I’m off to the west coast again this weekend based in Plockton for some Motorcycling and SOTA activities.
Intention is to activate a summit each day depending on traffic and weather.
Initial plan is Meall Mor GM/WS-305 on the way up on Friday, Beinn Bhan GM/WS-117 on Saturday, Beinn na Seamraig GM/SI-054 on Sunday and Meall Tairneachan GM/CS-080 on the way south on Monday.
These are all subject to revision based on weather, traffic and running out of legs !
Forecast is actually (whisper it) a bit hot so I’ll need plenty of fluids.
Hopefully the locals will be out on 2m as they were last year and last month from GM/NS-139 and the sun plays ball for HF activity.
Andy
MM7MOX
5 Likes
Well day one didn’t quite go to plan. The A82 was closed at Bridge of Orchy due to an accident which diverted all the traffic towards Connel.
Plan B was GM/WS-339 above Fort William.
I remember last time I only just got the four qso’s. This time I got one on 40m and five on 20m out to Europe.
I lost a bit of time with the detour so didn’t prolong the activation.
By the time I got going again the traffic was virtually non-existent up to Invernate for a fuel stop, where I bumped into one of my biking pals. This bike is a bit strange, around town it sometimes struggles to better 30mpg, on the open road “making progress” (as the traffic officers say) it gave better than 60mpg.
More smiles per gallon.
The views from the Hill were spectacular today.
Maybe Beinn Bhan tomorrow or I might do a lower hill depending on the cloud level. I’ll update the alert in the morning. Watch for spots.
Andy
MM7MOX
4 Likes
Hi Andy, @MM7MOX
Hope to catch you just walking in…. 2m Yagi and HF
Today’s plan:
Ben Lair GM/NS-027
Meall Mheinnidh GM/NS-062
A’Mhaighdean tommorow.
G5OLD
Hi Tim, great to catch you s2s today and be able to relay a weather update. Hopefully it doesn’t rain as much as forecast.
I changed to GM/WS-178 today since I didn’t fancy the ridge out to GM/WS-117 in the wind. It was calm for a lot of the time on the summit but got really fierce on the walk back across the saddle points. I made the right choice, certainly for me. I also got an s2s with Robin GM7PKTwho was on Mull.
Tomorrow is forecast very wet so I have changed the alert for later on in the day on a shorter walk.
Strange band conditions today, 40m was almost dead. 20m was where the action was.
Maybe catch you tomorrow or Monday on the way south.
Update on Sunday.
I abandoned the activation on Sunday. I rode round to Strathcarron when the rain had stopped and got to the start point for the walk. Then the rain came back on with a vengeance and the wind picked up. The hill disappeared in fast moving cloud and I had seen very little shelter at the top.
Back at the cottage now drying out !
Andy
MM7MOX
2 Likes
Hi Andy,
Thanks for the weather update on VHF and that was a good call. I have just walked out of the fisherfield wilderness. Todays (near constant) rain clouds coming through absolutely lashed it down, dumping huge amounts of water very quickly. Add the wind and todays activation was very hard and on the return the river crossings were at my absolute limit…
Tim
6 Likes
Starting to look like a rather serious crossing there Tim.
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Glad you and Shadow made it out safely, it was very heavy rain here overnight and it was horrible lashing stuff when I abandoned the hill at Strathcarron today.
Andy
MM7MOX
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Hi Andy,
We are all good after a day of recovery watching the weather systems pass… I’ve alerted for Meall a’Ghiubhais GM/WS-123 tomorrow. Not sure if your still up ?
Tim GM5OLD
Hi Tim,
I travelled South today and was planning GM/CS-080 but the weather was too much so I changed to Drumcroy Hill GM/CS-107.
It turned out to be a better choice, I was below the cloud which I could see enveloping GM/CS-080, 20m was the money band today and 40m was very noisy with lots of crashes.
Sadly, tomorrow I have to go back to work. I hope you have better weather tomorrow, I think it is to improve a bit.
Andy
MM7MOX
3 Likes
Faster than walking pace; more than knee deep; too discoloured to see the bottom.
I just finished lecturing one of my crew - ‘don’t expect to get away with more than 1 at a time’
How many do you reckon you ticked off?
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I wonder whether you were heckled by the noisy Capercaillie up there. It’s a nice hill for the Trans-Atlantic S2S event as it is easy to access with quite a bit of kit in your backpack. I enjoyed activating it. . 
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I didn’t hear any Capercaillie but may not have above the howling wind !
It was good to huncker down behind the wall but the wind put quite an alarming bend on the pole sticking up above it.
Andy
MM7MOX
2 Likes
Postscript to the M/C SOTA weekend.
I went to take the bike across town to the boatyard this morning and it wouldn’t start (turn over).
Long story short a broken wire in the loom from the clutch switch was stopping the starter solenoid from operating.
Strangely enough there was a bit of tape around the area already.
Unfortunately I had to take all the bodywork off to trace the fault.
I guess at 25 years old things on the bike are starting to fray a bit.
Not quite sure what preventive maintenance to do with a wiring loom, I did check for frayed bits when I had the bodywork off.
Cleaned it while it was in bits, now back together and starts again.
Maybe try a hill tomorrow if the wind drops a forecast.
Andy
MM7MOX
1 Like
HF conditions were pants today never mind the ferocious winds. You didn’t miss much other than you could sit at 579m ASL in just a T-shirt as it was warm for a change.
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I believe that Drumcroy Hill GM/CS-107 is the hill that we had to give up the attempt to reach the AZ a few years ago when I balked at a deer fence corner with the odd slat of wood to apparently aid scaling it. With my vertigo I can wobble on a proper wooden bridge across a deer fence (or when crossing the Mourne Wall) let alone doing a high wire act on the odd small plank part way up the fence. Is that crossing what you describe as -‘easy access’ or is there indeed another access that no-one has told us about despite considerable enquiries? It was on our ‘potential’ list in May this year when travelling west from Newtonmore to Loch Lomond but we had to avoid it again as I am definitely getting even less keen on dodgy fence crossings than I ever was.
Viki
1 Like
Hi Viki,
I sent you a pm with some details and photos.
I did cross the deer fence at “the corner” but I can see how vertigo would make that a whole different challenge.
Andy
MM7MOX