Yesterday Natalie M7NTD and I activated G/NP-017 Fountains Fell on 40m SSB, 20m SSB and 2m FM. A farmer on a quad bike rounding up his sheep came to talk to us as he saw my dipole antenna and mast. I thought he may have been a little off with us but he was absolutely fine and curious as to what we were doing. He had a listen to 40m and was quite surprised and genuinely interested. Also, he was wearing a flat cap. We had about a 15 minute chat by which time all his sheep had scattered in different directions and he had to go round them up again!
As always it was a great day out in the hills and a first outing for my recently purchased Elecraft KX2.
There was a spell when it was so still and eerily quiet at the summit. Though we were almost eaten alive by the midges. Iām covered in lumps from bites this morning.
Overlooking the Three Peaks of Yorkshire G/NP-005, G/NP-010 & G/NP-004
Excellent pics Chris, Thanks for the Contact from you up there yesterday, Would have been great to get you with my KX3 but I was halfway through soldering my patch lead to connect to my 2m Amp. Shame about the midges, I recommend Calamine Lotion for the itchš¤
On Saturday afternoon I was on Rombalds Moor G/NP-028 and was also thoroughly midged. Despite wearing a midge net I still have a nice collection of bites on my forehead. Iāve decided that sitting on a summit wearing a fleece and hat and huddling in a shelter is preferable to a still summerās day!
With my old Diamond X50 collinear on the chimney I used to have no problem working Fountain Fell and Pen-y-Ghent 40km (25 miles) to the east but my new V2000 ā although better in most directions ā seems to have a blind spot to the east (the long ā6mā radial points that way ā coincidence?). Chris, your signal was briefly 4/3 but mostly 1/1 so I gave up after a long listen.
It was great to get you and Natalie in the log from Moel Hebog (GW/NW-014) on Sunday. The midges were awful in Wales too - flying ants, swarming around in great clouds. At one point you couldnāt see the yellow element wire on my Sotabeams inverted V; the flying ants had covered every inch of it.Iād have taken a photo but theyād taken a fancy to that too. Truly horribleā¦
He clearly wants to be on the radio Paul - do they do a canine license
I was on the descent from Black Coombe when you started calling, but couldnāt break the pile up before the terrain got in the way.
My wife normally bears the brunt of the biting insects - taking her along is a short term strategy in deflection from me however, as I get to relive every bite with her afterwards for days
Seriously though, I must taste real bad because I donāt suffer that badly. On Black Coombe it was more a combination of several species - covered in midges, daddy long legs must have sticky feet because they just seem to cling on, and there was something in between the two - donāt think it was a biter.
I think either the heat or CO2 emissions also attract an overhead parade - just donāt look up
One thing that does work is the long lead on the IC-705 allows me to talk standing up - itās definitely worse being closer to the ground. If you have one it is definitely worth a try on voice modes. This is why I packed in 30m CW early, I just didnāt get any respite.
I walked & activated The Calf G/NP-013 on Saturday not so far away from either Chris or Mark and had no insect bite problem at all. But then - apart from clegs (horse flies) sneaking up on my arms from behind - I rarely get bitten. On the other hand, my wife is always suffering from insect bites. I wonder if men and women smell differently to midges and black flies. But she reckons itās to do with your blood group.
Over here in darkest DL-land, we thankfully have no midges, although the horse-flies or clegs (D. āBremsenā) can be a problem - mosquitos are also here, but donāt seem to be a problem at all on SOTA walks. Iāve done a few activations in the last month or so, where the Bremsen have been around in small numbers, but on one particular activation - of the Gerstenrieder Kopf DL/MF-103 - there were literally hundreds of the blighters to be swatted off.
Even though the activation itself, and the walk, was very pleasant radio-wise, those silent grey agents of the Devil took the pleasure down to āI need to get out of hereā levels. Of course, once I reached the valley - and yes, folks, I did manage that - several strictly medicinal beers needed to be imbibed to bring the stress levels down to the āmerely chaoticā of normal life.
My diary entry for the day reads āDonāt ask!āā¦
Thanks for the S2S and no need whatsoever to apologise. Natalie and I have three poodles, we had four until we lost one earlier this year. We have poodles because Natalie is allergic to dogs but they donāt lose fur so sheās fine with them.
73 Karen
