Earlier this evening I did my first 2021 SOTA activation which was Shining Tor G/SP-004. The reason for this being my first SOTA activation of 2021 is because until recently it has not been acceptable to drive the to parking spot of your local SOTA summit. The reason for doing this activation in the dark is because due to social distancing, I prefer to walk past less people so walking in the dark means you are less likely to see anyone else on the walk. When me and my dad Tom M1EYP arrived at the parking spot, we saw 2 groups of people arrive there who were descending and then another 2 groups of people while on the ascent, but no problems with social distancing, after this we saw no one. My dad Tom M1EYP activated this summit on 20m CW where he got 5 contacts and then 2m FM where he got 4 contacts. I activated the summit on 2m FM where the band was very busy proving that those who say 2m FM is dead are wrong, I worked a total of 25 contacts. I have a week off work booked for this coming week so I am planning on night time activations of Gun G/SP-013 and The Cloud G/SP-015 later this week.
Good to work you Jimmy, the band improved as you were making your final calls, rising from 31 to 55 at the end and then fading into the noise.
Frank Mw0ofa
Yes, some good DX for Jimmy there on 2m FM. Pity he didn’t mention mine in the report - 2 into Puerto Rico and one into Curaçao on 20m CW. Enjoyable activation.
Activation reports and photos added to http://tomread.co.uk for these latest two Shining Tor activations. Nothing much more than what Jimmy @M0HGY has already posted above for the first one, but Marianne and I did Lockdown Walk 42 from Lockdown Walks yesterday for her birthday. Some good photos on that - because Marianne took them!
Earlier this evening me and my dad Tom M1EYP activated by The Cloud G/SP-015. We arrived at the parking spot at Cloudside to find there was no other cars there (there was 1 other car there by the time we arrived back there) which was a bonus as it meant we were unlikely to see anyone else on this walk and this was indeed the case as we saw no one at all, so no social distancing needed to be observed. However what we did see instead was 2 alpacas, 1 wallaby and an emu on the ascent and a cat in the descent also. The summit itself was very cold and windy so we dropped down and set up by a big rock below the summit which was sheltered and in the activation zone. My dad did his SOTA activation on 40m FT4 where he got 12 contacts and I did my activation on 2m FM where I got 20 contacts. Towards the end of the activation I was wearing 2 fleeces and a coat, but despite this was feeling cold so when the bands dried up we made the decision to pack up and descend. Some photos below.
Report and (edited improved) photos added to http://tomread.co.uk - click on SOTA, then G/SP-015 The Cloud.
I see for the second joint activation in succession, my son has bossed me in terms of QSO numbers. This in spite of him sticking steadfastly to the much-maligned 2m. I shall have to up my HF game for our forthcoming joint activation of Gun G/SP-013!
I know that Easter is now over, however I thought it would be best to post the activation report of my night time activation of my 3rd remaining local SOTA summit on this thread rather than start a new thread for this.
Earlier to this evening, me and my dad Tom M1EYP set off for our remaining local SOTA Gun G/SP-013. When we got to the parking spot 2 other cars were there, both of which were occupied (one of occupied 2 cars was still there when we arrived park at the parking spot after our activation). With this, we did not expect to see anyone at all on the hill and this was indeed the case, so no social distancing needed to be observed except for not getting too close the cars at the parking spot.
My dad activated on the summit on 20m FT4 where he got 8 contacts, DX being PY Brazil, CU Azores, HI Dominican Republic and 7X Algeria and then went onto 2m FM where he got 11 contacts so his total number of contacts was 19. I started off the activation on 2m FM where I got 11 contacts and then went onto 20m FT4 where I got 4 contacts, DX being PY Brazil, my total number of contacts was 15. This was the first time ever that I have worked PY Brazil under one of my own callsigns.
Usually we would take a flask of soup on SOTA activations. However we haven’t done this on our recent night time activations, but we did take a flask of tea on this activation which we enjoyed.
A Facebook group has now been set up for Amateur Radio in Macclesfield. This group is set up for licensed and prospective radio amateurs living in the Macclesfield area, those that have links and interests to the Macclesfield area and visitors of Macclesfield’s 3 local SOTA summits, which are Shining Tor G/SP-004, Gun G/SP-013 and The Cloud G/SP-015. Here is the link to join this group. Amateur Radio in Macclesfield | Facebook
