It was good to get out for a hill walk today after weeks and weeks of inactivity due to snow covered ground. With a wx forecast of dry, 5C and slight breeze I decided to pay my 63rd visit to GW/NW-051!
There were still pockets of snow on the ground but the roads were clear and the car parks had been cleared also.
I opted for the direct path up from the car park and even though the going was ‘interesting’ in places due to drifted snow I made it to the summit which was completely clear. The forecasted slight breeze was quite stiff at the summit but not strong enough to pose any setting up problems.
Started off on 5MHz and was immediately called by Frank, G3RMD followed by Steve, GW7AAV. Many thanks to both stations for spotting me and generally ‘looking after’ me as I changed bands since I have no means for self spotting!
Conditions were very good on 5MHz with strong signals from around the UK, 13 stations worked.
QSY to 80m where I had 13 more contacts and then a brief return to 5MHz after Frank alerted me of a possible S2S with Pete, G3TJE/P on SC-001. S2S duly made plus two further chasers.
Final QSY to 40m making 18 contacts, 8 of them being with UK stations which makes a pleasant change considering the way propagation has been for inter-G working lately.
Best rare ‘dx’ of the day has got to be Steve, G1INK!
I have worked Steve more than sixty times over the past few years with /P after his callsign but this is only the second time I have worked him from his home station!
Thanks to all chasers for giving me 90 minutes of very enjoyable operating in my ‘outdoor shack’!
Know the feeling Ron, with cabin fever setting in we also grabbed the opportunity to do a summit (WB-003) with both hands on Sunday. Good to hear that the road and car parks are in good shape at least until the next lot of snow comes in.
tnx for nw-051 this afternoon despite the locally generated qrn being very hostile in the shack this afternoon.
Great stuff Ron, and green with envy here. The very snowy winter has decimated my winter activating programme. We had 8 SOTA activations, plus a number of Wainwrights planned before Christmas, but we had to cancel. Between Christmas and New Year I would have normally been out several times to the local summits, Shropshire and North East Wales, bonus bagging, and the same since New Year.
Two started expeditions had to be abandoned due to the difficulty of the deep snow, while others never did start. So it has just been one activation of The Cloud and one of Gun.
I really need to get out! Glad you managed to do so Ron.
In reply to G1INK:
‘Were you using a Ham rig or a Clansman?’
I was using the FT857 Steve, 50W to a link dipole, centre about 6m high and ends 1m high.
I now have two Clansman hf manpack radios, the 319 and 320 and I plan on doing some operating with them in the Spring.
Slight problem is that the only ssb mode on them is usb, no problem on 5MHz but I will need people to change mode in order to work me on 40 and 80m!
Sounds good Ron - Im familiar with the clansman series, my favorite being the VRC 321 with the surf & turf accessories. I wouldnt like to carry them up a hill though!
In reply to G1INK:
‘Im familiar with the clansman series, my favorite being the VRC 321 with the surf & turf accessories. I wouldnt
like to carry them up a hill though!’
I have a RT-321 and all the accessories Steve but I am puzzled by your last statement, after all the 321 ONLY weighs 23kg with the accessories adding a further 19kg!
I’ve got a good strong bench in the shack!