I have driven past this hill (711m so definitely a hill) for years travelling between Edinburgh and Wigan and always wanted to get up it since the view should be good - you can see Tinto from all sorts of places in southern Scotland - and indeed it is. I had hoped for a nice crisp winter day - bonus points - and indeed it was.
It’s very popular - the car park at NS 964 374 was already pretty full and there were lots of people on the track (rather a motorway actually) up and down. It’s not too steep anywhere, it starts gently with just a bit of a pull up to the lower peak (at 479m) and then after another flattish section the final 500m distance up to the summit. The car park is at 230m which helps! I managed the summit in about 10 minutes less than the estimated 1h 30m.
I was in plenty time for my ETA of 1230 so had a quick snack and set up for SSB with the 2m beam. Many thanks to local Robert (GM4GUF) for the initial spot and for Mike’s addendum - cracking signal from Mike (GW0DSP) though many were a bit weak today and those further away (thanks Don G0RQL and Frank G3RMD) had quite a lot of QSB.
Only found Robert on 70cm so gave that up quickly - must build a bigger beam and a linear! - and shifted to 2m FM where I had a nice chat with Barrie (GM0KZX) in Dumbarton before S2S with Andy (MM0FMF/P) on SS-129 and Alan (MM1BJP/P) on SS-044. All with the beam horizontal - maybe I should either take a lighweight vertical or arrange to rotate the beam since most people are vertically polarised for FM and the polaroid sunglasses effect is very obvious!
Thanks to all (including those not mentioned above) for QSOs.
The view was fantastic - beautiful blue sky and fog down in the valleys, with hills poking out all around. A great day - let’s hope for more like this in the New Year.
I was hoping to be able to catch you and I did, just. I had a leisurely stroll up Meikle Bin with the final grassy summit being in dense freezing fog. I was early so I wasted an age yacking to another walker and having a slow lunch when I saw the time and started setting up on HF. That’s when you appeared on the handy.
I had to scramble up to the trig from my sheltered spot to get a decent copy on you. Nice and easy from the top and the bonus being another S2S with Allan MM1BJP on Beinn a’Choin. What I didn’t realise was how cold it was, I’m guessing about -5C in the fog. It was fascinating watching the frost appear on the guys, huge great feathery tentacles of ice started growing. Like a fool I didn’t get a photo of any of it: only the trig, me and the aircraft wreck. What was more annoying was hearing assorted people telling me how glorious the WX was where they were, especially Paul GW4MD/P on Cadair Idris.
I can remember, as a teenager on Snowdon (probably 1976/7), marvelling at how uncorroded the remains of the 2 Merlin V12s from a Mosquito wreck were. I’ve found tiny bits of the F1-11 that hit Craignaw and seen the memorial to the crew who died near the summit, but nothing recognisable. The F1-11 was at speed, there’s visible damage to the cliff face where it hit. But standing by such a large piece did make me feel a little uneasy that I was being somewhat ghoulish. I suppose as you get older you understand human frailty more.
Talking of those Merlins, I can remember asking on here about them but nobody knowing their location. I was surprised they were not a regular detour for anyone on the Watkin Path. It turns out they were removed in the early 80s as part of a cleanup of wrecks in the Snowdonia NP. One of the engines now resides in a monument in a collector’s garden in Surrey. So much for not disturbing War Graves
Anyway, nice to have our first S2S. Hopefully there’ll be more and also joint activations too.
- and indeed it was.