Therefore Burton Hill G/WB-020 was the pre-match SOTA selection.
Parked at the end of the cul-de-sac lane above Ostey Wood to the east of the summit. Longer walk-in from here but hardly any ascent. In fact the AZ is entered within yards of the parking spot, but we walked as far as the trig point (which is still shortly before the true summit that is 7m higher).
I sent up with the 5-el beam vertically polarised (tends to bring in more callers - even on SSB - and is obviously better for FM). However - nothing - zilch - notasausage.
At one point I did hear a station wish call ending “delta” right in the background on 144.290 SSB. I asked them for a long call so I could beam on them, but never heard them again. On FM, I got no response at all.
This was one of those very rare occasions when no activation at all could be recorded, let alone a Challenge multiplier or an activator point. But come 6.30pm, I had to abandon to get to the game on time.
Macclesfield got a fantastic 2-0 win to remain in strong promotion contention, so the evening was still a pleasant one overall!
Hopefully work will take me back in the vicinity later this year, and I can do a much shorter walk into the AZ and get a successful activation recorded!
I was at home when your spot came up (for a change) so feeling optimistic I turned the radio on but didn’t hear anything - not even anyone trying to chase you.
The path looks difficult, but may have worked with a bit of magic:
Most of the path from my QTH looks similar, but there’s a large lump of geography right behind the house that blocks the first bit of the path very thoroughly. I’ve only worked the summit from here on 60 metres…
Today I managed to work @M0KOV on G/NP-028 on 2 metres SSB despite him using a horizontally polarised antenna and me using a vertically polarised 5-el yagi pointed in roughly the right direction. That’s at about four times the distance from my QTH, but in an unobstructed direction, so conditions today were excellent.
Tom, Sorry to hear that you drew a blank on your activation. Thank you for your efforts all the same as I’m sure others will agree. From a chasers point of view here, if I see a spot for 144mhz SSB/CW I will monitor the Freq for any sign of activity. If I think I can hear something I will call the station a few times and listen again. If I can still hear something I will then call again CW and then listen. CW has worked for me a couple of times when I could not clearly read the ssb signal and have managed to complete the contact. I am Vertically only at the moment as the beam went a couple of years ago. I’m 650ft asl overlooking the Irish Sea at the Southern end of IO72. My blind spot for signals is between 65 & 95 degrees NE Wales, Welsh Boarders and SE Wales. Look forward to working you again soon.
While on Pendle Hill someone came back to my 2m ssb cq using cw. I replied using phone, but no response. The question is, are split mode contacts allowed in Sota and how would I have logged it?
On occasions I’ve tried vocalising morse, but with no success, I never could sing.
Sorry Tom - we should have been able to give you two contacts but had no idea you were around. Busy gardening!
We had actually considered an activation but having been out on Monday thought we had better have a working day as there is rather a lot to do. The summit being considered was Burton Hill :
We usually operate from the beech wood on the first hill after the very muddy dip. The brambles are a real pain but until the leaves come out there seems to be less forest attenuation than further west. I think it has become more difficult on 2m as there used to be two operators living close by on the N and NE aspects, another nearby operator is not at all well and Rick M5RJC (who lived fairly close to us) has moved up north. Quite a few who live within simplex range of Burton Hill chat on the VM repeater and I expect some still listen on HA in Hereford City so might have been able to come to the rescue.
At least the footie gave you a result
73, Rod
Correction NOT “HA” BUT “ZA” for the \Hereford 2m repeater. - Rod
I wonder whether vertical polarisation is worse than horizontal on wooded summits. I don’t recall Burton Hill being a problem on 2m, but then I was running 25W to a 5 element… 12 contacts on 2m SSB in 50 minutes in July 2006. Goodness me, seems like it was only a short while back.
Sorry to hear of your non-activation of the local Burton Hill. This one is never easy to qualify (or get any response at all) because of all the trees (I try to visit when the trees are bare but may have left it too late this year), I move quite some way off the path and thus much nearer the scarp to get better take off and, if possible, I choose a weekend to try and increase the possible number of chasers. Although the local Radio Club is thriving the members are spread over a very wide area and many of them would be out of range for my 2m fm - even if they were listening. An alert a day or two before might help and a spot when you are there but nothing is foolproof. I hope you have better luck next time at least you beat us at Edgar Street. It’s the first time I’ve seen the pitch feature on the Reflector!
As Viki said, it’s a tricky one - low and wooded
But I think you’re better off not heading to the trig point but stopping in the pasture just before the woods start, about 20m below the true summit.
Go in May for a mega bluebell fest !
Well done for beating Hereford but surely not that much of a challenge for the high-flying Silkmen ?
As I’m hoping not to “draw a blank” again - here’s a heads-up!
I’ve got gigs in Dundee and Aberdeen this weekend. On Friday morning I’ll be driving up, and stopping by for an activation of Lambrigg Fell G/LD-046 - just off J37 of the M6. QRV time will be around 9.30/10am BST (0830-0900z).
It’s not the greatest VHF site, so some beams in my direction at that time would be appreciated!
