Completion of all Scottish SS Summits

People Milestones
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Good morning folks, (SOTA Reflector)

It’s been a long time coming, but hopefully later today I will have achieved an outstanding goal to have successfully activated all 283 (or 287 in my case as some have come-and-gone - hi!) South of Scotland Summits GM/SS’s.

The last remaining summit is GM/SS-265 on the Island of Bute - yes the ISLAND, so of course should be a GM/SI Summit, and indeed there are a few other anomalies like this in the Scottish listings, but that’s another story.

I had intended this to be a joint Activation with my now departed XYL Anne GM4UXX.

If I am successful, I will Post a fuller ‘story’ of the in’s-and-out’s of how I go there/here.

So, if you get a chance, check my GM Alert (SOTAWatch/Alerts) for later today (April 14th) and hopefully I we’ll be able to have a quick exchange.

73 and wish me luck

Jack(;>J

(Also copied onto WOSARS Members Forum)

30 Likes
GM/SS-059: Car Park Exit to Hillwalk Difficulty Ratio
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Good Luck @GM4COX ! I did promise to chase you on your last SS summit while you chased on some SI peak. Sadly I am in Asia and will miss you!

Enjoy! It will be a fine achievement!

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Fantastic achievement!

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I hope all goes smoothly today Jack and I look forward to working you on your last SS, if the fickle conditions allow.

It is many years since I was on Bute, 1971 in fact. I recall trying to get permission to camp on farm land, but the tenant farmers were not willing to grant consent as the Marquis of Bute wouldn’t like it… or so they claimed. We set up camp in an old quarry alongside the road near Ardscalpsie bay and I remember getting horribly sunburnt. Oh those days of ignorance. The radio was good though on 2m AM.

Every best wish for your day on the hill.

73, Gerald

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I hope all goes well with the activation. It will be certainly a major achievement and I look forward to the report.

It is sad Anne is not there to complete with you.

I don’t think I will be able to chase today as I am looking after Dad and then onto a meeting in the afternoon.

73 de

Andrew G4VFL

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Good luck Jack @GM4COX - what a fantastic achievement!

73, Ben
GW4BML

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Wish I could have been on as you were my qualifying contact for MG.

Enjoy

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SOTA Reflector:

Well, that’s me back in my ‘digs’ in Rothesay drying out my kit and myself :face_with_diagonal_mouth:

And thanks everybody for your encouraging replies :+1:

Now there is a ‘weel kent’ Scottish poet with an apt saying “..the best laid plans gang aft agley…” And to today was a case in point. I had been trying for a few weeks to fit this trip in, but curling and other commitments kept getting in the way. However, there was a wx window at the beginning of this week - or so I thought! So, travelling to the Island yesterday things were looking good for a lunchtime Actiation before the rain and wind were due to arrive later in the day. But oh no the wx Gods decided that they weren’t going to play ‘ball’. I’d just got all kit set-up (HF Link Dipole and 2M Dipole) and on came the rain with the wind rising.

However, I was able to qualify the Summit on 2M. But having the Link Dipole up, and as I was already wet, I thought I’d push on with HF.

Now I had intended to have a ‘leisurely’ activation, and as it was my last SS I had brought the 706 and associated LiFe battery, for higher power than usual, along with small video camera and tripod to shoot a video of the ‘event’, along with back-up kit, it’s been a long time since I’ve had my SOTA rucksack so heavy. Phew!

Anyhoo, I was able to video the first few 2M contacts, but the rain was ‘pelting’ down and I didn’t fancy it penetrating the camera, so it was dried and ‘stashed’ away in the rucksack. So, I pushed on with 2M and then, as said, QSY’d HF - 60M (5.3985) and put out a call. Back came GW4OWQ then the 706 when dead.

Now I was trying to keep it out of the rain and it was fairly dry - a popped 15A fuse in battery feed?? Nope! 706 faulty???

I had a spare 3 cell 1865 Lipo so connected to 706 and it powered up. So, it looked like the battery?And it was - totally dead!!! Now this is a fairly new battery, less than 4 years old and hardly use, but kept ‘topped-up’. So, I was fairly confident that it would have handled the 706 for a few hours. (I have used it to power the 706 in this configuration many times).

In the meantime, the rain was becoming heavier, and this leisurely Activation was becoming a nightmare. Time to ‘bow-out’

And as I type this wee report, it is indeed ‘dreich’ outside the ‘digs’ :anguished_face:

So off for a ‘shower’ and head into town for some ‘scran’.

When I get a chance, I’ll produce a wee video along with some shots of the escapade.

73 all

Jack(;>J

(Also copied onto the WoSARS Members Forum)

23 Likes
9

A truly excellent achievement Jack. I picked your brains many times for info on the SS summits, I’ve used your routes verbatim many times. So I’m a delighted you are the first to Complete a significant sized region, a total of 283 summits. In fact you may have done more than 283 as a few have come and gone over the years.

As Scottish AM and on behalf of the SOTA MT I’d like to congratulate you on this quite stunning achievement.

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Congratulations Jack :clinking_glasses::tada::partying_face: @GM4COX - a fantastic achievement! I did look out for your spots on 7-SSB, but the above answers where you were. These things happen, as long as you qualified is the main thing :grinning_face: now have a warm shower and enjoy your scran :grinning_face::+1:

73, Ben
GW4BML

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Big Congratulations Jack, amazing achievement! I hung around on GM/CS-064 hoping to catch you on 40m ssb (yes I had a mic!) but time was dragging on and pretty chilly so aborted.

All the best, enjoy your evening and congrats again!

Gavin, GM3GAV

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Well done Jack despite the grim weather after a promising forecast.

I hoped to work you from Ben Starav but the very high wind gusts and wet snow underfoot stopped me about 200 metres below the summit to return down empty handed.

73’s Archie

1 Like
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Congratulations Jack on being the first to activate all GM/SS SOTA summits.

Jimmy M0HGY

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Great news on the completion of GM/SS activations, shame about the weather.

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Well done Jack completing the SS region. It is a real pity that the HF part of your activation was not to be on account of the weather. We were there with you in spirit willing you on, but the force of nature won on this occasion as ot usually does. No shame in bowing out…. you’ve certainly earned your wings!

I would ask “what now?", but you are busy enough. Maybe time for some leisurely SI summit outings when the weather is better, but that is never a guaranteed thing in Scotland.

73, Gerald

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Well done Jack, fantastic achievement.

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Many congratulations Jack - that is quite an achievement :grin:

It is a bit cold for activating when thoroughly wet as we have done a few times - but during late May or later in the year when laughing it off is possible. I do hope you warmed up nicely with a shower and a good meal - possibly a celebratory wee dram too.

Taking the opportunity to thank you for the contacts and advice during our early attempts on the lower (and still not very easy) hills of SS. Maybe catch you during May when we hope to bumble around a few hills not too far from Glasgow.

73,

Rod

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Nice going Jack, glad I was able to catch you for a S2S today… and of course, from one of the many SS summits for which you were the first activator! I’m always amazed that far from just rattling up and down the hills to tick a box on a list, you can always come back with a pretty detailed route description or handy fact about just about any hill out there that I’ve mentioned when we’ve spoken on the radio - I think that says a lot about your dedication to the not-insignificant achievement of completing all of these hills.

I was thinking of you and your weather report as I was bounding off Ben Cleuch in the sun… of course, just as I was passing through Alloa on my way home, the heavens opened and I was thinking aye, that must’ve been what Jack was experiencing about an hour or so ago. Hope you managed to get a decent wee celebration feed in Rothesay!

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Many congratulations. A fantastic achievement! :clap::clap::clap:

73, Matthew M0JSB