Bivvying

In reply to G3NYY:
Walt, I climbed Corndon Hill a couple of months ago in 25 minutes. I’m not exactly in good shape and knee pain on descents is ‘interesting’. Stiperstones and Long Mynd Pole bank are a doddle from the car parking. If you park in the quarry rather than Bedlam village, Titterstone Clee Hill isn’t that taxing either. Brown Clee Hill is a pleasant walk with industrial archeology.

If Alastair passes his Foundation licence tonight, he and I’ll be activating Corndon Hill and Stiperstones next Friday. If we’re quick we’ll fit in Pole Bank too. I’ll get 3 winter bonus points only and he might kick off his activating career with 15 in a day!

73
David 2E0DAI

In reply to M6WOW:

Good luck, Alastair!

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:

Walt, WB-003 Stiperstones from the car park on the SE side is a
doddle … and a great pairing with WB-005 for an easy ten points on a
fine winters day!

Hi Brian!

Many thanks for the info … most useful. In fact, I did activate Long Mynd (WB-005) today. I was planning to do Stiperstones too, but it took so long (an hour and a half) to get enough contacts to qualify WB-005 that I ran out of time! Eventually I managed 3 QSOs on 2m SSB and 3 QSOs on 2m FM, but it was a struggle to find anyone to work! Just lack of activity on a weekday.

I met G1JTD/P at the trig point just as I was leaving. He had just come from activating Stiperstones and was also complaining about lack of activity. Eventually he QSY’d to 70cm FM and found more happening there than on 2m!

I’ll do Stiperstones another day. Thanks again for your help, and good luck with your LD activations.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

In reply to 2E0DAI:

If Alastair passes his Foundation licence tonight, he and I’ll be
activating Corndon Hill and Stiperstones next Friday. If we’re quick
we’ll fit in Pole Bank too. I’ll get 3 winter bonus points only and he
might kick off his activating career with 15 in a day!

Hi David!

Yes, I activated Long Mynd today. It took me just over 5 minutes to walk from the car parking spot to the trig point! Another trig point with no brass cap, so ideal to stick a SOTA pole in! It then took me 90 minutes to rustle up enough contacts to qualify!!! Calls through various repeaters went unanswered, and endless fruitless CQ calls on SSB and FM.

Best of luck to Alistair with his exam tonight! I fully expect to hear you both on Friday … I hope to be out and about somewhere. Look out for S2S with G3RMD … he is planning to be in West Wales on Friday.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

In reply to G3NYY:

Walt

Try SPOTlite - perfect for those tricky activations on VHF. Far better than repeaters (did you really write that?).

http://www.sota.org.uk/Spotlite/spot

73

Richard
G3CWI

In reply to G3CWI:

Unfortunately I do not have a mobile phone with internet capability!!!

I see Richard, G4ERP, is going to do five summits in the Shropshire/Powys area tomorrow, including Long Mynd and Stiperstones. Quite ambitious to activate five in one day!

As an aside, regarding repeaters, I was intrigued to discover that the Cleeve Hill 70cm repeater GB3UK was end-stop on Long Mynd, and even the QRpp Malvern Hills 70cm repeater GB3MS was also easily workable from there.

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

In reply to G3NYY:

Unfortunately I do not have a mobile phone with internet capability!

I think they’ll be recording an episode of Antiques Roadshow in the Tewkesbury area next Easter Walt. You should take your phone along and get it valued, could be worth a few bob. Especially if the bakelite case is in good condition too!

:wink:

To be serious though, having internet access on your phone is surprisingly useful. More useful is having a contract that includes a realistic amount of data. And once you’ve had it available you cannot go back to be without mobile internet access.

Perhaps you could ask Santa to bring you a nice shiny Nokia N900 for Christmas… Maemo 5 OS, OMAP 3430, GSM, 3g, HSDPA, FM transmitter, Wifi b/g, etc. etc. Very nice, and unlike those chavvy iPhones, no patent violations!

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

Perhaps you could ask Santa to bring you a nice shiny Nokia N900 for
Christmas… Maemo 5 OS, OMAP 3430, GSM, 3g, HSDPA, FM transmitter,
Wifi b/g, etc. etc. Very nice, and unlike those chavvy iPhones, no
patent violations!

Ooooh! Acid! :slight_smile:

73

Brian G8ADD

In reply to MM0FMF:

Perhaps you could ask Santa to bring you a nice shiny Nokia N900 for
Christmas… Maemo 5 OS, OMAP 3430, GSM, 3g, HSDPA, FM transmitter,
Wifi b/g, etc. etc. Very nice, and unlike those chavvy iPhones, no
patent violations!

But I don’t know what any of these things are, Andy!

73,
Walt (G3NYY)

In reply to G3NYY:

But I don’t know what any of these things are, Andy!

http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/

Make sure you wipe the drool off your keyboard when you’ve finished looking!

Andy
MM0FMF

Does nothing for me I’m afraid. Mind you, I only eventually (and reluctantly) entered the world of mobile 'phone ownership as part of the “payback” for being allowed to do the Pennine Way!

The accessories for this Nokia cost more than my phone did. Walt, you can get a simple phone that does phone calls, text messages and internet (including SOTAwatch Spotlite) on Pay As You Go for less than fifty quid.

I would actually rather like to return to the days of being a luddite myself - except that the ability to self-spot is extremely useful. Especially when there aren’t any repeaters in range from which to solicit QSOs :wink:

Tom M1EYP

In reply to MM0FMF:

Make sure you wipe the drool off your keyboard when you’ve finished looking!

How long does the battery last in one of these?

Rick

In reply to M1EYP:

Does nothing for me I’m afraid.

But it does for me… it keeps me in a job! That thing required lots of our software to model, simulate and physically design the chips. Please buy one and help support a needy software engineer at Christmas :wink:

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to G8ADD:
Your collective good wishes worked. Alastair Hopkins scored 25/25 and, even with superb exam technique, had finished the paper in 15 minutes. I wish to commend Mike Street G3JKX from Telford and District ARS as a superb instructor to you.
Whether Alastair’s on air for SOTA on 18 December is now with in the hands of OFCOM licensing.

Cheers

David

In reply to M6WOW:
Pass on my congratulations, David, and when his call comes through please let us know what it is.

73

Brian G8ADD

Excellent news, and a great score - well done.

Is Alistair keen on the SOTA / walking? Will he want to be replicating your uniques record? At least you’ve “only” done 23 that you will need to revisit! I had done 160 SOTA Uniques when Jimmy got licensed in 2005, and his first stated objective was to activate those 160 uniques for himself!

Over four years later, we’ve added a few, so that I am now on 227 uniques. Jimmy is on 222, with just the five I have done in DC region to catch up with. It has been a long road! (Thank goodness I hadn’t started in Scotland before he was licensed!).

Very many congratulations, and I look forward to the first S2S contact with Alistair.

Tom M1EYP

Congratulations Alistair on passing your foundation exam.

Jimmy M3EYP

In reply to MM0FMF:

http://maemo.nokia.com/n900/

Make sure you wipe the drool off your keyboard when you’ve finished
looking!

I wouldn’t know what to do with it, mate! My Nokia 3210 still works fine, and I know how to “drive” it! The display is big enough for me to read, and the buttons are big enough for my chubby fingers to press.

73 de Walt (G3NYY)

In reply to MM0FMF:

Does nothing for me I’m afraid.

But it does for me… it keeps me in a job! That thing required lots
of our software to model, simulate and physically design the chips.
Please buy one and help support a needy software engineer at Christmas
:wink:

Somehow I just knew you had a vested interest in all this!

Tee hee!
:wink:

73 de Walt (G3NYY)

P.S. I had to spend £135 on a new TomTom yesterday after my old one burst into flames on the way home from the Long Mynd! So much for LiPo batteries!

In reply to 2E0DAI:

Many congratulations to Alistair! I never doubted that he would pass. I’m looking forward to our first S2S QSO!

73,
Walt (G3NYY)