Done the Gun!

On the Bands Operating Procedures
1

I managed to complete my first activation today, and provided a bit of PSK, for those of us, who are of that particular orientation!

Don’t laugh, it was my “local” hill, Gun, near Leek, just a one pointer, but it served several purposes for me.

I can manage the path to the top, and I did get to the top today, albeit a bit knackered, and I shall probably suffer for it a bit tomorrow, but I’m hoping to do it again next week, so I’ve not been put off.

It provided a “shakedown” for my portable gear, most of which has not been used since Feb 2012.

No contacts at all for 15 minutes, then Petr from the Ukraine, so that broke the duck.

Hungary and the Cz Repubilic next, making three, and, although I’m not too bothered about points, I just enjoy my “Pisking”, I was hoping to get four contacts during my first session.

Then Hungary again, plus Portugal, gave me a total of five for my first outing, so I’m quite pleased with that.

First CQ at 1400, as advertised, and I packed up at 1455, because of cold finger ends - because of heart surgery, I’m not supposed to get my extremities cold, [or my arms and legs]!!

One question, none of these stations admitted to being SOTA biased, although I provided details of summit SOTA ref number, and included SOTA in my CQ string - does that matter?

9 Likes
2

Not in the slightest.

Well done on getting up the Gun and finally carrying out an activation. Hope there are many more to come.

73 Glyn

1 Like
3

Thanks Glyn.

The fog cleared just as I set off up the path, so that was a little bonus!

john

4

well done!
I also do 1-pointers at the moment! not very fit :slight_smile:

5

Thanks for the encouragement, Tasos!

6

My BBC app on the Ipad, shows that Tuesday might be a reasonable day in the weather department, so I’ve reserved a spot on Gun Hill, to give it another bashing.

All my portable stuff functioned OK yesterday, although it showed up a few items that needed my attention.

Number one, I have now made up a lead that fits the terminals on my 2Ah SLAB, [took a 7Ah model yesterday], so some weight will be saved in the power section.

Number two, I took a hank of cord, plus several bungee’s, [2 for a quid in Tesco - cheap and cheerful, just like me], and one of Richard 'CWI’s guying kits up the hill; but only needed two bungee’s, a piece of cord and one tent peg.

I’ve now tailored everything to suit what I need, two bungee’s, one short length of cord, and one of the tent pegs out of Richards kit - that is my “custom fixing kit” for Gun Hill, for me.

Also took a small SWR/Power meter that I bought from the junk stall at the QRP convention at Rishworth, a couple of years ago, but I’ve never run RF through it.

Tried it yesterday, and it worked, but looked a bit optimistic on the power range.

Today, I’ve compared it with my “Oak Hill” Wattmeter, and found it to be reading just one Watt too many - doesn’t matter, I know what it is supposed to be telling me.

So, all being well on Tuesday, I shall burst forth and squirt my 3 Watts of RF!

7

At 1045 yesterday, “Metcheck” showed the area of Gun Hill to be the recipient of intermittent rain from 1200/1300 onwards, plus wind up to 30mph, so I cancelled it.

My afternoon was not wasted however, I took a ride of about 50 miles up the Motorway to inspect another hill that is on my list for the less able.

This one is Billinge Hill, and I think that I should be able to knock it off without too much difficulty - there are at least three ways to enter the AZ, and I spoke to the chap that owns the little industrial estate up the lane that leads off Crank Road, and he invited me to leave my car in his yard if I need to, when I return.

I was tempted yesterday to launch myself at it, but the wind was bitterly cold, so it’s now firmly on the list for a visit when the weather is warmer, and the grass is “well aired” - my dear old Grandmother had an obsession about things being “well aired”!