G4YSS Activation Report, G/LD-004 Skiddaw on 2m & 4m FM, 26-12-24
Issue-1. Please report errors
G/LD-004 SKIDDAW on 2m-FM QRP/ QRO & 4m-FM QRP on Boxing Day 2024
All times UTC
Unaccompanied
EQUIPMENT:
Vertex (Yaesu) VX150 2m-FM/ 5W monoband handheld with integral 2.2Ah Lithium.
RM TC150V, 50W Linear Amplifier (560gm inc leads)
5Ah HRB Li-Po Battery for linear
Half-wave vertical J-Pole for 2m on short mast
IC-E90 4-Band, 5W, VHF-UHF handheld
2m set-top helical with extender for 4m
Reserve: UV-3R 2W dual band Handheld (not used).
Pack weight: Approx 9kg (20 lbs) including 500ml fluids & primaloft jacket
INTRODUCTION:
Based at the Derwentwater Hotel at Portinscale near Keswick, this was part of a 7-night Christmas break. Apart from 2020, we have been spending Christmas at this hotel since 2018. However this year staff shortages, including one chef, made mealtimes very slow affairs. Cost for two people including all meals, Christmas lunch, Christmas evening buffet, and cream teas on two of the days, was £1,176 for two people - my XYL and me (£84 pppn). This was actually less per night than last year. The drive from Scarborough is 137 miles. 3hrs-11min via A170-A1M-A66.
After a forecast that gradually changed for the better, a reasonable weather window manifested itself for Boxing Day (26th). Even so this led me to expect low-cloud and drizzle but what came was much better than that and much better than last Boxing Day on LD4, whence I got plastered with snow.
ROUTE:
Unlike last year when I arrived late, there was plenty of room at 9am in the Underscar car park - NY 2802 2534 (295m ASL). From there the path goes via NY 2829 2551; NY 2817 2593; NY 2801 2625; NY 2787 2661; NY 2784 2689; NY 2709 2763; Summit Trig: NY 2604 2908. The path is very well used, mostly good condition and almost impossible to lose even in bad viz, though snow cover would make it harder to see. It passes through four gates.
EXECUTION:
Following a short drive from Portinscale and waiting for the GPS to locate, I left the car at 09:10, initially walking along with a family from Crewe until the ladies amongst them dropped back. The man told me that he’d need to charge his electric car before going back home and that it would take 1 to 1.5 hours at the local garage.
Half way up the steep section I was overtaken by three lads on their mountain bikes. They were actually riding and where they got the extra energy to communicate with one another I’ll never know. As always I was going as fast as I could possibly manage, keeping right on my physical limits. It involved a few short stops – just a few seconds to catch my breath. Unless I force myself to slow down, this always happens because my brain is already setting up the antenna at the top while the rest of me has just started the climb!
This was an almost windless and sunny ascent up until just before Little Man, then it got a lot colder and breezier from the SW. This is the regular pattern but by now I was in cloud which fortunately was a finite layer around the sides of the mountain.
A smidgin over an hour-and-a-half of ‘grin and bear it’ I reached the deserted trig point to take photos. Despite the apparent haste, I noted that I’d been 5 minutes slower than last year. The higher temperature, sunshine and very light winds lower down might explain some of that but lack of fitness is likely the real reason. The summit was out of cloud. Not long afterwards the sun made an appearance and remained for the rest of my stay. A man at the trig point was there for just 1 minute. He seemed surprised when I told him that I planned to stay for at least three hours.
SKIDDAW, G/LD-004, 931m (10 pts) 10:41 to 15:28. 5C increasing to 6C. SW wind 20 mph decreasing to 15mph. Sunshine and excellent visability. A temperature inversion with thick cloud increasing in the valleys below. No lying snow. LOC: IO84KP, WAB: NY22, Trig: TP6001. Vodafone coverage.
145.400 FM - 30 QSO’s:
Geoff GM4WHA, attentive as ever, was waiting for me on 145.400 immediately that I checked it was free! We exchanged 59’s and had an enjoyable catch-up chat for ten minutes. I enquired about John G0TDM in Penrith and his XYL Eileen but Geoff was one step ahead of me in informing him. Sure enough up came John for a brief 2-way 59 QSO.
In the 2m-FM Log:
G6AEK Dave in Blackpool; GM3OXK Jack in Dunfries (IC7300/ 25W to a collinear at sea level); G0MHF John at Birkenhead; 2E0LDF Reg - Cockermouth; G0PMJ Dave - Darlington; MW3YNK Gerry at Colwyn Bay; GM0GOV Fred in Dunlop (20mls S Glasgow – ‘raining’); GW4ZPL John nr Bangor in IO73WD/ SH56.
Continuing on: GM3VMB Peter in Eaglesfield nr Lockerbie; M0XUP Steve in Maryport; M0MQV Nigel at Roadhead NW Cumbria (IO85OB - 5W to a collinear); GM6LJE Robin in Langholme using a 991 with 50 Watts; G1FVA/P S2S on G/LD-008 Blencathra (Keith who’d routed up from Scales and who would go on to WOTA-163 afterwards); 2E0MIX Derek in Whitehaven; M0ALA Andy – Barnsley, South Yorksire; G4VFL Andrew – Egremont and G6LSO/M Colin passing Bassenthwaite Lake (FTM400 - home QTH Carlisle).
From over the Irish sea, another interesting conversation came via EI2KC Anthony at Drigheda, Co. Louth, 25 miles north of Dublin and 50W to a Diamond vertical. Anthony confirmed the inversion conditions when he gave me his local atmospheric pressure of 1032mB. Initially thinking I was in Wales, he was curious about my QTH when I told him I was at 3,054 feet ASL. He was also very complimentary about my (at the time) 5W signal to the home-brew vertical. Thanks for the new country Anthony!
Next in: G0KUY/P Steve on Crompton Moor near Denshaw, NE of Oldham (IO83XN/ SD90); G6LKB Dave in Ulverston; M0LLC Lee in a foggy Southport; M0PVA Mick in Billington; GM4CXM Ray – Bearsden (NW Glasgow); G8KBH Dave using 20 Watts from Blackpool and M6IIE Rob on Totridge Fell near Dunsop Bridge.
Next I heard, ‘Summit-to-summit.’ This was Keith G1FVA/P S2S on WOTA 163 Souther Fell to the east of Blencathra. Not one but two S2S’s: M0PJE/P Peter S2S on Billinge Hill G/SP-017. Assisted by Ray GM4CXM, I worked GM0VEK Peter in Kirkintilloch, NE of Glasgow. I remember working Peter a number of times while on holiday in the GM/SS and GM/CS areas.
Ray is a real VHF enthusiast. For instance he has 44 elements on 23cm and seven on 6m. However, to reach me today on 2m-FM, he was just using 30W from a TS790 to a collinear but it was mounted on a very tall mast.
Tests of my 2m linear to a few people gave me some useful results as follows: With 5W and 50W I got 33 and 52 from G0MHF John. Anthony EI2KC gave me 54 and 58 for the same test and I would never have made the QSO with GM0VEK Peter in Kirkintilloch with just 5W. I might not have made it with 50 without the help of GM4CXM Ray who arranged to push Peter through to me for a 55/ 52 exchange at 15:03 – my final QSO of the day.
70.450 FM – 2 QSO’s:
Geoff GM4WHA (Annan) suggested trying for a QSO on 4m-FM. My IC-E90 with extended 2m rubber duck and three Watts was the offering from the LD4 end today but we had successfully made this QSO exactly a year ago and I had confidence. I stood up for this one; a welcome change from sitting on lumpy rocks. After a short while we exchanged with 59/ 33 reports at 12:45z. Thumbs up!
Also during the 2m session, I received a request from G4VFL Andrew in Egremont. ‘Could we try 4m?’ Reaching for the ICOM and standing up again, we managed a marginal QSO at 12:54z with 59/ 41 reports. My three Watts was just about making it but only with the handheld canted over on its side. Fortunately Andrew had warned me in advance that his 4m antenna was horizontally polarised. Without that knowledge we would have failed for sure.
There was one more attempt at a 4m contact near the end of the activation but the distance was just too great for my mouse power and nothing more than a modified 2m rubber duck. Once again this was arranged on 2m-FM but try as I may I could not get back to Ray GM4CXM on 70.300 (his VSWR was better there). This despite the fact he was using a 7-ely horizontal beam. The trick of turning the handheld on its side failed this time I’m afraid, though Ray’s 50W was coming to me at 59 plus on the meter. Oh well, it was worth a try but NW Glasgow wasn’t going to be reached on 4m today.
Descent:
The summit ridge had been deserted for half an hour until I spied two people and a dog coming up the steep flank from Carlside just as I was leaving. I met a man near the top gate on his way up the ‘motorway’ and marvelling at the views.
The car park was reached in 66 minutes at 16:34. It was dark by now but there were still two other cars remaining there. Evidently, since I’d left in the morning, it had been full because one of the cars had been left on the side of the approach road. Christmas walking in the Lake District is obviously very popular so it pays to get there as early as possible.
QSO’s:
2m FM: 30
4m FM: 2
Walk data:
09:10: Left Underscar car park (295m ASL)
10:41: Arr LD4 Trig Point for photos
10:51 to 10:58: Walk back to shelter-1 for activation
15:28: Left shelter-1
16:34: Arr. Underscar car park
1hr-31min up/ 1hr-6min down
Summit time: 4hrs-47min
Ascent and Distance: 680m (2,231ft) & 10.6km (6.6 miles)
10 points plus 3 points winter bonus
Comments:
Starting in 2002, this was my 22nd annual Skiddaw activation. I like to keep up the tradition and Boxing Day is as good a time as any if not better. So many friendly people and that went for the radio bit too. Once the pain of the ascent was over, I really enjoyed the day. Snow was limited to one patch a few feet long beside the path past Little Man. No white Christmas in the UK this year. Temperatures have been well above the seasonal average.
Equipment:
Last time both the rigs, a Moonraker MT270M 25W mobile with Pye BPF and my IC-E90 5W handie, had suffered from damp and both were shutting down after one and ten seconds of transmit respectively. They’d both bench tested 100% functional at home after the activation and once again recently but I didn’t fancy risking the 270 again.
This time I packed the trusty Vertex (Yaesu) VX150 with its new lithium battery and my little-used 50W linear amp. The latter is an RM TC150V. A label on the base states: 140 to 150 MHz; 3 to 5W input; 50W output; current 10A; 13.8V. Similar looking to one of those old Italian CB ‘burners’ it resembles a big black heat sink with three rocker switches on the front, two of which appear to do nothing. The SO239’s on the back were dreadful; mainly the threads and I had to swap them for RS ones.
Bought in 2013 from Ali Express, I tried the linear from NP32 back then but without much success. When keyed up, it was shutting down the handheld which was driving it; in fact forcing it back onto receive. Confidence was lost but today it appeared to perform flawlessly with the VX150. A few years ago I tried it once on SSB but because it has a receive RF amp which can’t be switched off, the noise introduced was pretty terrible. Not so on FM. There was no extra noise and the rig’s meter registered several ‘S’ points higher for any given incoming signal. It comes with a circuit diagram but the compoments are not labelled with anything meaningful. Fortunately there is what appears to be an output filter recognizable in the circuitry. There’s also an internal 10A fuse and the output device is a ceramic MRF247. At least it’s light in weight; 570gm including leads.
The differences between an HF and a VHF activation seem to me to be very marked. Both have their merits of course but VHFM is a bit more free and easy.
THANKS:
To ALL STATIONS Worked. To Geoff GM4WHA and Sotaspotter for spots. Season’s greetings to all.
73, John G4YSS/P
Photos: 4-6-7-8-14-18-342p-358p-516p-38-47-58-65-69-734p-752p-545p-99-100-101-amp internals
Above: Path from Underscar car park
Above. Cyclists riding - not pushing while I struggle on
Above: Looking back towards Keswick and Derwentwater
Above: In clag for a while
Above: Not far to go. Looking back
Above: At the trig point G/LD-004 Skiddaw
Above: The man in the white hat told me that this was the first time he’d been on Skiddaw for 65 years. I didn’t ask his age.
Above: My home for the afternoon. VHF on LD4
Above: Still sunny here but cloud thickening below
Above: Ullock Pike about to be overwhelmed
Above: Untidy ‘shack’
Above: Ullock Pike almost covered
Above: Looking east. Blencathra’s Sharp Edge (G/LD-008) right of photo
Above: On the way down. Looking south to Skiddaw Little Man - a HEMA
Above: Man on his way up. His wife and baby turned back at Little Man but he couldn’t resist the summit! We all know how he feels.
Above: The most snow I saw in the day. On the path passing Little Man
Above: Back in the dark
Above: The RM TC150V 2m band linear amp. 5W in/ 50W out, lightweight and didn’t break the bank
