G/LD-43/35/37 - Hallin Fell / Little Mell Fell and Great Mell Fell

Activation Reports
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Day 2 of activations while in the lakes - Hallin Fell
After a good breakfast at the North Lakes Hotel, it was time to head out to the first summit.

Hallin Fell
I have been to Waterside campsite at Pooley Bridge many times in the past but never ventured any further down the road. After a couple of miles I arrived at the church car park and got boots on, rucksack on, and headed up the hill.
At the summit, I was greeted with this view looking down Ullswater to Pooley Bridge

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The summit

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A quick look around for an activation spot and I got setup here just behind the rocks
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Spotted myself and called CQ, First 4 contacts on 2 FM and then the contacts seem to stop, so I got setup on HF/14mhz, posted a spot and then boom, a pile up.
An additional 16 contacts made including a S2S with IL2KEY/P on I/LO-210

Then back down the hill to the car and off to the next - Little Mell Fell

Arrived at the summit, and the rain had landed.
After a long ponder I decided to crack on and go for it.
Waterproofs on and off I went.
The walk up was OK, hard going for me and plenty of mud, rain, and wind.
At the top, it was misty and windy.

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Time to deploy the small tarp and make a tent of sorts to try and shelter myself from the wind and rain
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Also gave me chance to try out the metal plates I made to support the mast when attached to the trig point - circled in blue
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Spotted myself and called CQ. Just 5 on 2m and then called it a day. The wind and rain didnt help matters.
Going back down was a little trickier with the mud, I did fall on to my bum a few times in the mud, but made it back to the car OK, although a bit muddier than planned/wanted.

Off to the next one. Great Mell Fell

Not sure what is great other than the name, again at the top, windy and more sideways rain.
The walk up again hard going and slippy due to wet grass and mud

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Spotted and called CQ. 5 contacts and that was enough. Back down to the car to get sorted and a brew.

Cheers to all the contacts and the repeat contacts.

Ta
John
m0vaz.

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10 points for perseverance on the last two summits. :slight_smile: Do you have a waterproof HT for the 2m work?

As a complete aside and apologies for the thread drift but your post got me wondering which is the least activated LD summit. I thought it might be one of your’s today but curiously it is the nearest summit to Keswick: Swinside, G/LD-057

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Thanks. The last two were hard work. I almost called it a day half way up the last fell. But pressed on.
As for the waterproof HT, I do have an FT3D I took with me for APRS but I activated using the FT-857D and left in the rucksack. I am thinking a large clip down butty box to mount the radio in might do the trick.

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Swinside needs permission to access hence the lower number of activations.

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Welcome to the All-weather Activators Club. :grinning: Well done perservering in the rain John. A few more like that and you’ll become a dab hand at erecting a shelter and wet weather will no longer be of concern. Operating the rig from within the backpack isn’t always the easiest, but it has become the norm for me on the Scottish hills on account of the often changeable conditions.

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Cheers Gerald. It was hardwork getting up the last summit. Already soggy from the previous hill plus the mud I was slipping on. But job done.
I think operating the rig from the backpack would be easier with some headphones so I can keep the whole rig under cover.

On the plus side(apart from tangled guy ropes) the new lower down rigging worked much better.

Extend the mast, slip the guy ring over the top and erect/secure the mast.
Drop the mast and attach the 2m antenna, and re-erect - job done.
A bothy shelter might be the answer.

Cheers
John

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I’ve always operated with headphones John. I cut my SOTA teeth on fairly popular summits and made the decision from the start to minimise disturbance to others on the hills. The downside is when someone wants to listen in, like a guy did on Great Gable. I took my headphones off and turned up the volume. It worked out okay.

All my rigs are housed in protective enclosures. I’m happy to take the FT-817 and IC-703 out when it’s pretty wet, but have only used the KX3 when it has been fine or shelter has been guaranteed. Even the linear amps I use are in enclosures. They usually come out the backpack, butare easily covered up.

As for shelter, I use a 1.2 x 1.8m tarp with my walking poles / fences / walls… even trigs! I’ve a 2.4 x 1.8m tarp for longer stays such as the S2S events. I’ve carried a bothy bag up virtually all the 550 hills I’ve activated, but I’ve never used it. It’s there just in case I get stuck or worse, injured and need an emergency shelter.

I use a SOTAbeams rotating guy ring as I usually deploy a 2m beam and that sits higher up the pole. I’ve taken to erecting the pole without anything on it, optimising the guying and then I add the antenna afterwards. The higher guying point is necessary with a heavier antenna which has a greater wind loading.

It does take a bit more preparation to operate in all weathers and it is not to everyone’s liking. In my case it has been borne out of necessity as accommidation has had to be booked weeks in advance and the weather has been what it has been. Nowt thee can do about that! :grinning:

73, Gerald

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