After operating for a while on 15m CW and SSB on The Cloud G/SP-015, on Saturday 27th April 2013, I realised that I had not brought a headtorch up with me. I was quietly fuming inside, before packing the more nickable stuff in my rucksack for a quick jaunt back down to the car. I left the 15m groundplane antenna set up, and the left weight of two 7Ah SLABs and a litre flask of soup on the summit, figuring that they were essentially unnickable by casual walkers and cyclists!  Things had started promisingly with three S2S contacts inside the first four made on 15m. There was Mickey 2W0YYY/P on Hope Mountain GW/NW-062 on 15m SSB, then Bill W4ZV on Rocky Knob W4C/EM-047 and Jurij S57X/P on Jelenk S5/TK-035, both on 15m CW.

A brief switch to 2m FM brought S2S #4 for the activation in the form of Richard G3CWI/P over on Shining Tor G/SP-004 before eight more contacts were added on 15m - one SSB and seven CW.  Now I was feeling more relaxed because (a) I had my headtorch with me for when necessary, and (b) all my stuff was as I'd left it on summit, and (c) I was pleased with myself because I had done the return trip down to Cloudside and back up in 12 minutes. As such, I didn't really go chasing the QSO totals during the rest of the night, more monitoring the spots for S2S and listening round for any interesting DX.

As discussed with Richard over 2m FM, conditions had been dire, with high noise levels and mushy sounding signals. There was a notable improvement once Richard advised me that he was jacking it in for the night! (Thanks for this Richard, I appreciated it). Conditions still weren't great, and never were, but more DX could be heard and with greater clarity. Some of it was even worked!  It was quickly getting cold on the summit after sunset, and the bothy bag was put to good use. So was the flask of soup, containing the delicious Baxters Lobster Bisque. It was delicious; it was as though I could actually taste the lobster, brandy and fresh cream in the recipe, and it was much enjoyed. I tried to space it out through the night, but it was polished off too quickly. I really missed it when it was gone!

20m was the best band of the night for me, giving me 18 QSOs into North America, plus other DX into EA9 Ceuta & Melila, UK Uzbekistan and YV Venezuela. This was actually a special callsign 4M5CW celebrating a Marconi anniversary, and was very loud. Several JAs were heard CQing at the top end of the CW portion after 10pm local, but I couldn't raise any of them. Most of the North American SOTA activations, sadly, could not be heard, but Bill W4ZV was a superb signal all night from Rocky Knob W4C/EM-047, and I got him on 20m CW as well as the earlier 15m CW.  Other S2S worked on 20m CW were Richard G3CWI/P on Shining Tor G/SP-004, Pete G4ISJ/P on Cleeve Hill G/CE-001, Barry N1EU on Hunter Mountain W2/GC-002 and Klaus DF2GN/P on Hummelsberg DM/BW-228. A brief sorte onto 20m brought Jimmy M0HGY from the home QTH, regular SOTA chaser Charles AE4FZ over in North Carolina, and, remarkably, three Greek stations!

 
Finally, just after local midnight, I took down the 20m GP and put up the 40m halfwave dipole. I recalled an overnight activation with Sean M0GIA on Gun G/SP-013 for International SOTA Weekend in the past where 40m to the US was buzzing after midnight. Not so this time, and the band was dominated by a Swiss contest of some sorts. There was VU2MVX clearly heard, but he didn't hear any of my responses to his CQ calls. Just ten QSOs were made before I decided I was too tired, cold and hungry to remain out any longer. Four of these were on the UTC day of Sunday 28th April 2013, and so will be entered as a separate activation.  Selecting several different antennas to use from the boot of my car, and the deployment, packaway and general organisation is now much easier with each packed in one of SOTAbeams' new antenna bags. In each bag I have the correct pegs, cable ties etc for each, and it really speeds things up and removes most of the headaches.

The final totals were:
2m FM: 6 QSOs, 1 S2S, 1 SPC : G (but VHF/FM not counted for credit in TTF event)
15m SSB: 3 QSOs, 1 S2S, 1 SPC : G
15m CW: 9 QSOs, 3 S2S, 7 SPCs: G, S5, UR, W-GA, W-IN, W-NC, W-TN
20m SSB: 5 QSOs, 0 S2S, 3 SPCs: G, SV, W-NC
20m CW: 46 QSOs, 5 S2S, 25 SPCs: CU, DL, EA, EA9, G, HA, I, LA, OE, OH, OK, S5, SP, UK, UR, VE-QC, W-FL, W-MA, W-NC, W-NY, W-OH, W-PA, W-NY, YU, YV
40m CW: 10 QSOs, 0 S2S, 4 SPCs: E7, HB, OK, RA

Total (for QRPTTF): 73 QSOs, 9 S2S, 41 SPCs.

Total (for activation): 79 QSOs, 10 S2S, 23 DXCC, 10 US states.

The last contact was HB9RL/P on 40m CW at 0037z - 1:37am local. I was packed up, descended and in the car shortly after 2am, and home before 3am. The QRPTTF event still had an hour to run, but somehow I wasn't tempted to fire up the rig and listen round! Instead, I had a cheese sandwich, my medication, and went to bed.  Interesting event, which I enjoyed being involved in. I will certainly look to participate again in the future. Best DX was probably Venezuela, but it possibly could have been one of the US contacts. Uzbekistan might not be far off either. Pity I couldn't get through to any of the several JAs heard. No sign whatsoever of the spotted VK activations.

 
Another trip up The Cloud G/SP-015 on Tuesday 30th April 2013, and I thought I'd try 20m PSK31 using the groundplane antenna. I must have forgotten what the groundplane did last time, engulfing the little Wolphilink interface with RF!  It was a beautiful sunny afternoon with hardly a breath of wind. I set up the 20m GP a few yards beyond the summit on a little favourite patch of mine that juts out over the valley and commands fantastic views.  Earlier in the drive from Macclesfield, I had worked Mickey 2E0YYY/P on Shining Tor G/SP-004 and Peter MW1CNL/P on Moel Famau GW/NW-044 on 2m FM using the mobile. I had hoped they might still be around after I ascended, but I never found them. Dave M3XIE and Steve G6LUZ were worked on the 2m FM handy though to be the first entries in the logbook.

The main issue with the PSK31 was finding a clear frequency. Thanks to Klaus DF2GN later, I eventually sussed out that getting well above the main congested areas was the thing to do! One of my first calls brought in OH3T, with a solid two-way contact, so that was a good start. I tried 2m FM, but still no sign of Mickey or Peter. However, I did get S2S with Barry MW0IML/P on Cadair Berwyn GW/NW-012. He told me he had packed the main gear away and was about to descend, so this was a handheld to handheld QSO. Also on frequency was Karen 2E0XYL for a quick contact.

Back to 20m PSK, and the RF problem was biting again. I knew I had in the back of my mind that dipoles were better than groundplanes for PSK, but I had forgotten why! I was rather cross with myself for not bringing up a dipole in reserve, but my brain isn't working too well at the moment and hence why it will be getting "repaired" in the next few weeks.  Of course, I was sat between two of the sloping radials. If you had draped canvas over the radials a la GM4COX, I would have been inside the tent. So I repegged those two radials to make a much wider angle between them. I then pulled the RG58 feeder away from the SOTA Pole so that the PL259 on the end was about as far away from the antenna as possible. Fortunately, this still gave me a superb spot from which to operate and enjoy the hill and the views.

There were still one or two 'hints' of RF, but the situation was much improved. I "hid" the Wolphilink interface behind the radio as far as the antenna was concerned, and all was well. Probably the addition of a few ferrite beads on the cabling wouldn't go amiss though. Not sure if there's enough cable to wind a couple of small chokes.  Contacts on PSK31 now came through regularly, but at a slow overall rate. IN3EQL, UA3GX, HB9MKV, G6LUZ, DJ5AV and RX9FG were added to the log. But something was still not right. I checked the ALC indication. Nothing - good. I checked the power meter. Nothing - bad! Investigating in the Samsung phone's settings revealed that the audio output was well down. Some other use or application of the phone must have reset it. I turned that up to maximum and tried again.

This time the power out looked much more healthy, but with that the ALC was too high. So I played trial and error with the FT-817's DIG GAIN menu setting. It was on 50 as recommended, but I found that something between 20 and 30 was perfect for a zero ALC indication, but still plenty of forward forward.  The next batch of PSK31 QSOs came much more easily and quickly. In fact the only thing holding me back now was my still "unslick" operating using the smartphone, the DroidPSK app and the Bluetooth keyboard. But it is getting better, and I edited quite a few of the macros during the activation to improve things further.

2E0DMM/M was worked on 2m FM, before a much more straightforward 20m PSK31 with IV3VOU now that the settings were good. A glance at the spots revealed Graeme MM6WKR/P on Drumcroy Hill GM/CS-107, operating on 14.070MHz PSK31! But a few trawls of the waterfall couldn't find him.  However, then a spot came up for Klaus DF2GN/P on Lemberg DM/BW-038 on 14.074MHz PSK31. I didn't see the comment line "tom m1eyp pse try here" on Klaus's self-spot on compact view; I only just saw that when writing this report! But I found Klaus on the waterfall quickly, and managed to complete a very pleasing SOTA PSK31 S2S contact with him. I was delighted with this!

I QSY'd down to 14.0735MHz, but still well above the congested area. I shall probably stick to this sort of frequency in future, as things were so much easier! OE5FSL, OH6KSX and Fred HB9AAQ were worked in relatively rapid order as I completed the activation with 12 PSK31 contacts. Peter 2E0LKC was worked on the handheld after packing away for a 6th 2m FM QSO, and 18th of the activation altogether.  Yet another fantastic SOTA experience. When will it ever end?

Well I went out on Thursday 2nd May 2013 to carry on the 10m fun from the previous day. I had attained the summit and set up the only antenna I had taken up there - the 10m groundplane - before I learned of the news that the sky was broken. The BBC radio news had omitted this important item while concentrating on Stuart Hall and Ken Barlow it seemed.  However, it would be difficult to feel frustrated and annoyed on a day like this. It was glorious, with warm sunshine, superb visibility, not a cloud in the sky and only the gentlest breeze. Shirt sleeve order all the way and no need for shelter. In fact there could have been a touch more wind to keep the midges away, although they weren't really bothering.

Opening up with my new toys on 10m PSK31, I worked Steve G6LUZ in Audlem and Colin 2E0BPP in Blackburn. Both good solid and straightforward contacts, with my operation of the Samsung Galaxy Siii Lite smartphone running DroidPSK, and the Bluetooth keyboard getting a bit more polished. I was also continuing to edit and improve the macros to make operation smoother. It all seems to be coming together.  However, the sky was indeed broken, so that was it for a while for 10m. For after the two on PSK31, my attempts on FM, SSB and even CW all came to nothing. There were a few HF spots on SOTAwatch, so I tuned in to listen to them. Allan GW4VPX/P was heard on Mynydd Cynros GW/MW-034 on 40m SSB, as was Mickey 2W0YYY/P on Great Orme GW/NW-070. I couldn't resist the temptation and forced my call out through the 10m aerial with high VSWR. Mickey heard and a quick S2S was made.

2m FM was then busy for a while using the VX7R 16 QSOs, culminating in a S2S with Barry MW0IML/P on Glyder Fawr GW/NW-003. Barry also reported excellent weather. By this stage my handheld had run out of charge, so I was supplying the power for it from the SLAB! Mickey 2W0YYY/P was heard again, this time on 2m FM. This time he went into the SWL log.  I was getting annoyed at not making any 10m CW QSOs. The band was empty - apart from a big DX pile-up on 28.025MHz. And the loudest signal of all was the station at the centre of that pile-up, 7Q7FOC. I tried my luck a few times, but still no joy on this one for me.

But little bits of life did start to present themselves, so I re-self-spotted for 28.020MHz CW and this time got John G4FPA in Sale, and then SOTA chaser Abelardo EA5YI. On 28.480MHz SSB I worked Chris 2E0BJC in Cannock for my one and only 10m phone contact of the day, for 10m FM drew blanks every time.  Back on 10m PSK31 it was a little better with QSOs with EC1DJ, CS7ACF and CT2KCK. And finally, after SWLing Barry MW0IML/P on Glyder Fawr GW/NW-003 on 20m CW, I managed a third CW contact of the activation - Giovanni IK8CQH in Napoli.

Summery summary:
40m SSB: 1 (S2S)
10m CW: 3
10m PSK31: 5
10m SSB: 1
2m FM: 15 (inc 1 S2S)
Total: 25 QSOs including 2 S2S

Bank Holiday Monday 6th May 2013 was scheduled for the 80m club contest, SSB session. I had assumed I was sitting this one out due to other arrangements, but some last minute happenings meant that I could go out.  So to The Cloud G/SP-015 it was to lap up the final part of this beautiful day. It was shirt-sleeve order for ascending the hill, although that did make my pack heavier with coat, fleece, hat etc stuffed inside.  People seem to be getting ever more interested in radio, and the questions from passers-by are coming thicker and faster than ever before. Therefore I couldn't rush setting up, and the station was ready by 1840z. This was too late to try and find and hold a clear frequency ahead of the contest - they were all gone!

So it was S+P for me all through again, and I actually did worse than last month, down three to 34 QSOs. After the contest, I met with Tall Trees Contest Group members Brian G3UJE, Reg G3TDH, Jimmy M0HGY and Jim G3KAF on our usual after-contest net frequency of 3.645MHz for a natter. I then held this frequency to work any SOTA chasers. In total, I made 41 QSOs on 80m SSB.  I next went onto 80m PSK31, and I had to check and adjust the settings for audio volume out of the smartphone and DIG GAIN on the FT-817, while toggling between the PWR and ALC meters until everything was set properly. It was very satisfying to then work five SOTA chasers - M0TUB, G0VOF, LA8BCA, DJ5AV and HB9CUE.

Finishing the activation on 80m CW, I switched to the HB1B transceiver, but could only find one contact - Dave M0TUB. I was too tired to consider changing the links on the HBIV and trying some different bands, although I did intend to call on 2m FM on the VX7R after packing away. However, as the packaway was nearly complete, a cloud of midges (or other small lively mithery flying insect) descended on me and seemed quite persistent. Descent was the only option. Total QSOs for the activation = 47.  To my surprise, the little so-and-sos accompanied by headlight (and face) all the way down to the car, most unpleasant. Oh well, I guess there is a downside to the start of this magnificent weather.

Yes, the weather was nice again, albeit rather breezy. This however did allow me to solve the previous night's midge mystery. They weren't midges - it was dust! We have had a long dry spell, and the surface of the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015 is very dry and dusty. The non-stop medium strength breeze tonight was such that midges would not have been out dancing. But my headtorch still illuminated clouds of little specks in front of my face, and my face feeling the irritation from it. It was dust! Made me realise how much dust is in the air around us in such conditions, because you just don't see it in daylight - but a good headtorch reveals the grim truth...

So, Tuesday 7th May 2013, and the 2m UK activity contest. The running clubs were out in force across the summit. I asked them if they'd had a sudden increase of members as there wasn't anything like as many of them in the previous four months of the year when it was wet and bitterly cold.  Signals on 2m were a little bit up compared to how they have been, and I enjoyed a pretty decent event. 81 QSOs and 16 multiplier squarea, plus 'DX' with two QSOs into France, to add to those into G, GW, GD, GM and GI. There was more to be done though. 100 QSOs should have been doable I reckon, and IO80 and IO86 proved elusive, as did other stations in France, Netherlands etc.

Here is a map of my contest QSOs: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2013/jMDZTFf7q0X8ptoKd29LCzmUA8O5IS6

The 30m dipole was hanging from the top of the SOTA Pole above the SB5 2m beam, and after the contest I set about using it. Only one station was worked on 30m PSK31, this when I responded to Miguel EC1DJ's CQ call. And then only one station was worked on 30m CW, when SP5RE answered my call in what was sounding like poor and deteriorating conditions on that band.  The 'hanging on transmit' issue returned to haunt me on PSK tonight, which surprised me using a dipole where the legs are well raised off the ground. I got around the problem by "hiding" the Wolphi-link interface box underneath the FT-817. I have now popped some ferrite beads into my coat pocket to put on the cables next time I'm out.

Were this not to be my last activation before a brain operation and major surgery, I could well have cancelled. But on Tuesday 14th May 2013 I had a determination to press ahead. After dropping Liam at his youth club in Congleton, I drove up to Cloudside, sorted out the rucksack and made the familar ascent. It was already raining, rain which would not stop, but only intensify as the night wore on.  I set up the SB6 (what I call the SB270 set as a 6-el 70cm beam) on the SOTA pole, but hanging from a couple of sections above that was the 40m dipole. I was completely set up by 7.15pm local, so onto 40m CW it was. Here I enjoyed a good response, with 19 stations going into the log over the next 23 minutes. I was also pleased to receive some good wishes in these CW contacts - pleased with the content of the messages, and pleased that I could read some conversational stuff at 26wpm!

It suddenly dawned on me that I had intended doing 15m in the period before the contest, and 40m afterwards - but I had forgotten that plan. However, when I did try 15m CW, only RW3WA was worked. From 1850z I found myself a clear frequency (432.210MHz SSB) ready for the RSGB UK activity contest.  Things started well in the contest, with plenty of contacts, and multipliers building up refreshingly early. I was inside the bothy bag and keeping warm and dry. But later in the contest, I was still missing some obvious multipliers that I knew would be out there (IO80, IO91, JO01, JO02, IO75, IO86) so needed to pay more attention to turning the beam. So instead of doing this blindly by feeling the pole through the fabric of the bothy bag and rotating it, I began to briefly stick my head outside of the bothy bag.

This proved to be a poor, and ultimately pointless move. What I did get was a lot more wet building up inside the bothy bag, and it was completely soaked and filthy by the end of the night. What I didn't get was any of the above multipliers, which remained elusive throughout. I heard most of them - G4NBS in JO02, G0XDI/P in JO01, G3MEH in IO91 and Robert GM4GUF/P on Tinto GM/SS-064 (although I did get GM4JR in IO85), but didn't even get close to getting heard by them.

A map of my contest QSOs may be seen here:
http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2013/N1eybWGoaTOz6PpXvpAiq6Totm5A07f

The final contest tally was 58 QSOs into 11 multipliers. Perhaps a little disappointing, but from experience, one of my better efforts in such poor weather conditions. Changing antennas back to the 40m dipole, this time I did tune to the 15m band, and the fruits were three QSOs into the USA. I heard a strong CQ call from a Paraguay (ZP) stations, but he wasn't hearing me. Back on 40m CW, three more European stations were worked. The wind was now picking up to almost storm-like, and I started to think that going home might be a clever move!

The total for the activation was as follows:
40m CW: 22
15m CW: 4
70cm SSB: 58
Total: 84

The breakdown and packaway of the station was deeply unpleasant in heavy rain and strong wind. Especially with two antenna systems to dismantle! I was rather wet and cold, and placement of feet needed care on the descent with most of the 'paths' now transformed into fast-flowing streams! When I got to the car, it was BBC Radio 5 on full blast and the heater on full blast as well.  Many thanks to all chasers who worked me, including members of the Travelling Wave and Tall Trees contest groups. And thanks again for the positive good wishes for the days ahead.

Saturday 1st June 2013, the launch of the 12m Challenge, and my return to SOTA activating. There was early evidence of the distance still to go before "full recovery" when I stopped for a rest on the track up past the house, before even getting to the staircase! And on that, I stopped for a rest a further three times.  Thereafter I managed to maintain a slow plod to the summit, which was bathed in sunshine on a lovely morning. I erected the 12m groundplane antenna without hiccup and settled down using the topograph to shelter from the wind.

As discussed with Richard G3CWI on 2m FM mobile on the outward journey, the 12m band was pretty useless and rather more absorption than reflection was going on. Nothing at all was worked on 24.897MHz CW, but I did get Bob G6ODU on 24.950MHz SSB.  I decided to have a go on 2m FM, just from the VX-7R handheld. A couple arrived on summit and were keen to ask questions about my activity. I had to explain how the ionosphere worked - and then explain that today it was not working!

After James M3YFL in Macclesfield, I worked SOTA chasers Steve G6LUZ and Dave M3XIE, and persuaded tham to listen for me on 12m SSB. And so two more QSOs were collected on 24.950MHz SSB, taking my debut in the SOTA 12m Challenge to three QSOs.  A very quiet start in the challenge from me, but a few late afternoon/early evening activations should yield some better results. I returned home via the Weston Bakery, collecting "man breakfasts" of bacon and black pudding double oatcakes (proper ones, not them silly Scottish ones) for Jimmy, Liam and myself.

 
From Gun G/SP-013 on Sunday 2nd June 2013, we drove down to Rushton Spencer then along the road towards Biddulph and Mossley. A right turn took us down to Cloudside, where parking was at a premium and we had to make do with a roadside spot.  It was now a very warm sunny afternoon, and jumpers and coats were removed for the ascent. My progress was evidenced by the fact that no rest stops were needed from Cloudside to the top of the steps, but Liam still comfortably beat me to the summit. Which isn't all that rare these days!

Again Jimmy set up the MFD high on the SOTA Pole, while I was still playing in the 12m Challenge. I was just two QSOs into my activation when Richard G3CWI arrived on summit. He had brought an amplifier for me to try on 12m. The 10dB, transforming my 817's 5 watts into 50 watts, certainly seemed to help, with a long run of QSOs with genuine 599 / 59 reports going both ways. Then again, I suspect the Sporadic E event in progress had just as much if not more influence!  Thus the hints of DX from earlier were now replaced by a pile-up "wall" of European stations, which I enjoyed picking off one-by-one. The highlights here were A6 (United Arab Emirates), R2 (Kaliningrad) and EA6 (Balearic Islands).

There were several stations who either couldn't hear me, or were wilfully ignoring the partials I was sending. But there is never any point in doing this because it causes me to be, shall we say, "awkward" and I stick to my guns and to the order I am calling the stations in - even if the QRM makes this a lengthy process! This cost one station seven places in the queue simply because he kept calling when I was asking for others in come in. A different station, who also repeatedly said his callsign when he obviously couldn't hear me, appeared to have a phantom QSO with me while I was working someone else! And I later saw that this station had logged this as a chaser contact in the SOTA Database! I'll later emailed the person concerned to advise that the QSO never took place - but surely that should have been obvious?

Jimmy M0HGY didn't do so well on The Cloud, logging 16 QSOs, half of his total earlier on Gun G/SP-013.  However, it seemed that he was not helped by a weakened connector that he had overstrained. It was convenient that Richard was on hand to take the antenna away to give the BNC a bit of TLC. He's way better at fiddly stuff like that than we are!  My own activation totalled 54 QSOs, comprising 46 on CW and 8 on SSB. After descending, we hit the road and reconvened at The Harrington Arms, Gawsworth, where the 1892, Dizzy Blonde and Elbow ales (and J2O) were sampled, along with Spearings beef pie, pork scratchings, pickled egg and dry roasted nuts.

The original masterplan for Tuesday 4th June 2013 was to run Liam to his youth group in Congleton for 6pm, then head straight for The Cloud G/SP-015. This would give me a good hour to play on 12m in the challenge before taking part in the 2m UKAC. The problem with this was that this was not Liam's week for youth group.  And once Marianne was spotted working her magic in the kitchen as the clock approached 6pm, all thoughts of getting to the summit early were abandoned. Pork, black pudding and apple pastries, served with Jersey royals, sauteed parsnips and gravy certainly got my vote ahead of a bit of bonus 12m activity.

In fact, by the time I had driven down to Cloudside, ascended with a heavy pack, and set up the SB5 on a summit packed with hobby runners, it was gone five to eight, so I needed to hurriedly connect the battery, mike, headphones, key and feeder cable to the FT-817.  Fortunately, I found and challenged a clear frequency just before the 8pm local start time, and managed to get off to a good start. Conditions were definitely up, and plenty of strong signals from places not normally associated with strong signals (JO00, IO86, IO70 etc) were available.

On the good side, three stations were worked in the often rare IO84, and included a S2S with G4VFL/P who was operating in the contest from the summit of Black Combe G/LD-030. Both stations (Dave G7RAU and Rob G0PEB/P) on the Isle of Wight were worked for IO90, and I completed the "set" courtesy of Don G0RQL in IO70, G0HFX/P in IO80 and G1KAR/P in JO00. Breaking a large pile-up for the latter, using 5 watts from an FT-817 was satisfying! My multiplier count was one of my best at 18. Some entrants clocked up as many as 25.  On the down side, I missed the normally ever-present GI4SNA for IO64, and a station on the Isle of Man for IO74.  I heard but didn't work the station on Guernsey for IN89, and I heard but didn't work several continentals from DL, PA and ON. I did work two French participants though.

By the 10.30pm local finish time, I had worked 89 QSOs (slightly disappointing given the activity levels), all on 2m SSB. I had clocked up 18 multipliers, which was a pleasing tally. My final score was over 200,000 and saw me enter the claimed scores table in 1st place for the AL (low power, <=10w) section. However, this was very much "early days" at less than two hours after the contest, and will surely be knocked down the order as and when other strong entries come in.

I packed everything up promptly just after 10.30pm, but then decided to see if I could make a further 11 contacts on the VX7R handheld to rack up 100 from the evening. Karen 2E0XYL kindly spotted me, and seven stations were worked. Unfortunately, by then my handheld was out of charge (preparation was never my strong point), so I had to make do with 96. I had the stuff with me to enable the handie to be powered from the SLAB - but I couldn't be bothered, and descended instead.  Many thanks to all SOTA chasers that worked me. Here is a map of my contest QSOs:

http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2013/TjPKdMWJaFY2tkfD8W0VS2jDLVIZO14

 

The biggest change the challenge has made for me is regarding favoured activating time. Many observers will be aware that I have a liking for getting up and out early. I have always liked the idea that I can have some guarateed free time - if I get up early enough!  However, to stand an earthly on 12m, one needs to be activating more early evening than early morning. On Wednesday 5th June 2013 for instance, I looked at the lovely weather outside and went out around 6.30pm.

After parking at Cloudside, I walked up the track to the steps - but at that point decided to vary my route and carry on up the track. At the top, the track swings right into the farm it access, but there is a stile to hop over into a field. Turning right and following the path by the boundary wall of the farm, there is an excellent view to the left, of the fairly well defined ridge line across to Biddulph Moor. I have always fancied the idea of traversing from The Cloud G/SP-015 to the trig point on Biddulph Moor, but don't think there is a suitable PROW cutting through the private farmland. Not one that clings to the higher parts of the ridge anyway.

Soon I passed the National Trust sign and entered the wood, and from here it was uphill directly to the summit. There was now a cool breeze, so I set up by the topograph in order to use it as a backrest and shelter. I noticed that the feedpoint of the 12m groundplane antenna was starting to look weak and vulnerable, but I was intending replacing the thin RG174 feeder with RG58 sometime soon anyway.

As I went QRV at 7.45pm BST, the sun was still high in the sky and providing plenty of heat. The temperature soon fell, and rapidly as time went on though. I started the activation on 12m PSK31, and immediately got a call from Chris M0PSK in Liverpool. This went into ragchew style but I did note I was getting better at using the Galaxy Siii Mini smartphone and Microsoft Bluetooth keyboard to operate efficiently on PSK.  At the end of that contact I was called by EK5KE from Yerevan, Armenia, which was brilliant because it was a brand new DXCC for me Next up was regular Steve in Audlem, Cheshire, who again reported that he was having to play catch-up moving his slider frequency upwards to maintain contact with me. Now this was interesting, because I was having to do exactly the same to be able to read Steve's signals. I am not sure how to deal with this at present.

The PSK31 phase of the activation continued with UT0IV, G3RMD, SQ2MVH/P and RU6YX and was altogether satisfying. That was until Richard G3CWI texted me to report that my signal was badly overmodulating. This was disppointing as everything was set up properly and checked, and all appeared to be working correctly. Two of the stations worked mentioned that I had a clean signal during the QSOs. I guess the possibilities here are a SLAB going towards being flat (although still a long way from that situation) or RF getting into the cables/interface. I have some ferrite beads in my coat pocket but I keep forgetting to put them on the cables I use for PSK! Next time out I will make sure I use a freshly charged SLAB and put some beads either side of the Wolphi-Link interface.

There was some DX around on 12m SSB - LU, PY and KP4 - but I didn't managed to work any of it. I did however speak to Steve G6LUZ, Richard G3CWI and Vlady RA7T. Moving to CW, I made five more contacts as the QSO rate became very slow! YU1EL, 4Z4DX, LU7HF, DM3AZ and SM7YIN were worked in a half hour period during which the temperature fell to uncomfortable levels. The Argentinian station was good DX, but was also the strongest signal on the band by a country mile. His signal also held up long after most others had faded away.

Just before packing up I posted a SOTAwatch Spot advising that I would be QRV on 2m FM "in 5 minutes". After packing away, I completely forgot about that and descended the short way to my car!  So, another 15 QSOs for the 12m Challenge - 7 on PSK31, 3 on SSB and 5 on CW. The best DX was Argentina (LU) on CW but the best contact was the PSK31 QSO with Armenia (EK) for an all-time new DXCC.

Part three of my walking day on Saturday 8th June 2013. Part one was a very satisfying 24MHz "all-mode" ("all" = 3) activation on Gun G/SP-013. Part two was a return family walk between Rushton Spencer and Rudyard, and was by some distance the longest route of the day. It is quite interesting how often a non-SOTA family walk has eclipsed the efforts to climb Marilyns on the same day when I look back over the years!  As I left the home QTH at Saturday teatime, it was still sunny and hot. I didn't fancy carrying the weight of my rucksack, swollen by coat and fleece, so was mildly pleased when my arrival at Cloudside coincided with a drop in temperature and an increase in wind. Knowing that the temperature would drop further, and rapidly as the sun set, and the wind speed would be at its maximum across the summit, I doonned my fleece and coat for the ascent.

The sun was still fairly lofty above Merseyside when I reached the top around 8.15pm BST. I was hoping that this may be primetime for 12m, but mindful of Richard G3CWI's quiet experience on Gun G/SP-013 in the afternoon. Well it seemed the band had not really come back to life, nor was it subject to any Sporadic E.  Signs of life were there. A station in Israel and one in Argentina were both very loud on SSB, but try as I might, I couldn't get back to them. Stations from Brazil were audible on both SSB and CW but very up and down in QSB. A 9Q station (Democratic Republic of Congo) was heard on CW, but again I failed to make myself heard.

Finally after many many calls on both 12m SSB and 12 CW, on self-spotted frequencies, CT1DRB came back on 24.897MHz CW and we exchanged. This would prove to be my one and only contact on 12m on this activation as I called and chased for a further hour without any joy.  Sensibly, I had taken another antenna with me. Admittedly, the 20m GP was not included as a back up in case of poor band conditions on 12m, but to open up the possibility of S2S with US SOTA activations. But at 9.40pm BST I decided I had had enough of wasting my time on 24MHz and replaced the antenna to go on 14MHz. I made sure I set this up practically the full feeder cable length away from my radio, and this did the trick of avoiding any RF tantrums from the Wolphi-Link interface.

Starting on 20m PSK31, things at last got moving. My first few calls were answered by non-SOTA chasers, but then it was nice to see S54X, EA3EGB and DJ5AV appear in the log after my self-spots on 14.0732MHz and 14.0729MHz PSK31. I ended up with seven QSOs on PSK, before having a look at CW.  My first instinct was to check the latest spots for North American SOTAs, but I couldn't hear a thing on the listed frequencies. I spotted myself on 14.0627MHz CW and worked a small run of seven QSOs, including three into North America. With more than half of the incoming reports ranging from 339 to 559, it seemed it was not the night, and I was getting uncomfortable and cold in the chilly wind.

After packing away the main station, I called on 2m FM to work Jimmy M0HGY who reported he had intended chasing my PSK31, but was in the shower at the moment I was operating on that mode. Steve G6LUZ also called in to make it 17 QSOs for the activation, but even 2m was quiet it seemed.  After descent, I managed to get to the Harrington Arms, Gawsworth for 11.25pm local, just in time for a pint of ale and a spot of supper. I had mixed feelings about the activation. The 12m aspect was very disappointing, but the 20m PSK31 was quite pleasing. A good night's sleep then beckoned - I was absolutely shattered!

From Gun G/SP-013 on Saturday 15th June 2013, we made the short walk to the car.  I suggested to Stephan and Martin that they just follow me to The Cloud G/SP-015, even if their SatNav did not agree with my route. Fortunately the parking area was clear, so we could get straight on with the short ascent. I ensured that Martin and Stefan were aware that they were about to ascend the most activated SOTA summit in the world, and they soon saw why. They reported enjoying the stairway climb through the woodland and were busy snapping photos when they reached the National Trust sign.

   

But once at the top, with good if a little hazy views in all directions, Martin was impressed and described it as a "beautiful summit". Working conditions were the same again for all three of us. I made six QSOs on 12m, but again all G stations - three on SSB, one on CW and two on PSK31, the last one being Jimmy for his first ever data mode SOTA chase, and the first time we have worked each other on PSK. Martin's HF CW activation was plain sailing as usual, but Stephan struggled to get to four contacts using 20m and 10m SSB. This time he did get the point though, and then spent time enjoying the views while listening around the bands.

   

Richard G3CWI cycled from Macclesfield to The Cloud and carried his road bike up to meet us on the summit. After descent I advised Martin and Stephan to follow me until I gave them a "thumbs up" out of the window. That was the signal for them to stop following me, and start following the SatNav. Perhaps the SatNav always agreed with my route anyway, I forgot to ask them!

   

A quick shower and change at home, and then Jimmy M0HGY, Liam and I walked up to the Weston Balti Raj, the postcode of which had been given to Stephan and Martin for their SatNav. They were staying in a small hotel in Tytherington, just north of Central Macclesfield, and they made good time back to the restaurant. We were joined by Richard G3CWI and Wee Wah, making it a table for seven, five of which were SOTA Mountain Goats! The food was, as usual, first class, and it was nice to be able to share in Richard and Wee Wah's silver wedding - and Wee Wah's 50th birthday celebrations. Congratulations!

           

Martin very kindly presented Richard and myself with a copy each of his fantastic book "Informationen fuer Bergfunker" - a detailed and illustrated guide for the Germany (Alpine) DL association. Many thanks to Martin for this brilliant piece of work which will be invaluable when Jimmy and I visit that region in the future.

All the parking area was taken when I drove up to Cloudside around 8.15pm on Friday 21st June 2013, "Summer Solstice". I didn't really want to leave my car tucked in at the side of the road through to after dark, so I pulled in and waited. Eventually, some walkers returned and drove off, and I quickly nabbed the parking space ahead of an evening walk up The Cloud G/SP-015.  Walking up the stairs on the first part of the ascent, I wondered what this route would have been like before the concrete steps were put in. Treacherous and dangerous I should imagine! A chap who had waited behind me for the next parking space was following me up the steps but never quite catching me up. We met at the National Trust sign and started chatting. He had his camera and tripod and was after some sunset and full moon photos.  He was quite taken with my antenna explaining that he had never seen anything quite like that before on a summit, and asked if I minded if he included it in any shots.  He was called Michael and emailed me a few weeks later with the simply stunning photos taken that evening.  I include them here, and thank him for the permission to do so.

   

A young couple with a little girl were having a picnic and bottle of wine at the summit, and they (and everyone else on summit) were keen to know what I was doing. They were still there after I was QRV on 12m CW at five minutes before nine BST, and I could report that my first contact was with Argentina. Caz LU1YT would remain as my best DX throughout.  In fact I couldn't raise anything else on 12m, so I called on the 2m FM handie after a quick scan around for VHF S2S opportunities. Nothing could be heard on the spotted 2m frequencies, but six regular SOTA chasers were entered into the log.  I self-spotted for 24.945MHz SSB and was immediately called by Richard G0IBE/P for a S2S with Cleeve Hill G/CE-001. The QSO was complete with successful exchange of reports and summit references when my antenna collapsed. At least only the "73" bit was missing from the contact.

Four SOTA chasers then called in on 12m SSB before another look on 2m FM brought S2S with Neil 2W0TDX/P on Craig y Llyn GW/SW-010 and Don M0HCU/P on Long Mynd-Pole Bank G/WB-005. Because I was sat down with the 817 perched atop the rucksack, and headphones on, I couldn't be bothered to stand up again with the VX7R. Hence I investigated what sort of SWR there was on 2m on the 12m antenna, since it was clearly receiving the other SOTA stations OK. Well it wasn't great, but neither was it dangerously bad, and the contacts were made without difficulty, with M3YFL also calling in, giving me the second James in Macclesfield of the evening!

   

It was now time to try 12m PSK31. There were some faint trails on the waterfall, but I couldn't really read them fully. My self-spot was responded to though and I worked Steve G6LUZ and Jimmy M0HGY on this mode.  It sounded like 12m had turned it in for the night, so I packed that antenna away and replaced it with the 20m groundplane. Well, eventually I did. There was in fact quite a delay here as I had another long chat with the photographer. He had earlier asked permission to take some photos of my antenna and myself, and he had made a note of my email so he could send through the shots. But the delay continued as the guy strings at the ends of the 20m antenna radials got in an almighty tangle. Fading light was inhibiting my efforts to unravel them, and the job needed to be completed with the aid of the headtorch.

   

First in on 14.021MHz CW was Barry N1EU with his customary big signal. This frequency was then suddenly occupied by a JA station calling CQ, so I moved 6 kilocycles up the band. UA1ACO, KC3RT, AD5A and M0TUB were added to the 20m CW log.  It was time to try 20m PSK31, which was very busy - but my logbook wasn't! Dave M0TUB made it back-to-back QSOs being first on this band-mode, followed by RV6AFG, but that was all despite the high activity levels. Over on my self-spotted 14.330MHz SSB, I worked Russ M6RGF before hearing some CW on the frequency. I asked if the CW was calling me, and if so, please call again. This time, listening more carefully I read the call G4OBK, so switched to CW to work Phil.

I had pretty well had enough now, so packed the FT817 and 20m groundplane antenna away. The customary departing call on the VX7 delayed my departure by half-an-hour with seven more stations coming back to the call, and several of them in a very chatty mood! Russ M6RGF warned of some rain heading my way, although there was no sign of it from the summit at that time. The first couple of drops arrived with suddenly increasing wind just as I reached the car.  Good fun, nice idea.

Activation summary:
20m CW: 6
20m PSK31: 2
20m SSB: 1
12m CW: 1
12m PSK31: 2
12m SSB: 5
2m FM: 16
Total: 33 including 3 S2S and 4 DX.

After The Wrekin G/WB-010 on Sunday 30th June 2013, we drove back north for the next part of the plan - which was the Sunday buffet at The Purple Pakora restaurant in Congleton. Suitably stuffed, and the sun still shining, I decided that The Cloud G/SP-015 would be a good idea to walk off our hefty lunches.

To be honest, we had forgotten all about Jack G(M)4COX being in the area, so it was quite a surprise to find him atop The Cloud! A very pleasant surprise though, and both Jimmy and myself found ourselves chatting to Jack for quite a time before setting our stations up. Jack reported that he had finished and was about to pack up, but first I was able to have a detailed look at all Jack's gear, and several of his highly practical approaches.

                                                                                                   

Jimmy was able to keep the MFD in vertical polarisation this time, and made 19 QSOs on 2m FM. My own activation added ten QSOs to the 12m Challenge score, these comprising five on PSK31, three on SSB and just two on CW. Loads of people approached me wanting to know what I was doing, and promoting the hobby now seems to be a feature of every activation!

Jimmy and Liam descended while I hung around for a little while calling on 2m FM on the handie. This added just three more QSOs to the log, making a total of 13 for the activation for me. Interestingly, my total for the day was 31 QSOs, whereas Jimmy's was 35. That certainly was NOT a blast from the past!

Super day. Apart from the hayfever, which finally caught up with me around 5.30pm BST on The Cloud. I am not complaining, as the misery is normally endured from mid May to mid July, and this was my first suffering of 2013. But the symptoms are still unpleasant. Then again, they take my mind off the headache...

In total contrast to the lovely nostalgic day on Sunday, the night of Tuesday 2nd July 2013 was far removed from a 'classic' of any kind. The weather was horrid and difficult, although to be fair, nowhere near as bad as the rain radar had suggested it would be.  Light drizzle persisted most of the night on the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015, so I was inside the bothy bag for the majority of the 2m contest. This inhibited efficient directing of the beam, but worse was the difficulty I had writing the log with the side of the bag being constantly blown into my and across my arm.

All-in-all, despite good activity, and reasonable conditions for half of the session, I was limited to 72 QSOs and just 14 multipliers. Nonetheless, one of these was IO65, courtesy of Dave G(I)7RAU/P, so that was definitely a highlight.  Many thanks to all chasers who called in for the summit contact. Here is a map of my contest QSOs: http://maps.google.com/maps?q=http://www.rsgbcc.org/vhf/kml_files/2013/YXuHK68ORjmlDwuubCfe3oFZmAb8BCJ

My friend Russ M6RGF activated this summit on Tuesday 9th July 2013.  On that occasion he encountered people flying a military drone, which took the following amazing photos of the summit.  Many thanks to Russ for sending these through and allowing me to reproduce on my website.

Tuesday 9th July 2013 was also 70cm contest night. I was not feeling too great after another brain valve adjustment at hospital, but decided to try and make the most of the good weather anyway.  With there being hardly any wind, I set up right on the highest point, about halfway between the trig point, and the rock outcrops at the north western end of the summit. However, I was early, so made a few QSOs on 2m FM and 70cm FM with the handheld first.

Conditions for the contest started well, then dipped, then improved again near the end of the session. Thirteen multiplier squares were worked - IO64, IO72, IO74, IO80, IO81, IO82, IO83, IO85, IO90, IO91, IO92, IO93, JO02 - plus I had QSOs into France with F1VNR/P in JO10 and F8BRK in IN99. My multiplier count was not competitive though, due to the omissions of IO84, IO94, JO00 and JO01.  After packing away, another call on 2m FM with the handie added just one further QSO, so I ended the activation with 69 contacts (65 in the contest).

At around 9.30pm BST, a group of five teenage lads came up on summit, all just wearing swimming shorts ad trainers. They were dressed as though they were going tombstoning; I don't know if they expected to find a flooded quarry atop The Cloud! Anyway, they were generally making a nuisance of themselves, jumping out from behind rocks behind me blowing raspberries and being generally rude and immature. I ignored their antics until they started lobbing stones out over Cloudside from the trig point, at which point I lectured them as to the potential danger of this. They were quite rude and smarmy, but they did stop and soon cleared off.

A refreshment stop at the Harrington Arms, Gawsworth punctuated the journey home, and it was straight into the shower when I did get home, mainly because I was by then suffering badly with hayfever.