(with apologies to my French speaking friends)
It feels like a bit of a non-SOTA year for me, however looking at the database, I’ve still managed a couple a month. The main reason is this:
my Discovery 6x6 build - aka Bruce Almighty
Bruce is a big project. All of my days off and evenings have been spent on him. Designed in my head and fabricated with the aid of CAD (cardboard aided design) a steel cutting chop saw, plasma cutter and MIG welder. Many angle grinder discs have given their life for this project.
Tuesday 19th August 2024
Today was going to be different. I’d take in one of the four 1-point summits that lie along my route home from work. A choice of GM/ES-065 Benaquhallie, or GM/ES-070 Hill of Fare. Didn’t matter which, as I planned to do the other one next available opportunity.
I dumped the car at the usual layby at the top of the Clash. Not the band, but the long gradient that climbs from Tornaveen towards Tarland, topping out at 317m.
This would be my fifth activation of Benaquhallie and straight away it was apparent that I’d never been up in late summer. Everything was long! I brushed through knee deep grasses and onto a lush grassy track. The heather was in full bloom. The wet summer has certainly brought the heather into flower in a spectacular fashion. Every morning I glance at Morven. It is a purple mountain.
GM/ES-065
The grassy track joined a stone track. This became an earthy rutted track and I was soon at the copse of old weather-mangled trees that denoted the start of the steeper climb to the summit.
up the wall line, paths either side
Around 35 minutes and 2.5km from the car and I was standing at the trig. A handy summit for a breezy evening (which it was) thanks to the protective stone wall. Today, however, the wind wasn’t so bad, and given the hour, I went for the quickest set up possible and plonked my mast in the trig’s central hole. The 41’ wire was strung over the top and connected to the KX2. I turned it on for a quick test. No audio. Removing the cover showed the speaker wire to be OK. And that’s when the penny dropped. I’ve been here before!
Until that point, I indeed thought I’d get a point for tonight’s activity. Then I realised I’d activated the hill already this year. That time the speaker wire snapped and I dropped a KX2 thumbwheel in the heather, lost for ever. Turns out it was back in April. Breaking stuff, Losing stuff & Making stuff (and then forgetting stuff) Anyway, thankfully the radio was OK - I’d plugged the microphone into the headphones socket. Not the first to do this, I’ve read (on here).
Benaquhallie 494m GM/ES-065
That sorted, I pulled out the Quansheng and telescopic whip, spotted, WhatsApped and had brief chats with @GM5ALX @MM0RFN and @2M0RVZ (who is now 2M0RVZ). And that was it for 2m FM. All done in 15 mins.
With HF already set up, I tentatively put a spot on 40m and called CQ, not knowing what to expect, not having done an HF activation since - well let me look that up - since May. Slow and steady was the answer. I added 13 stations to my log in 20 mins, all UK with the exception of @PD1CW.
evening fun on HF
20m sounded very quiet, in a closed band sort of way, however I managed to add a further 3 to the log. A speculative punt on 15m next, I thought, really not knowing what to expect. A quick listen revealed deep fading, with voices coming and going through the ether. An EA8 answered my CQ and then faded into silence. Strong QRM meant a slight re-tune. More CQ’s. Nothing.
Then BOOM! VE2QRA, Guy in Quebec, giving me 55 and stable enough that we could have a brief chat. Closely followed by the EA8, who turned out to be EA8DDW Norberto in Tenerife, again great copy. Then it died again.
I did call for a bit more and contemplated moving up to 10m. I’d been kneeling over the radio until this point. Re-adjusting to a sitting position and facing west, I started to feel the chill of the evening breeze. A glance over the heather revealed rain showers moving around distant Lochnagar and Mount Keen, but also on Morven, more of a concern. OK, 1900h, and time to go.
distant evening showers swirling around
I was packed up in 5 mins and on my way down after a cursory scan of the trig and undergrowth for any dropped stuff. I almost forgot to pick up my LoRa tracker. Thankfully it is in a very bright orange case.
back at the trees
The jog back only took 20 minutes and I was home 20 minutes after that. An awesome little evening, one where I went in with low expectations and came away with three continents in my log. I really must do this more often.
73,
Fraser MM0EFI
