The Cloud - 2010

Old Reflector
21

A point at last! Weirdly, Tuesday 9th December 2010 was only my second activation of The Cloud G/SP-015 in the year. Weirdly, my first activation yielded only three QSOs. But there wouldn’t be a problem in reaching the quota in a Tuesday night activity contest.

It was a clear and dry night, with only a slight breeze across the summit. Nonetheless, it was bitterly cold on the summit - about -2 degrees - and the bothy bag, the extra fleece and the flask of Lemsip were all welcome additions to the kit up there.

I was worried about the SOTA Beams 6 element 70cm beam. This was because of Jimmy leaving it too near to a storage heater causing the boom to bend out of shape, and the general pasting the elements have had in their lifetime, meaning that now some are slightly bent and some are loose in their centre housing. I think most of the damage has been done by heavy antenna falls on Tuesday nights, in winds so strong that I perhaps shouldn’t have persisted in erecting the beam at 4m AGL!

Anyway, my fears were confirmed when the 817 indicated a less-than-satisfactory SWR. I have already bought a set of replacement 2m elements from Richard - I started to wonder about buying the rest of the aerial - the boom and the 70cm els!

Conditions were not good at all, with deep QSB throughout the night, but the DX was worked in phases. I got GD8EXI in IO74 Isle of Man and a couple down in JO01 square. Two GM stations were heard - but they didn’t hear me, not even when they were operating in CW. I was about to complete with G3TA in JO00 square in CW near the end of the contest, when a local station started calling CQ very close by and obliterated any chance of getting the final report. Nothing was heard from GI, EI or the continent.

All in all, it was a decent night though. While conditions were poor, this was compensated by the continuing increase of activity in these VHF activity contests. I made 49 contacts by 10.30pm, a source for optimism for next month when more stations will be out, conditions will hopefully be better, and the elements on my aerial will be properly aligned. 45 were on SSB, 2 on FM and 2 on CW.

And I got my point for The Cloud! Interesting was the increasing number of stations using CW for all or part of the contest, as well as those “resorting” to it to communicate a report or locator through. Post-match drinkies was at the Harrington Arms in Gawsworth for a pint of some Robbies special edition ale or other, and a bag of Burts Firecracker Lobster chips.

Nice to work a few SOTA chasers as well.

Tom M1EYP

22

In reply to M1EYP:

I was worried about the SOTA Beams 6 element 70cm beam. This was
because of Jimmy leaving it too near to a storage heater causing the
boom to bend out of shape, and the general pasting the elements have
had in their lifetime, meaning that now some are slightly bent and
some are loose in their centre housing.

Well done with the 70cm evening activity, Tom! Just in time … it has started snowing heavily here again this afternoon.

Interesting about the antenna elements. The two halves of the driven element on my 3 element SOTAbeam have come loose in their centre housing. Otherwise, the antenna is in as-new condition. Should I just glue them in with Bostik? I don’t see why not. They came loose on the day I took the antenna out in sub-zero temperatures! Perhaps they contracted sufficiently in the cold weather to free them from their mounting.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

23

Could well be Walt. In my case, I rather suspect it was mainly due to a couple of heavy “end-on” impacts as the antenna crashed to the ground in very high winds, but the exceptionally cold weather may well have been a catalyst. I’ve certainly never known the poles to be so stubborn for packing away!

Tom M1EYP

24

In reply to G3NYY:
Hi Walt

I had the same problem with my SOTAbeam, but a little judicious crimping with small pliers, producing some small ridges on the offending elements, cured the problem. They are now a snug fit again

73
Graham G3OHC

25

In reply to G3OHC:

Thanks Graham. Good idea! I’ll give it a try.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

26

In reply to G3NYY:

Use a hammer.

27

In reply to G1INK:

Use a hammer.

Tee hee!

73 de G3NYY

28

In reply to G1INK and G3NYY:

Use a hammer.

Of course Walt, thus speaketh the man with the 857 tuned by a screwdriver. :wink:

Tom must be doing a good job if he has bent the 70cms elements on his beam. Either that or I’m doing something wrong as mine are still straight… and I’m still on my first SOTApole - almost two and a half years old and 172 activations indeed. First used on Pen Llithrig y Wrach GW/NW-013 on 15th September 2007. Oh how I miss the aluminium poles that used to weld themselves to my hands during winter activations!

73, Gerald

29

2.5 years? 172 activations? You’ve hardly broken your gear in yet young man :wink:

As I said, I’m sure the major factor in the state of mine is the consequence of erecting the antenna (or trying to) on some very stormy nights.

Aluminium? I’m sure the fibre glass pole was trying to weld itself to my hands as I struggled to collapse it at 10.40pm on Tuesday night! My gloves hadn’t been on all night, but were needed for a “warm up” after dealing with that pole.

Tom M1EYP

30

In reply to M1EYP:

I must admit to having been extremely sceptical about using a fishing pole to support antennas before I got one. Apart from a couple of activations where the sections collapsed (Moel Siabod comes to mind… about every 4th QSO), it has proved to be okay and has certainly stood the test of time with minimal repairs - for which I recall being barracked on this very reflector by several well-known persons, yourself included!

Anyway, what’s this wimping about minus 2C. Eee lad, t’wer a good 4 degrees colder than that on Fountains Fell at beginning o’ year :wink:

73, Gerald

31

Snow underfoot and a cold breeze on the Cloud. Just one person seen.

Some interesting contacts on 2m SSB including Graham G3OHC with his indoor antenna, Richard G0IBE/p out for a (non-SOTA) stroll on the Malverns using his 817 and helical antenna. Best DX was ON4CAP at 433km - pleased with that contact.

Testing LiPO low-voltage indicator which seemed rather too sensitive. Anyone else had experience with these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/7-4V-11-1V-RC-Lipo-Battery-low-voltage-Alarm-Indicator_W0QQitemZ110496200296QQcmdZViewItemQQptZUK_ToysGames_RadioControlled_JN?hash=item19ba163668

73

Richard
G3CWI

32

In reply to G3CWI:

Hi Richard

I use units identical in appearance to these, and find them very effective. The two examples I have both trigger at 3.0V. On sideband, indication starts with the alarm going off intermittently on voice peaks, usually on one or two of the cells. This generally equates to an off-load voltage for the 3 cell battery of around 9.5 to 9.6 volts, which is a good place to stop using it as below this the votage drops off alarmingly quickly - one or two further QSOs are often enough to get all three indicators showing red.

73 de Paul G4MD

33

In reply to G4MD:

Paul

Thanks for the info. My battery was not fully charged as the activation was rather a last-minute one and I keep the LiPOs at their “storage” voltage at home. The indicator seemed to trigger quite a lot on voice peaks from the start.

I will have the battery fully charged for tomorrow’s activation so that will be interesting. Not looking forward to the early start tomorrow; probably need to get up just after 7am…

73

Richard
G3CWI

34

In reply to G3CWI:

Hi Richard

Apologies for the lack of concision in my previous reply - I should have said I was using 2200mAh LiPo’s to run a barefoot '817 when I carried out the tests referred to, and different set-ups may produce differing results particularly if more current is being drawn from the battery. Will be most interested in the results of your trial with the fully charged LiPo’s tomorrow, have a good activation!

73 de Paul G4MD

35

So many hobbies, or aspects of hobbies, including ours, are reported to show decline from once halcyon days. Not so the VHF contests in the UK. These have been growing impressively in terms of participation in recent years. And so the trend seems to have continued into 2010 with high numbers of stations QRV in the early 2m and 70cm activity contests of the year, despite the poor weather, and the fact that high participation levels were usually the preserve of the summer months. For February’s 2m contest, various factors meant that I was ‘grounded’, but I was amazed to still amass 25 QSOs with a vertical antenna mounted just 1.5m above my garden!

But cometh Tuesday 2nd March 2010, and a proper outing for the 2m UKAC was on the cards. I charged up the headtorch batteries and set off for The Cloud G/SP-015. With my “Ye Olde Faithfulle” kit of FT-817, SOTA Beam and SLAB, I ascended the usual track, stairs and path, and wound my way up to the summit. As usual, the first task on summit was wind assessment and shelter selection. This time, the operating position would have to be under the trig point and facing west.

Everything was set, and I was inside the relative warmth of the bothy bag ready for kick-off at 8pm. And things did indeed go well. There was a huge amount of activity in the contest tonight, including more CW stations than I have ever heard in an Tuesday night contest before. Signals were good from JO01 and IO91, although some of the angles of incoming signals were confusing. This phenomenon was also reported by other contesters.

GI and EI were worked, as well as the usual G and GW. I was disappointed not to hear or work anything from GM, IO94 or IO84. But overall I could not complain, and the final serial number of 074 represented the most I have ever made in a UKAC (by some margin), the most I have ever made in any VHF contest and the most QSOs in a SOTA activation (both beating my Backpackers triumph on Gun G/SP-013 last year - by one!).

Due to the activity levels, and the need to be turning the beam rather frequently, I ended up outside of the bothy bag shelter for most of the night, which was bitterly cold. I was pleased to be back at the car after packing up and descending, and then also to enjoy the hospitality of the Harrington Arms, Gawsworth for a pint of decent ale and a pickled egg.

Now to enter the logs - twice - on the contest entry website, and the SOTA Database - groan!

Tom M1EYP

36

An early finish on Wednesday 3rd March 2010, and no prospect of a game of squash with any of my colleagues, I decided to do a bit of 40m for a change. Although this was my “weapon of choice” in much of 2009, it hadn’t got an outing this term due to my pursuit of DXCCs on 80m and 30m for the G3WGV UK CW Table.

It was a lovely afternoon, clear, bright and cold. I was at the Cloudside parking spot by 3.45pm and on summit a little over ten minutes later. By 4.12pm, I was making my first QSO on a very busy 40m band, which seemed to have a DX station running on 7.032MHz. I ended up on 7.0311MHz, where I was found by the SOTA chasers, including Aage LA1ENA who kindly posted the spot.

I had agreed to pick up a mate in Congleton at 5.15pm, so I went QRT after 20 QSOs at 4.50pm, after a speculative call on 15m CW. A pleasant little afternoon activation, and I am certainly getting the taste for them again.

Tom M1EYP

37

What a lovely day! Thursday 4th March 2010, and the sun was shining again. It was clear and bright again. But not cold - lovely.

A stressful afternoon at work made me decide to get on the hill again on my way home. The root of that stress caused a slight delay in my departure, compounded by the dire need to fill up with diesel, and then the road to Cloudside being blocked by tree workers. After a short diversion, I was taking the last place in the small parking area, and walking just before 4pm.

Again, I decided to use 40m CW. Yesterday saw my flow interrupted by lots of passers-by wanting to know what I was doing. Today was no exception, but I managed to keep QSOs going while fielding the never ending streams of questions from Joe and Jane Public. Yesterday I just gave up a couple of times and just sent ‘QRX’, prioritising the courtesy to Joe and Jane rather than the SOTA chasers - who to be fair were very understanding.

The flow was better today, and I worked through a pleasant pile up of 31 stations in relatively short time, kicking off with a S2S with Walt G3NYY/P on Hegdon Hill G/WB-023. I was pleased to be called by the nervous fist of Sean M0GIA again, who is surely pushing on his CW progress now by communicating with activators rather than tutor recordings!

Many thanks to all of the 31 callers; I really enjoyed it today.

Tom M1EYP

38

Saturday 6th March 2010, and five hours to kill in Congleton between dropping Liam off at an activity and picking him up again. What could Jimmy and I possibly do with the time, especially with home being “out of bounds” while Marianne rested ahead of a night-shift? As if you don’t know…

Various gaffes and delays meant that we weren’t QRV until well past 12 o’clock, despite my alert for 1130z. Having said that, I managed to post the alert for 6th April rather than March anyway, so it wouldn’t have made any difference!

Jimmy did some 2m FM using the VX-110 handheld and SOTA Beam, while I played HF CW using the 40m dipole for 40m and 15m, and 30m. 40m was great with a big pile-up and 18 stations worked in 16 minutes. Although 15m was open, only Reg G3WPF worked me on that band, but 30m eventually got going after a painfully slow start and 14 stations were worked here. Thanks to Roy G4SSH for the dial-a-spot.

Jimmy got a S2S with Pete M0COP/P who was on Titterstone Clee Hill G/WB-004. I got stuck into the picnic kindly prepared by Marianne as a pleasant diversion from the soup.

Finally, after packing most of the gear away, the VX-7R handheld brought a 2m S2S with Paul 2E0FPC/P who was using a SOTA Beams MFD on Gun G/SP-013, and then a couple of regulars (who happen to be married to each other) on 70cm FM. No prizes!

Thanks for all the calls.

Tom M1EYP

39

Tuesday 9th March 2010, and 70cm activity contest night. Therefore no “will I won’t I” type anxiety - 70cms is the strongest UKAC discipline in the Macclesfield & DRS contest group, and so members are expected to be participating!

Despite having charged all my batteries prior to setting off, my headtorch wouldn’t turn on as I kitted up at Cloudside. I unscrewed the cover and found that three of the four batteries were loose. Using some small keys on my keyring, I prised out the coils in the battery compartment, so that they would apply more force onto the batteries. Everything then worked fine.

This did put me a little behind schedule though, and by the time I was on summit and fully set up, it was turned a quarter past eight. Thereafter it was business as usual, and an enjoyable albeit cold two and a half hours in the 70cm activity contest. Squares worked were: G: JO01, JO02, IO92, IO93, IO81, IO82, IO83; GW: IO83; GI: IO64, IO74; GD: IO74; GM: IO75. The DXCC of GM nearly escaped me until I heard a weak CW call after 10pm. I was able to complete with GM4CXM on the paddle, which was pleasing as I hadn’t heard anything from GM all night on phone. Indeed, this contact was my ODX at 339km. The final total was 55 QSOs.

The Harrington Arms at Gawsworth, a pint of Dragons Fire ale and bag of crisps concluded my evening out in what is becoming the traditional style! Many thanks to any SOTA chasers that worked me.

Hope to work a few on my 900th SOTA activation later this afternoon.

Tom M1EYP

40

Report and photos of today’s 20m CW activation here:

http://tomread.co.uk/thecloud.htm

Nice to work Sardinia IS0.

Tom M1EYP