Quick activation, quick report

Old Reflector
1

Today I was stationed on G/SP-005 Pendle Hill for a charity event, I had alerted for 5MHz only at 0800z.I was a little late arriving at the top but did call for a few minutes on FE just after 0900z. This brought no reply so I packed up & then after the event I set up the 5MHz dipole again & this time was more successful with a CQ bringing a response from Brian G4ZRP who kindly spotted me.

I was not intending stopping long as I had already been on the summit for over 5 hours so once Andrew G4AFI had just managed to catch one of my final calls & with no other takers, I packed up & headed down the hill.

Looking at todays spots, it looks like I missed a few regular activators I could have worked for S2S’s, but that’s the way it goes sometimes.

C’est la vie!

Thanks to all callers :slight_smile:

As the title says, “Quick activation, quick report”!

Best 73,

Mark G0VOF

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In reply to G0VOF:
Mark,
I was glad to be your last contact of the day. I had been doing some DIY and had just finished, checked SotaWatch and saw you spot. My dipole was set for 40M so I ran outside and quickly changed the links for 60M, zoomed back and turned the rig on. I tuned to your freq only to hear you say you were going QRT. Rats I said to myself but gave you a call just in case … What a gent you came back and I managed a quick QSO rather than a gotaway !

Thanks,
Andrew, G4AFI

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In reply to G4AFI:

Hi Andrew,

It was very nice to work you last Sunday as I don’t like closing down when there are still stations waiting to work me, but sometimes an activation has to be brief.

As I mentioned in my original post, I was a little behind schedule early on, so my first CQ SOTA calls on 5MHz just after 0900z were missed. I would put the delay down to a very simple phenomenon…

Despite the fact that I have been up Pendle Hill many times in my life, it always looks much bigger in real life than it does on Google Earth. Hi!

There was also a walking party I met, that had taken the very very steepest route possible up Pendle Hill, which also just happens to look like the shortest route on an OS map :wink:

Yes, it is very steep! but while we were all enjoying lunch,(A few Pepperami’s & some Diet Coke for me, for anyone interested), a man in his 50’s with a small dog by his side came bounding up the most steep part of the hill, like it was flat. I made some complimentary remark about his remarkable vertical speed, & his reply was something along the lines of “you should have seen me thirty years ago”.

According to my GPS track I walked from the parking spot the to trig point in about 40 minutes, which suits me fine, but my legs did ache a bit for couple of days after. That is purely down to the extra weight I am carrying, without that, I am sure I would fly up Pendle like I did in my youth.

In any case, the weather was kind & it was very successful day :slight_smile:

I had toyed with the idea of activating the Hill on Top Band, but with my time being limited I only had my FT817 & 6m fibreglass pole. Although I had my 160m dipole with me, the fibreglass pole would not support its weight, & in any case 5 Watts in the middle of the day would probably not get very far. I really must finish building my 60 Watt Top band linear!

Thanks again to all that worked me & apologies for not being avilable for longer. The SOTA activation was not my primary reason for being on the Hill last Sunday.

I did get some video footage showing the two options you have when ascending the hill from Barley Lane.

Thanks & best 73,

Mark G0VOF

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In reply to G0VOF:
Thanks for the video showing the two options, useful info. I hope to do Pendle and other G/SP hills using my sister’s house in Preston as a base, perhaps in 2012. Not many SOTA hills down here in the south! I was born in Hyde nr Manchester so I love the Pennines.

Cheers,
Andrew G4AFI