Gun G/SP-013

I spent much of the afternoon in the shack assembling aerials while listening to 7032. The pile-ups continued all the time with hardly a break between one activation and the next. I called in occasionally but as I have never really taken to chasing, my efforts were sporadic. Outside, the weather seemed to be improving so before long I was thinking of doing an activation. I eventually decided on Gun. It is a pleasant hill that is far more rewarding (to me at least) when activated in a leisurely fashion rather than the more common smash-and-grab with The Cloud that most people do. I activate this hill quite often and enjoy seeing it in a variety of different weather conditions and seasons. As it was a windy afternoon I decided to activate on HF which meant that I did not need to be right on the top but could seek a little shelter on the fringe of the summit woods.

On arrival I took the “long” route to the top, approaching from the north. It is hardly any further than the normal route from the south but is slightly more varied. I did not visit the trig but instead went straight to my preferred spot along the fence-line. Setting up 40m took all of 5 minutes.

The skip had lengthened since I had left home but a good pile-up netted 44 contacts on as many minutes. I even had time to chat to some callers. A French station was keen to know the name of the hill although as many locals don’t know what it is called, I suspect he would not have heard of it. It was cool but not cold and my spot was nicely out of the wind. A flask of coffee seemed like a good idea until I knocked over the cup in my equipment box (daft place to put it - with the benefit of hindsight). An S2S with LA1KHA/P was an added bonus. My 3W home-brew system seemed to be working well.

The air was very clear and I could see a huge hill on the horizon. Looking at the bearing on my return it seems it was the Wrekin (63km away). There must have been something odd about the light or the air today as I have never seen it look so big before.

Arriving home I entered my log on the database and was surprised to note that 44 contacts was my highest ever QSO total for a SOTA activation! The activation made a lovely relaxing end to the afternoon.

I quite fancy an overnight activation of Gun so once I can find the landowner and sort out permission, I hope to camp up there.

73

Richard
G3CWI

PS I had not intended to write a report but Gerry’s earlier comment about there being less reports, encouraged me to write this one.

Sorry I missed the opportunity to join you for your record breaking activation Richard. Sounds like you had a pleasant afternoon anyway. I’ll be over on The Cloud on Tuesday night for one of my smash-and-grabs.

Tom M1EYP

In reply to M1EYP:

Conditions were excellent on both 5MHz and 7MHz today Tom. I’ve never had much luck on 7MHz SSB with only 4-5W which is why I started trying to relearn my CW. However, today the joint total for both Brian and my activations on Mount HIll exceeded my record QSO count. 7MHz was particularly good for both inter-G and local EU contacts. We worked G,GW,EI,LA,PA,ON,DL & RA which put smiles on both of our faces.

Andy
MA0FMF

In reply to M1EYP:

I’ll be over on The Cloud on Tuesday night for one of my
smash-and-grabs.

Don’t tell lies Tom - you’ll be there running 70cms SSB and bag at least 30 - 40 contacts. Or has the definition of “smash and grab” changed? If so, what is the new terminology for “4 contacts and I’m off”?

Gerald

In reply to G3CWI:

I drove to Leek last Wednesday and the air was very clear giving great visibility. As I passed the Travellers Rest at Quarnford the visibility to the South was tremendous. You can normally see the Wrekin from up here, but this time it was Crystal clear. You could also quite clearly make out the Stiperstone, Long Mynd and both Brown & Titterstone Clee Hills. I could just make out a range of hills further distant which I reckon was probably the Malverns.

With regards to the land owner of the Gun, I was told a while ago by Peak Park Rangers that Severn Trent were the land owners & they rent out the land to tenant farmers.

(just put sota gear in car - wx too nice not to do something)

In reply to G1INK:

(just put sota gear in car - wx too nice not to do something)

Hopefully we (me and Brian) can have an S2S.

Andy
MA0FMF

In reply to G3CWI:

Wx too nice to stay in the office today so decided to stroll up Gun Hill. No sign of the Wrekin today as the muck builds up under the anticyclone. Anyway a relaxing hour netted 35 contacts on 60/40/10/2m. Sorry for not making much noise on 2m - when I got my SB5 antenna out I realised Id lost half a driven element (must be in GW/MW). I attached the coax to the 1st director & it didnt seem to complain too much. My s2s on 60m with MA0FMF/P was interesting as Andy was using 1w and I was tx`ing through my 40m dipole - 5/9, 5/8 reports were exchanged.
Tnx for s2s with DL2AJB/P DJ3AX/P MA0FMF/P G0SDD/P
GW4BVE/P was heard on 80m but I only had my “summer twig” (40/20/10m)
73

In reply to G1INK:

For antenna that was a terrible match you put out a belting signal on 60m Steve. We went down 0.5W and it didn’t seem to make much difference. The next chap who worked myself and Brian gave me 44 on 0.5W and 56 on 4W. May aswell leave it QRPp and make the batteries last even longer!

I reckon it’s Brian’s moustache that does it. It suck electrons out of the sky so we can hear more people. What’s more, even carrying the lardy blighter about in my car has made it do 2.5mpg more than normal.

Get the facial hair growing is what I say! :slight_smile:

Andy
MA0FMF