2024 Report
Twenty five of us assembled at Edinburgh’s Hotel Indigo for the work Christmas meeting and night out. 1pm and I was presented with my first drink. It was going to be a long day!
Thursday December 7th 2023
0700 alarm. Tentatively open one eye, then the other. So far, so good. Head feels ok. Up, shower, rearrange the Mammut 15l pack, stuffing last nights clothes to the bottom, bringing radios, hat, waterproof and down jacket to the top.
0730 breakfast. I’m first down. Full Scottish, taking a leaf out of @M1EYP Tom’s book. Plenty of coffee consumed and I’m good to go just before 8am.
kill or cure breakfast and fuel for the day
I wander out of the hotel in the semi-light, cross over Princes Street and onto the North Bridge, with its’ endless roadworks. Down The Royal mile. Just me and a few early morning workers, them scurrying in and out of the many Closes, Pends and Wynds that chaotically line this, the most famous of streets in the old town.
Edinburgh Old Town
Next, I pass the Scottish parliment building, Salisbury crags still a silhouette in the gloom. I follow the pavement along the bottom of the crags, eventually reaching the rough eroded track that wiggles up towards the top of Arthur’s Seat. It is a cool and very breezy morning. I am already worrying about arrangements at the top. I have no guy ropes.
The Scottish Parliment and Salisbury Crags
As I approach the summit area, there are a couple of folk visible at the top. Some tourists made the trip early. Ignoring the trig for now, I head for the north edge of the summit rocks, seeking a perch for me and my kit. The rocks are polished with the pounding of many, many feet and care is needed.
early morning ascentionists
The station looks like this. Me perched on a ledge, sitting on last nights clothes (don’t tell Mo). My legs are on a lower ledge. I have the rucksack tied to my left leg in two places, using the waist and chest straps. The carbon 6 mast rises out of the side pocket, trapped by my leg and the chest strap. Two radials are roughly strewn across the ground, with a vertical wire up the mast. A 49:1 connects this lot to my KX2, it still inside the GoPro case that I managed to squeeze everything in. It looks like it will all hold. Equally importantly, it tunes up ok on 40m.
radio, antenna, mic, connectors & permission letter all inside a GoPro case
the HF set up
A Spot and I get going, with pre-warned @2M0WNA Mike first in my log. Then a decent run ending with @MM7MOX Andy, who was /p and very close. He put his friend on. Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack, clack! The mast collapses into itself and the wire lies tangled on the ground. “Will he still be there if I re-erect it, or should I shut down and go to 2m? No, that’s not fair”.
The mast goes up, the wire untangles. Contact completed. A few more, then QRT. I pack the HF kit up, retrieve the Yaesu VX7r from a rock and get going on 2m with the Diamond RH-770. Seven QSO’s added to the log and lots of friendly locals, many whom I haven’t worked for a while, including @MM0FMF Andy. I’m going to guess that was two years ago, same day, when I was on Ben Cleuch.
Calls dry up, fingers numb, summit getting busy. Time to go! Strap on the radio and start carefully descending the greasy and polished rocks, passing a stream of folk coming up. The same route is retraced - almost. This time I walk a little bit past the North Bridge, taking the medieval sounding Fleshmarket Close, a steep stepped lane that lands me right at the back door of Waverley railway station. The time is 1015. Just in time for the 1030 to Aberdeen.
MM0EFI in winter urban mountaineering gear
down Fleshmarket Close
Oh, the 1030 is cancelled. That given me an hour to correct my log, which is entierly incorrect, with every entry logged as GM/SS-072 instead of GM/SS-272. My bad. 0 isn’t anywhere near 2 on the phone keyboard, so I can’t even blame my fat frozen thumbs. Apologies and I will try to do better next time.
Oh No!
Thank you chasers everywhere. Might see you, same time, same place December 2024.