Not so new any more

Old Reflector
1

After a few weeks off due to a combination of bad wx, gardening commitments & apathy, I decided to get back to activating again yesterday - despite a bad wx forecast. I decided to do the “new” summit of GW/NW-076. I looked at the database & was surprised to see it had already been done 6 times & provided 101 contacts despite only being in the program for a fortnight. No problem, due to the short walk from the car (10 mins) I could take my fishing umbrella & at least 3 x 7AH SLABS. Sorry I couldn`t alert - my internet connection is down at home (AOL will lose another customer if not sorted soon).

I set the alarm for 0500 but got up at 0455 before it went off. On the road for 0600, it was a cool 3C and a leisurely pace got me the 67 miles to the parking spot just before 0730. (I almost hit a large cream coloured owl just past the cat & fiddle pub). I had watched Roger MW0IDXs video & recognised the parking spot from 2 years ago when I found a geocache nearby. It was dry when I arrived which encouraged me to leave the umbrella in the car - glad I didnt as it poured down later. The walk to the summit took all of 10 minutes, 5 min into the walk & I realised Id left the VHF co-ax in the car! No problem, Ill do HF only (hope there`s no solar flares hi).

At the summit, I looked inside the cairn to find a strange logbook. You will see what I mean on you tube - I will upload a short video if & when I get back on the net at home. I set up the dipole with a little difficulty due to the tree density & the fact Id taken my “winter” antenna (i.e. full size for 80m). Up went the fishing umbrella then I settled in for the next 2.5 hours.
The HF bands weren`t in great form, but certainly an improvement on the last couple of weeks. Contacts came thick & fast with a good selection of s2s contacts. I was just about to drop the dipole and pack up when one last listen on 20m produced Vlado Z35M/P working Mick M0PVA in Clitheroe (someone in Preston thought he was working them). Vlado came up to 5/5 with me & I worked him for my 1st Z3 summit. By the time I got the video camera out the qsb had taken its toll. A last call on 4m produced another 3 contacts making the total 102, it was pouring down & I had an offer 0f Sunday dinner - so it was time for a quick exit.

I packed up in pouring rain, got changed into dry clothes at the car (just as about 50 people walked past). Sunday dinner was enjoyed at chez GW0DSP the worlds top chaser. I did consider doing SP-016 on the way home as the sun had appeared, but decided to go straight home & do some gardening (bad idea the rain started 10 miles short of home).

Stats :-
102 contacts.
4m - 6
20m - 36
40m - 28
60m - 10
80m - 21

wx 7C rising to 9C then dropping back to 7C as the rain / hail arrived.

Total miles driven 160.

Environmental impact 32.5 kg CO2 (@ 125g/km)

Points accrued 1.

73 (short vid on youtube soon)

2

In reply to G1INK:

It’s surprising how many people have been up Mynydd y Cwm already. I look forward to contrasting the speed of the first activations for this summit with the new one that will be coming online in GM soon (just as soon as I finish updating the GM ARM). I guess it could be some considerable time before the new GM summit gets activated due to where and what it is!

You accrued 1 point more than me Steve and you were at least able to get out. I spent 5.5hours in the office banging my head against the keyboard trying to get some USB nonsense working. And now after another morning of joint head banging it’s only just 1/8th working. Pah!

Andy
MM0FMF

3

In reply to G1INK:

poured down later. The walk to the summit took all of 10 minutes, 5
min into the walk & I realised Id left the VHF co-ax in the car! No problem, Ill do HF only (hope there`s no solar flares hi).

Such a short walk might be ok radio wise, but it does not refresh your brain with oxygen or give enough physical activity for your daily life. I recommend longer more than one hour walks unless you are doing some other sports too.

73, Jaakko OH7BF/F5VGL

4

In reply to G1INK:

It will be interesting to see your video Steve to see how you coped with the weather. It obviously had a severe affect on your activation as you only just managed to scrape your usual 100 contacts. Could this be one to reflect upon in front of an open fire with a pint of ale in your hand next winter… perhaps not!

I see you caught the illness from me when we met at the Cat and Fiddle… early-risingness disease. Maybe the dampactivation disease was passed over at the same time - go and see Mike G4BLH your local SOTA GP. He knows I’ve got a bad case and will be able to do a diagnosis :wink:

73, Gerald

5

In reply to F5VGL:

Such a short walk might be ok radio wise, but it does not refresh your
brain with oxygen or give enough physical activity for your daily
life. I recommend longer more than one hour walks unless you are doing
some other sports too.

Thanks for the advice Jaakko I`ll bear it in mind next time. Although I think walking 20mins carrying 20kg+ equipment up/down hill refreshed my brain more than enough.

73

6

You could always get lost - that extends the walk!

Jimmy M3EYP, Liam and myself teamed up with Richard G3CWI on Saturday 16th May 2009 for our maiden activations of the “new Welsh one”. It was an unusual day’s SOTAing in that (1) we had a lie-in and (2) we didn’t stop for a Lymm Truck Stop breakfast on the outward route (much to Richard’s anguish).

We took the M56 and A55 westwards, exiting at J29 and following signs for Dyserth. We then followed the signpost for Cwm and were soon in the wooded section. The parking spot was the same one used by Roger MW0IDX at SJ079768.

The walk was along a wide firm track through the woods. The going was easy and the gradient negligible. Jimmy directed us to turn left and then right as we made out approach to the summit.

Towards the summit, the path became narrower and winding, weaving around the trees, some standing and some felled. A large cairn was reached indicating the summit of Mynydd y Cwm GW/NW-076, and here Richard GW3CWI/P immediately began his activation on 2m FM with his handheld.

Liam plonked himself down by the cairn to play on his Nintendo DS, while Jimmy started setting up the SOTA Beam. We were concerned about a length of wire that had been left hanging from the tree above, but we couldn’t find a way to get any purchase on it to get it down. More disappointing was the discovery of two long sections of black plastic piping, taped together. These were found dumped in the undergrowth right next to the summit. We later carried these off the summit with us, and put in the car boot in order to dispose of properly.

A small and narrow clearing adjacent to the summit was the perfect length for my 40m dipole antenna, which went up assisted by a little improvised back-guying around some tree roots. My first QSO was very pleasing - GT7OOO/P on Mull Hill GD/GD-005 - on 7.032MHz CW. This headed up a run of 16 40m CW contacts, also including OK1CYC/P on OK/LI-058. A solitary contact on 15m CW was HA7UG. Jimmy made ten QSOs on 2m FM. Lunch was taken in the form of sweet potato, chicken and coconut soup (very tasty) and the unusual addition of sandwiches kindly made by Marianne. These included the very American style peanut butter and jelly, and were actually very nice!

Descending the summit, Jimmy and Richard were soon tearing away from Liam and myself. With Jimmy carrying the map and compass, this proved to be problematic, for Liam and I turned the wrong way onto the main path! Reaching a wide junction of paths that I didn’t remember caused some alarm, but somewhat daftly, I tried a distance down both of them!

Jimmy was being very naughty, because in addition to hogging the map, compass and memory of the correct route (!), he also had his handheld turned off, so my SOS calls were unanswered. It was some time later that my handheld finally received a call from his, and he was able to talk me and Liam back to the car!

So ten minutes were lost there, but there was still time to grab an activation of Hope Mountain GW/NW-062.

Tom M1EYP

7

In reply to G1INK:

After 2 weeks without internet access at home - all is fixed & short GW/NW-076 video on you tube,


73

8

In reply to G1INK:

Hmmmmm - spotted the new bit of kit Steve - the selector knob on the 857! What happened, did you lose your screwdriver? :wink:

73 - another excellent vid of course,

Gerald

P.S. Can’t say I liked the audio QRM - was someone following you around with a tranny radio? I hope it’s not a feature of that summit. :wink: