Western Isles Tour by Rod & Vicki

I did try once with the beam from Barra but with no success. It was a great idea of mine to beam on 2m across the water from the southern Outer Hebrides to NI but in practice it was a no-no. Even at the beginning, when the weather was mostly sunny (with occasional downpours!) the wind was so strong that i couldn’t stand up happily to swing the beam - let alone persuade it to stay in one direction (which wasn’t SW!) thanks for listening out. We might be nearer next year as we’ve still got some Sperrins to do - and AH-1!
Vicki

Couldn’t work you on the bands at lunchtime today - tried to chase but there wasn’t a compliant band given the 40m skip too long and 80m being flat. Clearly, and quite rightly, SOTA activating is taking precedence over everything else including uploading photos :yum:

I’d forgotten my handheld and then got a SOTA Spotter notification of M0WML/P activating Grayrigg Forest - luckily groundwave on 40m worked and we were able to complete the QSO.

I was then out this evening with the Furness Amateur Radio Society (doing ATV to North Wales) - trying to make the most of the decent weather.

Regards, Mark. M0NOM

1 Like

Thanks for all the reports on the Hebrides : I visited Harris & Lewis cycle touring almost 40 years ago, and would love to go back again and do some summits.

I’m hoping to do some reports of our recent batch of Sperrins and Antrim Hills that might be useful to you. We didn’t have high expectations of Trostan, and it being encased in cloud didn’t help, but we didn’t find it that bad but perhaps that’s because our expectations weren’t high. I would consider doing it again provided we had some chance of a view!

Caroline.

Which are starting to appear …more rapidly…

1 Like

These have now been posted on the individual summit pages.
73,
Rod

Thank you! Nice surprise strong signal.

Sadly I couldn’t hear a peep from Rod and Vicki :frowning:

Sorry Mark that we let you down by going to admire the bluebells/activate May Hill but we have now uploaded (too many) photos - mostly showing some combinations of the 5 hats I found I was carrying on those hills! Hope you like the (un) fashion parade. 73
Viki M6BWA

2 Likes

Hi Rod and Viki

Your report is getting better and better and now we have a fashion show😀 You both certainly worked hard to give us chaser the points and for me many uniques.

Thank you both for all the contacts under difficult conditions on many occasions. Looking forward to those s2s when all of us get back on the hills in Wales…Scotland first for us in a few weeks time.

73 Allan GW4VPX

I suggested 8 days ago that G4WSB might be visiting some more Outer Hebrides summits as the weather forecast looked good but I didn’t then know that he was setting off last Saturday for a week’s trip in a small boat with hopes for St Kilda… if all went well. Certainly he (and Debbie) were activating from St Kilda on Monday and I see he is alerted for GM/SI-146 Sron Romul on the island of Scarp off the western end of Loch Tarbert in North Harris on Thursday 30 May . When in the area 3 weeks ago we looked over to the island and noticed that it awaited its first activation - but not for much longer. Good luck Bill, hope all goes well and the weather stays fine so you can appreciate the long daylight.


Viki M6BWA

1 Like

Thanks for the comments, Allan, and for the help you gave us after your return from LD. Very much appreciated as contacts were often hard to come by on any band.

Maybe I will be able to do something to help you on your visit to GM, but the noise here is now a really serious problem so that may be wishful thinking.

A footnote for anyone interested in the account of the visit; I have been back and added a paragraph to finish it off less abruptly with some comments on the holiday as a whole and a couple of suggestions for future visitors.

I am now signing off and don’t expect to have any activation accounts worth publishing for some time to come.
Until then 73,
Rod

1 Like