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G/NP-004 Whernside 2m FM activation

Activation Reports
#1

I have done this summit several times though never in baking heat like today. Natalie M7NTD and I ascended from the West as per the tips on the Summit page by Roger G4OWG who I had the pleasure of meeting in person before he went SK.

Looking up from the start of the ascent

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G/NP-005 Ingleborough comes into view

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It was busy as expected and I had to wait a while to take this photo of the Trig

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Looking across to G/NP-005 Ingleborough from my operating position

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A total of 13 QSO’s were logged including five S2S. Good to be out on the hills again.
Many thanks to those that worked Natalie M7NTD and I today.

And of course, a video…

73 Chris M0RSF & Natalie M7NTD

10 Likes
#2

Hi Chris,
I reckon that arty photo of Ingleborough through the fence is good enough for a competition entry. A proper attention grabber. I suggest Trail Magazine possibly, or even Dalesman mag. Just the two I know about.

Well done in surviving an activation in the worst sort of activating weather I can think of. I guess there’d be a breeze though. You certainly needed one.
73, John

4 Likes
#3

Thanks Chris and Natalie for sharing your report and video of your activation. Well done to you both. :+1:

Geoff vk3sq

1 Like
#4

Hi Chris, Great report, I could hear both you and Natalie, but not enough to get a descent Report, you were right down in the Noise, I have now put a Collinear out again, but obviously need to get it higher up??!!

Well done, Tony

1 Like
#5

Hi Chris, my wife watched your video over my shoulder [I’ve talked about the SOTA Yorkshireman in flatcap, now she’s seen the movie]. We both agree I sounded inarticulate during our QSO - I must put my brain in gear for our next one. You walked Whernside from my favourite starting place - much less crowded than from Ribblehead Viaduct.

Whernside is only 16 miles [due east] of my village and I used to give and get good reports from Whernside, Ingleborough, Pen-y-Ghent, Fountain Fell, etc with my old X50 collinear, but the new [higher gain] V2000 [even though it’s much better to the north and south] seems a bit deaf to the east.

P.S. I didn’t realise you live in Leeds. My wife [then my girlfriend] and I lived there [e.g. Headingley, in earshot of the cricket] in the early 70s when I was a student. Not been back since then and been meaning to do a nostalgia trip. However, talking about it with a Leeds man who lives in our south Cumbrian village, he said, don’t bother, it’s all changed, you wouldn’t recognize anything.

2 Likes
#6

Possible a series of ground reflections. Maybe altering the height up or down a foot or so would make a difference.

1 Like
#7

Hello Andy, thanks for the QSO yesterday and thanks for watching.

I know Headingley very well and its not far from me. I have seen many a Rugby League game there as Natalie and I are fans of the Leeds Rhinos. I live in Bramley by the Swimming Baths.
A lot has changed in Headingley and it’s still rife with Students. I drove buses in Leeds for almost 19 years and it was busy all night up Headingley Lane but they were no trouble at all. They were just out for a good time. Speak soon hopefully.

73 Chris M0RSF

1 Like
#8

Hello John,

Hope all is well. Those photos were taken with a Smartphone. I’ve never thought of sending any to Trail Magazine of the Weather Watchers. It has been said that I take a decent photo and I must get it from my Grandad as he was a very keen photographer. As many people do I have an old biscuit tin full of old photos.

73 Chris M0RSF

1 Like
#9

Apologies for those that listened for us yesterday but were unable to hear us while Natalie and I activated Whernside. I had my suspicions that something wasn’t quite right from the start when our first QSO was Nick G4OOE/P on G/LD-003 Helvellyn who gave us a 53 report which at approximately 52km line of site could have been better.

I have checked the RF output power of my handheld into a Dummy Load and its fine. The problem is that the BNC connector on my antenna is intermittent. So my job this afternoon is to replace it!

73 Chris M0RSF

1 Like
#10

(OFF TOPIC)

Maybe - unfortunately my wife is not keen to go up a 3-stage ladder onto our slate roof and adjust the collinear support clamp whilst I listen to signal strengths of G/NP activators. Selfish or what?

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The V2000 has two radials for 2m [circled in green in photo] and a much longer adjustable 6m one [in red circle] which is pointing roughly east. I wonder if the 6m radial is affecting [denting inwards] the 2m radiation lobe in that direction so that the antenna is no longer omnidirectional. Where is a VHF antenna expert when you need one?

2 Likes
#11

The first of your photos looks very familiar, I spent a night camped on that spot last month.

Thanks for a nice report.

1 Like
#12

Chris, this is the point where you can claim how visualised the image of the fence running off to the distance and how that would drag the eye where the viewer who would be drawn to Whernside in the distance. Whatever you do, don’t admit that you were trying to just take a general view and the damn camera autofocus picked the fence instead of Whernside :slight_smile: And yes, the result is pleasing.

Did you use your phone for the video or a GoPro type thing?

2 Likes
#13

Hello Andy, I took the photo with my iPhone 12.

73 Chris M0RSF