A massive thank you to all the participants (Activators & Chasers) in our annual GW SOTA S2S and hog roast day. A record amount of money was raised via the raffle and from donations. Big thank you to all the raffle sponsors. As usual this money goes to towards supporting the SOTA infrastructure. Thank you once again to Ben GW4BML for organising the event…another one next year I hope Ben?
31 Likes
Just to echo Allan and give my thanks to Ben for organising another great event and the splendid weather. Thoroughly enjoyed meeting and chatting with old and new faces and of course the hog roast. 27 in the log from GW/MW-009.
Edit: a thoughtful addition from Ben to offer a minute’s silence for Paul M0CQE - very sad that his voice will no longer be heard.
7 Likes
A most excellent day both on G/WB-005 Long Mynd and at the Hog Roast site (always well organised) . I think everyone was releived that the weather had cooled off somewhat and the wind was something well worth putting up with.
55 in the log spread over 2m (mainly) , 70cm and 23cm with about 25 summit to summits (some duplicate bands or multi-ops).
I did intend to test the 23cm gear more thoroughly, but after setting it up at 9:40 local time, I just popped onto 2m to see if there was the odd summit to summit opportunites. 2 Hours and a dry throat later, I got back to the 23cm. Lesson learned, these are not the kind of days to test new gear 
The coffee shack was a great addition, and I had my fingers crossed to get the bag of coffee in the raffle (I didn’t) , it really was excellent..
Always great to meet people and put faces to callsigns. Possibly should make callsign badge wearing mandatory (I forgot mine too).
Might try a new summit for next year.
Ian
12 Likes
“Possibly should make callsign badge wearing mandatory (I forgot mine too)”
Forgot mine as well 
. Your comment noted and I’ll remind Ben @GW4BML to add a note next year to remind everybody. Thanks Ian.
5 Likes
@G7ADF when they rang the bell for lunch you could’ve at least put your bike on a stand! 
I thoroughly enjoyed the day. Many thanks to Ben and team, and to everyone who turned up, called in, or supported it from a distance!
I didn’t take any photos on Stingwern gw/mw-030. I did take a 2m Yagi and coax feeder but not the necessary BNC to N adaptor 
but the Jpole and ft817 provided a nice run of 2m contacts 
Looking forward to the next one….
8 Likes
+1 for thanking Ben GW4BML for another successful event (even though I still haven’t won anything in the raffle 
).
54 QSO’s in the log for me from GW/NW-034 Foel Cedig, including Don G0RQL down in Devon on SSB and Kevin 2E1KJB on the Isle of Wight on both FM and SSB.
A rather windy activation, but at least it was warm!
7 Likes
This year Paul G6GGP (G4MD) and I planned to tackle Mynydd Cwmcelli GW/NW-052 as our hog roast day activation, a realistic target given our relatively low level of fitness and lack of hill time recently. Unfortunately on the Friday morning Paul texted me to say that he would have to stay at home as his XYL was extremely unwell on account of the hot and humid weather. This was disappointing, but completely the right decision given the situation.
The 156 mile journey from Northampton to the parking spot in the Dovey Forest took me 3 hours and the ascent 36 minutes, surprisingly the same ascent time as when I activated this one back in 2008. The weather was a mix of sun and cloud with a strengthening wind, already strong when I got to the summit. I set up away from the trig in a slightly sheltered spot and kept the mast height low. Both the 23cm 15 over 15 and the 70cm 6 element are made of aluminium and present quite a large load on the pole.
The track off on the right… now easier to see than in 2008.
The station set up.
My aim was to give 70cm and 23cm priority, though I did have a 2m yagi with me. At 10:00z I was ready to self spot for 23cm, when up popped Viki M6BWA/P on 70cm FM on the handheld… a quick walk to the trig and the first contact was in the log. Back at the main operating position, I self-spotted for 1296.200MHz SSB and called CQ. To my complete surprise, Pete MW0PJE/P on Moel y Gamelin GW/NW-042 came back straight away. Hey, the SG Labs transverter works - 59 both ways. I was very pleased with this contact, the first with the transverter.
After working David G7SAT on Foel Cedig GW/NW-034 on 2m FM on my handheld, I connected the 817 to the 70cm yagi and called CQ on 433.450MHz as no-one seemed to be using SSB on the band. A nice run of 6 contacts followed, the last one being with Ian G7ADF on The Long Mynd G/WB-005. He wanted to try 23cm with his untested SG Labs transverter, so we agreed on 1297.500MHz FM as he had a handheld as backup. Backup not required… 59 both ways! Back on 70cm FM, I worked Simon G4JXP/P who had been patiently waiting for me on Callow Hill G/WB-015. 2m FM provided 4 more contacts before the wind told me I’d had enough.
Lovely view from the summit.
It took me a while to pack everything away, so it was 1.10 p.m. when I set off back to the car, the descent taking 25 minutes. After stowing the kit, I changed into shorts and teeshirt for the hog roast and set off for the site at 2.04 p.m. Quite a number of new faces made themselves known and I finally met up with Denis MW0CBC and his good lady Dawn whom I had missed last year. It was great to see everyone and I felt a lot better than I had done last year when I was still recovering from my breakdown… and to add to the excitement, I won a raffle prize, a Quansheng UV-K5 handheld. Ben GW4BML wants a report on how I get on with it. It looks like it might be an interesting project.
Many thanks to Ben and all those involved in making this day happen. These events are really enjoyable, especially so for me this year after recent family events. It was a real shame that Paul could not accompany me this time, but we will hopefully make the event next year. Many people asked me to pass on their very best regards to Paul which I did the following day.
73, Gerald G8CXK (G4OIG)
14 Likes
I didn’t forget my badge which was pinned on a bag in the car but, when I had enough energy* to join ‘the fray’ I found that the Santander telephone mantra that has to be chanted to allow access:
“My voice is my passport” works for hog roasts as well - so i didn’t bother to fetch it. I also found a few others by voice alone (M3ZCB, 2W0LPU, etc)
- energy problem? Well I was very tired anyway and 47 contacts, 16 on 70cm, including 38 s2s from 23 summits in 115 mins was a bit of a shock after 3 weeks in GM land on VHF/UHF where a 3rd contact from a hill was a shock - let alone a 43rd!!
Thanks everyone for the contacts and patience while I mangled the contact details. Super ‘do’ Ben, Allan and others. Marvelous organisation - and weather! I promise I’ll get the log typed asap!!
Viki
9 Likes