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Jimmy M3EYP, Liam and myself teamed up with Richard G3CWI on Saturday 16th
May 2009 for our maiden activations of the "new Welsh one". It was an unusual
day's SOTAing in that (1) we had a lie-in and (2) we didn't stop for a Lymm
Truck Stop breakfast on the outward route (much to Richard's anguish).
We took the M56 and A55 westwards, exiting at J29 and following signs for
Dyserth. We then followed the signpost for Cwm and were soon in the wooded
section. The parking spot was the same one used by Roger MW0IDX at SJ079768.
The walk was along a wide firm track through the woods. The going was easy and
the gradient negligible. Jimmy directed us to turn left and then right as we
made out approach to the summit.
Towards the summit, the path became narrower and winding, weaving around the
trees, some standing and some felled. A large cairn was reached indicating the
summit of Mynydd y Cwm GW/NW-076, and here Richard GW3CWI/P immediately began
his activation on 2m FM with his handheld. A small and narrow clearing adjacent to the summit was the perfect length for
my 40m dipole antenna, which went up assisted by a little improvised back-guying
around some tree roots. My first QSO was very pleasing - GT7OOO/P on Mull Hill
GD/GD-005 - on 7.032MHz CW. This headed up a run of 16 40m CW contacts, also
including OK1CYC/P on OK/LI-058. A solitary contact on 15m CW was HA7UG. Jimmy
made ten QSOs on 2m FM. Lunch was taken in the form of sweet potato, chicken and
coconut soup (very tasty) and the unusual addition of sandwiches kindly made by
Marianne. These included the very American style peanut butter and jelly, and
were actually very nice! Descending the summit, Jimmy and Richard were soon tearing away from Liam and
myself. With Jimmy carrying the map and compass, this proved to be problematic,
for Liam and I turned the wrong way onto the main path! Reaching a wide junction
of paths that I didn't remember caused some alarm, but somewhat daftly, I tried
a distance down both of them!
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