Summits near Cardiff?

Old Reflector
1

Morning All
A works activation opportunity has just presented it’s self. I will be working in Cardiff most of next week. Can anybody suggest a couple of near by after work summits/hotels/Indian restaurants etc to keep me occupied please?
Thanks
Tim
G4YTD

2

In reply to G4YTD:

Hi Tim

The only one I know, not being from the area, is Wentwood GW/SW-033. It’s easy to get to (M4 to J24, A48 towards Chepstow, then minor road from Parc Seymour), not too strenuous for an after-work summit, and not activated too often. Can’t help with the restaurants though …

73 de Les, G3VQO

3

In reply to G4YTD:

I can’t help with the infrastructure of Cardiff, Tim, but SW-034 and 037 are just outside the city by a few miles and SW-024, 025, 027 and 030 are all less than 10 miles from the edge of the city. Another half hour or so up the A470 would bring you to SW-001!

73

Brian G8ADD

4

Thanks Brian and Les
Packing the car now ready to go!
I have bought a couple of maps and will mark them up with the summits at the Hotel tonight. Weather permitting I should be able to grab a few points over the next couple of days.
Thanks for the info.
73
Tim

5

In reply to G4YTD:

You might want to consider buying something like Memory Map or Anquet. I got a price match deal on Anquet and paid about £120 for complete 1:50000 coverage of the UK. I’d hate to think how much it would cost to buy all 204 OS Maps and I haven’t got a shelf big enough for them either. I simply print out the section I need at 1:25000 scale and stuff it in the mapcase. At 1:25000 scale I don’t need to wear glasses to read the text!

You can also download overlay markers for Anquet (and I assume MM) which mark all the UK Marilyns. Overays exists for all the mountain sets ( e.g. Munros, Corbetts, Grahams, Donalds, Elsies, Alberts, Majories, Nathanials and Uncle Tom Cobbleys!).

I’ve had my money’s worth and I’d recommend either of these programs for anyone slightly serious about SOTA activations.

Andy
MM0FMF

6

In reply to MM0FMF:

The Marilyn overlays sounds useful

Where do you get the overlays for Anquet and how do you install them?
I’ve managed to find a a likely looking .gpx file but have no idea how
to import/install it.

Any help appreciated.

Rick.

7

In reply to M0RCP:

I can’t remember right now. Possibly the Harrold Street website but I’m sure a bit of googling would help. ISTR I downloaded them as *.aef files and told Anquet about the directory I’d downloaded them to. If I can’t find the source website then all is not lost as they were freely available so you can always have a copy of my files.

Andy
MM0FMF

8

In reply to MM0FMF:

I forgot to check last night but I’ve got a big compile running so I’ve got over hour while the PC chugs away. After a moment Googling I found this…

http://www.haroldstreet.org.uk/waypoints/download/?list=marilyns

I downloaded AEF files (Anquet export format) and if I remember correctly I went to the import/export option and imported the AEF files. After a bit of think, Anquet showed a red blob on all summits which are Marilyns. You need to have the magnification set to no less than 75% to see them though.

Andy
MM0FMF

9

In reply to MM0FMF:

Many thanks for the help Andy. The following procedure seems to work:

  1. Download and copy the file to the Anquet Maps Databases directory

  2. Navigate the Anquet menu: File > Database > Open

  3. Select *.aef file-type filter

  4. Select the appropriate file

Net result: red way-point markers appear at the appropriate locations (though I notice NW-001 is a little off its correct position). The above procedure also works for GPX files (I checked it). The only problem is that the SOTA references are not present - the names are - if you scroll far enough over to the right of the database explorer window.

My next question is thus: does anyone have a .gpx (or .aef) database containing the SOTA summits together with their SOTA refs and names? Perhaps such a file could be created automatically from the database or by converting the existing Google earth .kml files.

Even without the SOTA refs having the SOTA summits marked is a great help for expedition planning.

Thanks again Andy and 73

Rick.