The Cloud 2012

Well, what a poor night on Tuesday 3rd January 2012. After an hour of getting battered by wind and rain on the summit of The Cloud, I had had enough and went home. I had made 20 QSOs into five multipliers. Jimmy did better from the shack at home. I should have dropped down to the sheltered spot 5m below the trig point. That was a mistake. I hoped for more comfortable conditions in the 70cm the following week. Thanks nonetheless to:

G2ANC	2m	SSB
G6HZJ	2m	SSB
G6LUZ	2m	SSB
G4APJ	2m	SSB
G6HFF	2m	SSB
M3EYP	2m	SSB
GW4BVE	2m	SSB
G1ORC/P	2m	SSB
G3TDH	2m	SSB
2E0LKC	2m	SSB
2E0LMD	2m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	2m	SSB
G8DTF	2m	SSB
M1DDD	2m	SSB
G7DWY	2m	SSB
GW8IZR/P	2m	SSB
G4FZN/P	2m	SSB
G4XKC/P	2m	SSB
G8APB	2m	SSB
G0WTD	2m	SSB

Oops, I noted that the reflector thread "Cloud 2012" had slipped off the main SOTAwatch page. This could not be allowed to happen! Good job therefore that I was on G/SP-015 again on Tuesday night, 10th January 2012, for the 70cm UKAC.

My mood hit rock bottom when I got out of the car at Cloudside and heard the wind blowing through the woods on the side of the hill. I had been beaten off the summit by gales early in the session seven days earlier, resulting in an uncharacteristic pasting in the 2m UKAC. It was a sense of relief when I arrived on summit to find it was just a stiff breeze and no more.

So up went the 70cm SOTA Beam (SB6) and I got off to a decent start in the contest. Things tailed off somewhat later on, and I frustratingly failed to be heard by G4FZN/P (IO94) and GM4JTJ/P (IO86). Also known to be active on the night, but not heard by me (although I would normally expect to in usual conditions) were GI4SNA (IO64) and G0RQL (IO70). Those four contacts made, and I would have won the session. In reality, they were not made, and I could expect no more than a 3rd place. By 10.30pm, I had made 55 QSOs (50 SSB, 4 FM and 1 CW), into 10 multiplier squares.

At this stage last year, I was still unbeaten after two events. This year, I am still waiting for my first victory. How the mighty have fallen. I didn't go for a pint at the Harrington Arms - because I was sulking. Thanks to:

G4AQB	70cm	SSB
M3RNX	70cm	SSB
M3EYP	70cm	SSB
G3UBX	70cm	SSB
G1ORC/P	70cm	SSB
M0ICK	70cm	SSB
M0GVG/P	70cm	SSB
G4APJ	70cm	SSB
GW4EVX	70cm	SSB
G3TDH	70cm	SSB
M3OUA	70cm	SSB
G6HFF	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
M6LSB	70cm	SSB
M0MBS	70cm	SSB
G0NAJ	70cm	SSB
G8ONK	70cm	SSB
G8VHI	70cm	SSB
G0ODQ	70cm	SSB
G0EHV/P	70cm	SSB
M6OXO	70cm	SSB
G2ANC	70cm	SSB
G0CER	70cm	SSB
G4HGI	70cm	SSB
2E0BMO	70cm	SSB
G8ZRE	70cm	SSB
G3UKV	70cm	SSB
G3PYE/P	70cm	SSB
M0WAF	70cm	SSB
M0AFJ	70cm	SSB
G0PKT	70cm	SSB
M0SDA	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
G0VVE	70cm	SSB
M0GHZ	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
G4PVP	70cm	SSB
G6OES	70cm	SSB
G0XDI	70cm	SSB
G3UVR	70cm	SSB
M0TWC/P	70cm	SSB
G0WTD	70cm	SSB
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
G1SMI	70cm	SSB
GM4JR	70cm	SSB
M0OBW/P	70cm	SSB
M0TEA	70cm	FM
G7SYJ	70cm	FM
MW3GCG	70cm	FM
MW3IBC	70cm	FM
G0CDA	70cm	SSB
G8EOP	70cm	SSB
G4NBS	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB
G1AEQ	70cm	SSB

Saturday 14th January 2012 was a belter. The schedule for the day was packed tightly from the get-up at 0630 to hometime around 0130 on Sunday. The first job was to pick up Jimmy's mates Edward M6NSR and Craig, who would be joining us for the SOTA parts of the day. The weather was beautiful with blue skies, bright sunshine and clear crisp views. We could tell even while driving from Macclesfield to Cloudside that we were in for a treat.

A wonderful vantage point to operate from M1EYP/P on 40m CW

We kitted up on Cloudside, quite surprised that ours was the first car of the day to park there. Liam was in an unexpectedly cheerful mood despite the irritation of not being able to find his Nintendo 3DS that morning, meaning that he would miss out on the Playcoins the built-in pedometer would normally award him. He set off first, and was first to the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015 by quite a margin.

Tom on The Cloud Jimmy M3EYP & Edward M6NSR

Jimmy M3EYP and Edward M6NSR did 2m FM using Ed's FT-817 and Jimmy's SOTA Beam. They were kept busy by a decent sized pile-up which kept them well entertained. On my first 40m CW activation of the year, I too was kept busy, and recorded 58 QSOs across Europe, with particularly good conditions for inter-G working. After pack-up, and seeing that Jimmy and Ed were packed up, I called on 2m FM on the VX7-R and made a further 9 QSOs. I had set-up close to the northern edge of the summit, and enjoyed fabulous views throughout my activation. It was most enjoyable.

Liam Liam & Craig at the trig point on The Cloud

Now came the familiar short drive across the valley to Gun G/SP-013.

G4SSH	40m	CW	T
G4OOE	40m	CW	T
G0NUP	40m	CW	T
G3XQE	40m	CW	T
F6CEL	40m	CW	T
M0TUB	40m	CW	T
ON5QRP	40m	CW	T
G3RMD	40m	CW	T
GW4ZPL	40m	CW	T
DL6UNF	40m	CW	T
DL1FU	40m	CW	T
OK1DVM	40m	CW	T
PA0SKP	40m	CW	T
G0UBJ	40m	CW	T
G4AFI	40m	CW	T
LA8BCA	40m	CW	T
OK1HCG	40m	CW	T
OK1AU	40m	CW	T
ON4FI	40m	CW	T
OM1AX	40m	CW	T
LA1ENA	40m	CW	T
G4ZIB	40m	CW	T
DL6KVA	40m	CW	T
DF7IS	40m	CW	T
I2CZQ	40m	CW	T
DL2HWI	40m	CW	T
PA0WDG	40m	CW	T
F5SQA	40m	CW	T
HA7UG	40m	CW	T
OK1LV	40m	CW	T
OM7OM	40m	CW	T
DL1EKO	40m	CW	T
OE8SPW	40m	CW	T
EA1DFP	40m	CW	T
M3JFM	40m	CW	T
HB9AGH	40m	CW	T
F5NEP	40m	CW	T
M0YHB/P on Brown Clee Hill WB-002	2m	FM	J
G6WRW/P on Brown Clee Hill WB-002	2m	FM	J
DJ5AV	40m	CW	T
G3CWI/M	2m	FM	J
M0TUB	2m	FM	J
2E0NHM	2m	FM	J
M1EYO/P on Boulsworth Hill SP-008	2m	FM	J
G3VQO	40m	CW	T
HB9AFI	40m	CW	T
S57XX/P on Špik TK-019	40m	CW	T
2E0MIX	2m	FM	J
G0MZZ	2m	FM	J
G3IXZ	40m	CW	T
DL3JPN	40m	CW	T
PA0B	40m	CW	T
DL1AZZ	40m	CW	T
EA1SB	40m	CW	T
ON4CCN	40m	CW	T
OM3LO	40m	CW	T
DL1HRM	40m	CW	T
G6HFF	2m	FM	J
2W0LYD/P on Manod Mawr NW-035	2m	FM	T, J
DL8DXL	40m	CW	T
DL4FDM	40m	CW	T
YL2CV	40m	CW	T
I3VAD	40m	CW	T
HB9MKV	40m	CW	T
M0GMG	2m	FM	J
DL7VKD	40m	CW	T
HB9CKV	40m	CW	T
G4OBK	40m	CW	T
SP3J	40m	CW	T
M0VFR	2m	FM	T
2E0NVJ	2m	FM	T
2W0JYN	2m	FM	T
2E0YYY/P on Shining Tor SP-004	2m	FM	T
M1CNL	2m	FM	T
G3WFK	2m	FM	T
M3XIE	2m	FM	T
G8JSM	2m	FM	T

However, a cracking day it was not on Tuesday 24th January 2012. After an "interesting" day at work, I didn't really feel like doing the 6m contest up on The Cloud G/SP-015. It seemed like the urge had gone, what with winning all three (2m, 70cm, 6m) UKAC series comfortably in 2011, and taking two dismal beatings in the two January 2012 events so far! However, I went for it nonetheless.

I walked up to the summit just as the rain cleared through. It was now a pleasant and dry night with little wind and very mild temperatures. I started to look forward to my activating and contesting. Up went the 6m delta loop, and I got all set. Until I tried to switch the FT-817 on that is. Nothing. Nowt. Not a sausage. Various checks and tests to eliminate all the variables were carried out, after which I could confirm that I was getting nothing from the 7Ah SLAB. Nothing. Nowt. Not a sausage.

This was really irritating, because I had actually checked out the SLAB in the shack before setting out, the delta loop was up, and it was a nice evening. And my day-long bad mood was starting to lift. Well, I wasn't visiting this place without activating it, so I called on the 2m FM handheld and made three QSOs - before that too ran out of steam. Oh dear.

I returned home and returned the SLAB to the shack, where not even replacing the in-line fuse brought it to life. So a more serious problem maybe - like it is dead and needs to go in the dustbin? (Er, I mean appropriate recycling provision...). Oh well, another mediocre activation in the logbook of M1EYP...

M1CNL	2m	FM
2E0BKW	2m	FM
M0LEX	2m	FM

Tuesday 7th February 2012, and forecast to be the coldest night of the year, possibly down to -10 Celcius. As it turned out, the worst it got was -6, but that was plenty cold enough for this SOTA & contest station on the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015.

My bothy bag was essential for periods of respite from the cold, although in terms of rotating the beam, and the fabric flapping about in the wind it was inconvenient. Ultimately, this restricted my performance on a disappointing night. Many stations were heard but not worked, and the multiplier count was well down. I just never got a decent rhythm going to my operating.

In the end it was 66 QSOs, all on 2m SSB. Still one or two stations persist in coming back to me saying "We've already worked". I insist that we haven't and give them a report, serial number and locator. "No, we've definitely already worked, but I had your locator as IO83WG, not IO83WE" they continue. I suggest that they must have worked my son Jimmy M3EYP earlier in the contest, to which they reply that this QSO therefore won't count as a separate one. I point out that the station of M3EYP is located seven miles away in a comfortably heated shack, in contrast to the station of M1EYP/P on an exposed summit at six degrees below freezing, and hence I should imagine that the adjudicators would regard us as distinct, as I lightly bang my head against the brick topograph.

After packing up, I paused to enjoy the rest of my coffee under a very bright moon, before heading downhill. My fingers were swollen and aching from the cold as I reached the car. While driving, my left hand soon recovered, but the discomfort remained in my right hand. I reasoned that some therapeutic lifting up and down of a pint pot might cure the ailment. Sure enough, 15 minutes at the Harrington Arms in Gawsworth did the trick. I couldn't resist asking the barmaid for a Long Kiss Goodnight (guest ale), a Black Bush and a beef pie. I was pain-free in no time.

Well, that's four contests into 2012 now, and still no win. It was four wins out of four this time last year. The bigger they come, the harder they fall.

G7DWY	2m	SSB
G4NTY	2m	SSB
M3RNX	2m	SSB
M6XJP	2m	SSB
G0CER	2m	SSB
M0XOC	2m	SSB
GW4BVE	2m	SSB
G8VHI	2m	SSB
G1TST	2m	SSB
GW7AAV	2m	SSB
G2ANC	2m	SSB
GW8IZR	2m	SSB
G4JLG	2m	SSB
M3EYP	2m	SSB
G3TDH	2m	SSB
G4APJ	2m	SSB
M0KWP	2m	SSB
G8GHO	2m	SSB
2E1INY	2m	SSB
2E0UOG	2m	SSB
G4HBI	2m	SSB
M6CWA	2m	SSB
G0WTD	2m	SSB
G4HGI	2m	SSB
M0RDW/P	2m	SSB
G8ZRE	2m	SSB
G4JZF	2m	SSB
M0MOL	2m	SSB
G8APB	2m	SSB
G4AQB	2m	SSB
M0WFX	2m	SSB
G1HSG/P	2m	SSB
M0BRA	2m	SSB
M3OUA	2m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	2m	SSB
MW0BER	2m	SSB
G8HXE/P	2m	SSB
G8XTJ	2m	SSB
M6LEX	2m	SSB
G3PYE/P	2m	SSB
G0GSH	2m	SSB
M0AFJ	2m	SSB
G6COL	2m	SSB
G0EHV/P	2m	SSB
G4VPD	2m	SSB
G1SMI	2m	SSB
G8DTF	2m	SSB
G4IRC	2m	SSB
G8CUL	2m	SSB
G6UW	2m	SSB
G0VFW	2m	SSB
M1MHZ	2m	SSB
G3LVP	2m	SSB
G2BOF	2m	SSB
2E0CTW/P	2m	SSB
G4XPE	2m	SSB
G6WRW/P	2m	SSB
M1EVH	2m	SSB
G6OES	2m	SSB
G4XKC	2m	SSB
G8PZT	2m	SSB
GW8ASD	2m	SSB
G8BUN	2m	SSB
G4DEZ	2m	SSB
G2ALN	2m	SSB
M1NTO	2m	SSB

I plodded up The Cloud on Tuesday 14th February 2012, for the 70cm UKAC. Strangely, I didn't note down any report or observations from this activation, only the logs!

G0SJS	2m	FM
2E0DDD	2m	FM
M6CIG	2m	FM
G6UW	70cm	SSB
M3EYP	70cm	SSB
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
G3UBX	70cm	SSB
G4HBI	70cm	SSB
G8APB	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
G4AQB	70cm	SSB
G8ZRE	70cm	SSB
G6HFF	70cm	SSB
M0LEX	70cm	SSB
G3TDH	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
GI6ATZ	70cm	SSB
G4HGI	70cm	SSB
G6OES	70cm	SSB
G1ORC/P	70cm	SSB
G3UKV	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
2E0BMO	70cm	SSB
G8OHM	70cm	SSB
M1MHZ	70cm	SSB
G8VHI	70cm	SSB
G1SMI	70cm	SSB
M0GHZ	70cm	SSB
G2ANC	70cm	SSB
M0SDA	70cm	SSB
G0WTD	70cm	SSB
G0EHV/P	70cm	SSB
G3IZD	70cm	SSB
G4XKC/P	70cm	SSB
G7DWY	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB
G6COL	70cm	SSB
G0XDI	70cm	SSB
G3PYE/P	70cm	SSB
M6OXO	70cm	SSB
G4NBS	70cm	SSB

The next activation of The Cloud G/SP-015 was in the 6m UKAC on Tuesday 28th February 2012. It was my mum's 67th birthday, but fortunately she had gone with mates for a few days in Scotland that morning, so there was no expectation upon me to join her for the evening! However, there were other appointments to deal with, so I was a bit last minute, eventually leaving the house at 7pm. I must have made good time and feeling in good shape, for I was on the summit in good time at 1940z. The 6m delta loop was erected, and I made my first contact at 2001z.

By 2230z, the end of the contest session, I had made 60 QSOs into 13 multiplier squares. Unfortunately, I was pipped, again, by G4HGI who recorded four less contacts than me, but one more multiplier (and lots more kms). Still, it was nice to do a contest from The Cloud in "reasonably" comfortable weather for the first time in months! Thanks to all callers.

G4APJ	6m	SSB
G8MIA	6m	SSB
G1SMI	6m	SSB
GW4ZAR	6m	SSB
G3KAF	6m	SSB
2E0BMO	6m	SSB
G4ZRP	6m	SSB
G8HXE	6m	SSB
G3TDH	6m	SSB
M0VAA	6m	SSB
G4JQN	6m	SSB
2E0LKC	6m	SSB
G4XKC	6m	SSB
2E0LMD	6m	SSB
G1ORC/P	6m	SSB
G4VPD	6m	SSB
G0VOF	6m	SSB
G0CER	6m	SSB
M3OUA	6m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	6m	SSB
M0COP/P	6m	SSB
G3UJE	6m	SSB
G8APB	6m	SSB
G3XNO	6m	SSB
M6OXO	6m	SSB
G8LZE	6m	SSB
G8CLY	6m	SSB
G4AGE	6m	SSB
G3ZOD	6m	SSB
GI4SNA	6m	SSB
G0JCQ	6m	SSB
G8ZRE	6m	SSB
M0WLF	6m	SSB
G3MEH	6m	CW
M3EYP	6m	SSB
GW8ASD	6m	SSB
G8UGL	6m	SSB
G7DWY	6m	SSB
G5MW/P	6m	SSB
G4HGI	6m	SSB
2E0WAX/P	6m	SSB
M3RNX	6m	SSB
G4ELJ	6m	SSB
G1AEQ	6m	SSB
G3PYE/P	6m	SSB
GM4NFC	6m	SSB
G4TSW	6m	SSB
G0WTD	6m	SSB
M1MHZ	6m	SSB
G4KUX	6m	SSB
GM4JR	6m	SSB
GW4BVE	6m	SSB
2E0ORC	6m	SSB
G2ANC	6m	SSB
G6LUZ	6m	SSB
G8BUN	6m	SSB
G0EUN	6m	SSB
G4NTY	6m	SSB
G3UVR	6m	SSB
G0FWU	6m	SSB

In order to have plenty of time available for an early morning activation, while not risking being late for work, I got up at 0528 on Friday 2nd March 2012, the 10th birthday of the fabulous and life-changing Summits on the Air awards programme. I wasn't too groggy either, despite quiz night just a few hours earlier, and was away in the car within 25 minutes. I had anticipated beginning the ascent by headtorch, but there was enough light by the time I was parking to embark without it.

It was 40m CW on the summit, which was being brushed by a light breeze with a little mist swirling around the surrounding valleys. It was a fantastic start on 7.029MHz CW with 18 stations worked in 12 minutes - thanks for the support chasers! SOTA's 10th Birthday party then slowed down in pace, and ended with a 28th QSO at 0729z. No stations responded to a call on 2m FM, so it was time to go to work.

DL4FDM	40m	CW
OM7OM	40m	CW
IK3DRO	40m	CW
OE5WLL	40m	CW
DL6UNF	40m	CW
OK1DVM	40m	CW
OM7GW	40m	CW
OM7DX	40m	CW
DF2UD	40m	CW
DL3JAB	40m	CW
S53PO	40m	CW
DL8DXL	40m	CW
I/OE7PHI	40m	CW
IK5FKF	40m	CW
I3VAD	40m	CW
S57MU	40m	CW
IK3GER	40m	CW
OZ8SW	40m	CW
OM7AG	40m	CW
EA3FAG	40m	CW
DL0BQ	40m	CW
ES1IP	40m	CW
I5FLN	40m	CW
OK2KR	40m	CW
S51ZG	40m	CW
HB9BQR	40m	CW
HB9AGO	40m	CW
DL3HQN/P	40m	CW

I cringed as I ascended The Cloud G/SP-015 on the evening of Tuesday 6th March 2012. The wind was up again, and I also knew that rain was on its way later. When was I ever going to get a calm evening to allow me to become challenging again in the UKACs? Perhaps I just got lucky with my campaigns in 2011!

As I arrived at the trig point and topograph, it was not as wild as I had anticipated during the ascent, so I decided to set up right on the summit. The topograph gives good shelter for the operator anyway. I was set up with plenty of time to spare, so had a quick natter with Macclesfield regulars Dennis G8RDO and Peter G4FPJ on 2m FM as part of the equipment testing procedure.

After 2000z, I got going into a decent rhythm, and worked plenty of stations, both running on 144.315MHz SSB and S & P around the band. My only difficulty was the noise from 400 watt station Chris G8APB about 1km to my south! The multiplier count was good, with IO64, 74, 75, 80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, 86, 91, 92, 93, 94 and JO01, 02, 03 all worked. Brian MW6OXO/P was missed for IO72 square, as was the DX from ON, PA, DL and F. JO00 was briefly heard, but not worked.

After 2130z, the temperature dropped, the wind picked up and the rain came in from the west. Things became much more difficult with me having to hang onto things for dear life, re-tighten the guys for the mast and huddle in a bothy bag that was trying to leave the summit, and making an even worse racket than G8APB around my head! This all conspired to dramatically reduce my QSO rate, which became dismal between 2130 and 2200z, and then pathetic for the last half hour.

I finished with 75 contacts in 17 multipliers, and a good spread of distant stations, but nothing outside the UK. I expect to finish in the top few, but no better than 3rd or 4th. The total for the activation, was 77 contacts, all 2m, with 74 on SSB, 1 on CW and 2 on FM. Good to work John GW4BVE, Jimmy M3EYP, Dave M0MYA, Matt G8XYJ, Pete M0COP, Brian G0JCQ, Mark G0VOF, Ivan G3IZD, Rob G0HRT, Roger G0TRB, Ron GW4EVX, Keith G8HXE, Paul M0PNN and Roger 2E0BMO from SOTA circles. I also heard Dave G6LKB and Carolyn G6WRW on the band but didn't get to work them. Many thanks to all callers.

G8RDO	2m	FM
G4FPJ	2m	FM
M3EYP	2m	SSB
G7APD	2m	SSB
G4FPJ	2m	SSB
GW4BVE	2m	SSB
2E0BZU	2m	SSB
G3TDH	2m	SSB
M0MYA	2m	SSB
G8XYJ	2m	SSB
M0COP/P	2m	SSB
G4APJ	2m	SSB
G3UDA	2m	SSB
G8MIA	2m	SSB
M0ICK	2m	SSB
G0JCQ	2m	SSB
G0VOF	2m	SSB
M3RNX	2m	SSB
GW4HBZ	2m	SSB
2E0TGS	2m	SSB
M0MOL	2m	SSB
G6SPG	2m	SSB
G3IZD	2m	SSB
G4TUP	2m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	2m	SSB
M3OUA	2m	SSB
G6HZJ	2m	SSB
M6BYR	2m	SSB
G0HRT	2m	SSB
G1AEQ	2m	SSB
G4HGI	2m	SSB
G4JLG	2m	SSB
GW8ASD	2m	SSB
M6XJP	2m	SSB
2E0UOG	2m	SSB
G4AQB	2m	SSB
M1MHZ	2m	SSB
G4ERO	2m	SSB
G3PYE/P	2m	SSB
G4JQN	2m	SSB
G0TRB	2m	SSB
M0GVG/P	2m	SSB
G4RRA	2m	SSB
G8EKG	2m	SSB
G4NTY	2m	SSB
GD8EXI	2m	SSB
M0KWP	2m	SSB
G8BNE	2m	SSB
GM4CXM	2m	CW
GI4SNA	2m	SSB
G0EHV/P	2m	SSB
G8DTF	2m	SSB
G3MEH	2m	SSB
GW4EVX	2m	SSB
M1NTO	2m	SSB
G4BRK	2m	SSB
M0RSD	2m	SSB
G4DEZ	2m	SSB
G8APB	2m	SSB
G0WTD	2m	SSB
G6COL	2m	SSB
G0TAR	2m	SSB
G4HBI	2m	SSB
G1TST	2m	SSB
G0CER	2m	SSB
G8HXE/P	2m	SSB
G2ANC	2m	SSB
M0SAT	2m	SSB
M0LEX	2m	SSB
M0PNN	2m	SSB
GM4JR	2m	SSB
G0HIS	2m	SSB
GM4AFF	2m	SSB
G8ZRE	2m	SSB
G1SMI	2m	SSB
2E0BMO	2m	SSB
G4ODA	2m	SSB

Tuesday 13th March 2012 and the third 70cm UKAC of the year. I was early due to dropping Liam off in Congleton at 6pm, so completed the ascent in daylight. The headtorch had to be switched on for the set-up though. There was a light breeze across the summit, and the temperature dropped from quite mild to quite cold as the night drew on. Conditions were up, and I made 70cm SSB contacts into GU and F. However, I got nothing in GM, and missed anything in IO64 or IO94. However, the S2S with G4VFL/P on Ditchling Beacon G/SE-006, also giving me IO90 was pleasing.

Because I was early, I also hung the 30m dipole from the mast, and spent half-an-hour on 10MHz CW before the contest. This netted 26 QSOs, before I changed antenna feeders at 1950 ready for the main event. In the 70cm contest, I made 66 contacts into 14 multipliers, plus the DX into France. Sadly though, it doesn't look like my year in the UKACs this time, after my "clean sweep" in 2011! Maybe I set down a challenge - and others have definitely risen to it - fair play! I appear to have been beaten by (mainly SOTA known) rivals G4ODA, MW6OXO/P, M0TWC/P and G3TJE/P, so my beating of my usual main rival G4HGI was little consolation.

After the contest period ended at 2230z, I tried again on 30m CW. There was DX in the form of a strong Brazilian, but he was working split and I couldn't break his pile-up. All my CQ calls on 30m, despite self-spots, remained unanswered this time, so no further contacts were made. I packed away all the kit and donned the rucksack. Just prior to commencing the descent, I gave a call on the 2m FM HT, making one final contact. This took the QSO total for the night to 93.

DJ5AV	30m	CW
ES4MM	30m	CW
OE3CHC	30m	CW
DL1DVE	30m	CW
OK1FCA	30m	CW
LA1ENA	30m	CW
DL4BBH	30m	CW
OE6WIG	30m	CW
LY2PX	30m	CW
DL6KVA	30m	CW
IK1GPG	30m	CW
OH6VJ	30m	CW
DK3GP	30m	CW
DK1HW	30m	CW
DJ2TI	30m	CW
UT3WW	30m	CW
HA5TI	30m	CW
LZ5WF	30m	CW
YL2AG	30m	CW
LY3W	30m	CW
UU5JL	30m	CW
SP6N	30m	CW
OH3GZ	30m	CW
MW0IDX	30m	CW
DJ8XP	30m	CW
S51ZG	30m	CW
G3TDH	70cm	SSB
G4APJ	70cm	SSB
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
M3RNX	70cm	SSB
G6TGO	70cm	SSB
G6HFF	70cm	SSB
G8APB	70cm	SSB
G8OHM	70cm	SSB
G3VLG	70cm	SSB
G4XKC/P	70cm	SSB
M0GHZ	70cm	SSB
G4ODA	70cm	SSB
2E0BMO	70cm	SSB
G3JKX	70cm	SSB
M5AFG	70cm	SSB
G8EOP	70cm	SSB
M0UFC	70cm	SSB
G8ZRE	70cm	SSB
G8ONK	70cm	SSB
G3UBX	70cm	SSB
M0SDA	70cm	SSB
M0GVG/P	70cm	SSB
G4HGI	70cm	SSB
2E0ORC	70cm	SSB
M3EYP	70cm	SSB
G1ORC/P	70cm	SSB
G4HBI	70cm	SSB
M0EMM	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
GD8EXI	70cm	SSB
G3IZD	70cm	SSB
M0TWC/P	70cm	SSB
G8DTF	70cm	SSB
G1TST	70cm	SSB
G1SMI	70cm	SSB
G0HFX	70cm	SSB
GI6ATZ	70cm	SSB
GU6EFB	70cm	SSB
G4CPE	70cm	SSB
F8BRK	70cm	SSB
G8DER	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
G0LGS	70cm	SSB
G3WKZ/P	70cm	SSB
G3UVR	70cm	SSB
G4LDR	70cm	SSB
M3WDS	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB
G0PKT	70cm	SSB
G4DEZ	70cm	SSB
G4DHF	70cm	SSB
MW6OXO/P	70cm	SSB
M0LNE	70cm	SSB
M0COP/P	70cm	SSB
G8VHI	70cm	SSB
G3PIA	70cm	SSB
G0XDI	70cm	SSB
G3PYE/P	70cm	SSB
F6KIF/P	70cm	SSB
G5MW/P	70cm	SSB
G4VFL/P	70cm	SSB
G3MEH	70cm	SSB
G4NBS	70cm	SSB
G0VJG	70cm	SSB
M0ICK	70cm	SSB
2W0JYN	2m	FM

The second activation of the shiny new 2E0EYP came just a day after the first. Richard G3CWI proposed a joint activation of The Cloud G/SP-015 for Sunday 25th March 2012, but with a teatime QRV. It suited Jimmy and I to be out earlier, so we decided to head out around 3pm and lap up some sunshine until Richard arrived on the summit.

Jimmy 2E0EYP/P enjoyed a pile-up and made 42 contacts on 2m FM. I also had a pile-up and made 45 QSOs on 20m, mainly CW, but with a few on SSB in the WPX contest. My best DX on CW were the SOTA chasers in the US and Canada, while it was Cyprus on SSB. However, strong CQ calls were heard in the SSB test from VK4, BY5, JH4 and 9M8. Unfortunately, I couldn't get through the pile-ups for these stations with my 5 watts, but conditions were definitely good.

Richard G3CWI arrived on summit around 5.15pm and spent his time by the trig point and persisting with his 70cm HT/RD wkg condx. And in contrast to Black Hill G/SP-002 the previous day, he made some contacts, easily enough to qualify the summit - if there were any points going that is! Two beautiful days this weekend, and two enjoyable joint treble activations. We rounded off with a pint in the Flower Pot in Macclesfield.

M1EYO/M	2m	FM	J
M6NSR/M	2m	FM	J
MW0UPH/P on Manod Mawr NW-035	2m	FM	J
G0WGL	2m	FM	J
OM7DX	20m	CW	T
G6LKB	2m	FM	J
G0HRT	2m	FM	J
OM1AX	20m	CW	T
G4VSS	2m	FM	J
LA8BCA	20m	CW	T
2E1AEQ/M	2m	FM	J
OE6GND	20m	CW	T
OM7OM	20m	CW	T
M3XIE	2m	FM	J
OK1DVM	20m	CW	T
N1EU	20m	CW	T
SM6DHU	20m	CW	T
G6NFR	2m	FM	J
GW1CJJ/M	2m	FM	J
UA1ZFK	20m	CW	T
YL2AG	20m	CW	T
G0DMV/M	2m	FM	J
G4ZRP	2m	FM	J
LY2BNL	20m	CW	T
HA7UG	20m	CW	T
G0VOF	20m	CW	T
2E0LKC	2m	FM	J
S51ZG	20m	CW	T
DJ5AV	20m	CW	T
2E0NHM	2m	FM	J
M0XOC/P	2m	FM	J
2E0LMD	2m	FM	J
GW1AKT/P	2m	FM	J
F5UKL	20m	CW	T
DJ0MEW	20m	CW	T
M1CNL	2m	FM	J
2E0SCU	2m	FM	J
G6ODU	2m	FM	J
G0VOF	2m	FM	J
VE2JCW	20m	CW	T
OE5FSL	20m	CW	T
M3NHA	2m	FM	J
OE5PEN	20m	CW	T
G8POK/P	2m	FM	J
N4EX	20m	CW	T
M6NHA	2m	FM	J
M0XRS/M	2m	FM	J
G0SJS	2m	FM	J
M0SAD	2m	FM	J
M1PAC/M	2m	FM	J
UN7CH	20m	CW	T
VE1WT	20m	CW	T
OM6MS	20m	CW	T
G4BLH	2m	FM	J
OK1FRO	20m	CW	T
UA3UAD	20m	CW	T
G6CHD	2m	FM	J
N4XAT	20m	CW	T
HB9BIN	20m	CW	T
OM3AA	20m	CW	T
F6CZC	20m	CW	T
OK1WCF	20m	SSB	T
E720RS	20m	SSB	T
M0HPD/P	2m	FM	J
G7SKR	2m	FM	J
2W0JYN	2m	FM	J
IQ3UD	20m	SSB	T
S52OP	20m	SSB	T
M0TGT/M	2m	FM	J
G4ONG	2m	FM	J
OL9Z	20m	SSB	T
2E0RYP	2m	FM	J
EB8AH	20m	SSB	T
OH5Z	20m	SSB	T
G4ZAR/M	2m	FM	J
S52WW	20m	SSB	T
C4W	20m	SSB	T
HG7T	20m	SSB	T
IN3ZNR	20m	SSB	T
G1JHB/P	2m	FM	J
G5O	20m	SSB	T
EC6AAE	20m	SSB	T
9A1A	20m	SSB	T
GW8XYJ/P on Mynydd Eppynt SW-018	2m	FM	J
YT5A	20m	SSB	T
2W0XYL/P on Moel Hebog NW-014	2m	FM	J
2W0TDX/P on Moel Hebog NW-014	2m	FM	J
WB9WHQ	20m	CW	T
OE7PHI	20m	CW	T

The third instalment in the Adventures of 2E0EYP came with the debut of that call in the UKACs on Tuesday 27th March 2012, and the first use of 50 watts from the home station. Sadly, this did not bring untold joy as hoped, but the usual abject misery. Four QSOs, all very local in IO83 square was a very similar performance for Jimmy as his previous 10 watt entries in the 6m sessions.

I, on the other hand, only had 5 watts at my disposal, but I also had a delta loop antenna and a SOTA summit - The Cloud G/SP-015. For the first two hours, things went well with a steady racking up of QSOs and multipliers, 50 contacts and 13 squares worked in total. Particularly pleasing was IO86 and IO80, as were IO64, IO72, IO94, JO01 and JO02. The other squares worked were the usual IO81, 82, 83, 91, 92 and 93.

Andy GM4JR was heard throughout the night from IO85, but very variable with QSB, and he never heard me. Neither did G0VJG in JO01, who couldn't seem to hear a thing of the massive pile-up that was calling him at one stage. The last half-hour proved to be desolate, with me fruitlessly chasing GM4JR and G0VJG, and looking for anything else, in vain. There were plenty of visitors on summit both before and after dark during the night, and lots of interest shown in my activity. It was an enjoyable evening, apart from the midges, but it appears I will have to wait yet longer for my first win of 2012.

G3UJE	6m	SSB
G3TDH	6m	SSB
G4NTY	6m	SSB
G4APJ	6m	SSB
G8MIA	6m	SSB
M6GBK	6m	SSB
GW4ZAR/P	6m	SSB
G8PZT	6m	SSB
GW8ASD	6m	SSB
G4MD/P	6m	SSB
G0CER	6m	SSB
G8ZRE	6m	SSB
2E0BMO	6m	SSB
M0JVW	6m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	6m	SSB
2E0EYP	6m	SSB
GW4BVE	6m	SSB
G3ZOD	6m	CW
M0GVG/P	6m	SSB
G6UW	6m	SSB
G3VLG	6m	SSB
G8APB	6m	SSB
G3MEH	6m	SSB
MW0ZZK	6m	SSB
M0BRA	6m	SSB
G3PIA	6m	SSB
G5MW/P	6m	SSB
G4FZN/P	6m	SSB
G7DWY	6m	SSB
M0COP/P	6m	SSB
M0NUT/P	6m	SSB
G8MKC/P	6m	SSB
G6TGO	6m	SSB
G0FWU	6m	SSB
G6HFF	6m	SSB
G4HGI	6m	SSB
G6COL	6m	SSB
MW6OXO/P	6m	SSB
GS4AAF/P	6m	SSB
G4TSW	6m	SSB
G8BUN	6m	SSB
G2ANC	6m	SSB
G0LGS/P	6m	SSB
M3WDS/P on Cleeve Hill CE-001	6m	SSB
G4ENZ	6m	SSB
G8HXE	6m	SSB
G8YIG	6m	SSB
GI4SNA	6m	SSB
M1MHZ	6m	SSB
G3POM	6m	SSB

Jimmy 2E0EYP put his higher power privileges to good use last night (Tuesday 10th April 2012) using 20 watts from the Yaesu FT-897 in the 70cm UK Activity Contest. In doing so, he managed 26 QSOs from home, one of his better efforts. I guess the next stage will be to get some horizontal beams up!

For my part, I looked out over our back garden with horror as we ate out evening meal. It was being lashed by extraordinarily heavy rain. I studied the various rain radars on tinternet, and saw only very isolated and small blobs of rain through the evening. The problem was, one of the blobs was always over The Cloud G/SP-015, and was showing heavy downpours!

I decided to risk it. After dropping Liam off at his youth group in Congleton, I made my way to Cloudside, where I surveyed the local weather. To my south, it was clear and sunny, most springlike, but approaching from the north was a horrible wall of grey, which looked like it was emptying lots of water over everything it passed! I was early, so chose to sit in my car for a while and relax. Relax I certainly did - I fell asleeep! Fortunately, I awoke around 6.45pm after the rain had passed, so I kitted up and set off on the rather familiar ascent.

On the summit, I stood chatting, as usual, to various clusters of club runners. A very nasty looking shower was approaching, but looking like it would pass just to the east, which thankfully it did. One of the runners that said hello was Matthew M3ZQB, son of Chris G8APB who I would work later. The direction of the wind was the worst possible, meaning that it was nearly impossible to find decent shelter on any side of the topograph. Rather than waste time trying to find an alternative option, I decided to brave it and set up there anyway. The result was a very cold evening!

The contest got off to an explosive start with 29 stations worked in the first 29 minutes. Unfortunately though this only covered 3 multiplier squares, so much work remained. I did eventually manage to get the multipliers up to 10, but this was insufficient to be competitive, and I really could have done with the four squares I heard but didn't work. The final tally was 62 QSOs on 70cm SSB in the contest (with one exchange completed on CW in difficult conditions), and a further five on 2m FM with the handy just before the 8pm start. So 67 in all, and plenty more RF from The Cloud.

By the last half hour, my hands were so cold that they were struggling to write the QSO exchange information down in my logbook. Worse was to come after 10.30pm when they were unable to uncouple the Anderson Powerpole connectors in my battery lead, and couldn't unscrew the BNC at the end of my Aircell 7 feeder from my FT-817. I rubbed and blew on my hands as much as possible to get some life back into them, and was mighty relieved when they were eventually able to accomplish the necessary tasks!

Many thanks to everyone that worked me. It was lovely to see three of them the following afternoon when Pete 2E0LKC, Ann 2E0LMD and Les M3OUA called at my QTH for a cup of tea, on their way to visit Peter G4FPJ.

M3OUA	2m	FM
2E0LKC	2m	FM
2E0LMD	2m	FM
M6TCB	2m	FM
2E0GYO	2m	FM
G2ANC	70cm	SSB
G3UVR	70cm	SSB
G4TCU	70cm	SSB
M0COP/P	70cm	SSB
2E0EYP	70cm	SSB
G4APJ	70cm	SSB
G6HFF	70cm	SSB
G1HSG	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
GW4EVX	70cm	SSB
G4IOQ	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB
M0ANQ	70cm	SSB
G0CER	70cm	SSB
M6GBK	70cm	SSB
G0OWP	70cm	SSB
2E0LKC	70cm	SSB
G1ORC/P	70cm	SSB
M0ICK	70cm	SSB
M3OUA	70cm	SSB
G4XKC/P	70cm	SSB
G3TDH	70cm	SSB
G3VLG	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
2E0UOG	70cm	SSB
G3UBX	70cm	SSB
G8ZRE	70cm	SSB
2E0GYO	70cm	SSB
M0GVG/P	70cm	SSB
G4HGI	70cm	SSB
G6OES	70cm	SSB
G0PKT	70cm	SSB
G1AJI	70cm	SSB
G8BFF	70cm	SSB
G4BLH/P	70cm	SSB
G4KZV	70cm	SSB
G4CAJ	70cm	SSB
G8MIA	70cm	SSB
M0KRG/P	70cm	SSB
G8PZT	70cm	SSB
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
M6XJP	70cm	SSB
G8APB	70cm	SSB
G4ODA	70cm	SSB
M0GHZ	70cm	SSB
G8OHM	70cm	SSB
2E0BMO	70cm	SSB
G0XDI	70cm	SSB
MW6OXO/P	70cm	SSB
M0SDA	70cm	SSB
G7DWY	70cm	SSB
GW0WTT	70cm	SSB
G0CDA	70cm	SSB
G3IZD	70cm	SSB
M3RNX	70cm	SSB
G1HLT	70cm	SSB
M0TWC/P	70cm	SSB
G0VOF	70cm	SSB
M1MHZ	70cm	SSB
GD8EXI	70cm	SSB
G4TUP	70cm	SSB

Hmmm, I was busy on International SOTA Weekend. Well, in a manner of speaking. On Saturday 5th May 2012, I wanted to properly install a mobile radio in my car. Detachable front panel, hands free etc, as opposed to perching my 817 under the fuseboxes. Then there was the FA Cup Final to watch, and I also really needed to pick up my brother's birthday present and take it round - seeing as his birthday was actually 7 weeks ago.

Sunday there would be two crunch Premier League matches on the telly followed by a band rehearsal, while Bank Holiday Monday would see Liam expecting to be taken to the banger racing before a family member appeared on telly that evening. Furthermore, he who conjured up the idea of International SOTA Weekend - Sean M0GIA - was busy.

I couldn't snub International SOTA Weekend though. Although while having a pint in the pub with Richard G3CWI after completing the mobile installation (many thanks for the help) I came close to sacking the idea, the resolve was rediscovered later on. Setting off from home at around 10.35pm BST, I chatted to Jimmy 2E0EYP and Pete 2E0LKC during the drive to Cloudside. I parked at around 11pm then embarked on the familiar ascent up The Cloud G/SP-015. Upon summiting, I unleashed the VX-7R and made ten 2m FM QSOs.

Then it was time to set up the 20m groundplane antenna and offer up a double chaser point for anyone that wanted to take advantage of the time. The 20m band was open with lots of activity, so I was quite surprised to find difficulty in getting a rhythm going and building up a steady stream of callers. Even my royal 'Q' wasn't attracting them! (I was using the special prefix for the Queen's diamond jubilee, so my call was MQ1EYP/P). Nonetheless, my 11 QSOs included 8 into North America, finishing with Marc W4MPS at 2359 UTC.

Noticing the spot of the South Korean activator on 14.014MHz CW while checking my 'phone, I took a listen on the frequency. I think I heard that station, but couldn't be sure because I only ever got 2 or 3 characters of the callsign between the QSB, and the splatter from the US contest station that was 300Hz up! Another time, hopefully.

2Q0EYP	2m	FM
2E0EYP	2m	FM
MQ1AIU/M	2m	FM
MQ3EYP	2m	FM
G7EMK	2m	FM
M3EYP	2m	FM
G6LUZ	2m	FM
GQ0VOF	2m	FM
MQ6LCH	2m	FM
2Q0LKC	2m	FM
OM7DX	20m	CW
VE2JCW	20m	CW
N1EU	20m	CW
N4EX	20m	CW
OM1AX	20m	CW
KA1EFO	20m	CW
IT9RZN	20m	CW
W1UE	20m	CW
W1EQ	20m	CW
KF2O	20m	CW
W4MPS	20m	CW

I had seen the spot from Jean VE2JCW with the comment "OTHER DAY AFTER 00:00 :)", so I knew what was coming. And sure enough, the first caller to come through after midnight UTC was VE2JCW! In fact, my only contact, so the Sunday 6th May 2012 activation of The Cloud G/SP-015 was one of those distinguished one QSO events!

I descended and drove home, feeling rather tired. It must have been late, because my mobile radio scanned hundreds of simplex frequencies, nodes and repeater channels round and round, without being caused to stop by detections of human lifeform. Many thanks to all callers.

VE2JCW

20m

24-May-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #6
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 16 (9A, DL, G, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, RA, S5, SM, SP)
QSOs: 3. Cumulative QSOs: 43

A stunner of an afternoon saw my return to SOTA and the PP3 Challenge after a brief flirtation with the HuMPs award. I set up right on the edge of the summit, allowing myself a wonderful view across the valley to the Peak District hills. It was definitely shorts, T-shirt and sandals weather, so "kitting up" was basically the application of factor 15.

It seems a busy 30m band including a DXpedition made life difficult for chasers trying to work me. I wasn't really aware of this, as I hear the whole band through the headphones from the Rockmite 30 anyway! No music from the Voice of Russia today though... Anyway, just 3 QSOs on 30m CW today (OE, OM, DL), followed shortly after by three more on 2m FM. Followed shortly after by more sunshine lapping up, at the Harrington Arms in Gawsworth, where Richard G3CWI had cycled out to meet me for a beer. Callsign in use was MQ1EYP/P.

OE7PHI	30m	CW
OM7DX	30m	CW
DL7URB	30m	CW
M6NSR/M	2m	FM
MQ3OUA	2m	FM
G4SCY	2m	FM

I had a window of opportunity after work on Thursday 14th June 2012, so decided to activate a couple of summits. My first call was the village of Mow Cop, which is sort of on the commute, as I have driven through it several times before when the main roads have been particularly bad. At its highest point is the HuMPs award summit HSP-020.

I parked in the National Trust car park underneath the folly, then walked up the track and path to the steep road to the village centre. At the highest point of the road, there are three tracks going off to the side - one to a private house, one to a covered reservoir and one down past more private houses. I couldn't see a way to the trig point, so I asked a local who was in his garden. He showed me, and I was soon at said trig point. This is actually a few centimetres lower then the 'true' summit which is the highest point of The Old Man of Mow, a pillar of rock left standing after extensive quarrying all around it! But thankfully it is less than 25m tall!

Calling on 2m FM drew little response on a very breezy afternoon. But the day's high pollen count was soon bothering my nose and eyes. It was very slow going, probably not helped by the nearby masts desensing my VX7-R handheld, being used only with its helical antenna. I found my way to 5 contacts in 15 minutes, thus qualifying my third HuMP. It was an unsatisfying activation on a rubbish hill. A tonic was required. So with time remaining in my window, I made the short drive across to Cloudside for Ye Olde Faithfulle, The Cloud G/SP-015, and back to the SOTA awards scheme.

This time the walk was much more satisfying and enjoyable, even if it was only 7 minutes work. The sky remained grey and the south-easterly wind remained fresh. But this time the contacts rolled in with ease. 27 minutes operating brought 15 QSOs, most of them tail-ending the previous so very little actual calling required. A nice chat was enjoyed with all callers, and the last one was a S2S with Simon MW0TTE/P on Mynydd y Cwm GW/NW-076.

Particular thanks to Alex G7KSE/M, Karen 2E0XYL, Dorothy G0SJS and Les M3OUA who all worked me on both the HuMP and the SOTA. After wandering back down to the car, I drove to the famed furniture store in Macclesfield. Arighi Bianci were having one of their open days with hog roast and BBQ, Prosecco and live reggae band - and all free! Marianne, Jimmy and Liam were already here enjoying the free fayre. Took my mind off the hayfever at least!

M3HGH	2m	FM
G0SJS	2m	FM
G6MXT	2m	FM
G7KSE/M	2m	FM
2E0XYL	2m	FM
G6ODU	2m	FM
M3OUA	2m	FM
M6NSR/M	2m	FM
M0RDW	2m	FM
2E0LKC	2m	FM
2E0LMD	2m	FM
MW0ATI	2m	FM
M3XIE	2m	FM
G6TNO	2m	FM
MW0TTE/P on Mynydd y Cwm NW-076	2m	FM

18-Jun-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #9
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 17 (9A, DL, G, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 8. Cumulative QSOs: 53

Bosley Cloud on the way home from work. Beautiful weather - for all you non-hayfever sufferers. I am genuinely pleased for you all, really I am. Also added in 4 QSOs on 2m FM via the VX7-R handheld prior to descending, taking the activation to 12 contacts. Thanks to all.

OK1FMG	30m	CW
LA1ENA	30m	CW
DF7IS	30m	CW
OM7DX	30m	CW
DJ0MDR	30m	CW
HB9BIN	30m	CW
DJ5AV	30m	CW
DF5WA	30m	CW
G7PAL	2m	FM
M1DDD	2m	FM
M3OUA	2m	FM
G4XEE	2m	FM

19-Jun-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #10
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 17 (9A, DL, G, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 0. Cumulative QSOs: 53

After-work activation of The Cloud. Everything set up. Tried to be clever and program the message memories in the Picokeyer chip in the Rockmite 30. Didn't have the instructions with me, so pressed some wrong buttons and ended up reversing my paddle, increasing the speed to 55wpm and all sorts of other stupid things I couldn't undo. And managed to rip a wire out of the PP3 battery connector! Packed up, and worked Jimmy's mate Edward M6NSR/A on 2m FM handie in order to make the outing into an activation (of sorts).

M6NSR/A

20-Jun-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #11
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 17 (9A, DL, G, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 0. Cumulative QSOs: 53

Yet another failure. This time, up Cloud summit bright and early, and without the manual again which I managed to leave in the car. The result was another unsuccessful attempt to program the Picokeyer chip message memories, and so much time wasted that I was suddenly in danger of being late to work. Packed up, and made 2 QSOs on 2m FM with the VX7-R.

M0FAZ/M	2m	FM
G4SCY	2m	FM

21-Jun-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #13
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (9A, DL, G, GM, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, PA, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 1. Cumulative QSOs: 57

Early mornings are clearly not the best times for the PP3 Challenge on 30m. 20m would be the way to go to win this challenge, and I might just do that at some point in the future. In the meantime, I will plod on with 30m, and try to select my operating times more favourably! Thanks to Mike DJ5AV, the only station to call me on this one, worked at 0629z.

The intention was to press on with daily activations, but it has been somewhat wet for the last couple of days. Thanks to Colin M0CGH who posted a replacement battery lead for my Rockmite, which arrived safely.

DJ5AV

30m

11-Jul-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #16
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (9A, DL, G, GM, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, PA, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 3. Cumulative QSOs: 63

It was a nice afternoon, so a diversion to The Cloud G/SP-015 was in order on the way home from work.

This was a difficult activation with contacts hard to come by. After a couple of self-spots and loads of CQ calling, I was about to give up when OZ4RT called in. He was worked with reports of 559 both ways. But then I did resort to 2m FM from the handheld, making 4 QSOs culminating with a S2S with Viki M6BWA/P on Great Knoutberry Hill G/NP-015.

Another call on the Rockmite brought OK1CZ and OE2ASL into the log, before I packed up and went home, with 7 QSOs under my belt. Many thanks to all that worked me. I traded the rhythm of the morse for the rhythm of the music, spending the evening rehearsing the saxophone players for my band. Come and see us at The Wharf in Macclesfield, 7.30pm Sunday (15th July 2012) night if you are around.

OZ4RT	30m	CW
2W0GYN	2m	FM
M3XIE	2m	FM
G0VVT	2m	FM
M6BWA/P P on Great Knoutberry Hill NP-015	2m	FM
OK1CZ	30m	CW
OE2ASL	30m	CW

18-Jul-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #19
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (9A, DL, G, GM, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, PA, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 0. Cumulative QSOs: 68

Yet another nil QSO activation - as far as the challenge goes. There was all sorts of data and rubbish on 10.115MHz, so the poor Rockmite didn't stand a chance. I replaced it with the FT-817 and went to 10.118MHz. Now it was easy, and 13 QSOs were made in short order. Sadly, none can be credited to my PP3 Challenge score!

S58MU	10MHz	CW
DL6UHA	10MHz	CW
E73KW	10MHz	CW
LA8BCA	10MHz	CW
SM5DGA	10MHz	CW
OM1AX	10MHz	CW
OM7DX	10MHz	CW
OM7OM	10MHz	CW
DL5CX/LH	10MHz	CW
S51ZG	10MHz	CW
DL6AZI	10MHz	CW
DK7ZH	10MHz	CW

Everything, now (in England), has to be a repeat. But no surprise, I guess, that my most recent two "repeats" have been on my most repeated summits - The Cloud G/SP-015 and Gun G/SP-013. On the evening of Tuesday 7th August 2012, it was 2m night in the UKAC series. I was fed-up with Merryton Low and its boring views, and still wasn't convinced that my contest performances up there were worth abstaining from SOTA for. I suppose the results are marginally better, but I would have hoped that the difference would be much more significant.

So, back up to The Cloud it was, the decision cemented when Chris G8APB (who runs QRO very close to The Cloud) informed me he would not be contesting that night. The usual cohort of club runners passed across the summit during my set-up time. Most stopped to rest at the trig point, and bemoan the poor decision to relegate 'Queen Victoria' in the first heat of the women's sprint final at the Olympic track cycling.

The first 14 minutes of the contest was good. I recorded 25 QSOs in that time. Thereafter, it was difficult to establish a good rhythm or make the best decision between S&P, running or chasing a particular multiplier square at any given time. I finished on 73 QSOs into 14 multipliers, with one 'DX' contact into EI. The ODX was within the UK however, with GM4AFF in IO86. A finish of no better than 4th can be expected.

GW4ZAR	2m	SSB
G8REQ	2m	SSB
G4TUP	2m	SSB
GO0HRT	2m	SSB
G1HSG	2m	SSB
M3RNX	2m	SSB
G3UVR	2m	SSB
G4FPJ	2m	SSB
2E0EYP	2m	SSB
M3OUA	2m	SSB
2E0BZU	2m	SSB
G6HFF	2m	SSB
G0CER	2m	SSB
G7IGB/P	2m	SSB
G0JCQ	2m	SSB
G0PZO	2m	SSB
G4XKC/P	2m	SSB
G4APJ	2m	SSB
G0VOF	2m	SSB
G4NTY	2m	SSB
2E0ZDX/P	2m	SSB
G0NAJ	2m	SSB
MO0ANQ	2m	SSB
G4IAL	2m	SSB
2E0CHV/P	2m	SSB
G8DTF	2m	SSB
M0LEX/P	2m	SSB
G4JQN/P	2m	SSB
GW4BVE	2m	SSB
GM4AFF	2m	SSB
G8ZRE	2m	SSB
M0RDW/P	2m	SSB
G2ANC	2m	SSB
2E0BMO	2m	SSB
2E0WAX/P	2m	SSB
G4VPD	2m	SSB
GD8EXI	2m	SSB
G3VCA	2m	SSB
G3PIA	2m	SSB
G4JLG	2m	SSB
M1MHZ	2m	SSB
G3PYE/P	2m	SSB
G3YYD	2m	SSB
G0PKT	2m	SSB
G8MKC/P	2m	SSB
G0ODQ	2m	SSB
G7DWY	2m	SSB
G4DEZ	2m	SSB
G7PAL	2m	SSB
EI3GE	2m	SSB
G0KTQ	2m	SSB
M3ROU	2m	SSB
G3SAO	2m	SSB
G6MML	2m	SSB
M0NST	2m	SSB
G7RHF/P	2m	SSB
GO4BEE	2m	SSB
G0WTD	2m	SSB
G0HFX/P	2m	SSB
M0RSD	2m	SSB
G4FZN/P	2m	SSB
M6SRZ/M	2m	SSB
GM4PPT	2m	SSB
G0UWK	2m	SSB
G0EHV/P	2m	SSB
G6WRW/P	2m	SSB
M0GVG/P	2m	SSB
2E0JZT	2m	SSB
G1SWH	2m	SSB
G0HIS	2m	SSB
M6XJP	2m	SSB
G4IRC	2m	SSB
G0XDI	2m	SSB

14-Aug-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #21
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (9A, DL, G, GM, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, PA, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 1. Cumulative QSOs: 71

It was HB9BIN, who came back to my very first CQ call. After that, another 20 minutes of calling did not produce even one more contact. On arrival at the summit I realised that my phone was out of charge, so I went on 2m FM first in order that I could request a spot from a chaser. It took me quite a few contacts before getting a chaser with SOTAwatch to hand (MNI TNX G4BLH).

It was a lovely warm sunny day, and the summit was busy with families and some very friendly dogs. I was disappointed not to add to the PP3 tally, especially after HB9BIN was worked so quickly and easily, but come 2.35pm local, it was time to pick Liam up from his youth club activity (Jiu-Jitsu) in Congleton.

G1LTV/M	2m	FM
2E0RAG	2m	FM
2E0YIC/M	2m	FM
G0VWP/P	2m	FM
G4BLH	2m	FM
M3XIE	2m	FM
HB9BIN	30m	CW

17-Aug-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #22
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m agl
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (9A, DL, G, GM, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, PA, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 3. Cumulative QSOs: 74

Little trip up The Cloud this morning. Very first CQ call was answered by DF5WA, swiftly tail-ended by OM7DX and DL3HXX - 3 QSOs inside a minute! Seven more minutes of CQ calling produced no more contacts, so I packed away and descended.

DF5WA	30m	CW
OM7DX	30m	CW
DL3HXX	30m	CW

Tuesday 28th August 2012 was the 6m UKAC night. I reckoned on having enough points "in the bag" to be able to comfortably close out the series victory in the AL (10 watts and under) section. Therefore, I felt able to ignore Merryton Low, and return to the much preferred G/SP-015. I was pretty last minute in setting up, and as usual, three running clubs converged on the summit at about 7.50pm BST. Then a family arrived who were very interested in what I was doing. And then it was 8 o'clock - contest time!

The conditions were pretty rubbish with QRN, QSB and other inconveniences. I managed a mediocre 54 QSOs into 11 multipliers for a possible 3rd place finish. I will keep a careful eye on scores next month to decide the November strategy, as there isn't a December session in 50MHz this year.

I got some funny looks as I entered the Harrington Arms at Gawsworth on the way home. It turned out that police had been in the village asking after a hairy 6ft+ man who had been walking around Bosley...

G4APJ	6m	SSB
G3TDH	6m	SSB
2E0EYP	6m	SSB
G6HFF	6m	SSB
M3RNX	6m	SSB
G0CER	6m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	6m	SSB
G4NTY	6m	SSB
GW8ASD	6m	SSB
G4TUP	6m	SSB
G4NDM/P	6m	SSB
G8MIA	6m	SSB
G4IOQ	6m	SSB
GI4SNA	6m	SSB
M0GVG/P	6m	SSB
GW4BVE	6m	SSB
G6UW	6m	SSB
G8ZRE	6m	SSB
G4TSW	6m	SSB
G1NUS	6m	SSB
G7DWY	6m	SSB
G0BFJ	6m	SSB
G4OBK	6m	SSB
G0JCQ	6m	SSB
G1XOW	6m	SSB
GW4ZAR/P	6m	SSB
G3SAO	6m	SSB
G4FPJ	6m	SSB
G4XKC/P	6m	SSB
G4RQI	6m	SSB
M1MHZ	6m	SSB
G8BCG	6m	SSB
G3PIA	6m	SSB
G8HXE	6m	SSB
G4ZRP	6m	SSB
M3OUA	6m	SSB
M0RKX/P	6m	SSB
G0FWU	6m	SSB
M0ICK/P	6m	SSB
G0VOF	6m	SSB
G4EHD	6m	SSB
G4VPD	6m	SSB
G3XNO	6m	SSB
G8PZT	6m	SSB
M6OXO/P	6m	SSB
M0SAT	6m	SSB
G8BUN	6m	SSB
G3TBK	6m	SSB
G8CLY	6m	SSB
G2ANC	6m	SSB
G7RAU	6m	SSB
G4FZN/P	6m	SSB
2E0UOG	6m	SSB
G3PYE/P	6m	SSB

Tuesday 2nd October 2012 was the 2m UKAC night. In contrast to 6m, I had long since given up any hope I had of retaining my title this year on 2m. This in mind, there was no need for me to visit the non-SOTA summit of Merryton Low, so I simply went out to take part, and did so from The Cloud G/SP-015. This probably was responsible for my 3rd place finish, as opposed to an expected 2nd had I gone to Merryton Low. Sixteen UK multipliers from all corners of G, GW, GM, GD and GI were worked, as well as 'DX' contacts with F1VNR/P and F8BRK.

So my dominance in this series is well and truly over, but I remain competitive in the division! The Harrington Arms at Gawsworth was visited en route home for snacks and beer, always enjoyable. Thanks to all stations worked:

2E0XYL	2m	SSB
G4HBI	2m	SSB
G2ANC	2m	SSB
G4CLA	2m	SSB
GW8ASD	2m	SSB
G0CER	2m	SSB
2E0BMO	2m	SSB
G3UVR	2m	SSB
G4APJ	2m	SSB
2E0EYP	2m	SSB
G0WTD	2m	SSB
G4TUP	2m	SSB
G4ZRP	2m	SSB
M6BLV	2m	SSB
G4VFL/P	2m	SSB
G3SMT	2m	SSB
G4IAL	2m	SSB
G6MML	2m	SSB
G6ODU	2m	SSB
G0HIS	2m	SSB
G4WXX	2m	SSB
GW4EVX	2m	SSB
M3NHA	2m	SSB
M6NHA	2m	SSB
M6XJP	2m	SSB
G3PYE/P	2m	SSB
MW0ATI	2m	SSB
M0LEX/P	2m	SSB
G4HZG	2m	SSB
2E1HTG/P	2m	SSB
G0BFJ/A	2m	SSB
G4JLG	2m	SSB
M3RNX	2m	SSB
M1MHZ	2m	SSB
G7DWY	2m	SSB
GI4SNA	2m	SSB
GD8EXI	2m	SSB
G0EHV/P	2m	SSB
G0HFX/P	2m	SSB
F8BRK	2m	SSB
G4VPD	2m	SSB
G8CUL	2m	SSB
2E0ZDX	2m	SSB
M0NST	2m	SSB
G4HGI	2m	SSB
G8TIC	2m	SSB
M0RSD	2m	SSB
M0BRA	2m	SSB
GM4JR	2m	SSB
GM3PMB	2m	SSB
G6UBM	2m	SSB
MW6OXO/P	2m	SSB
M6SRZ	2m	SSB
G6WRW/P	2m	SSB
G8DTF	2m	SSB
G8FMC	2m	SSB
G3MEH	2m	SSB
G7RAU	2m	SSB
G8ZRE	2m	SSB
F1VNR/P	2m	SSB
G8LYB	2m	SSB
G3VCA	2m	SSB

And it was back to the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015 for the 70cm contest on Tuesday 9th October 2012. Cold it was as well! Similar to 2m, I was out of the running to retain my 70cm series title, so I could relax and enjoy the SOTA activation also.

I thought I had done rather well on the night, with 60 QSOs into 16 UK multiplier squares and DX into Northern France. However, this was only sufficient to gain me 4th place on the night. An overall position of 2nd in the AL (10 watts) 70cm UKAC series for 2012 now appears to be mathematically inevitable. Pie, pretzels and beer were enjoyed at you-know-where after descent.

2E0LKC	70cm	SSB
G4BLH/P	70cm	SSB
2E0EYP	70cm	SSB
G8ZRE	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
G0XDI/P	70cm	SSB
G0HGH	70cm	SSB
G3UBX	70cm	SSB
M0LEX/P	70cm	SSB
GI4SNA	70cm	SSB
GW4BVE/P	70cm	SSB
G7RAU	70cm	SSB
G3UVR	70cm	SSB
G4APJ	70cm	SSB
G8MIA	70cm	SSB
2E0XOJ	70cm	SSB
2E0UOG	70cm	SSB
2E0BMO	70cm	SSB
G1HSG/P	70cm	SSB
G4TUP	70cm	SSB
G6HFF	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
M3RNX	70cm	SSB
G8HXE	70cm	SSB
G4XKC/P	70cm	SSB
G6COL	70cm	SSB
M1MHZ	70cm	SSB
F1VNR/P	70cm	SSB
G3PYE/P	70cm	SSB
GD8EXI	70cm	SSB
GM4PPT	70cm	CW
M0GVG/P	70cm	SSB
G0ODQ	70cm	SSB
G4ODA	70cm	SSB
G3ZUD	70cm	SSB
G8OHM	70cm	SSB
G5MW	70cm	SSB
MW6OXO/P	70cm	SSB
G0WTD	70cm	SSB
G4VFL/P	70cm	SSB
G4NBS	70cm	SSB
GI6ATZ	70cm	SSB
G8LYB	70cm	SSB
G0LGS	70cm	SSB
G4FZN/P	70cm	SSB
G8MKC/P	70cm	SSB
G8BUN	70cm	SSB
G3MEH	70cm	SSB
G8DOH	70cm	SSB
GM4JR	70cm	SSB
G4ONG	70cm	FM
GW3RME	70cm	FM
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
G3VLG	70cm	SSB
M0NST	70cm	SSB
G8REQ	70cm	SSB
G6UW	70cm	SSB
G3XDY	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB

At least on Tuesday 23rd October 2012, I was back to chasing a series win. The 6m UKAC had proved a happier hunting ground this year than the 2m and 70cm series, and I was out to close in on securing victory in this penultimate session. I had a comfortable position in the standings after nine events, so I was happy to go up my local SOTA summit rather than the ever-disappointing non-SOTA Merryton Low. After setting up the 6m delta loop, I had a nosey around the CW end of the band, and enjoyed a quick CW contact with Brian G0JCQ prior to the contest.

In the contest, I managed 59 QSOs into 13 UK multipliers, which was a little on the disappointing side. The lack of GD, F, IO80, IO74 and IO75 in my submitted log were expected to be costly. I didn't feel like beer or supper. I just felt like bed, so I went straight home!

G0JCQ	6m	CW
G3TDH	6m	SSB
G4APJ	6m	SSB
G4XKC/P	6m	SSB
G4HGI	6m	SSB
GM4JR	6m	SSB
G8ZRE	6m	SSB
GW4BVE	6m	SSB
G4VPD	6m	SSB
G0JCQ	6m	SSB
G7RAU	6m	SSB
GI4SNA	6m	SSB
M0GVG/P	6m	SSB
G4ELJ	6m	SSB
G7DWY	6m	SSB
GW4ZAR/P	6m	SSB
2E0LKC	6m	SSB
G0WTD	6m	SSB
2E0LMD	6m	SSB
M0VAA	6m	SSB
G3KAF	6m	SSB
M3RNX	6m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	6m	SSB
M3OUA	6m	SSB
G4VFL/P	6m	SSB
G8MKC/P	6m	SSB
G3XZG	6m	SSB
2E0EYP	6m	SSB
G3UVR	6m	SSB
G8MIA	6m	SSB
G4ZRP	6m	SSB
G8REQ	6m	SSB
G4NDM	6m	SSB
MW6OXO/P	6m	SSB
G3PYE/P	6m	SSB
G4RQI	6m	SSB
G4ODA	6m	SSB
G6WRW/P	6m	SSB
G0RAF	6m	CW
G4JED	6m	SSB
G3PIA	6m	SSB
G4CLA	6m	SSB
G4GFI	6m	SSB
G2ANC	6m	SSB
M1MHZ	6m	SSB
GW8ASD	6m	SSB
G4JQN	6m	SSB
G4NTY	6m	SSB
G7RHF	6m	SSB
G4EHD	6m	SSB
G8BUN	6m	SSB
G4ENZ	6m	SSB
G8EOP	6m	SSB
G8YMW/P	6m	SSB
G0BFJ	6m	SSB
G0EUN	6m	SSB
G6KWA	6m	SSB
G4TUP	6m	SSB
M1DDD	6m	SSB
G1AEQ	6m	SSB

Well, that turned out rather well! I had a couple of spare hours on Monday 29th October 2012, and after all the 10m band fun in the CQWW SSB contest, I thought I'd try a SOTA activation if the band was still open. It was, so off to The Cloud G/SP-015 I went. This time I was armed with the MM10 (10m quarterwave vertical with groundplane) antenna, which I erected by the topograph on the summit. It was a cold late afternoon, but there were still plenty of walkers passing across, many of whom wanted to learn about my activity.

More or less as soon as I set up, some light drizzle came in, so into the bothy bag I went. I noted that the ingenious system that looks at the RBN skimmer and autospots an activation 'got' me, and soon I was hearng a very loud signal from Rich N4EX. Dennis WA2USA also made it into my 10m CW log, after a couple of G stations. Things went quiet on CW, so I went onto SSB. Here I made four QSOs, ll G stations. Big signals could be heard all over the 10m SSB frequencies from North America and Europe, but none of them were calling me. A similar story followed on 10m FM, with three G stations, but nothing further afield.

Back onto 28MHz CW, and the RBNgate soon had me spotted again. This time I enjoyed a pleasing run of six USA stations, and mostly known SOTA participants as well. I was about to pack up and go home for my tea when I thought I would just check the SOTAwatch Spots first. I saw that WO6M had just been picked up on the RBNgate with his calls from Burn Benchmark W6/CT-136. I listened on 28.061MHz CW and could hear him clear with a 559 signal. I tried sending my call whenever the opportunity arose, but was always beaten by a strong US station. But then I heard a very strong US station telling Dan WO6M (in CW) that he was being called for a S2S! (I think this may have been Rich N4EX - but whoever it was, thank you).

It was a bit nervy when WO6M was sending me back question marks, but then he got my callsign and we successfully exchanged signal reports and summit references. I was very pleased to have made an intercontinental 'DX' summit-to-summit, and had a spring in my stride as I descended back to the car. The perfect end to an enjoyable activation!

N4EX	10m	CW
G4ZRP	10m	CW
G3XQE	10m	CW
WA2USA	10m	CW
G6ODU	10m	SSB
M6BLV	10m	SSB
M0YDH	10m	SSB
G4BLH	10m	SSB
G4WAF/M	10m	FM
M3NHA	10m	FM
M6NHA	10m	FM
W9UX	10m	CW
K8LV	10m	CW
KU6J	10m	CW
K6ILM	10m	CW
K0XB	10m	CW
K4QS	10m	CW
WO6M on Burn Benchmark CT-136	10m	CW

WO6M WO6M

I'd got a real taste for this current 10m activity, so decided to experiment with dawn as opposed to dusk on the band. I set my alarm for 0540z on Thurdsay 1st Novemeber 2012, and was out of the house by 0555z. It was still pre-dawn when I arrived at the Cloudside parking spot, but with enough light to ascend without headtorch. I set up the MM10 by the topograph which I would use as a backrest, and shelter from the chilly breeze. The only problem with this was that there wasn't really anywhere flat to place my mat to sit on. It seems the weather has caused erosion to the ground, causing several stones and rocks to protrude above the earth higher than before. So things can get rather uncomfortable!

It is the same story with the ascent path beyond the NT sign. It is badly eroded, and the flat path has been washed away, leaving more of a V-shaped groove with lots of rocks and stones sticking up. This makes walking in cheap trainers quite uncomfortable!

The 10m band had not opened by the time I was QRV, although the YM7TEN/B beacon (Turkey) was a decent signal, so I didn't expect to wait long. Things did come to life 30 minutes later at 0730z. I then worked 7 QSOs on 10m CW, all from RA and UR. T6LG (Afghanistan) had a big pile-up calling as I tuned around. Two further RA stations followed on 10m SSB.

I realised I had a spotting problem! While the 10m band was still awakening, I was not being picked up by the RBN skimmers. I was able to do some self-spots on my phone, but then that ran out of charge! By the time the 10m band was in good shape later, I was beyond two hours from my original alert time, so the RBNgate was ignoring me! I tuned onto the 10m FM "calling channel" of 29.600MHz. I could hear VK6RO calling! He was too weak for me to consider replying though. I made my own call and was answered by A61BS. We QSYd down to 29.480MHz FM and had a chat there. It was rather unreal to be working a new DXCC for me (as a /P op) by having a fully-quietening FM chat!

Another RA station was worked on SSB, where I heard some decent signals from VK, but already in QSO eith European stations. Back on CW a further 9 stations were worked, mainly UR and RA, but with one each from F, G, S5 and I. In between these, another go on 29MHz FM netted two more UR stations, plus a 59+ both ways contact with SV2MAP. Also heard calling on FM, but missed, was 7Z1TT (Saudi Arabia).

So I ended up with 23 QSOs, which included 16 on CW, 3 on SSB and 4 on FM. Best DX was A6 United Arab Emirates, but there is more, far more to come from this band I suspect. Therefore, it was my intention to be out again the following morning on 10m. This time from Gun G/SP-013, and this time with a more realistic alert time, and a charged-up mobile 'phone!

UA3RAX	10m	CW
RZ4NWA	10m	CW
UT3QN	10m	CW
RA4AAJ	10m	CW
UU9CI	10m	CW
RK3DBK	10m	CW
RA6YJ	10m	CW
RA3DQO	10m	SSB
UA4ADA	10m	SSB
A61BS	10m	FM
UZ5UA	10m	SSB
RA1QV	10m	SSB
R5PE	10m	CW
RL6MF	10m	CW
I1ULJ/8	10m	CW
UT4LX	10m	CW
S51WO	10m	CW
US2LX	10m	CW
UR8GZ	10m	FM
UR7ICL	10m	FM
SV2MAP	10m	FM
G0WWH	10m	CW
F8DGY	10m	CW

Friday 2nd November 2012 - part 2.

After my successful 10m activation on Gun G/SP-013, and warming up in the car, I felt like walking up to the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015. It was an absolutely beautiful day with clear blue sky and bright sunshine, so everything looked great. I went very light to the top, with no rucksack or pole. Just the VX7R in one coat pocket and the logbook in the other. The first contact was S2S with Mickey 2E0YYY/P just across the valley on Gun G/SP-013. Six other 2m FM contacts followed, and after 20 minutes on summit, I decided to descend.

I called round to Richard G3CWI's QTH as he had offered me a cup of tea, which was most welcome. He also showed me some of the new products for his expanded SOTAbeams range. But the tummy was rumbling hard, so it was to the chippy for cod, chips and peas to take and eat at home - yum! At home, eventually, each of Marianne, Jimmy and Liam returned from their respective workplaces, and family life resumed. I did harbour intent to have another outing in the day though.

2E0YYY/P on Gun SP-013	2m	FM
G4KSG/M	2m	FM
2E0NVJ	2m	FM
M3XIE	2m	FM
G0WGL	2m	FM
M6BLV	2m	FM
GW0HUS	2m	FM

By Saturday 3rd November 2012, I was getting the taste for activating on consecutive days. Plus, I wanted to try the late afternoon into early evening period to see how 10m propagation was affected. As the rest of the clan settled down to watch a film, I made my exit and made for The Cloud G/SP-015. At the summit, the wind was in the wrong direction to get any proper shelter on any side of the topograph, which was a bit of a nuisance. Nonetheless, I set up, and got Rich N4EX almost as soon as the RBN had got me.

WH6LE followed into the logbook, but everything else was within G - 4 on SSB and 2 on CW. It was clear that 10m was suddenly not playing! I made 3 QSOs on the VX7R, a session which terminated abruptly as the internal battery ran out of charge. So I never got to say 73 to Karen 2E0XYL, but reports had at least been exchanged by then. By the end, it was, again, bitterly cold, and I was pleased to be walking back to my car.

N4EX	10m	CW
M0TUB	10m	CW
WH6LE	10m	CW
2E0YYY	10m	SSB
M0JVW	10m	SSB
M6BLV	10m	SSB
G6ODU	10m	SSB
G6DTN	10m	CW
M0TUB	2m	FM
M6GHU	2m	FM
2E0XYL	2m	FM

Continuing the 10m experiment on Sunday 4th November 2012. This time it was to be a mid-afternoon activation, and this time there was some DX to show for it.

Not as much as I would have liked, having said that. For big signals were heard on both SSB and CW from ZS, but they didn't hear my little signals. EL2DT (Liberia) was working split on 28.043MHz CW, but his pile-up on 28.045 was massive. PU1CWP on 28MHz SSB was a big signal, and he got the 'Y' in my suffix, but nothing else before he gave up and called someone else. FM was a wash-out, with nothing happening on 29.600MHz FM or any of the channels lower down.

So, to what I DID get. On 10m CW, I worked five stations: 1 x G, 2 x USA (N/K) and 2 x Argentina (LW/LU). On 10m SSB, I worked a further eight QSOs: 6 x G, 1 x USA (K) and 1 x Azores (CU). I nearly completed with Geoff G6MZX, but he disappeared before he gave me my report.

I was very disappointed with the approach of a well-known SOTA chaser who sent his callsign repeatedly on my frequency after it had been picked up by the RBNGate, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I was in CW QSOs with several stations at the time. I called him in a few times, but he clearly could not hear me. So why transmit on the 'DX' frequency when you actually can't hear the 'DX'? At 4.15pm, I called it a day, dismantled, and descended. It was cold, but not as cold as the end of my other recent activations!

G0VOF	10m	CW
N4EX	10m	CW
K2LP	10m	CW
LW3DG	10m	CW
LU3EHR	10m	CW
2E0YYY	10m	SSB
CU7AA	10m	SSB
G0VOF	10m	SSB
2E0EYP	10m	SSB
G6MZX	10m	SSB
M6NHA	10m	SSB
K3FWG	10m	SSB
G8APB	10m	SSB
G6ODU	10m	SSB

So I thought I'd try to introduce 10m to my morning pre-work activations. Which the most eagle-eyed of people will have noticed haven't been happening for a while either, so it was time to reintroduce them too! Monday 5th November 2012 was the day to set the alarm for 5:48am, and get on up The Cloud G/SP-015. It was -3 degrees Celcius as I started the car on the drive. By the time I had driven to Cloudside, it was -4! But it was a beautiful morning, with crisp clear skies and a wonderful sunrise over Merryton Low to enjoy during ascent and set-up.

I was QRV at 0712z, but the 10m band was not! I eagerly watched the sun rise slowly above the eastern horizon, while listening to the 28MHz band gradually come to life. But all I could hear was a weak Spanish station CQing in CW, and all-Russian language ragchews on 28MHz SSB. There were certainly wasn't any replies to my CQ calls on CW, SSB or FM, despite self-spots.

A South African QSO talking about a trip to a game reserve could now be heard on 28.460MHz SSB. But I grew anxious as I nervously watched my Anthorn-calibrated 60kHz clock tick beyond 0740z. For my self-imposed QRT time to make it to work in time to change into my suit before staff briefing was 0745z. However, the next five minutes produced nothing.

I was just about to pack up and give the activation up as a failure when I found a loud English language CQ call from RK9UE on 28.480MHz SSB. I answered this and gratefully accepted a 56 report from Sergey in Siberia. It was only one contact, but I could safely pack up and descend, safe in the knowledge that my pleasant early morning walk on Bosley Cloud had just been made good into a SOTA activation! As the dawn was continuing to break a little later every morning, I thought that perhaps 10m was not the wisest choice for pre-work activating. I considered giving 15m a go next time.

RK9UE

10m

SSB

But that wasn't before the 2m UK activity contest on the evening of Tuesday 6th November 2012. The weather was wet and windy as I parked, late, at 7.30pm. It was full waterproofs, and the nagging doubt of "Am I mad?" as I made a swift ascent to the summit. I got the beam set up as quickly as I could, and settled down onto the ground to set up the FT-817. After the feeder, power lead to SLAB, Palm Paddle and fist mike, the last item to take place was the 60kHz Anthorn clock. I was sure I was late. But imagine my delight when I pulled it out from the Exped Drybag to reveal 1955z! I was, amazingly, going to start on time!

I managed to 'stay with the clock' up to 2036z, at which time I was entering SN 036 in my logbook, albeit almost all in IO83 up to that point. After that, things slowed down somewhat, but more multipliers came in as I started searching and pouncing.

The final reckoning was 78 QSOs and 15 multipliers: IO64, IO74, IO80, 81, 82, 83, 84, 85, IO90, 91, 92, 93, 94, JO00 and JO02. I was delighted with JO00, but this was tempered by the frustration of missing out on JO01 despite several attempts. I also missed IO70, 72 and 75. However, although it didn't count as a multiplier, I did also work F8BRK in IN99. Good fun as usual, and always nice to work a few SOTA people in the event.

M0MOL	2m	SSB
2E0ZDX/P	2m	SSB
GW4ZAR	2m	SSB
2E0EYP	2m	SSB
GW4OKT	2m	SSB
G4WXX	2m	SSB
G0HIS	2m	SSB
G2ANC	2m	SSB
GW8ASD	2m	SSB
G4TUP	2m	SSB
M3OUA	2m	SSB
G4APJ	2m	SSB
G6HFF	2m	SSB
G3RNX	2m	SSB
G8ZRE	2m	SSB
G3JKX	2m	SSB
G3UVR	2m	SSB
G0VOF	2m	SSB
M1MHZ	2m	SSB
GW4BVE	2m	SSB
G4HZG	2m	SSB
2E0BMO	2m	SSB
G4XKC/P	2m	SSB
G4HBI	2m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	2m	SSB
M0DSR	2m	SSB
2E0UOG	2m	SSB
M0RDW	2m	SSB
G3UDA	2m	SSB
G4JLG	2m	SSB
G6OES	2m	SSB
G0LGS	2m	SSB
G6WRW/P	2m	SSB
G4IDF	2m	SSB
G4PWD	2m	SSB
G4WJS	2m	SSB
G3PYE/P	2m	SSB
MW0ATI	2m	SSB
GI6ATZ	2m	SSB
G4JQN	2m	SSB
G3ZUD	2m	SSB
GM4JR	2m	SSB
M0LEX/P	2m	SSB
2E0NEY	2m	SSB
G4FZN/P	2m	SSB
GI4SNA	2m	SSB
G4TSW	2m	SSB
F8BRK	2m	SSB
G4VPD	2m	SSB
G3MEH	2m	SSB
G8DOH	2m	SSB
G7RAU	2m	SSB
M0RSD	2m	SSB
M0BPQ	2m	SSB
M6LEX	2m	SSB
G4IRC	2m	SSB
G0XDI	2m	SSB
G8CUL	2m	SSB
M0BRA	2m	SSB
G3VLG	2m	SSB
G7PAL	2m	SSB
G3VCA	2m	SSB
M0HOW	2m	SSB
G0HGH	2m	SSB
GD8EXI	2m	SSB
2E0LKC	2m	SSB
G8DD	2m	SSB
G6UW	2m	SSB
G4NTY	2m	SSB
G0JJG	2m	SSB
G4OBK	2m	SSB
G8AXZ	2m	SSB
M0SAT	2m	SSB
G7FMF	2m	SSB
G0WTD	2m	SSB
G4XPE	2m	SSB
G0BFJ	2m	SSB
G0EHV/P	2m	SSB

Well, I did that 15m activation on Wednesday 7th November 2012. I awoke with the BBC Radio 5 Live alarm at 5.48am, and the words "We are expecting Mitt Romney to make a speech any moment". 'Goodness me' I thought, 'Romney is the new President'! Then I heard "But we haven't heard any confirmation that he has 'phoned Obama to concede". Amazing how two lines of spoken English can infer such contrasting global situations!

I was surprisingly sprightly out of bed, and in my car just seven minutes later at 5.55am. Cloudside was the familiar parking spot, where I had last been just six hours earlier! This time the ascent was a little more pleasant and considerably drier. I ended up walking up with another walker who was out for some early morning exercise. Later on I also met The Man In The Yellow Coat, although he was today sporting his black fleece, and not his yellow coat. I actually met him twice, as he did two laps of walking over the hill.

At the summit, I set up the MM15 as earlier threatened. Although to be honest, 15m faced similar difficulties to 10m in having to wait for the sun to rise to get any propagation going. It wasn't quite so difficult though, as evidenced by a Russian skimmer spotting my first CQ call. Three Russians, plus stations from Serbia, Wales and England (G4OBK who I'd also got in the 2m contest the previous night) were worked in a twenty minute spell, before I descended and went in search of bacon, sausage and cheese oatcakes.

So, time to drop down the bands again for the next one. It would have been 17m, but I hadn't been bothered to fix a repair in that antenna yet. So it implied a return for the good old MM20, the best and most used of all my groundplane verticals.

UA3DDT	15m	CW
GW4OKT	15m	CW
UA3CS	15m	CW
G4OBK	15m	CW
RX3FY	15m	CW
YT1KS	15m	CW

As is becoming all too predictable (again), I was up The Cloud G/SP-015 early doors on Thursday 8th November 2012. This time, I dropped to 20m, as the daybreak happening a couple of minutes later each day continued to force my hand.

But at least 20m rarely fails to deliver, day or night, at the present time. And neither did it here. There wasn't any exotic DX as such, although opening with EA6 was pleasing enough. 21 minutes operating on 20m CW brought 17 QSOs all around Europe, and I went off in search of a traditional Stoke-on-Trent breakfast before work.

EA6UN	20m	CW
UX0ZA	20m	CW
YO2BBX	20m	CW
OM7DX	20m	CW
G4OBK	20m	CW
9A2JG	20m	CW
OM3KEG	20m	CW
IK3DRO	20m	CW
OK2BUT	20m	CW
S51ZG	20m	CW
OH3T	20m	CW
9A3AN	20m	CW
OK1RO	20m	CW
OE5FSL	20m	CW
LZ1GC	20m	CW
I5FLN	20m	CW
UX8IX	20m	CW

Friday 9th November 2012 began with an early get-up before a pre-work activation, again on 20m CW with the groundplane antenna. 31 contacts were made as follows:

OM3JA

20m

CW

EU6KA

20m

CW

OK2PP

20m

CW

LZ5WF

20m

CW

OM8SL

20m

CW

OK2BUT

20m

CW

RW9JN

20m

CW

OM7DX

20m

CW

I5FLN

20m

CW

YO3JW

20m

CW

IK3DRO

20m

CW

UY7LA

20m

CW

UA1CE

20m

CW

RN4ZT

20m

CW

UT5MQ

20m

CW

RU4HD

20m

CW

OM1AX

20m

CW

IK5VLO

20m

CW

S52CU

20m

CW

OM3KEG

20m

CW

4Z4DX

20m

CW

UA3ALJ

20m

CW

OK7MD

20m

CW

EA3FAG

20m

CW

OE3CHC

20m

CW

SP9NLI

20m

CW

UA1AJ

20m

CW

I5SFU

20m

CW

OK4IT

20m

CW

UA4PNT

20m

CW

SP5AGU

20m

CW

After a quick check on the radio, I decided that 12m and 20m would be the order of the day. It was Saturday 10th November 2012 (yes, 10/11/12), and Jimmy 2E0EYP and Liam joined me for an afternoon out in Congleton. First stop was the nursing home where my Nanna lives. Then it was through the town to the Biddulph road, and around onto Cloudside. It was busy, and we had to park on the roadside, as the parking area was full.

Jimmy and Liam blasted off ahead at a pace I couldn't match. By the time I had climbed the steps and emerged from the small wooded area, I could see Jimmy approaching the trig point and Liam not too far behind. Jimmy went to his usual favourite place for setting up the 2m SOTA Beam, while Liam sat by the trig point with his 3DS. I set up the MM12 and settled in by the topograph to see what was going down on 24MHz.

Keeping an eye on the spots page on my 'phone, it was evident that my CQ SOTA calls were not being picked up by the Reverse Beacon Network. The band seemed in decent enough shape though, so I spotted myself on 24.897MHz CW. In the next 13 minutes, I made 10 QSOs on 12m CW, one into G and all the rest into the USA. Over on 2m FM, Jimmy was having a great time with 24 stations filling his logbook. Little would he know that he himself, would unwittingly allow me to better his QSO total!

I then removed the MM12 aerial from the SOTA pole, and replaced it with the MM20. I was hoping for some more G to USA S2S action. 12 contacts were made, into W, VE, CT, DL, I, EA, LY and S5. I could hear Dennis WA2USA's activation on 14.062MHz CW, but only faintly. It was not really a surprise that no response came back when I tried to call in for a S2S.

It was getting dark, and Jimmy and Liam had already descended to the car. I decided it was time for me too to pack away, and did so before calling on the 2m FM handheld. Three stations were worked, the last of whom was Jimmy himself, who was working me from the car! This brought me to 25 QSOs, and I commenced my own descent, dimly lit by the headtorch with almost flat batteries! That had been an enjoyable afternoon, so the lads and I decided to have our tea out, at the Bon-o-phool Indian restaurant in Congleton. A Kingfisher and a tandoori seems just as traditional end to a SOTA day as Jennings ales and Cumberland sausage these days!

2E0YYY/M	2m	FM	J
2E0LKC	2m	FM	J
M6NAE/M	2m	FM	J
G7OHA	2m	FM	J
M6CPC	2m	FM	J
NA1CC	12m	CW	T
N1EU	12m	CW	T
G1HIP/M	2m	FM	J
2E0SXY	2m	FM	J
N4EX	12m	CW	T
W7GB	12m	CW	T
M6TED	2m	FM	J
G1KOD	2m	FM	J
K6ILM	12m	CW	T
N1FJ	12m	CW	T
M0XOC	2m	FM	J
G4ZRP	12m	CW	T
NC2Y	12m	CW	T
G6TET	2m	FM	J
M0AFF/P	2m	FM	J
KE5AKL	12m	CW	T
M0RCC/M	2m	FM	J
M3NHA	2m	FM	J
M6NHA	2m	FM	J
W2DXE	12m	CW	T
G6LUZ	2m	FM	J
G1DKA	2m	FM	J
2E0XYL	2m	FM	J
M1CNL	2m	FM	J
M0MTJ	2m	FM	J
M0JZH/M	2m	FM	J
M0JVW	2m	FM	J
M6FOA	2m	FM	J
M0DQS	2m	FM	J
VA2SG	20m	CW	T
CT7AEZ	20m	CW	T
ND0C	20m	CW	T
DJ5AV	20m	CW	T
IZ8FAV	20m	CW	T
EB3EPR	20m	CW	T
VE2JCW	20m	CW	T
LY2BNL	20m	CW	T
S58AL	20m	CW	T
EA5YI	20m	CW	T
VE1RGB	20m	CW	T
KC3RT	20m	CW	T
2E0TDX	2m	FM	T
2E0LKC	2m	FM	T
2E0EYP/M	2m	FM	T

Tuesday 13th November 2012 was the penultimate 70cm activity contest of the year, and I conspired to make the evening into a comedy of errors. After driving to Cloudside, I started packing my rucksack and donning hat, headtorch etc. I got the pole, the Aircell feeder, the cable ties, the boom. But where were the 70cm elements?

I couldn't find them anywhere. I telephoned Jimmy at home to see if he had any idea. He advised me they were in the shack, in the box that we had taken to the RSGB Convention. Fortunately, I had gone out very early, with a plan to try a bit of 10m before the contest. Therefore, I could make the decision to drive back home to pick up the 70cm elements, while feeling rather cross with myself.

But would I learn? No! I arrived on Cloudside for the second time. One hour on the road to get there from Macclesfield by now! I made up the 70cm beam at the car, to carry up with me. I marched up the track at a good pace and continued the momentum with a rapid and lung-busting ascent of the stairs. As I reached the National Trust sign, it dawned on me that I hadn't thought to put the guying kit in my pocket or pack.

So back down to the car it was. By the time I got to the summit, I had driven from home to the parking spot twice, and climbed the hill twice! Pathetic! All-in-all, I was QRV by 2015 UTC, so not too bad. I was soon underway working lots of IO83 stations.

My final contact was number 055, all 432MHz SSB, at 2214 UTC. Locator squares worked were IO64, 72, 74, 82, 83, 84, 85, 90, 91, 92, 93, JO01, 02, plus 'DX' into IN99. The highlight of the night, undoubtedly, was working Rob G0PEB/P for a S2S, a new multiplier, and lots of km points. Rob was on St Boniface Down G/SE-008, and to work that from The Cloud G/SP-015 with 5 watts on 70cm was satisfying to say the least!

G6HFF	70cm	SSB
2E0EYP	70cm	SSB
M0ICK	70cm	SSB
G4FKI/P	70cm	SSB
M3OUA	70cm	SSB
G6WRW/P	70cm	SSB
G8HXE	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
M6CWA	70cm	SSB
G4APJ	70cm	SSB
M3RNX	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
M0LEX/P	70cm	SSB
GI4SNA	70cm	SSB
G3UVR	70cm	SSB
G4NBS	70cm	SSB
GW4BVE/P	70cm	SSB
G0PEB/P on St Boniface Down SE-008	70cm	SSB
G0VOF	70cm	SSB
G0CER	70cm	SSB
M0NST	70cm	SSB
G3TDH	70cm	SSB
G4VFL/P	70cm	SSB
F8BRK	70cm	SSB
G2ANC	70cm	SSB
M1MHZ	70cm	SSB
G8REQ	70cm	SSB
G0ODQ	70cm	SSB
G8MIA	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB
G3VLG	70cm	SSB
G4BLH/P	70cm	SSB
G8OHM	70cm	SSB
M0LNE	70cm	SSB
G0VJG	70cm	SSB
2E0LKC	70cm	SSB
2E0LMD	70cm	SSB
GI6ATZ	70cm	SSB
G4ODA	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
G8LYB	70cm	SSB
G0XDI	70cm	SSB
G0KSC	70cm	SSB
G0WTD	70cm	SSB
GD8EXI	70cm	SSB
GM4JR	70cm	SSB
MW6OXO/P	70cm	SSB
G4XKC/P	70cm	SSB
G8DOH	70cm	SSB
G3PYE/P	70cm	SSB
G6UW	70cm	SSB
G3ZUD	70cm	SSB
G8KQW	70cm	SSB
M0GVG/P	70cm	SSB

Yes, it was a rare "after-work" activation on Wednesday 14th November 2012. When I reached the summit and set all the gear up, I did immediately notice how quiet it seemed on the 28MHz band. There might not have been any amateur signals - CW, SSB or FM - but I did notice that many of the beacons were strong, so I anticipated hearing something sooner rather than later.

I did. I was CQing fruitlessly on 28.020MHz CW when a strong signal came up. This was HC2AC from Ecuador, but he wasn't answering me; he couldn't hear me. Instead, he started his own CQ calls on that frequency. I tried to reply, but it was no good and I left him to work a string of US stations. I moved up to 28.022MHz and continued to call CQ, still unanswered except for M6BLV. After a while, I went back to 28.020MHz where HC2AC was still calling, but with the pile-up thinned out somewhat. Within a couple of calls, I heard "EYP?" and I was in! But it was still difficult from there, for he was convinced for over 5 minutes that I was W1EYP/P. He took some persuading that I was M1EYP/P, but we got there in the end!

Back on 28.022MHz CW, I worked Brian G4ZRP, while up on 28.515MHz SSB I managed to complete with CU7AA in the Azores. There was absolutely nothing doing on 29MHz FM, and when I came to call on 2m FM, I found my handheld was completely out of charge! So it was just four 10m contacts, but I was nonetheless delighted that one of them was HC - Ecuador. Also heard on the band in CW were PY2EME and CE1TT, but neither heard my replies.

M6BLV	10m	CW
HC2AC	10m	CW
G4ZRP	10m	CW
CU7AA	10m	SSB

Thursday 15th November 2012, and an early alarm clock setting for 5.30am. I was on the road before 6am, and hurriedly tuning away from the dreadful Vanessa Feltz on BBC Radio 2 to the much more bearable Wake Up To Money programme on BBC Radio 5 Live.

I was parked on Cloudside by 6.20am, and that required a headtorch ascent of The Cloud G/SP-015. In fact the set-up too demanded illumination as did the first 20 minutes or so of operating. It was 20m CW that was the band/mode combo of choice, and the groundplane vertical (MM20) was deployed. On this occasion, the QSO rate was rather slow. Just 12 QSOs were made during 26 minutes on 14.017/14.016MHz CW. I misplaced my 'phone so I was unable to monitor whether the RBN skimmers had found me, but with G0VOF and OM7OM in the log, I assumed that they had!

With things still going very slowly after 0710z, I elected to pack away as opposed to press on for another half hour. The slack time was used to order and indulge myself in a sausage, cheese, black pudding and mushroom double oatcake from Mrs B's Oatcake shop in Tunstall. And then I went to work.

UR8QV	20m	CW
UA3MCQ	20m	CW
HA7XL	20m	CW
9A8W	20m	CW
G0VOF	20m	CW
RZ4LA	20m	CW
UA4RW	20m	CW
HA8WP	20m	CW
UU7JD	20m	CW
SP9BPE	20m	CW
US0NJ	20m	CW
OM7OM	20m	CW
IK0CNA	20m	CW

There were certainly a couple of ID107 fails on Saturday night, 17th November 2012. Mssrs G3CWI and M1EYP were both found out for not doing their homework. It was a super clear evening with only mild breeze. The night sky was stunning, and Orion was balancing on the Eastern horizon such that I was unsure whether I was looking at the star at the bottom corner of that constellation, or a car/house/lamp on Merryton Low.

Richard was doing 80m SSB and CW using a dipole, while I was on 20m with the groundplane vertical. Sadly, Richard had not researched the contest activity in advance, while I had not bothered to check how propagation was developing during the day. I heard a belting 599 signal from ZV7O (Brazil) on 14.010MHz CW, but he didn't hear any of my calls. I could just about hear some of the Americans that were calling him, but no workable signals from my point of view. I tried some long periods of CQ calling on both 14.059MHz and 14.012MHz CW, but got absolutely nothing. No signals were heard on the SSB frequencies. I had kind of assumed that 20m would be open at this time, without actually bothering to check!

A single call on the handheld brought in Les M3OUA for a 2m FM contact, so a contact was made, and therefore an activation had taken place! I started to pack up and noticed that Richard was doing the same. I couldn't see much, but could tell that his pole was no longer up, and that his headlamp was moving about, presumably winding in the 80m dipole legs. It turned out he had only made one contact as well, with Mike DJ5AV on 80m CW.

There was certainly a temperature inversion taking place, as it was about 4 degrees warmer on the summit than it was in Macclesfield when we set off. 2m would have been a wiser choice one suspects. I suggested a beer in the Harrington Arms on the way back, but Richard declined, citing an early get-up for some car-booting at Chelford. Let's hope he sold lots of stuff and made it completely worthwhile missing a decent pint.

For myself, I made it worthwhile by getting home in time to watch my favourite TV programme - Match of the Day.

M3OUA

After ascending The Cloud G/SP-015 with Jimmy 2E0EYP and Liam on Sunday 18th November 2012, I set up and tried to start by calling CQ on 10m CW. Little happened. This was a bit annoying because the SSB portion of the band was very busy, and all the beacons sounded pretty lively. The CW segment, however, was pretty quiet, but for a loud CQ from LU7HZ. I called him and worked him on the second or third call - so at least I knew my stuff was working! When I tried CQing again, now on 28.020MHz CW, I soon worked KG4USN, and I became optimistic. My next call was M6MPC, and then no response. So maybe a "false dawn".

Looking at Spotlite on my phone, I saw that N1EU was QRV on 28.557MHz SSB, from the summit of Windham High Peak W2/GC-063. I called in and made a very straight-forward DX S2S contact. I shouted the news across to Jimmy 2E0EYP, who was soon running across from his 2m FM operating point. Jimmy too made the S2S QSO with Barry, and he was more than a little chuffed about that.

Things then picked up. I think the key thing here was that the band warmed up to a peak sometime between 1600 and 1630z, while before and after these times it was distinctly not as good. I made a total of 20 QSOs, which were 14 on 10m CW, 1 on 10m SSB and 5 on 2m FM. DXCCs were 11 x USA, 1 x Argentina and 8 x England. Jimmy made 17 QSOs, which were the 10m SSB DX S2S into the USA, plus 16 on 2m FM. This included a 2m FM S2S with Jack GM4COX/P on Cairnsmore (Black Craig of Dee) GM/SS-170.

We needed to flick the headlamps on in order to pack away and descend around 5pm, by which time it was very cold. We sat in the car with the heater on full blast initially for a few minutes before driving back up to Macclesfield. I reckoned that Marianne would need some more quiet time ahead of her night shift, so I thoughtfully took the lads to the Pack Horse at Broken Cross for a couple of beers (Adnans Broadside) and pork scratchings. Yet another pleasing SOTA activity.

LU7HZ	10m	CW	T
M3OUA	2m	FM	J
N1EU on Windham High Peak GC-063	10m	SSB	T, J
GM4COX/P on Cairnsmore SS-170	2m	FM	J
2E0XYL	2m	FM	J
M3CYU/P	2m	FM	J
G0SJS	2m	FM	J, T
M1DDD/M	2m	FM	J
M6FOA	2m	FM	J
2E0COY	2m	FM	J
M0OTE/M	2m	FM	J
M3JHK	2m	FM	J
2E0LKC	2m	FM	J, T
M6BLV	2m	FM	J
2E0LMD	2m	FM	J, T
G1DKA	2m	FM	J
M6NAV/A	2m	FM	J
G0RXA	2m	FM	J
KG4USN	10m	CW	T
M6MPC	10m	CW	T
G4BLH	10m	CW	T
WH6LE	10m	CW	T
W4TZM	10m	CW	T
G3XQE	10m	CW	T
W0MNA	10m	CW	T
K0JQZ	10m	CW	T
W4KRN	10m	CW	T
N3GJ	10m	CW	T
K0FX	10m	CW	T
K7VM	10m	CW	T
K8TAO	10m	CW	T
M0TGT/M	2m	FM	T
M6LEF/M	2m	FM	T

Staff football was called off on Friday 23rd November 2012, as numbers were down and those that remained didn't fancy a game of two-a-side. Nonetheless, I still needed a little bit of exertion to draw a line under the working week, so it was you-know-where on the way home. It was a mild 9 degrees as I ascended in the last of the afternoon daylight. I managed to set up the MM10 antenna, but then flicked on the headtorch in order to begin operating. As usual, the wind was south-westerly, so I hunkered down on the side of the topograph facing the trig point.

I didn't check mu phone to see if the RBN had 'got me', but I assumed it had when Rich N4EX was first in the log within a couple of calls. Rich had a huge signal, the strongest received in the whole activation. Only WA3BKD followed Rich into my logbook on my initial QRG of 28.025MHz CW. With no more callers, I looked around the band to see what action there was. C6AUM (Bahamas) was working split, but I got him second call. That was an all-time new DXCC for me, let alone on 10m CW. Now running on 28.013MHz CW, I added three more logs to the activation - one into the USA but two inter-G, suggesting that the band may be closing.

Up on 29MHz FM, I answered a CQ call from Frank N8UAS/M on the interstate in Michigan. We worked each other with 59 signals both ways! My next QSO on 10m FM was Gary 2E0GRS - in Congleton!

Many calls and a self-spot on 28.460MHz SSB produced only Dave G0BJK in Stretford (Manchester), so it appeared the band had shut up shop for the day. Still, a pleasant little walk and nine QSOs with plenty to keep me interested, including an all-time new DXCC, and a new all-time band-mode slot.

N4EX	10m	CW
WA3BKD	10m	CW
C6AUM	10m	CW
M0AMS	10m	CW
N4MJ	10m	CW
G4KKP	10m	CW
N8UAS/M	10m	FM
2E0GRS	10m	FM
G0BJK	10m	SSB

Another torchlit nightime activation took place on The Cloud G/SP-015 on Tuesday 27th November 2012. There was no reason to do so, as I was already mathematically certain of winning the 6m UKAC series in the Low Power section. However, I fancied an activation, and racking up some points for the Tall Trees Contest Group. The weather forecasts had promised a clear and dry night, so I was a little miffed to be commencing from Cloudside in a very light drizzle. This did not last long though, and the rest of the night was dry save for a few seconds of sleet around 9.45pm. Yes, it was pretty cold!

Well, the contest itself was not exactly the best. Numbers were down, conditions were down, signals were down. QSB was up. In fact it was phasing in and out in long ten minute cycles, which made it very annoying if you just missed a particular station! This happened to me with GI4SNA, usually everyone's ODX in IO64 square, so I made a mental note of his QRG and returned to get him ten mnutes later!

The final tally was a meagre 43 QSOs into 12 multipliers. Three QSOs were in CW, the rest SSB. Heard but not worked were IO74, IO81 and JO01. No DX was heard at all. There was, as usual, a healthy represenation of well-known SOTA activators and chasers taking part, and a good turn out from the Tall Trees Contest Group.

My final score of 48,324, while way down on my average, is currently the leading score in the AL section, so who knows, I may just get another 1000 normalised points in my tally. A fun activation as ever, rounded off with a pint of Tom & Berry Ale at the Harrington Arms, and a Spearings pork pie. And to take away (for my log-entering supper), a bottle of chocolate Old Tom and a bag of Guinness flavour crisps (yes, really).

G3RKF	6m	SSB
G3TDH	6m	SSB
2E0EYP	6m	SSB
G6HFF	6m	SSB
2E0BMO	6m	SSB
G4VPD	6m	SSB
G4NTY	6m	SSB
G4OBK	6m	CW
G0BWB	6m	SSB
G2ANC	6m	SSB
G8ZRE	6m	SSB
GW4ZAR/P	6m	SSB
GW4BVE	6m	SSB
M1MHZ	6m	SSB
G3MEH	6m	SSB
G3UVR	6m	SSB
G4ZRP	6m	SSB
G0BFJ	6m	SSB
M6OXO	6m	SSB
M0VAA	6m	SSB
2E0ZDX/P	6m	SSB
G4VFL/P	6m	SSB
G4BLH/P	6m	SSB
G3UDA	6m	CW
G3PIA	6m	SSB
G4TUP	6m	SSB
G6WRW/P	6m	SSB
G4TSW	6m	SSB
GW8ASD	6m	SSB
2E0TXT/P	6m	SSB
GI4SNA	6m	SSB
G0WTD	6m	SSB
G0CER	6m	SSB
G0RRM	6m	SSB
G4ODA	6m	SSB
G3PYE/P	6m	SSB
G4IDF	6m	SSB
G4XKC/P	6m	SSB
G4NDM	6m	SSB
G4FPJ	6m	SSB
G7RAU	6m	SSB
GW0IRW	6m	CW
G8BUN	6m	SSB

One of the hidden benefits of falling asleep in the middle of Match of the Day on a Saturday night, is that I wake up raring to go well before 7am on a Sunday morning. I knew I had to run Jimmy to the radio club at 9.45am, so that gave me plenty of time to activate The Cloud G/SP-015.

It was -8 when I set off in the car on Sunday 2nd December 2012. There was some ice in patches on the lanes, but nothing that caused a problem - or so I thought. I kitted and gloved up on Cloudside and commenced the very familiar walk up. My spirits lifted upon attaining the summit, for there out before me was a crisp, clear and sun-drenched view of the frozen Cheshire Plain. It was quite magnificent. Furthermore, there was not a breath of wind on the summit - a rarity indeed.

I took advantage and set up so I could sit near the edge with a wonderful view. It was very cold, so I wonder if I would need some "glove breaks" in my operating. But I found that both my hands warmed up gradually throughout my CW operation and were quite comfortable by the time I switched to SSB at 0852 UTC. Prior to that, from 0824, I made 20 QSOs on 20m CW, into DXCCs DL, EA, HA, LY, LZ, OE, OK, OM, RA and YO. On SSB, it was just four contacts into EA, G, I and OM.

By the time the crowd of early dog walkers were on summit, the rising sun was partly covered by cloud, and they had missed the best of the views. A very enjoyable morning's work! There were a couple of tricky moments as the ice on the roads in Bosley and North Rode suddenly became much more difficult to negotiate at -4 than they were at -8 a little earlier. Still, I got through, and got home safely.

OE7PHI	20m	CW
OM7DX	20m	CW
LY5G	20m	CW
YO9CB	20m	CW
OK1DPU	20m	CW
OK1FCA	20m	CW
OM1AX	20m	CW
OK1DVM	20m	CW
OK4IT	20m	CW
DJ5AV	20m	CW
LZ1CY	20m	CW
EA2PI	20m	CW
OM3KEG	20m	CW
UA3UBT	20m	CW
HA3FZ	20m	CW
DL3HXX	20m	CW
RN3DKE	20m	CW
OK1FPQ	20m	CW
DL8DXL	20m	CW
RD3ACR	20m	CW
EA2DT	20m	SSB
IN3ENN	20m	SSB
OM7DX	20m	SSB
G6ODU	20m	SSB

I did the contest on Tuesday 11th December 2012, on The Cloud G/SP-015. It got down to around -6 degrees. I must admit, my hands did start to feel a bit cold around 10.15pm, over two hours into the event. Two minutes respite in my padded gloves while 70cm SSB was quiet cured all that.

Of course, CW activations are much easier to deal with, as the very act of paddling spares your hands from getting cold!

G0VOF	70cm	SSB
GW8ASD	70cm	SSB
2E0BMO	70cm	SSB
M6BLV	70cm	SSB
G3UVR	70cm	SSB
G4XKC/P	70cm	SSB
M3RNX	70cm	SSB
G8ZRE	70cm	SSB
G8REQ	70cm	SSB
G4BLH/P	70cm	SSB
G6HFF	70cm	SSB
G3TDH	70cm	SSB
G4APJ	70cm	SSB
G4NTY	70cm	SSB
2E0TXT/P	70cm	SSB
2E0EYP	70cm	SSB
M0NST	70cm	SSB
G6TET	70cm	SSB
2E0UOG	70cm	SSB
G6WRW/P	70cm	SSB
F8BRK	70cm	SSB
G0VVE	70cm	SSB
G0KTQ	70cm	SSB
M0GHZ	70cm	SSB
GD8EXI	70cm	SSB
G3PYE/P	70cm	SSB
MM0GPZ/P	70cm	SSB
G8DOH	70cm	SSB
G8OHM	70cm	SSB
G2ANC	70cm	SSB
G4CLA	70cm	SSB
G3TJE/P	70cm	CW
GW4BVE/P	70cm	SSB
2E0JJM	70cm	CW
G8LYB	70cm	SSB
G3UBX	70cm	SSB
M6OXO	70cm	SSB
GM4JR	70cm	SSB
GI6ATZ	70cm	SSB
2E0LKC	70cm	SSB
2E0LMD	70cm	SSB
G4CPE	70cm	SSB
GI4SNA	70cm	SSB
G8HXE	70cm	SSB
G4JLG	70cm	SSB
G3PIA	70cm	SSB
G0NED	70cm	FM
M6RGF	70cm	FM
M1MHZ	70cm	SSB
G3SMT	70cm	SSB
G3ZUD	70cm	SSB
G5MW	70cm	SSB
G0XDI	70cm	SSB

Xmas Day activation #1

Looking at the spots I do believe No. 1 was me. This was an unannounced activation, simply because I had not actually intended it! However, when I found myself wide awake at 0515 on Christmas Day morning, juxtaposed with the contented zeds elsewhere on our first floor, I decided to go for it.

The weather was quite horrid as I drove to Cloudside, but it turned dry with occasional very light drizzle just in time for my ascent and set-up. A brisk wind across the summit made erecting the pole and 40m dipole taxing, especially in the dark and mist meaning that you couldn't see where things were! Once set up, I pulled the bothy bag over me for an instant dry and warm operating position, just as some persistent rain started outside.

I did try some extended calling on 7.051MHz SSB, which I also self-spotted, but couldn't get any replies. I also intended hanging around until the propagation got shorter so I could work some UK and near Europe stations. However, by 0745, the skip was still hitting Central Europe having moved slowly from the East, and I was tired and uncomfortable by then. So I called it a day and descended. Prior to that, I made 13 QSOs on 40m CW, with DXCCs DL, I, LY, OE, OK, OM, S5 and YO. But the highlight came at 0725 UTC when I called into the pile-up of KL1A/W2 - and broke it first call with my 5 watts! That was a great first Christmas present of the day!

On the drive home I got a namecheck on 102.8 Canalside Community Radio, and a chaser point by working Mickey 2E0YYY/P on Gun G/SP-013. A nice start to Christmas Day. Festive greetings to all.

IK3DRO	40m	CW
OE8SPW	40m	CW
OE8XBH	40m	CW
YO2MJZ	40m	CW
IK3GER	40m	CW
KL1A/W2	40m	CW
S51XT	40m	CW
LY5G	40m	CW
OK2MPB	40m	CW
OM3LL	40m	CW
DL3VZL	40m	CW
S53PO	40m	CW
IK1GPG	40m	CW

Boxing Day activation #14

Looking at the spots I do believe No. 14 was me. This one was a little more premeditated than the Xmas Day activation, but preparations were still lax! It was off to The Cloud G/SP-015 again on a gloriously clear and sunny Boxing Day 2012. After setting up the MM17 (groundplane vertical for 18MHz), I was a little delayed in getting started while I fielded questions from several interested onlookers. The Cloud was very busy!

I was anxious to see how the MM17 performed, as I had only repaired it at home that morning. And a lousy repair job it was too. I couldn't find my decent wire strippers, and am otherwise notoriously bad at that task (the wire just keeps getting shorter...), so I tinned the ends of the radials and the coax outer and put them all together with a big blob of solder. Then quickly wrapped them all up in insulating tape!

When the first nine minutes brought eleven QSOs, I felt happy that the repair was good, even if it might not last forever! CW signals were strange on 18MHz, with many suffering slight echoes - multipath propagation? I moved up the band to do some calls on 18MHz SSB, and recorded 8 contacts. Resuming on 18MHz CW, I add seven QSOs to bring the 17m CW tally to 18 contacts. I then broke off to pack away the 17m antenna, and replace it with a 30m dipole. I plugged this into my Rockmite 30 and connected the PP3 battery. There was a big delay while I programmed my CQ call into the Picokeyer - it took many, many attempts before the playback matched what I intended!

In any case, no-one answered my calls on 10.115MHz CW from the RM30. Perhaps the PP3 has had its day. I hear a bit of a shriek and a moan in my headphones just after keying. Anyway:

17-Aug-12
Battery: #1. Activation: #23
Summit: G/SP-015. Band: 30m
Radio: Rockmite 30
Antenna: Inverted V Dipole @ 6m AGL
Battery: Duracell Pro-Life
Finish Voltage at room temp: Not a clue
New DXCCs: 0
Cumulative DXCCs: 19 (9A, DL, G, GM, HA, HB, I, LA, LZ, OE, OK, OM, OZ, PA, RA, S5, SM, SP, SV)
QSOs: 0. Cumulative QSOs: 74

A chap wandered over and introduced himself as Dave G6HZJ, a SOTA chaser from Northwich, Cheshire. He said he had never done any activating. I said "Would you like to?" and thrust Jimmy's Yaesu VX-110 at him. He accepted the offer, but chose to make just the one QSO. He was with friends and the weather was starting to close.

It was perhaps because I hadn't anticipated being on summit so long that I didn't check what the later weather was going to do - although I have some recollection that the Met Office website had suggest dryness until evening. But not so, here were some spots of rain that seemed sure to be followed by much worse.

I pulled the bothy bag from the rucksack, and placed it over me. And now it was down to the business of 10MHz CW using the "QRO" of 5 watts from the FT-817. And what a difference, as I made 26 QSOs including a S2S with Peter HB9TVK/P on Buechemer Irchel HB/ZH-014. A natural break in running allowed me to grab the handie and seven 2m FM QSOs from the relatively comfortable position of being sat down inside the bothy bag! However, after the final run of 10MHz CW contacts, I reluctantly accepted that the increasing wind and rain were not about to abate anytime soon, and began the packaway routine.

I took a windchilled buffeting and a rain-lashed soaking during the pack-up, but still got the VX-110 at the trig point before descending. I added four more QSOs to the log, although I was now very uncomfortable. The descent was disgusting, in mud and puddles all the way, so good job that I was at my car within ten minutes. The heater was on full blast, and my rucksack was immediately emptied so that contents could begin having an airing immediately. I chatted to Jimmy M0HGY on 2m FM during the drive home. The total QSO count for the activation was 63. Happy Boxing Day!

G0VOF	17m	CW
OK1MLP	17m	CW
EA4CWN	17m	CW
LY5G	17m	CW
G3CWI	17m	CW
SP3GVX	17m	CW
DL6AP	17m	CW
PA0SKP	17m	CW
HB9BIN	17m	CW
DJ5AV	17m	CW
UA6HGY	17m	CW
HA2PP	17m	CW
RA9WK	17m	CW
OM3TDD	17m	CW
LZ2CE	17m	CW
DM3SWD	17m	CW
OH2EO	17m	CW
OH7BF	17m	CW
OK1XMS	17m	CW
G0VOF	17m	SSB
DJ5AV	17m	SSB
OH6JYH	17m	SSB
AE4FZ	17m	SSB
OM7DX	17m	SSB
DG0JMB	17m	SSB
SM7GUY	17m	CW
S52CU	30m	CW
HB9BIN	30m	CW
DL3JPN	30m	CW
DL6AP	30m	CW
IK3DRO	30m	CW
OK1MLP	30m	CW
DL8DXL	30m	CW
M6MXN	2m	FM
2E0LKC	2m	FM
2E0LMD	2m	FM
2E0NVJ	2m	FM
G3SMT	2m	FM
2E0JBQ	2m	FM
2E0XYL	2m	FM
S58MU	30m	CW
HA7UG	30m	CW
DL1FU	30m	CW
OK1DPU	30m	CW
DL6KVA	30m	CW
GI4ONL	30m	CW
OM7DX	30m	CW
IK2YRA	30m	CW
OK1FLK	30m	CW
I3VAD	30m	CW
HB9TVK/P on Buechemer Irchel ZH-014	30m	CW
OM1AX	30m	CW
OH7BF	30m	CW
RJ3AM	30m	CW
9A2AJ	30m	CW
DL2EF	30m	CW
EU3AC	30m	CW
G4FPA	30m	CW
SP5CKA	30m	CW
M6RGF/M	2m	FM
M6BYI	2m	FM
M3OUA	2m	FM
M6FOA	2m	FM