Quick report for GW/MW-013 Corndon Hill 2pts plus 3 winter Bonus
Got to Richards park spot and then went up the track to 1st gate where we parked up. Looking up we could see how steep but short it was to summit. Very heavy going as path was slippy( wet route again!!) got to top and wind was fierce and cold!! Welcomimg Bench up here but right in the path of this “orrible wind” so decided to attache pole for Antenna and shelter as best as possible behind Well established Cairn.
Experimenting with the 7 element ZL special Beam,wind was blowing very strong and the Perch pole was asking “what the hell you doin to me” really bending we turned the beam north/east which seemed to help. kicked off on 2m ssb and straight away got a response from G8HXE,Keith in Manchester. 5 more contacts in 20 mins and all went very quiet? In the meantime, the weather had gone sour once again and we decided against doing any other band, we were actually putting our wet weather gear on as the last couple of QSO’s were coming in.
no 70cm’s or 6m again sorry to anyone who was waiting for me!!!
The descent was the fastest downward route ever as the steepness made us run a bit.
Anyway Just to summarise: 101 unique Activator points, 43 unique summits, 46 S2S contacts,just under 600 contacts. This is all of my personal targets achieved.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank, SOTA, All Chasers who helped me qualify, all the other activators who gave me the S2S’s, and the ones who joint activated,My darling Elaine for supporting me through it all and the summits for just being there.
I can now be an activator that can without pressure enjoy the summits for what they are.
I would also like to say Good Luck to any new activator that has goals to get to, Take care on all the summits and hope to work you next year.
Nice one Tony, congrats on achieving the personal targets. Be warned though, you know how addictive SOTA is, and you won’t be able to relax as you suggest. I suspect you are already dreaming up new targets to aim for!
Further up the track from the steep ascent, is a more graded path up Corndon Hill. I usually use that one as a descent route after ascending the steep way. Shelter used to be plentiful on that summit, for the wood cloaked one whole side of the hill, right up to the fence across the summit. It is much more exposed to the elements since all the trees were felled.
Yes I know the addiction is strong,I wont be disappearing just yet. The summits are still to be worked again next year with fresh points, but we wont pushing to target as my targets have been reached. Also we are moving QTH soon and I will be able to play radio in the shack as there is tons of room for antennas in the new place. So Maybe my next target will be Shack Sloath??
I have to say,Im not moaning but “The weather has been very cruel to us in getting these targets” I think we have had approx 5 dry activations and that has made it less fun as most of the time we are getting down off the summit very quickly. I even had to cancel one 6 pointer and we were over a third of the way up, because of weather.
On the way up as you say is steep and I could see all the roots of the trees still there,we would of stayed longer yesterday if the trees were there to shelter. At least my convert to portable ZL Special experiment worked.
I agree with Tom, the SOTA poison won’t leave your system until you’ve worked it out… might I suggest 250 points and 100 summits as a target? Getting those nice S2S Summitsbase Awards might give you some encouragement as well.
I fully understand what you say about bad weather, but don’t let it get to you. When it is tippling down, I always console myself that we are made up mostly of water, so it is natural to be out in it. I’m sure that if you continue there will be plenty of good days when you’ll be able to spend time relaxing on a summit activating all the bands that you intend to and the trials and tribulations of the first 100 points will become less significant and will be seen in a more positive light.
Hoping to speak to you out on the hills sometime soon.