Activation report G/SP-004 Shining Tor…17 Sept…
Andrew VK1AD, had headed out to VK2/ST-053, Mt Mundoonen and he was looking for some s2s and DX, However the 20m band conditions were dreadful. Nevertheless, the chance of a s2s with VK will always peak my interest, no matter how slim the chances.
I pitched up at the Cat and Fiddle about 0500z. It was still dark and so, I dragged out the head torch, a sure sign winter is on its way. The track was wet and and very muddy in parts, obviously a lot of rain had fallen over the last 24 hours. With all the junk and antennas, I was carrying, the 30 minute jaunt turned into a 40 minute trudge, the low cloud leaving me pretty wet
After settihg up the Antron-99 I found myself QRV at 0615z, far too early and I knew it. Fifteen minutes later my first contact entered the log thanks to Simon MW0XAD. Things were slow and so I took a look at the spots, only to see Christos SV2OXS up on SV/PL-012, really struggling for a fourth contact (we’ve all been there.) I called s2s and he was clearly made up to hear me. Phil G4OBK, made a great ground wave contact as did Dave G4IAR.
There was no sign of Andrew, VK1AD. I’d been back to his QRG about half a dozen, times however, the path to Australia, was totaly broken. I’d received 2 further messages from VK, to say they were hearing nothing from SP-004, and to be quite honest, this came as little surprise. Taking a look at the 40m dipole in front of me, I figured it was time to change bands. I’m not particularly keen on 40m, never have been, I’ve always been more comfortable on the higher frequencies. A few last CQ’s were put out when up pops John ZL1BYZ! This totaly threw me, the last DXCC on the planet I was expecting to work was New Zealand. We exchanged signal reports and he was in my log.
For those activators who haven’t been involved with SOTA too long, it took me years to get my first ZL SOTA contact logged. and IIRC, the second one was a fair time coming.
This was my sixth consecutive 18250 km Short Path contact with John on a predominently, rubbish 20m band. Sheer magic
My visit to 40m was a miserable affair. I’d estabished a QRG on 7.118 for at least 10 minutes, when an Italian station though it was acceptable to fire up on 7.117. Sad to say, the 40m band is becoming as much of a zoo as 20m 
My stay on 40m was short and sweet. A spot then appeared for my friend Alister M0BKQ, who was up on G/LD-006 Pillar, working 2m FM. With just the Antron and 40m dipole erected, I connected the 40m dipole to the VHF side of the 857, shoved 25 watts up it and after a quick natter, he was in the log, thanks Alister!
So, back to 20m for my last call. Jurgen CU/OE4JHW was spotted on CU/SM-001, Pico da Vara. Jurgen was soon in my log. I then heard Tony F/VK3CAT call Jurgen. I moved up 5 kc’s and stuck a spot up hoping Tony would see it. Sure enough, he did and we logged a s2s contact…Many thanks Tony!
As I was now spotted on 20m, I gave out a CQ, when Andy G6PJZ called in from G/LD-044 High Rig, for an S2S…Cheers Andy… A further run of 21 contacts were made before the skies opened up. Seems the WX Gods had decided, I’d outstayed my welcome on Shining Tor.
According to discourse, 942 days ago, I was up on Great Orme, working a fantastic Activation, not only did 6 continents finish up in my log, but 103 North Americans on 10m, half of them on ssb and half on fm.
So, what made todays activcation so special?
Well, it was the call from John, ZL1BYZ. The SFI was 71 and K index 4, making a ZL/G contact almost impossible. John must have put a lot of effort into this chase and indeed his timing was impeccable, a wonderful bit of operating by him. To have made this contact on CW would have been really something, however, on ssb, this has got to go down as one of the truly remarkable SOTA contacts…Many, many thanks John. It’s a contact, I’ll certainly never forget.
72 contacts for the activation…
48 on 20m ssb.
23 on 40m ssb
1 on 2m fm.
Big thanks to all the callers…
Mike
2E0YYY
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