked.
HA7UG |
20m |
CW |
RA9XU |
20m |
CW |
RU3EJ |
20m |
CW |
I1EEW |
20m |
CW |
RU4HD |
20m |
CW |
UA6AGE |
20m |
CW |
HA7UW |
20m |
CW |
UA1CE |
20m |
CW |
LZ1GC |
20m |
CW |
EU4CQ |
20m |
CW |
LZ1BJ |
20m |
CW |
UA1ZZ |
20m |
CW |
OK1US |
20m |
CW |
RU3QR |
20m |
CW |
SP9UPK |
20m |
CW |
IK1GPG |
20m |
CW |
OK1PR |
20m |
CW |
IT9IFI |
20m |
CW |
S53AF |
20m |
CW |
SP2AOB |
20m |
CW |
IK1RQQ |
20m |
CW |
OM3SX |
20m |
CW |
S51NR |
20m |
CW |
DL6UNF |
40m |
CW |
IK3GER |
40m |
CW |
HA5TI |
40m |
CW |
DL2EF |
40m |
CW |
DL1FU |
40m |
CW |
LA1ENA |
40m |
CW |
S52ON |
40m |
CW |
I2CZQ |
40m |
CW |
DJ5AV |
40m |
CW |
F6FTB |
40m |
CW |
ON7RN |
40m |
CW |
F4CTJ |
40m |
CW |
DL5WW |
40m |
CW |
ON4ON |
40m |
CW |
SM1CXE |
40m |
CW |
F8NUH |
40m |
CW |
F5SQA |
40m |
CW |
SP9DLY |
40m |
CW |
DL8DXL |
40m |
CW |
9A1DX |
40m |
CW |
HB9CEX |
40m |
CW |
9A3NM |
40m |
CW |
Up at 4am on Sunday 19th June 2011, and
out promptly after a couple of rounds of toast. Sadly, the rain intensified
throughout my drive from Merebrook Road to the lay-by above Meerbrook
village. So I donned full waterproofs, and thenset about the pleasant early
morning stroll to the summit, noticing that the rain was drying up
gradually.
It was quite windy right on the summit, but with a dipole rather than a
vertical to deploy, there was no compulsion to remain by the trig. I dropped
between the tree and bush that was the EYP-GIA campsite for International
SOTA Weekend 2010. Attempts to send a spot via Spotlite failed from my
position; I really must get that text number for SMS Spot and put it back in
my 'phone! (Hmmm, just checked, and I think it is in there, just that I
haven't labelled it with something sensibly obvious!).
In any case, I doubted it would take long to be found if I mentioned WFF
GFF-014 (Peak District) in my calls as well as SOTA G/SP-013 (Gun), and sure
enough, the first QSO was made with UA3U at 0429 on 10.108MHz CW. I am now
looking at the Russian prefixes more critically after learning (yesterday)
that there are now callsigns with the numbers 2, 8, 9 and 0 issued to
stations in European Russia, and that they do not necessarily indicate
Kaliningrad or Asiatic Russia! How irritating!
Within ten minutes, I had worked RU2FZ, a station located in Kaliningrad! In
just over half an hour, I had worked 18 stations on 30m CW, but then things
went quiet. I listened across the 10m band, which sort of works on the 30m
aerial, but nothing doing. However, a few strong contest stations could be
heard on the 6m band. I worked two of them, both in nearby IO82 on 50MHz
SSB. Also heard was GJ6YB/P, but they couldn't hear me!
I was just about to revert to 30m CW when the SLAB ran out of juice and the
rain restarted. So at the unexpectedly early time of 6.20am, I found myself
packing away. Calls on 2m FM at the trig point did not elicit a response, so
I descended and decided to add an item to the itinerary. With a good
2.5 hour window remaining before I needed to be home, I decided to drive
across to The Cloud G/SP-015 and take a walk up there. Thanks to:
UA3U |
30m |
CW |
OM3YCA |
30m |
CW |
RN3DAO |
30m |
CW |
OK2BAQ |
30m |
CW |
OM7OM |
30m |
CW |
OM6PR |
30m |
CW |
RA3BQ/3 |
30m |
CW |
SP5KCR |
30m |
CW |
UT3UY |
30m |
CW |
RU2FZ |
30m |
CW |
SQ5WWK |
30m |
CW |
RA3EF |
30m |
CW |
RX3AMW |
30m |
CW |
IK4PKK |
30m |
CW |
HA3OD |
30m |
CW |
OK1DAV |
30m |
CW |
RO3P |
30m |
CW |
DL3APO |
30m |
CW |
G5FS/P |
6m |
SSB |
G3Z |
6m |
SSB |
A revision to the plan was required on
Tuesday 21st June 2011. The FT-817 had been driven up to Glossop the
previous evening, to have the power socket fixed by Ken G8BEQ. This meant
that HF, and CW were both off the menu. In order to accommodate longer
pre-work early morning activations, I had been getting up at an early hour.
I didn't really want to get out of this habit, so needed something else to
occupy my time. I knew that 2m FM from a handheld and rubber duck wouldn't
do that!
So I decided to do two activations before work! I set off from Macclesfield
shortly after 6am and drove across the country lanes from Gawsworth to
Bosley. Then it was down the Leek road to Rushton Spencer, taking care to
watch the speed by the several sets of speed cameras, and up the hill to the
parking area for Gun G/SP-013 at SJ967609.
No longer is it necessary to climb the stile to access the path. The gate is
no longer locked, and the ribbon holding it closed can be lifted off and
replaced. The more slender activators like Richard, Steve, Jimmy etc have
always been able to squeeze through a gap between the gatepost and the stile
anyway, but I have only ever been able to do that on a very good day!
Despite the torrential rain that inevitably arrived on the first day of
Wimbledon fortnight, the path up to the summit was surprisingly dry
underfoot. I reached the trig point and was greeted by a light breeze. No
rucksack had been carried, for all my gear was in my coat pockets - pencil,
waterproof notepad and VX-7R hand-portable.
It took a while of calling to generate four contacts, and attempts to mug
folks on the GB3MN repeater failed. This was always the gamble in doing
G/SP-013 first, before most amateurs in range were out of bed. But I got
there and strode down the hill, realising that a time window remained to
move onto The Cloud G/SP-015, but without any
slack left. Thanks to:
M0RCC/M |
2m |
FM |
G7GQF |
2m |
FM |
G4VXW |
2m |
FM |
GW7AAV |
2m |
FM |
Wednesday 22nd June 2011 followed pretty
much the same pattern as Tuesday 21st June 2011. Gun G/SP-013 followed by
The Cloud G/SP-015, both activated on 2m FM with
the VX-7R handheld. I had to be fully waterproofed, as the rain was
heavy throughout. Most of those worked expressed surprise that I was out!
This did not prevent a six minute over about one gentleman's hearing aid
history, but then I did break into their QSO when nothing was happening on
S20, so fair enough.
It was just three QSOs on Gun, and then two on The Cloud, so both one down
on the previous day. But the FT-817 is now repaired and collected, so HF
will resume on Thursday morning - cast your votes (if you promise to be up).
It was now 792 activator QSOs since I last earned my self an activator
point...! Many thanks to:
G4VXW |
2m |
FM |
G7GQF |
2m |
FM |
G0MNY |
2m |
FM |
Keen observers of the SOTAwatch Spots will
have noticed that I just couldn't seem to hold my QRG on the morning of
Saturday 25th June 2011. I would find a clear one, listen for a couple of
minutes, call QRL?, spot myself then start calling CQ. And everywhere I
tried, it seemed that within seconds there was another station calling CQ on
the same frequency or incredibly close.
It was a damp old morning on Gun G/SP-013, but not as bad as during the
early morning drive out from Macclesfield, at which time the rain was quite
heavy. I tried to configure a way to have the 40m dipole and 20m vertical
erected simultaneously on the same pole, but this proved fruitless, and
one-at-a-time was in order. Eventually, I managed to keep 14.018MHz to
myself, and at last the WFF pile-up arrived. It wasn't a spectacular effort
with 30 QSOs on 20m CW (the vast majority of them into Russia) and 9 on 40m
CW and only about five regular SOTA chasers, but it was nice to have an A6
(United Arab Emirates) station call me in the pile-up.
I had a listen on 15m, but nothing was happening there, and I forgot to make
a call on VHF after packing away. I did, briefly, consider nipping up
The Cloud G/SP-015 with the handie on the way
home, but in the end I couldn't be bothered. Thanks to:
RA4AAJ |
20m |
CW |
UA6YH |
20m |
CW |
EA3FAG |
20m |
CW |
RA3TSM |
20m |
CW |
RX3DBG |
20m |
CW |
UA6FZ |
20m |
CW |
UY6IM |
20m |
CW |
RU3QR |
20m |
CW |
RA3BK |
20m |
CW |
UR3LM |
20m |
CW |
OH2BLD |
20m |
CW |
EU4CK |
20m |
CW |
HA8BE |
20m |
CW |
HA5BSW |
20m |
CW |
A65CA |
20m |
CW |
UA9CES |
20m |
CW |
HA9SU |
20m |
CW |
UA3CS |
20m |
CW |
RA1OW |
20m |
CW |
UX1IM |
20m |
CW |
RV4LX |
20m |
CW |
SP9ODY |
20m |
CW |
RU4SO |
20m |
CW |
R9AB |
20m |
CW |
UA3YJE |
20m |
CW |
RA3CQ |
20m |
CW |
R6AD |
20m |
CW |
SP4NKU |
20m |
CW |
RA3TIO |
20m |
CW |
S58AL |
20m |
CW |
DK6ZZ |
40m |
CW |
S52ON |
40m |
CW |
DL1FU |
40m |
CW |
F6ARL |
40m |
CW |
F6FTB |
40m |
CW |
DL1ZAL |
40m |
CW |
OH6NPV |
40m |
CW |
IK3GER |
40m |
CW |
DL5YCI |
40m |
CW |
Richard G3CWI suggested an outing to Gun
G/SP-013. Because he did this, I asssumed he had properly checked the
weather forecast, so I didn't bother. Jimmy and Liam were both enthusiastic
to go out again, so it was a fullish car down through Rushton Spencer on
Sunday 4th December 2011. Jimmy and I both chose to try to "get away
with it" in trainers for the short walk, but this was soon looking a poor
decision on very damp ground. Liam had been more sensible and changed into
his wellies at the car.
As we reached the summit, we could see that Richard had taken up his
preferred spot by the edge of the wood. Jimmy and I continued over the
summit to try to find ourselves a couple of relatively sheltered spots each.
The wind was quite strong and cold, and carrying some very light drizzle.
After setting up the MM10, I joined Liam inside the new big 4-6 man bothy
bag. I was glad to be in my shelter. It sounded like the rain was
coming down quite hard, although being inside a bothy bag does tend to
exaggerate the perceived severity of the outside weather!
On 10m, I worked 7 stations on my self spotted frequency of 28.046MHz CW.
DXCCs were UR, RA, G, VE and HB. While serving some hot lentil and bacon
soup between Liam and myself, Jimmy arrived outside the shelter. He had
decided to call it a day after one contact on 2m FM as it was getting colder
and wetter. I passed him a portion of soup, and then the car keys outside
the shelter. I wanted my activation to include all the three main
modes on 10m, but calling CQ on self-spotted frequencies on 28MHz SSB was
getting me nowhere. Eventually, I answered a CQ call from UA6LUQ to get one
in the log.
Richard arrived outside the shelter having packed his stuff away. He had
made 7 contacts on his 30m CW PP3 rig and reported success with his one-hit
cheesy scrambled egg and coffee project. I told him that Jimmy was already
on his way to the car with the keys, so he could go and sit in there.
Now I decided to try to get something on 29MHz FM. Again, my own CQ calls on
self-spotted freqeuncies failed to generate any action, and answering the
calls of others was proving difficult, even though I was receiving some
fully quietening 59+ signals from across Europe and North America. I finally
managed a difficult exchange with Eugene RW6MD.
I emerged from the bothy bag to pack away, and encountered unpleasant heavy
sleet, which quickly morphed into wet snow. In no time at all, I was soaked
to the skin and rueing my decision to walk in normal trainers and without
waterproof overtrousers. While I was packing up, Liam made a run for it back
to the car. As I walked past the trig point, I called on S20 to
generate a couple of 2m FM QSOs with Jimmy and Richard, both in my car a
quarter of a mile away. Jimmy and I took the back-to-front step of removing
our wet trainers and replacing with dry walking boots! And then it was a
quick downhill drive to the Rushton Inn, for pints of Bosley Cloud in front
of a real fire.
The combination of the fire and quick-dry fabrics eliminated much of the
damp, as Jimmy and I took turns to take on Richard's phone at chess. And the
Storm Brewing Company of Macclesfield's Bosley Cloud ale is still the king
of beers. On reflection, there is a lot of potential for a lot of fun
on the 10m band, but I still haven't quite cracked how to play it yet. I
will just have to put more practice into it - what a shame! Thanks to
all callers:
UU3JU |
10m |
CW |
T |
UA3DUZ |
10m |
CW |
T |
UV5QQ |
10m |
CW |
T |
G3WPF |
10m |
CW |
T |
VE2JCW |
10m |
CW |
T |
G4SSH |
10m |
CW |
T |
HB9BIN |
10m |
CW |
T |
UA6LUQ |
10m |
SSB |
T |
2E0XYL |
2m |
FM |
J |
RW6MD |
10m |
FM |
T |
M3EYP/M |
2m |
FM |
T |
G3CWI/M |
2m |
FM |
T |
Up earlyish on Friday 30th December 2011,
so I decided to drive out to Gun to play 30m before the rain came. I
prepared coffee in my new small flask that was a Christmas present from my
XYL Marianne and drove into town and then southwards on the A523 towards
Leek. As Mickey 2E0YYY reported, the route from the usual parking spot
to the summit was waterlogged. I should have put boots on really, but tried
heather hopping in my trainers along the sides of the path (stream). My feet
did not remain dry!
At the summit, there was a light easterly breeze, so I selected the
west-facing face of the triangulation column as my backrest, and set up the
kit accordingly. Business was brisk on 10.117MHz CW after an initial S2S
with Zoli HA3HK/P on Hálás-tetö HA/KD-042. I noted that my SLAB was running
low on juice, so I switched my 817 power down to 500mW, on which it remained
for the majority of the activation.
After things went quiet, I tried on 10m CW, where my 30m dipole gives a nice
low SWR. As usual, the 10m SSB and FM QRGs were busy, as were the FM and AM
CB channels and utility frequencies in the 27MHz area, but the CW portion
was quiet. Just three contacts were made. Around this time, the rain started
to fall, so I got the bothy bag out of my rucksack to keep warm and dry.
I returned to 30m, this time on 10.118MHz CW, and enjoyed another busy run
that included S2S with Aage LA1ENA/P on Ramsås LA/TM-032. I concluded the
activation with a total of 59 QSOs, which was very pleasing in less than two
hours, and on low power as well. I emerged from the bothy bag shelter to be
somewhat startled by a very wet and cold summit area around me, and a very
wet exterior to the bothy bag itself. It had worked very effectively!
By the time I had walked back down to the car, my trainers were black with
dirt and wet through. Serves me right for being too lazy to change into my
boots! Thanks to everyone who called me, spotted me on the DX Cluster, and
gave me HNY wishes.
HA3HK/P |
30m |
CW |
HA7UG |
30m |
CW |
DL3HXX |
30m |
CW |
DK1HW |
30m |
CW |
HB9MKV |
30m |
CW |
SM0GNS |
30m |
CW |
IK1GPG |
30m |
CW |
LA1ENA |
30m |
CW |
OM7OM |
30m |
CW |
SM5DGA |
30m |
CW |
IK3DRO |
30m |
CW |
DL2HWI |
30m |
CW |
G4SSH |
30m |
CW |
EA4MZ |
30m |
CW |
DF5WA |
30m |
CW |
S58AL |
30m |
CW |
SP9UPK |
30m |
CW |
S52KM |
30m |
CW |
OM7PY |
30m |
CW |
S57CI |
30m |
CW |
SM3AF |
30m |
CW |
SP2IJ |
30m |
CW |
S51ZG |
30m |
CW |
EA1DFP |
30m |
CW |
DL4VM |
30m |
CW |
HA4XG |
30m |
CW |
OM1AX |
30m |
CW |
DL7VKD |
30m |
CW |
UA6AUA |
10m |
CW |
EM0RSE |
10m |
CW |
M0PNN |
10m |
CW |
DL1FU |
30m |
CW |
DJ5AV |
30m |
CW |
DL5ZG |
30m |
CW |
SP7SZC |
30m |
CW |
HB9AGH |
30m |
CW |
F8EAI |
30m |
CW |
DL9UO |
30m |
CW |
OK1TPI |
30m |
CW |
OK2KR |
30m |
CW |
I3VAD |
30m |
CW |
LA8BCA |
30m |
CW |
DL1EKO |
30m |
CW |
OK1DVM |
30m |
CW |
OE6GND |
30m |
CW |
F8FEO |
30m |
CW |
HB9BYQ |
30m |
CW |
DL3JPN |
30m |
CW |
DG1KJG |
30m |
CW |
LY5G |
30m |
CW |
DL1AKP/P |
30m |
CW |
DF1UQ |
30m |
CW |
SM5CLE |
30m |
CW |
OK2QA |
30m |
CW |
LY2BNL |
30m |
CW |
DL9MDI |
30m |
CW |
LA5FH |
30m |
CW |
LA1ENA/P on Ramsås Utsikt TM-032 |
30m |
CW |
SP5KCR |
30m |
CW |
|