I have set up this thread in readiness for your activation reports. Unfortunately I will be unable to join in this time as I am having issues with my mental health. 2025 has not been a good year for me and I have spent a short period in hospital due to having had a series of panic attacks due to stress. Losing control of my life has been upsetting and something that I had never envisaged, especially as I ran my own business for 28 years but it is what it is. I can only move forwards from here and have sought professional help.
My original plan was to activate summits in GM/SS and GM/ES, but at the moment it is just not possible for me to even drive the 50 miles to my local summit, set up a station and operate for a few hours. I aim to be back on the hills in good time for the November event.
I will be thinking of you all and wish you all lots of S2S contacts. If I can get into the shack to chase I will.
It got drier as I headed East for Spartleton hill today.
I had a day on top with haze and no rain although the wind was chilly when it picked up in the afternoon.
Sadly no Transatlantic qso’s for me today, HF bands weren’t in great shape for me , although 2m was good up the East coast.
Hope you’re back out on the hills soon Gerald.
Andy
MM7MOX
Sorry to hear about your situation. I’m confident with the bravery you’ve demonstrated here that you will soon be through this tricky patch and back out on the hills. Seeking help, and knowing when you need it, in my mind, shows that you’ve already made a significant step forwards.
I’m sorry to hear about your challenges Gerald. After early retirement I too had some very unexpected difficulties that crept up on me. So I have massive sympathy. The good news is with time and assistance (family only in my case) it can be overcome. I am sure this will be the case for you too. I wish you well on your journey.
Cross Fell G/NP-001 was my stop on my way down from Aberdeen to the Lakes for a SOTA holiday.
I was pleased the rain held off and it was just cloudy and a bit breeze. The enormous cairn at the top provides plenty of shelter, although no cell phone service.
No transatlantic S2Ss, I saw one spot once I’d started heading back down, but an interesting log. Brazil, USA, Canada, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, various European countries and I did hear DP0GVN (Antarctica) but only just ~41, and the pile up was huge.
It was a last minute decision to take part today. My wife and elder daughter have gone to an open day at Nottingham University so it didn’t seem fair to leave my younger daughter on her own for most of the day. But then she said she was going round to a friend’s house this afternoon so it seemed a perfect opportunity for me to go out up on my local summit Rombalds Moor G/NP-028 which is one hour’s walk from home.
I was only planning on the higher bands and set up my 10/12/15m GP. I quickly worked @EC7ZT for an S2S on 15m. I could hear @K1RID on 15m and gave him a call. He worked someone else and then faded. I heard another US station on 15m but the signal was at ESP levels so no chance of a QSO. A CQ got me a very strong station in Maine and a couple more including Andy @G8CPZ over on Arnside Knott, his local summit. 10m only brought in the ever dependable @EC8ADS, back to 15m for another Spanish S2S with @EA5IYL. I then noticed a couple of stations spotted on 17m so I took down the antenna and put up the monoband 17m GP. This time K1RID was reasonably strong and we managed an easy QSO. So I managed the target of a transatlantic S2S. I also tried a CQ call and managed to work @KC1MXB.
While I was operating a red kite swooped really low near my operating position. They are very common birds here as we are near one of the reintroduction release sites - I often see them over my house - but I don’t think I have ever seen these majestic birds so close before. Then, while on my way down, I heard my first cuckoo of the year. Then I saw two unfamiliar birds fly past. I wasn’t sure what they were but then one called cuckoo and I realised it was a pair of cuckoos. I don’t think I have ever seen cuckoos before. They are probably the only bird where the call is instantly recognisable but few people know what they look like.
Finally, I’d like to thank Gerald for organising today. I hope you get well soon.
Pouring rain showers almost had me canceling this Spring but I remembered a reasonably close summit with a 20 minute walk to a cabin in the AZ, Moody Mountain, W1/NL-014. With a chair, table, 4 walls and a roof, I enjoyed a comfortable operating position while the rain poured down. Set up a link dipole and my QMX and started calling out on 20 meters, then 15 and 17. Very weak sigs and deep fading on all bands. My 1st Q was S2S with @N4DCW. Got @EA7GV then 7 TA S2S: @M6GYU, @HB9HWI, @DL3TU,@G4BP, @G4OOE, @G4TGJ and @G3RDQ. Most fun I’ve had in the rain since I was a kid! TNX ALL DIT DIT
I spent the whole morning hesitating about whether I should set off or not. The sky was grey and some of the clouds looked a lot like rain. As a result, I only arrived at the car park when I actually wanted to be on air.
With almost an hour’s delay, I was finally QRV on 15 CW. When I switched on my KX3, the very first thing I heard was @N4DCW on W9/IN-002, and so the first transatlantic S2S QSO went into the log. After that I tried running on 15 CW which resulted in several contacts with home stations in the U.S. 15m SSB was not very productive and since my antenna had a high SWR on 17m, I QSYed on 12 CW. Things went well there too and more transatlantic QSOs came into the log, but no further S2S. Only when I switched back to 15 CW did I manage a QSO with @K1RID on W1/NL-014 and a little later with @EC7ZT/p on EA7/MA-030.
For the last round, I went back to 12m (this time CW and SSB) and made another 8 QSOs, most of them again home stations in the U.S. and one PY.
After two and a half hours I felt it was time to pull the plug and pack up. It was a nice afternoon and the weather did not only stay dry but actually improved towards the evening.
In the course of the afternoon I had to explain what I was doing here a lot! It was a bit time consuming but people seemd to be really interested in the facts and amazed when they heard about radio contacts across the pond.
Many thanks for all the QSOs and thanks to Gerald for organizing the event! As always it was a lot of fun. I’m glad that I had set off after all.
73, Roman
Equipment: KX3 & customized PA running ~ 70W
Antennae: J-Pole for 12/15/17 on a 10m squid pole
Misc.: 6Ah/18Ah LiFePO4 batteries, Palm Mini Paddle, Ham 2k Portable Logger
Thanks Richard for the S2S today — your signal was really good!
Also, thanks to Gerard for organizing this Trans-Atlantic event. Unfortunately, I couldn’t make any S2S contacts with USA stations; I was only able to work @k4dy Leslie, @hs0zqe Dit from Thailand, and 6 S2S contacts with European stations.
In total: 39 QSOs, including 6 S2S.
I’ll be back to try again at the next event!
Many thanks to all my chasers as well.
My working conditions: QMX (20m to 10m) and an Endfed 49:1 antenna with 10.3 meters of wire.
I was a bit late deciding to get out for this event. W9/IN-002 is paved all the way to the trailhead so it was a great morning to take out the SOTA Roadster. (Top stayed up; it was 50ºF when I left the house.)
I ended up with three transatlantic S2S QSOs: My first was a very friendly SSB contact with @HB9EAJ on HB/SO-015, followed by @DL3TU (DM/BW-089) then @HB9HWI (HB/BE-110). For the other S2S, I also had my first QSO with @K1RID, and attempted a 25wpm QSO with @K9IR. (Next time I’ll stay at 20!)
It was a rainy day here in Maine, USA. I was able to chase five EU stations from home today while being cautious to try to not interrupt any S2S. Thanks for T/A (not S2S) QSOs from @HB9EAJ , @DL3TU , @MW0PJE , @G4TGJ, and @EA2GM .
I plan to be out tomorrow April 27 on W1/AM-400, in my bothy bag if need be! I will be QRV with an EFHW and 10W CW/SSB. Showers are forecasted for local wx, but not all-out rain as it was today.
And yes, I’m not pulling your leg, the car has an MX5 Miata NB drive train.
I couldn’t make it to this S2S event but I intend to take part in the separate event on 3rd May. Will my RockMite make it across the Atlantic or will I have to resort to my back up rig?
