This is an extract from my blog that addresses a wider week of radio, but the SOTA highlights are below:
Saturday - A day above the clouds
On Saturday I took myself up Tap O’ Noth, a favourite of mine for some reason, and Lord Arthur’s Hill.
Before I hit the hills, I took myself to the hackerspace and printed myself a K6ARK Winder and a guy ring for the mast, cut string, tied it together and wound the string on to the winder.
I also took time to buzz out my wonky coax and it showed great continuity. Hmm, that can be continued later. I didn’t quite get to crimping the radial network of the Aliexpress whip with a 12mm stud crimp, that can also be put on the TODO list.
Tap O’ Noth
Once finally out, the weather was a bit cloudy with passing snow showers, but in between the showers I was above the clouds and the air was clear:
After a mild struggle on 2m, I set up the end fed the first hill and got to work from the old hill fort:
The end fed worked flawlessly. Exactly as promised, switching between 7MHz, 14MHz, 21MHz and 28MHz without a tuner was perfect, I chased hills on all the bands, and had a great time. Apart from 40m, where there was absolutely no space due to a contest. That wasn’t such a fun time!
My fingers were bitterly cold, so on went the big gloves for the descent and I felt like I was warm by the time I made it back to the car.
It worked so well, in fact, I took the 1/4 wave cheap vertical out my bag and decided to brave it on the next activation.
Lord Arthur’s Hill
GM5ALX has posted a .gpx to sotlas which is shorter than the other ascent, but much sharper - I figured this would be a fun new way to try up the hill!
It takes you right through the heart of the Littlewood Park estate, and I felt a bit uncomfortable walking straight past the estate cottages, especially when there were vehicles moving and active work happening. Presumably this is where Lord Arthur lived, at the foot of his hill.
I cut through the woods to the west of the cottages, disturbing some deer and many, many pheasants, but I met the path fairly quickly. From there it was a 2km walk, 300m vertical ascent. Short and sharp!
At the top, I was treated to a view of the hill I had activated only an hour or so before, which is a view that always makes me smile:
To get some height for the feedpoint, I wrapped the coax around my winder a couple of turns and trapped it with the elastic while draping the coax over the trig. This bought me some more height and I felt clever because of it. Maybe a pole would be easier?
From here, I worked inter-G on 40m and had a wee pile up, eventually working 15 or so European stations on 20m. Pleased with that!
I had been considering a third hill, but home was the call in the failing light. Back to the car I walked to find my key didn’t have any battery, so out came the Audi App and I used the Internet of Things to unlock my car. The modern world is bizarre.
Sunday - Cloudy Head // Head in the Clouds
Sunday started off migraney, so I stayed within the confines of my house until I felt safe driving! After some back and forth in my cloudy head, I opted for the easier option of Ladylea Hill as I wasn’t feeling up for major physical exertion.
It was a long drive, after which I felt more wonky, but I hit the path eventually - I run to Hibby Standard Time, a few hours to a few days behind the rest of GM/ES. I was ready to bail if my head didn’t improve, but it turns out, fresh cold air, silence and bloodflow helped.
Ladylea Hill was incredibly quiet, a feature I really appreciated. It feels incredibly remote, with a long winding drive down Glenbuchat, which still has ice on the surface of the lochs and standing water.
A brooding summit crowned with grey cloud in fantastic scenery that only revealed itself upon the clouds blowing through:
I set up at the cairn and picked up 30 contacts overall, split between 40m and 20m, with some inter-g on 40 and a couple of continental surprises. 20 had longer skip today, so I saw Spain, Finland, Slovenia, Poland.
On teardown, I managed to snap the top segment of my brand new mast with my cold, clumsy fingers, but thankfully sotabeams stock replacements. More money at the problem, again.
Back to the car, no app needed, and homeward bound as the light faded.
At the end of the weekend, I find myself finally over 100 activator points and over 400 chaser points. Somehow I’ve collected more points this year already than last year, the winter bonuses really
I worked you and 4 other EU QSOs.
v 🇮🇪 and some lovely Mo cooked food, but we’re not talking about the rugby…
