G4YSS:G/NP-008 Gt.Whernside, 2m-FM, 26-12-25

G4YSS · 27 December 2025 20:28

G4YSS: G/NP-008 Gt. Whernside on 2m-FM, 26-12-25
Issue-1 pse rprt errors

Activation of GREAT WHERNSIDE G/NP-008 using 2m-FM QRO/ QRP
Friday 26th December 2025 (Boxing Day)
All times: UTC

EQUIPMENT:
FT1500 2m-FM 50W mobile transceiver
HRB 11.1V/ 5 Ah Li-Po (No8) battery (part discharged)
Turnigy 11.1V/ 2.2 Ah Li-Po (No5) battery - not used
Vertex VX150 Mono-band 2m-FM 5W H/H
J-Pole for 2m-FM on short Ali/GRP mast (3-sections)
UV-3R 2-Band, 2W-FM H/H in top pocket – not used
Garmin GEKO-301 GPS
Umbrella - not used
Pack weight: 9kg (19.8 pounds) inc Primaloft jacket

INTRODUCTION:
Following a successful if rather cold and very long activation of G/NP-028 Rombalds Moor on Christmas Eve, I thought I would like to give Great Whernside G/NP-008 a try. Because of my injury in April this year, I was unable to follow my long-running tradition of climbing Great Whernside for VHF-NFD on the first weekend in July. Since 2003 I have not missed a single year no matter what the weather and with quite a few overnighters. It is one of many things in SOTA that has given me immense pleasure and often the dog too. In the early years my son Phil would come along. An exception was that I didn’t put it on for NFD in July 2002 but I did activate it that same December. So this was the basis for my self-imposed pressure not to miss out this year even though I’m much too late for VHF-NFD.

If I was going to succeed here I would need to be careful, to go slowly, limit the weight and use the sticks that my wife provided me with, bless her. For SOTA, I have always used the Tor Dyke start point, parking on the Kettlewell side of the cattle grid as a precaution from cattle damage to the car. There was no thought of going up there with HF this time but I planned to try and get more than five Watts of 2m-FM to the top. Neither would I be trekking NE across the summit plateau from the trig to my usual activating spot and pitching a tent. The mountain forecast was for 0C and a strong wind. MWIS predicted -10C wind-chill. It could have been a lot worse of course.

EXECUTION:
After putting on an alert, I left the hotel in Gargrave at around 09:15 for the 38 minute drive, stopping to get some photos of Kilnsea Crag with the sun on it, after which I noticed that the clag was down on both Great Whernside and Buckden Pike. Perhaps it would lift but if it didn’t, this was going to be a cold couple of hours with no views.

The ascent started at 10:20 but it isn’t far to the start of the bog which must be negotiated. Even in summer it never dries up but thankfully it rarely troubles the boot tops. The two gullies further up were my biggest worry. For years, it’s been a pain humping a 40 or 50 pound pack for field day but even with just 20 pounds, I still had the leg to worry about. I managed to bypass gully-1 but could see no alternative route around the second one. One step at a time and very slowly the obstacle was cleared.

It was a relief to climb the stile, the worst being over but only the worst of the terrain as the east wind got progressively stronger and colder. I met a couple with a Spaniel called Mabel. I remember the name as it was my mother’s. I apologised for having no dog treats with me but was told that Mabel had already eaten half a sausage sandwich. They asked about the state of the bogs lower down so I was able to reassure them – to a degree at least.

Route in Brief:
Park south of the cattle grid on the verge at SD9861 7567 but not blocking the gate. (Parking north of it, especially in summer, risks damage to the car from cattle. (I once came back to find my door mirrors ripped off and left hanging by their cables!) From here walk through the gate at SD 9891 7558 and a stile at SD 9963 7522. The 1st marker post (yellow top) is at SE 0005 7468 and the 4th at SE 0022 7414. The trig is beside the summit cairn at SE 00205 73905.
Note-1 The 100km grid letters change from SD to SE part way up.
Note-2: Buckden Pike G/NP-009 can also be accessed from this parking place.

GREAT WHERNSIDE, G/NP-008, 704m (2,310ft) 6 pts. 11:22 to 14:05. Temp: 0C Wind: East 25 mph. Low-cloud throughout. WAB: SE07. LOC: IO94AD. Trig: TP-0703. Vodafone coverage - 4G.

Setting Up:
Once a couple of summit photos had been sent out via WhatsApp, the main priority was to get the Primaloft jacket on and the hood up. No matter how bad the weather is, I almost always walk up (and down) just with a fleece over a base layer. Today I had mitts on because I was using sticks; equipment I’m not yet used to.

After assembling the mast to J-Pole (6 parts in all) I stuck it in the stones half way up the west side of the massive summit cairn where it blew over as soon as my back was turned. Here was the least of the wind but it wasn’t entirely sheltered as I would find in due course.

Out with the log, down with the sit-mat and with the FT1500 mated to the BNC and a 5Ah Li-Po, I was ready for the off at just coming up to the alerted time of 12 noon. Good timing for once. The first job was to text my son Phil G0UUU and he set off from home for the 5-minute drive to Scarborough’s local high-spot with road access at 152m ASL.

145.400 FM – 20 QSO’s:
With 25W from the FT1500 to the J-Pole I worked G0UUU/M Phil (on sked) near GCHQ, Irton Moor, Scarborough - 53 both ways. This was a lot easier than Rombalds Moor to Ravenscar had been on Christmas Eve.

After a spot and CQ the following callsigns were logged:
G6AEK Dave in Blackpool 56/ 44; G4KUC John QRP in Marple nr Stockport 44 both ways; M8BIA/P Martin S2S on The Gun G/SP-013 at 2 x 53; M8VZT Paul nr Chester 59’s; G4DUZ 5 miles E of Huddersfield, using 20W to a GP15, 59+; M7VTO/P Robert doing POTA at Brimham Rocks Trig Point (GP-0714) 59/ 57.

From 12:25z:
M1BNH Pat in Bury using an old TR-9000 plus a linear and 15-20W out to a Diamond ant, 59/ 31; MORSF Chris in Leeds 59’s (thanks for the spot Chris). M0OUD/P Tony S2S on Red Screes G/LD-017, having walked all the way up from Ambleside, 59/ 58; M0PJE Peter S2S on Baugh Fell G/NP-012, 59’s.

Most people were reporting bright sunshine but although the sun’s disc was visible through the low-cloud more often than not, annoyingly the latter stubbornly refused to shift for the entire activation. More and more people were coming up from Kettlewell in sunshine with their final few hundred metres in frigid fog and many of them came over to talk and ask questions.

Next to call in, with a desk mic and lovely audio, was GM3VMB Peter at Eaglesfield (Lockerbie) 59/ 57 and to clarify once again his acronym for winter SOTA ops – ‘MOTHS’. This stands for Masochists-on-the-Hills! As things stood with me at the time he called in, I was prepared to admit there was a ring of truth to this. We always have a laugh about it but Peter has helped me out of a situation or ten in the dim and distant past – the early days of SOTA. You know the thing; shivering while calling on S20 and pleading for half an hour with three QSO’s in the log! During this QSO Peter reported that the TX audio on my FT1500 had suddenly gone muffled to the point where I was almost unreadable, though signal strength was unaffected.

Next in was G1FVA Peter S2S NP8 to LD8 on a very cold and audibly windy Blencathra G/LD-008. It was 59 both ways and Peter’s qualifying QSO. There’s not much shelter up there; even the ‘trig point’ is only 2 inches high. This second Peter quickly confirmed the audio problem reported by the first. Waggling and wiggling the mic lead improved nothing, so it was time to ditch the mobile rig which went back into the rucksack.

At 12:42 I had a half-hour break, eating a chocolate biscuit, moving around to combat the cold wind and talking to walkers but it had very little effect in improving my comfort. Though it can often be a bit pessimistic, the MWIS warning of minus 10C chill factor wasn’t too wide of the mark. I looked longingly down the west side where at a short distance there were massive rocks to hide behind. They were unreachable; I didn’t have enough coax so it was a case of sticking it out for as long as possible to get the chasers their points.

Continuing but this time with the VX150 and 5W:
M0PVA Mick in Billington 59’s; we always mention the day we met on NP8; M1DHA Alan in Barnoldswick 59/ 59+20dB; 2E0SQK Paul to the south of Preston 59/ 59+30dB; M1EYP Tom S2S on The Cloud G/SP-015, 57’s.

The final three QSO’s of the day:
G0TVB Paul at Heptonstall nr. Hebden Bridge using a KX3 and a 50W linear feeding a collinear vertical - 59’s; M7SZY Mark/ H/H with rubber duck, out walking with his family near Wigan and originally from Polska 57/ 55 and finally my sole Welsh contact in the form of MW7CCE Colin in Wrexham who seemed very pleased to work NP8 at 57 both ways.

Everybody bar none had the Christmas spirit, making for a heart-warming activation whilst physically I froze. I was pleasantly surprised to log so many on 2m but sorry I omitted to give my name on two occasions. This was due to the weather conditions causing some stress. The sun kept on teasing. I was telling visitors that it would be ‘shining in another half-hour’ but it never did. In fact the wind strength increased by 2pm which is when the frequency dried up and I called it a day.

The Descent:
After sitting around in the cold I was a bit stiff at first so it took some getting going. Then I turned off left too early but found a 2m high rock to hide behind while I reorientated. It took 62 minutes to get back down – the same as coming up and I was relieved to get back in the car by 15:07 where I sat for over half an hour. Somewhat annoyingly, the sun made its first appearance just after leaving the top but the wind was still strong and cold.

The satnav took me back via a minor road which dropped me right into Gargrave, by then in darkness. This was much better than all the main roads and roundabouts in the morning. After carrying a handful of gear into the hotel for charging, the VX150’s rubber duck was conspicuous by its absence. ‘It must have dropped into the rocks of the summit cairn from its poly bag.’ No fortunately; it reappeared the next day on the car seat.

COMMENTS:
I’m happy! This activation continued my long tradition of putting on NP8 every year since SOTA began even though it wasn’t for VHF-NFD this year. It is one of my favourites from before SOTA but even more so now. NP8 and its twin NP9 are the nearest 2,000 footer’s to my Scarborough QTH. Also it’s been a year to the day since I had some winter bonus.

I would have enjoyed the activation more if it hadn’t been so cold but the enthusiasm and spirit of the chasers helped significantly. It’s always a pleasure to talk to people on the air on ‘special’ days.

The log shows no less than five S2S’s and a POTA P2P. The latter I had to investigate as the 50k map shows the Yorkshire Dales National Park border going right through the summit of Great Whernside. If I’d been at my usual place 275m to the NE, it wouldn’t have counted. Looking at the 25k OS map it seems like the trig is just inside the park and I was less than 2m west of it so as far as I can see, it counts for POTA.

My Yaesu FT1500 50W mono-band mobile, used for this activation has been withdrawn from service pending investigation. Hopefully the audio fault is with the mic and not the rig. The trusty VX150 ‘modernised’ with its Li-Ion 2.2Ah battery, saved the day for the final seven 5W QSO’s. It’s been a solid, reliable rig over the past 20 years of SOTA. Since buying the new battery it’s come out of retirement to do sterling service once again. The universally respected Yaesu FT60 H/H, which came out later, is very much of the same style and takes the same battery.

Thanks for all the on-air chats.

ASCENT & DISTANCE:
217m (712ft)/ 5.5km (3.4 miles up & down)
Driving from/ to Gargrave: 38 min

Walking times:
Ascent: 62 min
Descent: 62 min
Summit time: 2hr-43 min

QSO’s:
13 on 2m-FM QRO 25W (FT1500)
7 on 2m-FM QRP 5W (VX150)
TOTAL: 20
SOTA Points: 9

THANKS:
To ALL STATIONS worked and the SOTA spotting service. To Phil G0UUU/M for our QSO and Chris in Leeds for a spot which brought in a few more stations.

73, John G4YSS/P
(ex-GX0OOO/P)

Photos:
5-6-11-13-14-15-16-18-21-24-27-30-32-11:25P-46-43-11:40P-51-53-60-62-64-69-70