G4YSS:G/NP-006 4m-Contest,Camp,Finn,15/16-07-21

G4YSS · 20 July 2021 12:47

PART-2

QSO’s - Thursday:
2 on 20m-CW
21 on 80m-SSB
54 on 4m-SSB (Contest)
4 on 160m-CW
5 on 160m-SSB
Total: 86

QSO’s - Friday:
0 on 80m-SSB
4 on 2m-FM
3 on 80m-CW
0 on 40m-CW
Total: 7
Total – 2-days: 93

Battery Utilization (11.1V Li-Po’s):
5Ah No1: 90% approx
5Ah No2: 85% approx
2.2Ah not used

Ascent & Distance:
200m (656ft) ascent, 7.1 km (4.4 miles) 2.6mph
6 SOTA points

Walking Time: 1hr-38 min.
(53 min up/ 45 min down)
Summit Time: 17hr-40 min
Distance driven: 178 miles

Chronology (BST):
15-07-21:
13:20: Left Scarborough
15:50: Arrived Buttertubs Pass (A170/ A168/ A1M/ A684/ Redmire)
16:20: Walked for G/NP-006
17:13: Arrived G/NP-006

16-07-21:
10:53: Left G/NP-006
11:38: Arrived car
12:00: Drove for home
14:35: Arrived Scarborough (reverse of yesterday’s route)

70 MHz Contest Results:
Claimed – subject to adjudication:
QSO Points: 9,755
Bonus Points: 8,500 (17 Squares)
Total: 18,255
Best DX: G6DOD/P in IO90KQ (on IOW) at 415km (259 miles)

DISCUSSION:

RSGB AKAC 70MHz Contest Evening:
4m band conditions seemed to be above average and this has been my favourite VHF band for a long time; the ‘long time’ being FM until three years ago. As with the last 4m contest evening done from Whernside G/NP-004 in April 2018, the QSO total exceeded expectations.

I was also surprised by how easy it was to sit on one frequency and call CQ, especially with the help of the voice keyer. From the total of 54 stations worked, 48 were gained by this method including two SOTA S2S’s. The main advantage is time saved in checking each contact to ascertain whether they are already in your log. That doesn’t really apply for the home based big-boys with their computer logging systems but it means a lot to an op with two sheets of paper log, crouched uncomfortably in a tiny tent in the dark.

I wasn’t allowed to spot myself but it may have helped that I alerted four times on a fixed frequency for SOTA chasers; who knows? It certainly helped that my son bless him, put me on the DX cluster once or twice as well as on Sotawatch. The IO84 location may have had a lot to do with it too.

Perhaps too lazy but more like too uncomfortable to turn the beam much, I mainly pointed south but that didn’t stop me working stations in other directions including Aberdeenshire off the back, though I didn’t work into the EU. Best distance was The Isle of Wight at just under 260 miles but that’s all presupposing there are no errors in my entry. This all adds up to NP6 being at least as good as NP4 though it is a little lower and a bit more surrounded.

The Ukraine built transverter and lightweight but delicate 3-ele ‘overgrown Sotabeam’ gave good service again for a weight penalty of well under 1kg. When combined with the FT817ND, it’s not overly power hungry either. One 5Ah battery did the whole contest and twenty three 30 Watt HF SOTA QSO’s with a bit to spare.

The voice keyer, that I put together a few years ago, came in handy again for fixed frequency contest CQ’ing and it saves your voice. This is a stand alone device with a small speaker. You simply hold the microphone over the speaker and press both the start button on the keyer and mic PTT simultaneously. You can program in what you want – in this case, ‘CQ Contest; CQ SOTA, Golf Four Yankee Sierra Sierra Portable.’ Adding ‘SOTA’ to the CQ call when using your ‘own’ frequency enables the announcing of the SOTA ref. without feeling too guilty about the extra few seconds it takes.

These contest evenings seem to have gained in popularity while the early July 2-day VHF-NFD event appears to be on the decline.

160m:
Highlight of the night, conditions seemed good on here too. Four QSO’s in CW and five with SSB was about average but one or two ops, such as Brian G8ADD for example were missing. Noise levels are only going one way and in a city it is becoming impossible. Starting at 11pm was about right when the contest ends at 10:30 but it is getting late for people who have important things to do the next day unlike myself, a retiree.

80m:
3.760-SSB on Thursday evening did the log a lot of good with 21 QSO’s. Conditions were certainly good enough for QRP if that was all that had been available. A further three callsigns were added in CW on Friday morning when conditions were just as good.

40m:
It came as a bit of a shock that 7.032-CW, the mainstream SOTA channel of the past, delivered not a single QSO and that with two self spots. The second spot was accidental. Maybe it was too early in the morning?

20m:
Much like 40m but I did manage two QSO’s. Maybe it was too late in the afternoon?

2m-FM:
Four QSO’s including two S2S’s on this user friendly chat band at half past eight on a Friday morning.

WX:
Too warm for a winter activator for sure but it’s got to be done. Climbing up was purgatory and coming down wasn’t much better. The rest was bearable due to a nice cool breeze. No waterproofs or mountain jacket were taken but many things I didn’t use or need were.

Camping:
For some reason I ended up as more of a ‘pack mule’ than usual and on a hot day too. Close to 50 pounds was too much after thinking the new rucksack might improve things. I didn’t inflate the small airbed; lying on the ground instead. I never sleep well anyway so what’s the odds in summer at least? Maybe a standard foam carry matt is easier though bulky. I must remember to use my sleeping bag rolled up in the rucksack as a seat next time. It was much better than nothing on Friday morning.

Finn was mainly a good lad, though a bit too enthusiastic at times – natural of course for a young Lurcher. I took a tennis ball up but it wasn’t used. He would undoubtedly have enjoyed chasing it but I was too nervous about sheep to let him off the lead much. He needs further indoctrination about that. It took three years but after a bad start, I was able to trust Sasha in the presence of sheep. Talking of Sasha, who we still all miss terribly, Great Shunner was her final summit camp and she died less than two months later. It was also the mountain where Finn was initiated to SOTA, on a day’s outing a year ago.

Finn took to the tent very well and quickly understood about his sleeping bag. I kept him tucked up all night and at times I could feel him using my legs as a head rest. It never got what you could call cold overnight but he can shiver a bit if he’s inactive. We proved one thing. G4IPB - Paul’s Woody is not the only dog to bark on summits. It would now seem that Finn owns Great Shunner Fell as well as the street he lives on!

Not taking the inner tent meant that we were susceptible to unwanted visitors. We only got one green caterpillar, a spider and a black slug which climbed up the condensation on the back wall. There was no evidence of ticks, though Finn carried one up from the day before. Despite a proper extractor and magnifying glass I couldn’t remove it at the summit due to wriggling. It’s out now but it took the efforts of two people.

THANKS:
Thanks to ALL STATIONS WORKED. Many thanks to the 160m chasers who loyally tuned in after 11pm on Thursday night! Thanks to the VHF contest ops too and to those who organize the contests. Thanks to Finn – you were great company. Finally thanks to Phil G0UUU for help with the contest log.

73 John G4YSS

Photos: 1-3-8-13-17-22-24p5-30-34-38p2-46-44-49-58-60-70-74-83-97-99-101-104-109-112-114-120-123-124-125-130-131-Contest Map

Above: Thursday’s start point at Buttertubs Pass

Above: Finn. ‘When are we setting off Grandad?’

Above: On our way up the track. Me with an 85L rucksack but Finn is carrying his own LED collar

Above: Approaching the summit

Above: Gravity took too great an interest in this one!

Above: Unpacking. Birks Tarn (Swaledale) in the background looking N.

Above: Summit shelter, Finn and our home for the night - an ancient but practical ridge tent

Above: The sight hound ready to sight. Keeping a check on the Pennine Way

Above: Set up and ready for HF SOTA

Above: Much later - the 70MHz contest evening awaits

Above: The ‘overgrown Sotabeam’ for 4m made 2018 from stuff I found in my shed

Above: A bit blurry but FT817ND set to 28MHz feeding the 70MHz transverter

Above: Finn - first time in a sleeping bag and a tent

Above: A bit of the Pennine Way. A short walk between the 4m-contest and 160m at 11pm.

Above: Can’t sleep! A feast at 02:30. Finn adores scotch eggs

Above: The price of not bringing the inner tent. A slug climbing the back wall.

Above: The morning walk looking back. Tent and shelter

Above: Morning walk target. ‘Great Shunner Well (Spring).’ Less of a spring and more of a bog

Above: Some nice wild flowers though.

Above: Back from the morning walk and ready for some SOTA on 3.557-CW and 2m-FM

Above: Trig point TP3468 is unusual in being integral with the summit shelter. You could miss it? View North. Some cloud inversion and the end of the 80m dipole

Above: Our first visitor introduced herself as ‘Rachael from Bristol.’ Carrying a 40 pound pack she is doing the 268 mile Pennine Way solo in two halves. Valiant! Her opening comment, ‘Is that your washing line?’