Cloud (yet) again

…which it had done by first thing this morning. So I was up and scraping the ice of my car by 6.25am. The roads were icy, especially on the country lanes via North Rode to Cloudside, so I drove conservatively. I started the ascent at 6.52am in darkness, but without a torch since the bright moonlight was providing ample illumination.

It was lovely on the summit, pre-dawn, peaceful and a nice view across Cheshire with the streetlamps of the various towns, and silhouettes of landmarks. I set up the dipole for 40m, and sat down to make the first call. It was a pleasant contrast to most recent times to be on this summit without needing to shelter from a punishing wind. It was -1 degrees Celsius, but perfectly comfortable in my SOTA fleece and Berghaus jacket.

The activation was another unspectacular one. Just one contact on 40m CW, G4FPA - John in Sale, providing it. A SPOTlite did not drum up any further business, so after 25 minutes of calling on 40m I packed up. A couple of calls on 2m FM were also unanswered, so I descended and drove to work.

73, Tom M1EYP

In reply to M1EYP:
I was listening the band, but nothing heard here !
May be another day Tom
Alain F6ENO

In reply to M1EYP:

I was lovely on the summit…

I’m sure you were… you must’ve made the place look even better! :slight_smile:

73 Marc G0AZS (currently OZ/G0AZS… LX/G0AZS later this evening… sigh)

Oops. Edited. Tnx.

The wind was up again this morning, but fortunately was blowing “straight on” to one face of the topograph, rather than at an angle across it, so shelter was easy once the aerial was in the air. Setting a dipole up is undoubtedly harder in the dark, as you can’t pick out the lie of the legs to confirm that it has all got off the ground and such.

First contact was a massive signal from Italy, then followed Austria and Czech Republic. No sign of DL, F, HB etc. I’ve had this sort of thing at dawn or dusk up there before.

Just three contacts on 40m CW, and then 2m FM CQ calls were unasnwered. Hi ho, hi ho…

Tom M1EYP

The wind this morning was uncomfortable, and at 45 degrees to the topograph, so that was no use for shelter. I had to select a new operating position down in the heather to one side of the final approach path. Setting up was made a little easier due to the fact that the wind was in the direction of the third guy line, and acted as a resolving vector - ie it all stood up with just the pole and the two dipole legs. I did peg out the third guy to protect against a momentary lapse in the wind, but I think it was unnecessary.

Again, my signals were refracted into Central Europe, and my 8 contacts were made up of OK (2), OE (2), HA, OM and DL (2). Good fun and good practice. I enjoyed it this morning. I was cutting it fine by the time I had packed up, so I didn’t call on 2m.

Thank you for the contacts and the spot.

Tom M1EYP

In reply to M1EYP:

Interesting info on the DX Cluster this morning Tom.

M1EYP/P 7032.0 0729z OE3KAB San Marino : SOTA G/SP-015 op Tom

Hope you have a good take-off from your new location !!!

73’s
David/G4CMQ

In reply to M1EYP:

The wind this morning was uncomfortable

Try Activia as part of your diet. It contains Bifidus Digestivum and can help with that bloated feeling.

:slight_smile:

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

You should get out onto the hills more often Andy, I think you’re spending too much time watching television…

73 de Paul G4MD

In reply to MM0FMF:

how about SOTA-pills (SOTA-LOL) for the tired activator
and/or the nervous chaser :slight_smile:

have a look on:

(sri only german)

Vy73 de Fritz DL4FDM,HB9CSA

I peered out of my classroom window as the last groups of pupils for the day were being dismissed from their exhilarating and motivational mathematical educational experience. A cloudless deep blue sky, illuminated by bright sunlight. An extra hour’s work on the desktop, or an hour on a felltop? No contest!

So half-an-hour’s drive from Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, to Gun G/SP-013 in the Staffordshire Moorlands. The weather was indeed dry, clear and sunny, but the wind was blasting in from the West, and as icy cold as ever. It certainly wasn’t as nice as it looked from the inside of my classroom.

The area extending to a couple of metres all around the stile at the start of the ascent was completely waterlogged, so I clambered over the gate instead. As I walked up to the summit, I realised it was a good deal colder than on my recent activations - including the early morning ones. I continued over the summit and someway down the other side to gain shelter from the prevailing wind while remaining within the activation zone.

I moved around a bit in the 7.030 to 7.033 MHz area, trying to find a clear frequency and trying to escape the stronger stations that landed on my frequency without hearing me. I only made four contacts in over 30 minutes operating. The first was Fritz DL4FDM, followed by HB9BYZ. As the skies began to darken, I worked OM1ADM, so I was getting exactly the same increased distance in exactly the same direction yet again as night came on. Surely the next contact had to be OK or HA? No, it was Cris GM4FAM, who I haven’t worked for a while, so that was a nice surprise.

With no further callers, and plenty of QRO stations jumping on me without hearing me - and more significantly, with my fingers turning to ice - I decided it was time to go home. I flicked on the headtorch for the first time, just to track the legs of the dipole for winding in and unpegging, then wandered down the shallow sloshy slope to the car. It should have been lovely in the middle of dusk with clear views across the illuminated towns of Leek, Biddulph, Mow Cop, Congleton and Macclesfield before me, but I was now walking head-on into the icy wind - not pleasant!

See you in the morning.

See double you in the morning.

Tom

Good intentions to continue my CW practice were dampened by the sound of the wind howling around my street when I left the house at 6.20am. Suddenly, setting up a 40m dipole antenna on the fishing pole (in fact setting any antenna up at all) seemed like a bit too much trouble.

My good intention to maintain the early morning exercise regime was not dampened however, so I drove to Cloudside, climbed The Cloud G/SP-015 (without a rucksack) and activated with a 2m handheld and rubber duck!

It was a nice walk, even if I did have to miss out on my pre-work CW fix for activation number 525.

Tom

The “SP Activations - Planning” thread contains the report of my activations of The Cloud G/SP-015 on Saturday 26th and Sunday 27th January 2008.

On Monday 28th January 2008, it was an ‘on-the-way-home-from-work’ visit, with four HB and three DL stations worked on 40m CW. I SWLd John GX0OOO/P on Fountains Fell G/NP-017 on 80m SSB, but only had a 40m antenna with me, so didn’t try to call in.

I then self-spotted my QSY to 40m SSB, and called for ten minutes on a clear frequency. However, I couldn’t solicit a response, even with the self-spot. A final call on 40m CW brought F5MPS, and after packing away, I worked a couple on 2m FM with the handheld. Quite a satisfying activation.

Tom M1EYP

Tuesday 29th January 2008. I went up to try a microwave test with Richard G3CWI/M, who was parked near to Gun G/SP-013, but not activating. I set up the homebrew “G3CWI 10GHz Rover” WBFM radio, and managed to receive some CW from Richard’s SSB narrowband set. Richard was then able to confirm he could hear my 10GHz audio, but not in a way he could make out what I was saying. This was as expected, for he hasn’t added the facility to demodulate received WBFM yet. When he does, we hope to be able to work S2S between his 10GHz narrowband and my 10GHz wideband sets, but cross-mode: Me receiving Richard’s CW, and transmitting back WBFM voice.

All interesting stuff, and we are getting closer to it really happening! Anyway, to record an activation, I exchanged reports with Richard on our 2m FM talkback frequency, and then called CQ on S20 - just one further station replied.

We drove back towards Macc on the A523, finding that the Royal Oak, Queens Arms, Harrington Arms and Fools Nook Inn were all closed. We ended up halfway between Macclesfield Town FC’s ground and the twon centre at the Albion Hotel, where the Robbie’s Unicorn was on top form.

Tom M1EYP

I actually had the good sense (and was tired enough) to go to bed at 10pm last night. So it was with great surprise that I was more tired than usual upon my 6am alarm this morning. Perhaps it was the grogginess after 8 hours of deep sleep. In any case, I immediately fell back asleep! I awoke again later and assumed it was more like 7am and I had missed my pre-work activation opportunity. I was both surprised and enthused by the fact it was actually 6.09am!

The weather was very cold, but dry. I usually find that operating on the CW paddle keeps my right hand warm, but it got very cold very quickly today, and I had to warm it back up in my pocket between some QSOs. The QSOs were OH, DL, DL and OM - quite slow going today, but nice to get the OH and OM in. In fact the OM station has called in before as well. Hopefully OM will join the SOTA fraternity sometime in the future.

At around 7.30am, I heard a very weak call from HA4FY, with some parts disappearing completely in QSB. I called back a couple of times, but I think he was hearing me even less than I was hearing him. One that got away.

Three calls on 2m FM (S20) at 7.45am were unanswered, so I commenced my descent, and drove to work. Thanks to all callers.

Tom M1EYP

The last day of January 2008 produced a very satisfying activation.

There was a couple of inches of snow down across the summit, but it was quite powdery and didn’t drench the boots and socks when wading through the heather with the dipole legs. A very strong westerly wind was hitting the hill, and carrying a significant windchill factor with it, so it set up just before the summit at the foot of the final few steps to get shelter. This meant that one leg of the dipole was strung out a few centimetres to one side of the path and parallel to it, the other leg out into the heather, and the guy out towards the steep edge beneath the trig point.

I settled into a comfortable position after a couple of unsuccessful efforts to do so and made my calls on 40m CW. For once, I was ahead of schedule and recorded the first QSO at a time slightly ahead of my 1615z Alert. In 50 minutes, I made 18 contacts including DL, HB, OK, F, G and I. The customary call on S20, 2m FM at the end of the activation produced the customary silence. So I went home and had my tea. A very enjoyable activation.

Tom M1EYP

The 6am alarm went off with a blast of BBC Radio 4 on 93.7MHz FM. The next thing I heard was the patter of rain on the bedroom window. Dismay. Then I noticed I was feeling particularly tired, and an extra hour, horizontally polarised in my bed momentarily appealed.

Fortunately, my brain gathered a little more consciousness, and became more able to perform rational thinking. It advised me that I didn’t have to miss out on my daily exercise regime; there was always the option of chucking on the waterproofs and doing a low effort 2mFMHHRD activation. In fact it told me that I could just go for a walk and to heck with the activation, but I soon dismissed that ridiculous idea!

Driving out through Gawsworth and North Rode, the precipitation couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be blizzard, gentle snow, sleet, drizzle or rain. It tried everything, before settling on none of the above (ie dry) by the time I got to Cloudside.

While my head felt tired and groggy, my legs and lungs didn’t, and the restored fitness regime seems to be working. I noticed while doing daily visits to SP-015 last year that it was doing more for my physical consition than the considerably more boring, considerably more expensive and significantly more pretentious gym. Before Christmas I quit my gym membership along with a New Year’s resolution to ascend The Cloud daily - unless I was doing some other exercise, like football, squash or a proper activation! The resolution has made it into the second month of the year, and hope remains it can be as successful as last year’s - which was to reach sufficient competence in CW to undertake an activation.

I reach the summit without needing to flick on the headtorch, a sure sign that dawn is, as expected, two minutes earlier each day. I was greet by an evil blast of very cold wind. My hands froze almost instantly, and I regretted copping out of an HF activation that could have allowed me to stay sheltered. Standing with my back to the wind meant that my head was directly between the rubber duck and anyone that was likely to hear me. Gingerly, I turned slightly to the left to give my VX-7R a partial view of the North-West.

Just two stations were raised, both of them mobile and on the way to work. But it was another activation (number 535) and another daily exercise completed. I just don’t tire of this hill. It is a lovely place to emerge on top of and view the lights of the surrounding towns at dawn or dusk.

Tom M1EYP

On Saturday 2nd February 2008, we had a little change. We parked on the Timbersbrook side of the hill and ascended via the Gritstone Trail through the woods and around the northern end of the escarpment. The change was admittedly enforced, with the approach to the Cloudside parking area impossible due to ice on the road. Several cars tried - and failed to get up there, resulting in a queue of gingerly reversing (and sliding) vehicles dropping back down to the road between Timbersbrook and Bosley Wood Treatment.

Jimmy wasn’t in the mood, so he remained in the car, bagging chaser points from Bea M3YBW/P on Stiperstones G/WB-003 (and me later on). Liam came with me for the walk, dragging his sledge and looking for any remaining pockets of snow to play on. I was hoping to get Bea M3TBW/P or Carolyn G6WRW/P for a S2S with Stiperstones G/WB-003, but they went QRT about five minutes before I reached the summit. When I did call, Jimmy was straight in for his second chaser contact of the day, followed by fellow MDRS club member Greg 2E0RXX/P at Gawsworth Hall (but not doing CASHOTA!).

And that was it. No-one else wanted to reply to the calls, and in the unpleasant cold on the summit, I didn’t really want them to either! So Liam and I set off on a different descent route looking for more patches of snow for him to sledge on.

Tom M1EYP

On Sunday 3rd February 2008, it was Liam and me again. Jimmy was marching in Manchester with Air Cadets, and Marianne was sleeping between night-shifts. We had been out at the MIDCARS ‘Radio Active’ show at Nantwich, meeting up with a few friends and picking up some adaptors, ferrite beads and such.

The approach to the usual Cloudside parking spot was now passable, so it was the usual ascent route onto the summit. The cold wind was showing no sign of diminishing, so we took shelter against some rocks on the north end of the summit. Activity was again low, with just three stations worked on 2m FM.

Tom M1EYP

Hi Steve,

Your first contact is timed at 14 minutes after my last, although I did hand around for a few minutes after that. We were parked down at Timbersbrook, so wouldn’t have passed you ascending while descending - we followed the wall down to the woods from the summit. Even so, we must have only just missed each other! I was right by the trig point while activating BTW.

Cheers, Tom