First HF activation G/SP-004 Shining Tor 25/11/23

Activation Reports
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As pretty much all of you know by now, I have been off the mountains since my unfortunate accident on the way to Kinder Scout at the beginning of the year. Having missed pretty much all of the summer SOTA season and with my leg much improved, I have been ITCHING to get out! I also reckoned it was time to test the Little Xeigu G106 out on a proper activation…

A window of opportunity presented itself, and after spending most of the week watching the mountain weather, Saturday looked suprisingly pleasent! it also had the advantage of being a weekend when i had my son, so he could be roped in to help!

The day was pleasant and although it was cold, it was lovely in the sunshine. I couldnt have asked fr better walking conditions although imnot going to lie, I was nervous… conditions were spookily similar when it all went so wrong on Kinder! but I put this to the back of my mind as we set off up the track from the Cat and Fiddle. Now i must confess, I did cheat slightly, William was my Sherpa!

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Anyhow, summit reached and time was knocking on… we were late (as usual for me) so we rapidly set up the EFHW and the G106, found a peaceful frequency on 40M… chucked upa spot, gave it 2 mins and put a call out…

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9 contacts later,i got wiped out by QRM and loads of stations suddenly deciding to use my frequency, not dissapointed though! 9 meant activation complete on 40M… happy days!

I left William packing up, and decided on a quick VHF activation, mainly because I wanted a 10th contact for the POTA! anyhow, this lead to another 7 in the log, but I had to call it quits, the sun was fading RAPIDLY as by now it was 1530 and i didnt fancy a walk off by head torch…

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Activation over, we made it back to the car just as the sun properly set… boy I have missed SOTA! I was soooo happy to get back on the hills, radio in hand making contacts again. Thanks to all the Chasers I worked, and apologies to all those trying me on VHF, I would have loved to work you all, but I knew my limits and it was time to go!

73 all, catch you next time!

Alan & William

20 Likes
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Very Well Done, Alan. Great that you did not try to overdo the Activation. I am sure there will now be a steady increase in Activations by You. I am Very Happy to be in your Log. 73, De Paul. M0CQE.

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Great to work you Paul, and yes a modest increase i think!

Cheers- Alan

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Well done for getting back on the hills, and thanks for the report. Looks like you had a beautiful day for it.

73, Matthew M0JSB

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Yes, thankyou… it was a superb afternoon, thatrs why we hit the go button! glad i did it, as its got me over a bit of hump, I have to say that after what happened going up on the tops certainly is a slightly scarier place! but i needed this push to set me back on again! Heres looking forward top SOTA 2024!

73 - Alan

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Well done Alan. @2E0JWA

Do you use walking poles? If not, it’s worth considering. I didn’t until I broke my leg, but now I do all the time and it’s surprising how much they help maintain balance on slippery surfaces. They also work very well as mast supports if you can get them into soft ground - we use Nic’s poles for the dipole ends too.

Hope to chase you soon - are you doing anything this weekend? We’re heading up to the Lakes, aiming to get some winter points. Be good to get you S2S if we can. My intention is to do 2m, while Nic does HF, as that worked quite well for us on GW/NW-042 last weekend.

73, Simon.

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Well done for getting out there.
It was a nice day, but as we all know, colder than you would imagine at the summit.
Nice steady path to the summit too, which helps if you haven’t been out for a while.
Onwards to the next goal!

Stuart - G1ZAR/P

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Yes, i am learning with them! as you say a great help to maintain balance and handy for use for other things too!

no, nothing planned… I havent got my lad this weekend, he is with his mum!

Thanks - 73 - Alan

1 Like