Today I (MI0PYN) went up Slieve Gullion (GI/CA-001) with 2 of my kids, one of which is also licensed as MI7PYN. The cloud base was at an altitude of about 6 inches, with foggy conditions at home and even the entrance to the forest park had visibility of less than 50m.
I had alerted for a HF and VHF activation, with both CW and SSB a possibility on HF and FM on VHF, but it was clear conditions would be difficult, especially as one of my boys isn’t interested in radio. However, when we got to the car park, we decided we’d walk up anyway.
Conditions were not great partway up, and the cloud got thicker as we went. By the time we got to the cairn/tomb at the top, we were all wet already with the moisture driven by the wind. Not having a tarp with me, and given no. 2 offspring couldn’t engage in his chosen activity of drawing, we made an executive decision to limit operation to 2m.
We called CQ SOTA for a full 20mins but only got 1 call in the log for each of us, the same op was kind enough to work us both. As conditions were very cloudy and wet, and we were dripping just from standing in the wind, I wasn’t prepared to get the KX2 set up, and we called it and made our way back down to the car.
The trip wasn’t a total bust as I managed 10 contacts on CW in a lower car park which is still within the park and so qualified a POTA activation, but the bonus points for this summit eluded us today. I also got to climb another (small) mountain with my boys, so that alone would have made it worthwhile.
I’ll get it before the the winter bonus points go away though, definitely.
I’m sorry to hear that you didn’t qualify in the driek today on GI/CA-001. Either I worked you or it was a pirate who was using your call then on 7037 KHz at 12:00z operating at around 12 WPM. I was satisfied that this was a good QSO. If this was not the case then please let me know and I will erase the QSO from my log and the SOTA database. I know we encounter Phantom Chasers appearing in activators logs, but Phantom Activators appearing in Chasers logs are very rare indeed!
73 for your next activation - and good on you for encouraging your two kids to accompany you in such miserable condx! It was good to see some new faces other than the usual selfies we see on the reflector.
I did work you at that time on CW, but I was not at the summit anymore. It was during the subsequent POTA activation in a lower car park where conditions were much better.
So it was a valid QSO, but for POTA, not SOTA unfortunately.
Thanks for the info and the POTA QSO - I am registered for the scheme both as Hunter and Activator. Maybe its me who needs to improve my receiving, and not trust as much in the G4IRN RBN transferring out of time spots to SOTA Watch and the @MM0FMF SOTA Cluster. I will now delete what I thought was my SOTA QSO.
The same here Stefan. I did note you were calling CQ POTA rather than SOTA. Thanks for clarifying where you were at the time of the contact. I hope you qualify the summit when you next decide to go there.
It can be a problem when you have alerted but then operate from somewhere else. It’s always best to cancel the alert as soon as you can if you intend to operate but not from the summit. RBN doesn’t know you are not at the summit, it sees CQ calls from your call and matches them against the alert and…bingo a spot.
When SOTA started you went up a hill and called “CQ SOTA” and hoped someone who knew about SOTA was listening.
Things have moved on since then with spotting, self-spotting and all kinds of apps. It was a simple age in the past. Now you have to be aware of the consequences that come with all the automated magic that lurks in the background.
I notice from the photo that you didn’t appear to be sporting any Goretex clothing… I’d have thought Goretex or Paramo would be de riguer for GI’s WX
