526th SOTA activation

Activation Reports
21

Activation #534 of 2020 was a night operation on The Cloud G/SP-015.

The intention was to use both 2m and 6m, with both antennas (SB5 beam & SB6 Moxon) assembled prior to 8pm, ready for a speedy changeover from one to the other when required.

After a tricky ascent to the summit on hard, compacted, smooth and slippery ice, I realised i’d failed to pack the boom extension for the 2m 5-element beam! Instead, I used what i had to cobble together a 3-el beam. This comprised the director and reflector from the 5-el beam, and the two shorter pieces that make up the driven element.

The issue now was that i had no proper insulation between each side of the driven element. In a moment of ridiculously over-optimistic madness, I balanced these two rods so that they were only marginally inserted into the holes on the boom, but not touching each other inside the boom. I had to arrange the feeder cable so that it applied some strain on the elements, just to stop them falling out of the boom! To my complete and utter astonishment, this all worked!

2m FT8: 18 QSOs - EI, G, GI

6m FT8: 12 QSOs - 9A, G, GM, HA

It was a spectacular night on The Cloud. The summit was coated in a crisp layer of snow, which was reflecting the bright moonlight from a full moon. The earlier fog moved off the summit and sank into the surrounding valleys, creating an inversion effect. Under the bright moonlight, this offered a rather unique and mysterious visual spectacle.

Oh but it was so cold! I was quite pleased with myself, and in fact somewhat surprised, that i stuck it out for the full 2.5 hours of the contest.

4 Likes
22

I’m really enjoying my Christmas week SOTA activations. The weather has been very cold, but the snow coverings have made that kind of enjoyable in itself, and crucially, there’s been very little wind. Cold is bearable in the absence of wind and rain (and static)! I set myself a personal target to achieve something by New Year’s Eve, and I’m still on target - more about that tomorrow.

This morning I headed out to The Cloud G/SP-015 for activation #535. It had been a very cold night under a clear sky, so the ice on the roads needed careful attention.

There was “unfinished business” with my 12m-10m groundplane antenna, which had to be dismantled after just two QSOs on Shining Tor G/SP-004 due to snow static. So that antenna went up first, and many more contacts were made, albeit mostly groundwave with G stations.

I then deployed my 15m GP which was the original plan for today. Only FT8 was worked on 15m. 12m had FT8 and SSB contacts, while on 10m I used FT8, SSB and FM. CW was the big casualty today with zero QSOs on any band.

26 QSOs:

15m FT8: 8 QSOs
12m FT8: 1 QSO
12m SSB: 3 QSOs
10m FT8: 5 QSOs
10m SSB: 2 QSOs
10m FM: 2 QSOs
2m FM: 3 QSOs
70cm FM: 2 QSOs

23

I presume this is the sort of thing you are referring to Esther…

1 Like
24

Yes I did wonder that Victor. But I assessed that the downhill direction was passable with care, and so it proved to be. I have an aversion to risk and would have remained in my car if the road was undriveable.

25

Very good Tom, and if conditions had deteriorated ?

26

Tom knows his stuff. I feel sure that he checks information sources such as:

https://www.cheshireeast.gov.uk/highways_and_roads/highways_and_roads.aspx
…the Cheshire Police Twitter account and the Cheshire Fire and Rescue Twitter account.

27

I’d have stayed in my parked car a bit longer.

28

Indeed Richard, as is borne out by that statement

1 Like
29

Good grief Victor, this is starting to feel like a witch-hunt!

Sure, I was surprised by the un-forecast snowfall during that activation. That contributed to my early curtailment of the activation, and is precisely why I made a careful assessment of the situation when I got back to my car.

I have lived here all my life and know this road very well, including issues that it experiences in winter. In my car, I keep spare food, drink, pillows, sleeping bag and extra clothes at this time of year. It’s a habit I developed when gigging all around North Yorkshire in winter time going back over 20 years. You had to be ready for the possibility that you weren’t going to get back across the M62 after a New Year’s Eve gig in Harrogate.

“New Year’s Eve gig” - what on Earth happened to them…?

Anyway, enjoy your day. I’ve no intention of carrying out a blind risk assessment on whatever you have planned from over here in Cheshire. Wishing you a very happy 2021.

1 Like
30

Actually, my pre-trip research resources were the Cat & Fiddle webcam on The Cat & Fiddle Webcam A537 Buxton to Macclesfield and the Met Office website.