G4YSS: GM/SS-029; Broad Law 18-05-21
Issue-3. Please report any further errors
Activation of BROAD LAW - GM/SS-029
18th May 2021 using GM4YSS
HF - QRO on 80-40-20m. QRP on 30m & 2m-FM
All times: BST (UTC plus 1hr, UOS as ‘z’)
Broad Law was activated during a long-awaited holiday break at the Waverley Hotel, Melrose, Borders 17th to 24th May 2021. The second activation was The Cheviot G/SB-001 on 22-05-21. Third and last was Eildon Mid Hill G/SS-214, not far from the hotel on 23-05-21.
EQUIPMENT:
FT817ND HF/VHF/UHF 5W Transceiver
MX-P50M, 50 Watt HF Linear Amplifier
Link dipole for 80m thru’ 20m on a 5m CFC/ alloy mast with 1m end-sticks
Home-brew tunable loading coils for 160m (not used)
5 Ah Li-Po battery (no reserve)
J-Pole for 2m FM
Reserves:
IC-E90, 4-band, 5W VHF H/H (not used)
Sotabeams 144MHz Band Filter (not used – forgot adapter)
QRO pack: 9.4kg (20.7 pounds) including food, umbrella, Primaloft jacket, 0.5 litre drinks.
INTRODUCTION:
This is our first stay at the Waverley Hotel. The holiday was booked through Shearings but the company went into liquidation last year. Fortunately Leger took over but the hotels are rented and not owned by either company. Though covid restrictions eased on the 17th, masks continue to be required except in your own room and while dining. So far there are only about a dozen people in the hotel but 100 are expected next week.
The 168-mile drive from Scarborough on the 17th took a mere 4.5 hours net but we stopped off at the Washington Services to meet up with Geoff G7GJU of the WAB committee. This was for the presentation of an unofficial WAB trophy, sponsored by Graham G4JZF. It was for activating the grid square OV00 a number of times.
These days I don’t like to activate the day following the drive up but a weather opportunity showed itself. Apparently the remaining six days are to be rain affected.
Why Broad Law? Because I’ve heard of it from my aircraft WW2 wreck hunting days. Enthusiasm? No; that takes a lot of raising for me these days. A worthy target? Just about. Worth 4 points and less than an hour from the hotel. I have done nothing SOTA since last September and was wondering how I would react to walking uphill again with a heavy pack. SS29 supplied about the right level of challenge but I needed to force myself mentally in the knowledge that it would return the rewards.
EXECUTION and ROUTE from Megget Stone:
Research on the SOTA site and Walk Highlands provided the route information. When you look at the map it’s not difficult to see why the Megget Stone cattle grid, with an ASL of 455m, provides the best start point for the easiest ascent.
Leaving Melrose at 09:50 brought me to the Megget Stone at 10:42. It’s a narrow road but there is space for three or four cars at the cattle grid and possibilities elsewhere for one or two more. I was the third car today but one driver and his spaniel dog left after having just come down the subject mountain.
The walk up, mainly in sunshine, took from 11:05 to 12:06. I only saw one person on this hill all day and he was a man from Stockton standing at the trig point as I arrived. The route is straightforward – just follow the left side of the fence to the summit. There are two deer fences to negotiate but both are served by steel gates.
The fence changes direction several times but it generally goes north. There are a few wet sections but nothing that could be described as a proper bog. There is some re-ascent on the way which I added up to about 14m and of course the same on the way down. This gives a figure of 403m of climbing to complete the activation and distance is just under 4km each way. That’s a total of 5 miles then.
An impressive structure stands beyond the trig. A circle of antennas with a building below. This must surely be a VOR station for aircraft navigation. I’ve had a lot to do with VOR receivers in aircraft over the years but have never seen what’s at the other end until today. Going by memory I think they work in the 108 to 118 MHz band and that caused some concern over the planned use of 2m-FM later. I need not have worried.
Here are the waypoints:
Park near the Megget Stone cattle grid - NT 1506 2029. Follow the fence via NT 1487 2049 & NT 1453 2065 to pass through a gate at NT 1434 2095 and turn right to reach NT 1449 2139. Swing left to a second gate at NT 1441 2143 and go right after that via NT 1469 2254 to the summit trig marked today at NT 14643 23531. It’s quite steep at first and part way up there are several flat sections. The grassy path/ quad track, is well defined most of but not all the way.
Setting Up:
The first job was to find a ‘QTH’ but short of hiding behind the structures which I wanted to stay away from for obvious reasons, there is nothing but a trig and a small cairn. A shallow depression in the ground 18m ENE of the trig looked marginally inviting so I set up there. I’d barely doffed the rucksack and got the mountain jacket out when a downpour of hail and rain suddenly arrived. The first 15 minutes were spent under the umbrella, then we were clear for the rest of the day. It was now a simple matter to install the dipole parallel with the fence. However soil depth is limited to around 4 inches – not really enough to keep a free-standing mast up but it came good in the end.
BROAD LAW - GM/SS-029: 840m, 4 pts, 12:06 to 15:39. 10C, rising to 13C. <10 mph breeze. One rain shower then mostly sunny. Just adequate Vodafone coverage.
LOC: IO85HL, WAB: NT12, Trig: TP1647. I put an alert on for 1pm local just before leaving the hotel.
7.032 CW - 15 QSO’s:
Using 30 Watts for this session, much to my surprise a CQ was answered by Frid DL1FU, who must have been waiting there. After Frid there was nothing so I self spotted. A steady stream of takers followed: F4WBN; ON3YB; SA4BLM; F5JKK; YO6CFB; PA7RA; DL8DXL; EA2DT; OE7PHI; DL6MST; SP9GEY; GM4COX; DL6WT and EI5HJ.
Mostly I was sending out 579 to 599 with 559 to 579 coming back. I also got two 599’s and three 339’s. The session took up almost half an hour which wasn’t helped by ‘rusty’ Morse reading on my part.
7.160 SSB (WAB frequency) - 5 QSO’s:
Here it was a slow start but eventually ON4AEF and I exchanged with 59/ 55. It then took a while plus a self-spot to muster more in the form of: EA2CKX; 2E0FEH; EA1DHB and G4WSB. PA3B?? got off the hook. Reports were not brilliant with QSB in evidence. Power was 50W and I gave out the SOTA and WAB square along with the trig pillar number.
14.052.6 CW - 9 QSO’s:
My self spot worked so quickly that there were question marks on the allotted channel before I could even pick up the key! First to call in was F5JKK and he was much louder than he had been on 40m. Taking it to the bottom of log page-1 were: DL2HWI and EU2MM who’s callsign I got wrong initially and sadly several corrections were received before I cottoned on. Next were OE6WIG; SM5LNE and OK1FMJ.
SV3IEG wasn’t easy to work and it must have been due to local noise at his end or maybe QRM that I couldn’t hear. However we exchanged with 579’s after hearing him call in three or four times between other stations. Worth the effort, he gave me the most distant contact of the day.
Finally I logged OE5EEP and highlight of the day, because this QSO defied all the odds, was Phil G4OBK in Pickering! ‘Was that a 429 Phil?’ ‘R R R R.’ As Roy G4SSH would have said, ‘We just about grubbed it’ but there was just enough QSB to let Phil through on a peak.
Power was 50W again but despite that, no DX was so much as heard. The band was fully open to Europe with mostly good reports but the half expected North American QSO’s did not materialise.
145.400 FM - 7 QSO’s:
The now ancient J-fed half-wave vertical was erected on the HF mast’s base section but with an intervening end stick temporarily borrowed from the dipole to make it higher. With the VOR station close by, out of my pocket came the Sotabeams 2m band filter which I normally keep with one of the handhelds. No luck though, due to the lack of a BNC-SMA adaptor needed for an 817. I could only hope that Yaesu’s filters in the 817 would block out the aircraft band. Fortunately they did.
In the log: GM6LJE Robin 20 miles north of Carlisle; GM4GUF Robert – 100W to a collinear and 4 miles N of Biggar (Robert had activated SS29 a few days before); GM0VEK Peter – Kirkintilloch and GM7NZI Ray in Glasgow.
Continuing: 2E0XUP Steve at Dearham on the Cumbrian coast; GM4COX our SOTA friend Jack in Carluke (Jack tipped me off about G0EEV on a summit but I missed Dave) and GM5LWD Gary using 50W from Milton of Campsie.
Most outgoing reports were 59 with anything from 55 to 59 coming back and a 44 from Gary. Power was 5W throughout and the session spanned 15 minutes. VHFM is a different world to HF and there’s much more of a chance for friendly chat which is what happened here. Most of the ops actually thanked me for using 2m-FM and maybe that’s because very little happens on the band, just like in my home town of Scarborough! That said, I did notice quite a lot of 2m activity on passing Teesside and Newcastle the day before.
3.760 SSB (WAB frequency) - 1 QSO:
2E0ABG answered my CQ with just his callsign but no QSO ensued when he didn’t respond to my 59 report. QRN probably? In the background I could hear a voice recognizable as Karl 2E0FEH giving a 33 report but it was unclear if that was intended for me. In the end we did succeed in a QSB peak with 33 both ways. Despite a self spot and more CQ’s, Karl’s was the only station worked on this band.
10.118 CW - 2 QSO’s:
There were a few minutes remaining before I had to leave so what to do next? Pulling the 20m band link on the ‘hi’ side of the dipole and selecting 40m at the other side results in a low SWR on 30m. A self spot ‘took’ quickly but as soon as the key was touched the rig shut down. I had no spare battery so after switching off the amp I had no choice but to continue with 5 Watts from the 817. I felt like a fraud after announcing ‘50W to a Dipole’ in the spot notes. I like to give these details so people have a better idea of whether they can work me or not.
Much to my surprise the spot did pull in two stations – F5JKK again who called me by name and after my announcement of ‘QRT’ latecomer David G0FVH who gave me 339 from Dorset. Now with no more power, no more time and clouds gathering, I packed up as rapidly as possible. A nasty leg cramp made me realise that I hadn’t drunk since leaving the car so once that was corrected with electrolytes, it was a case of beating it before the rain came.
Descent/ Drive back:
Leaving at 15:39 brought me back down to the vehicle at 16:25. The expected rain shower didn’t materialise fortunately so the brolly remained furled.
On the 50 minute/ 30 mile drive back to the hotel I cast around for something to listen to and finding a strong signal on 7.130-SSB, I heard Eric with ‘special call’ OS4CHK in northern Belgium. He had a steady stream of callers as he was offering a special QSL card via the buro for every station worked.
He must have heard my ‘/M’ as proceedings were quickly halted to allow me through. ‘Mobile only please.’ ‘Only the mobile.’ After sending my call three times he gave me a 57. I have worked HF mobile a lot over the years but it never ceases to surprise me how a 1m fibre-glass rod wound with thin wire can get you into all sorts of places. All my HF whips are home-brew including making tapered rods from glass ropes and polyester resin; the bases being welded up from stainless-steel tube and 3/8 UNF bolts.
ASCENT & DISTANCE:
Start point at 455m ASL.
Ascent 403m (1,322ft) inc re-ascent / Distance 8 km (5 miles)
CHRONOLOGY:
Left Melrose: 09:50
Walk started: 11:05 (Meggit Stone cattle grid)
GM/SS-029: 12:06 to 15:39
Returned to Car: 16:25
Arr. Melrose: 17:25
Walking times:
61min up/ 46min down
Summit time: 3hrs-33min
Time Car to Car: 5hrs-20min
QSO’s:
15 on 7.032 CW
5 on 7.160 SSB
9 on 14.052.6 CW
7 on 145.400 FM
1 on 3.760 SSB
2 on 10.118 CW
TOTAL: 39
COMMENTS:
Well at least I got some of my self respect back. After 15 months of restrictions on and off at some level or another, one can get a bit down. The grassy-topped Broad Law turned out to be a good choice and worries about de-sensing and interference from the commercial summit equipment appeared to be completely unfounded. The installers at the time, whenever that was, no doubt didn’t take into account that there would be a regular stream of people setting up and transmitting (and receiving) on VHF and HF but it would seem they did a good job anyway. Let’s hope none of my RF got to where it shouldn’t have!
The weather was kind. Mostly sunny with a cool breeze and one quick shower. At no point did I feel cold; the only discomfort was the uneven ground at the place chosen to sit but like most SOTA activators, I’ve endured worse privations. Route finding was simple and the hill reminds me slightly of the Howgills or the Yorkshire Dales.
The HF bands delivered the QSO’s alright but it would seem that quite a few of the familiar callsigns of the ‘old days’ did not and do not appear. Conditions on the two WAB frequencies (I have heard) have not been too good of late except for 40m performing around the UK early and late which is unusual. I didn’t have the option of either of those times.
My CW skills were a bit rusty after an 8 month break but they have never been more than merely adequate for exchanging SOTA reports anyway. That said I do still get quite a lot of enjoyment from the mode and had he been here, I’m certain Roy G4SSH would have approved of the three CW sessions from SS29.
Two metres provided more QSO’s than I expected, even considering the fact that we are in Southern Scotland and I was up high. Despite my calling CQ while driving around Scarborough every day, weeks can go by before someone answers.
I did miss the club callsign which for this activation would have been GS0OOO/P. G0OOO is a variation of SSEG chairman G4SSH and though Roy suggested it, we didn’t get around to doing anything about transferring it before he sadly passed away on Christmas Day. All is not lost however as I am still in touch with Roy’s family.
As well as life in general, my friend Roy’s passing has left a big hole in SOTA for me as we both got a lot of pleasure from teaming up when I went out activating, with him as support. What gave Roy the most pleasure was seeing ‘OOO’ plastered all over the spots page after a ‘hard day at the office.’ Many is the time he would work on spotting my QSY’s all day long and sometimes until after midnight, then get up at 7am to start again the next day. In between times he’d be collecting chaser points on umpteen bands. He was an exceptional CW op.
Will there be more? It depends on the weather which is forecast as ‘unsettled’ for most of the remaining time here. I haven’t done The Cheviot for a long time now though.
THANKS:
To ALL STATIONS worked. Thanks to the spotters, if there were any? That’s other than the SOTA spotting facility which worked well considering the lack of signal on my phone much of the time. It’s much harder to check after the event who spotted me nowadays. Since something ‘changed’ the spots no longer like being copied into Excel in any form that can be easily read.
73, John G4YSS
Photos: 2-3-5-7-8-11-14-17-19-24-35-36-38-40-44-42
Above: An old AA box in Cappercleuch, on the way to SS29. I still have my key for these car breakdown phone kiosks.
Above: On the way up the Megget valley
Above: Almost there
Above: Parking at the Megget Stone Cattle Grid
Above: The path leaving the road
Above: Looking back
Above: The first deer fence and gate
Above: It’s quite steep in places
Above: The second deer fence and gate
Above: The long, straight approach to the summit
Above: Setting up the HF station after the downpour. VOR station in the background.
Above: Trig Point TP1647
Above: Up and soon to be running
Above: Activation of GM/SS-029. Depleted HF mast on the right. VHF setup on the left.
Above: Trig point & SOTA QTH
