3 contacts on 4m FM for me (2 S2S), 13 on 2m FM (11 S2S), 4 on 2m FT8, 1 on 70cm (a S2S) and 4 on 23cm SSB (1 S2S). I spotted and called on 2m SSB however didn’t get any takers.
Furthest contact on 2m FT8 877 km away (although I was heard even further away than that) which isn’t bad for 5W!
It’s an inflatable dual band antenna that is being tested long term. You can inflate it with a CO2 bottle (like a soda syphon) or blow it up with you own puff.
Thank you very much Tom and Jimmy for arranging a very successful Gaulfest. We had expected to be driving up to Snowdonia today but I suddenly developed a hip problem just before Christmas so we had to cancel and look for a SOTA summit that i could safely reach. So it was Hegdon Hill G/WB-023 by the side of the road - with a nice large flat verge thanks to the number of visits by SOTA vehicles in the last year or so. The 2m dipole went up a suitable distance from the car and we got busy. Thank you for arranging for activators to visit Illgill Head G/LD-011 and Gunners How G/LD-050 along with Foel Cwmcerwyn GW/MW-011 and Black Mountain GW/SW-041 even if they, like us, didn’t get to the tea party (it would have been a long drive and we had quite a few ‘buns’ still at home.) Good to see the pictures and I think we talked to all almost everyone, much to my surprise. I hadn’t realised that lowly Hegdon was such a good spot for chasing the local summits - and also for talking to Leicestershire today! I wish everyone a happy and healthy 2026 and hope to be seeking s2s from slightly more challenging summits before too long.
73 Viki
I kinda forgot all about Gaulfest (sorry Jimmy, ill try harder next year!) and myself and John 2E0SAE had a wander around 3 summits in the Mid Lancashire reigon, hoping for some Gaulfest S2S action!
Then we finished on Fair Snape Fell, just making down as it went dark 10 1/4 miles all told, we were knackered and hungry so we didnt bother with Billinge as planned, so sorry to anyone who waited for it
Great day out, managed a few S2S, my favourite one being the 3 I got on the 4M band! its definately getting more popular amongst us VHF operators is 4M!
