I think that embodies the general sentiment Pete. I certainly enjoyed trying and had some success. Like Colin M1BUU, I felt conditions were not that bad, though from my perspective, the propagation certainly swung away from North America around to the east during the four hours spent on the summit.
First off I must apologise for being slightly late arriving at the party, especially as it was I who sent out the invitations!. The itinerary was fine in principle, but I hadnât allowed sufficient time for setting up the shelter that was needed as a heavy rain shower arrived at the summit just as we did. There was also the saga of the missing adaptor for the morse key, such that I had to borrow Paulâs key⊠he earned the âKItchen Sinkâ award on this outing.
Many thanks to Pedro CT1DBS/P for the first QSO and S2S. After our QSO I moved up a few kHz and called CQ and enjoyed a decent run, with Matt KA1R making QSO number 5. It took a couple of goes to get Mattâs call as there was a lot of âexuberantâ calling over the top, or everyone had a K in their callsign. As well as the contact with Matt, the highlights were contacts with Andrew K5QR, Rich N4EX, Bill W4HBK and the only trans-Atlantic S2S which was with Mike NS1TA.
I moved to SSB and concentrated on trying to work S2S, but with only a slow and very intermittent internet connection I could not make much progress other than to self-spot blind using the SMS facility on Rucksack. I did try a brief period on 17m, working Andy G6PJZ/P on nearby Black Combe G/LD-030 on SSB and Rich N4EX (again) and Ivo I5XX on CW. After a while I returned to 20m to find Kevin AC2KL in QSO, but affected by heavy QRM from a European close to the frequency. I worked two more EU S2S and then decided to call CQ in the hope that I would be picked up by NA stations, but sadly it was not to be. However another 3 EU S2S made the log.
At 15:00z I started on PSK31, but it was evident that conditions were moving east rapidly through JN, KN, KO squares to LN and LO. The only recognisable chaser was SO9EWA. The datamodes kit (first time out) worked perfectly without a hitch, though I found the Samsung N310 screen a little hard to read, especially as I often could not find the mouse pointer!
Before the battery packs eventually expired I set up for 2m SSB and phoned Don G0RQL. Unfortunately by that time any potential contacts were probably preparing to sit down for the evening meal, so only Derek 2E0MIX was worked. It was certainly a case of too much to do and not enough time.
Summary:
NA S2S - NS1TA
NA Chasers - KA1R, K5QR, N4EX (20m and 17m), W4HBK
EU S2S (CW) - CT1DBS/P, F5LKW/P
EU S2S (SSB) - G1FOA/P, SV2OXS/P, IW2OBX/P, G6PJZ/P, EA2IF/P, SV2HJW/P, YO2SSB/P, HB9GKR/P, F4ESK/P
20m CW : 22
20m SSB - 11
20m PSK31 - 9
17m CW - 2
17m SSB - 1
2m SSB - 2
Total - 47
My grateful thanks go to everyone that turned out for the event. I really do appreciate the effort that you have all made and hope that you all enjoyed your activations despite the indifferent conditions.
73, Gerald G4OIG