On 25th & 26th August I embarked on my first two-day SOTA trip around the G/SC region. I thought I would write a few words and upload some pictures here. I can’t pretend that it was as adventurous as some of the expeditions that I’ve read about on here, but it was the biggest undertaking for me so far with SOTA.
Itinerary
Wednesday 25th August 2021
G/SC-008 - Win Green (5 QSOs)
G/SC-010 - Dundry Down (5 QSOs including S2S with HB0/HB9CBR/P)
G/SC-003 - Beacon Batch (5 QSOs)
G/SC-002 - Wills Neck (4 QSOs)
Overnight stay in Taunton
Thursday 26th August 2021
G/SC-001 - Dunkery Beacon (17 QSOs including S2S with IK2LEY/P)
G/SC-006 - Periton Hill (12 QSOs included S2S with EA2CW/P)
G/SC-005 - Selworthy Beacon (9 QSOs including S2S with VA2EO)
Equipment used
Radio: Yaesu-817 ND
HF Antennas: Sotabeams Bandspringer & Super Antenna MP1
VHF Antenna: Radio Geeks Inflatable V2 antenna for 2m & 70cm
Radio-wise the first day was a little hard going. I did manage to qualify all of the summits, but even with using CW on HF it seemed harder than usual, especially on Wills Neck, the last of the day. Perhaps a down side of doing multiple summits in one day is that one feels under more time pressure and the patience threshold is lowered! Especially by the time of the last activation of the day! I also found the driving harder going than I expected as my Sat-Nav took me down some very narrow lanes with little or no passing places on my approaches to Dundry Down & Wills Neck. I was praying that I wouldn’t meet anyone coming the other way. Thankfully I didn’t! Lesson here is to do more research on driving routes before setting off!
The second day was much more enjoyable. Partly helped by all three summits being in the same area, so there was much less driving between them. Radio conditions seemed much more lively and I had plenty of contacts without too much effort. It was nice to have some more contacts on 2M FM and enjoy some pleasant overs with a few locals. It was a case of saving the best until last as I was thrilled to be called on my final summit by VA2EO for a S2S QSO using 17m cw. This was my first S2S with North America and one of those “the magic of radio” moments! Thanks Eric! It made my day!
Thanks to everyone for the contacts and keeping me company on the summits. I was sad to come home to real life again, but hopefully I’ll work many of you again soon!
See below for some pictures.
73 - Matthew M0JSB
G/SC-008 Win Green - Always nice to have a handy bench to use!
Competing with the big boys on G/SC-010 Dundry Down
The walk up to G/SC-003 Beacon Batch. Lots of space for antennas at the top!
On G/SC-002 Wills Neck - Hard going on the radio, but a beautiful evening to be out on a summit.
En route to G/SC-001 Dunkery Beacon. This doesn’t happen in my home QTH of Surrey!
The “view” from a very misty Dunkery Beacon G/SC-001
Operating 2m from G/SC-006 Periton Hill
More stunning scenery. This time on G/SC-005 Selworthy Beacon
Happy Days! Beautiful sunshine, a sea view and a S2S with VA2EO!
