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Sunday 5th January 2020 - Kinder Scout G/SP-001, Shining Tor G/SP-004, The Cloud G/SP-015 & Gun G/SP-013 Plenty of things to contemplate on this day in early 2020. I was definitely going to activate Kinder Scout for the 7 points (including the winter bonus), and definitely one more - in order to attempt to make S2S contact 'across the pond' to North America later. As I drove up the road from Macclesfield to Whaley Bridge, I was listening to Chris Warburton on BBC Radio 5 Live, and the "First Hour Crew" feature he does between 6 and 7am. I pulled over and texted in what reason I had to be up and about at this hour - and got myself - and SOTA - a mention on national radio! I parked on Rushup Edge and walked the long lonely flagged path to Brown Knoll trigpoint, then turned right to drop to the Pennine Way. I climbed the Pennine Way path beyond Edale Rocks to just short of Kinder Low, where I set up in a sheltered spot beside the path. In order to combine my priorities of the LF SOTA Challenge and the FT8 SOTA Day, I primarily operated on 80m FT8.
Apart from me, I only noticed a JA and a HB station spotted on data during the morning. The HB was on at the same time as me but on a different band. By the time I had an opportunity to change bands, I think the HB activator was QRT. Plenty of contacts were made from G/SP-001 on 80m FT8 though, and mostly recognised SOTA chasers. I then drove over to Shining Tor G/SP-004, for more FT8 SOTA.
Thursday 1st October 2020 With me doing a maths teaching job in Glossop at the time, it was only going to be a matter of time before I succumbed to a walk up Kinder Scout from the Churnal side.
A beautiful Autumn evening and the first day of the October DV flavour was plenty enough incentive. I left work in Glossop and parked up at Churnal a couple of miles out of town and uphill. This road is on my daily commute.
Disaster - I’d brought my walking clothes to change into - but forgot my boots. There was only one thing for it - Liam’s wellies, which had been left in the boot of my car!
It was a splendid walk. Up in bright warm sunshine with terrific clear views, and down by torchlight and moonlight with the city lights of Manchester stretching out along the horizon. I met two sets of first day Pennine Way walkers on the way down.
I set up in the vicinity of the 624m trig point. Station was Yaesu FT70D handheld into a SOTAbeams SB5. Good fun on air. 24 contacts made on 2m, with 12 on FM and 12 on C4FM.
Two C4FM S2S were made thanks to Simon G4TJC/P on Black Hill G/SP-002, and Stuart G1ZAR/P on Bardon Hill G/CE-004. Great turn out from both activators and chasers on C4FM for a midweek evening.
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