Yes, Phil, your track is very similar. We took a much more easterly route going down after the path disappeared, so joining the vehicle track lower down.
73,
Rod
Moving to Dumfries area Saturday 11th - expecting to catch some s2s with LD on the way. Sunday onwards more activations from west of M74.
Got very wet on Thursday - apologies for the very brief HF activation from SS-225. I was prepared for drizzle but not real rain. The VHF kit is effectively waterproof so MM6BWA/P worked all she could hear. Then we went to St Abbs head and got wet again so kit drying now a priority.
73,
Rod
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Hi Rod
Just missed you yesterday as when I arrived at the radio I saw your ‘rain stop play’ spot. Heard Ken AXY telling someone that you had just gone QRT.
We haven’t had much success this week as Rhodri and I were late on Glyder Fawr GW/NW-003 on Tuesday due to the heat and terrain. I thought we might have made 2m contact with Viki but once more it was not to be 
So, fingers crossed I hope my timing will be better over the next couple of days. Glad your having a good time.
73 and 88 to Viki
Allan GW4VPX
The visible works must be a maintenance job which would explain the absence of any part built turbines except the one with the operating crane adjacent. There do seem to be a lot in this general area - now I see why this might be.
73
Rod
Sorry about that Allan but I don’t know how long I could have worked with even the full waterproofing (such as it is) as the drips inside the shelter endanger the radio more than the drizzle does. It does keep me a bit drier - but that is merely a matter of comfort. All the radio kit is now dry except the inside of the pole sections so starting to get it packed up for Saturday. A very pleasant morning here today so a bit of a waste but needs must.
Catch you soon,
73,
Rod
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Sorry to miss you on Glyder Fawr Allan - I was hoping! Glad also that you had company up there - hope he acted as a porter as well as being a backstop to carry you if necessary!! I do remember how steep part of the ascent from the col is - much easier coming down - you just slide!!
Well we have done all 7 hills that were on the immediate list but had to take Wednesday off as 28C was too much even in the shade at Floors Castle walled garden let alone going up a hill so the last one GM/SS-225 Dirrington Great Law was done despite the forecast but, as you will already have read, it was right! We followed the good track through the (not) wooded area and over to the wall where it continued almost to the summit and then up on cut heather to the summit- easy peasy. Got the dipole up and was very happily tucking 4 2m speedily into the log when the rain started and I was in too much of a muddle. Pulling on overtrousers and replying to the handy at the same time is a dark art I hadn’t recently practised - but expect I will in the next 10 days. 70cm was pretty dire with only 2 in the log as too much in the way - but I was happy to get even onel I got 7 on 2m in the end when trying for those elusive 70cm contacts, Back to the car and a visit to St Abbs Head in the hopes the forecast was wrong - which it was as it forgot to mention the mist that thickened during our walk but we had found the gannets and a few chicks so I was happy - but the fog for some miles on the A1 wasn’t much fun.
Log will appear when I reach a keyboard with keys in the right places (so doesn’t keep deleting what I’ve just typed…) but of the 7 small hills I’ve qualified 6 (Belling Hill SS-244 was the disaster - as expected - with 2x2m and 1 70cm). All the rest qualified on both 2m and 70cm except the last, SS-225, when ‘rain stopped play’ or I would have tried a bit harder for some more 70cm. I’m very grateful for the band of locals who have helped - as some of them did last year. Furthest contact Redcar on the last hill, GIGDB in Bothel, W Cumbria a couple of times and a s2s with G0AZB on Helvellyn G/LD-003 on both bands from Spartleton SS-182 (thanks Ian)
It will be interesting to see what happens in the Dumfries area - especially tomorrow. Please listen out for my little 5w signal from ‘across the water’ (GM/SS-274) if all goes well.
Viki M6BWA
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Viki, you will have no problem having S2Ss with activators in the northern fells. For example, the 65km from GM/SS-274 to Blencathra is probably line of sight across low-lying land and the Solway Firth.
More challenging will be S2Ss with folk like me on the southern fells. But, if I can get phone reception on Whitbarrow Scar G/LD-056 (Saturday) and Gummers How G/LD-050 (Sunday), I’ll be monitoring 2m and 70cm spots and monitoring 2m and 70cm FM calling frequencies. I’m also looking out for C4FM on both bands.
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Thanks for these suggestions, Andy. We made quite a few contacts with LD (mostly higher, northern and western) once we got to the summit - and then, for some reason which I don’t remember, decided to take in another summit on our way to the second cottage of the trip.
Now at home so no more activations for a bit.
Thanks to everyone for the contacts, especially those who put themselves out to make it work. A few details and stats in due course - I would say “once we are sorted out” but that will never happen so “sometime fairly soon” would be more appropriate.
73
Rod
2 Likes
| MM0JLA/P log | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QSOs | 222 | ||||||
| Chasers | 110 | ||||||
| HF Chasers | GM0AXY | 6 | |||||
| MW0OFA | 6 | ||||||
| 2E0FEH | 5 | ||||||
| GM4YMM | 5 | ||||||
| GW4VPX/P | 5 | ||||||
| 2m/70cm chasing will (in due course) be got from the log of MM6BWA/P | |||||||
| Activations | total | 19 | |||||
| 2m/70cm only | 9 | ||||||
| 80m | 3 | ||||||
| 60m | 10 | ||||||
| 40m | 6 | ||||||
| 20m | 1 | ||||||
| best | SS-123 Green Hill | 31 | QSO | ||||
| a leisurely activation while Vicki did Green Lowther. |
My very grateful thanks to all the chasers. My apologies to the more distant chasers for the lack of HF - the knees will now only take limited punishment - and while we were extremely lucky with the weather it did limit activity from time to time. I did only carry the HF kit unused up one hill, resorting to shared 2m on Well Hill to speed things up. The choice of Green Hill (it is steep but soft underfoot and very short) while Vicki did Green Lowther (it is neither short nor soft!) gave me by far the best activation of the trip. I thought I was going to be well and truly “midged” but the wind freshened a touch and they all vanished 
Hoping to be about in WB, SW and MW again soon.
73,
Rod
7 Likes
MM6BWA/P log
QSOs 262 - all VHF/UHF with 165 2m fm and 97 70cm fm using a VX-7R handy with, usually, a dipole 2m+ above the ground (2m++ when on a joint activation with M0JLA when it was strapped to trig points, fences and posts!)
We started (4 - 11/9) based at Kelso with 7 remaining summits to activate, then moved (11 - 18/9) to Thornhill N of Dumfries (almost nothing previously visited in the area) and finally Leadhills (18 - 21/9). Only 5 people managed to talk to me on both sides of Southern Scotland - GM4CXM (Ray, Bearsden), G1GDB (Derek, Bothel W Cumbria), GM0AXY/GM4YMM (Ken/Christine, Edinburgh) and 2M0HIE (Steven, Whitburn W Lothian) as their signals skirted all those hills that were in the way for other chasers.
Most frequent chasers were 2E0MIX (Derek, Whitehaven, Sillybanks or LD-045!) 22, CM4CXM 15, 2E0XUP 13 (Steve Dearham Whitehaven who first heard me when involved in a cycle event in Silloth and became a very reliable contact on both 2m and 70cm). Special thanks are also given to MM0JNL (George, Churnside) for valiant efforts to find chasers during our first week, GM3VMB (Peter, Eaglesfield Moffat) who only answers when I sound sufficiently desparate (5 contacts!) but the prize goes to GM4WHA (Geoff, Annan/Carlisle) who probably left his Sunday lunch to get into the car and drive across Annan to find where he could hear us sufficiently well to give us the vital 4th 70cm contact in the rain from Well Hill GM/SS-112. M0JLA gave a running commentary (to my surprise) on the frequency while he was driving and this meant that Geoff could stop where the signal was best. '51’s were exchanged in Tesco car park and he could go back to his meal and we could take down the mast and slither back down to the track and the car.
Activations total 20 (1 more than M0JLA as I went up Green Lowther Hill GM/SS-056 and found the roadwalk along the ridge as tedious as expected but at least I could wander off onto the grass for almost all of the way. 22 contacts were quickly made once I had inserted the Sotabeam filter and I would have got an extra S2S if I had thought to put it in earlier.)
All 20 were activated on both 2m and 70cm but only 19 qualified on 2m (NOT Belling Hill GM/SS-244 in the trees and confined between a wall and deer fence! - 2 contacts and 1 on 70cm!) On 70cm a total of 17 were qualified (NOT 244 as above, also Dirrington Great Law GM/SS-225 when the rain arrived and I had to abandon the summit and also GM/SS-241 Wauk Hill when we gave up with 3 contacts as it was getting late and the clouds were gathering. If we had stayed longer I’m sure we would have succeeded but the route was daunting with thick wet undergrowth and a high (for me) stone wall to cross albeit with large steps. However the flowers were lovely - but the grass wasn’t as it was face-high!) I am very pleased with these results from 70cm as I was expecting more failures. I have also just checked our three 70cm failures and was heartened to discover that our 70cm QSOs are the only ones recorded on each of those hills so we should view them all as ‘first activations’ rather than as having failed to make 4 contacts. (Wonder how many of the other hills had not been activated on 70cm before I turned up - bit too busy to investigate that at the moment. You have waited long enough already for this rambling report!)
Our SOTA ambitions were to activate some more uniques (most of which would give M0JLA new completes as he chases from home but I only chase from other summits so I gained far fewer) and, for me, to get a little closer to my goal of 5000 s2s points. The fact that we would be up in GM/SS land over the SOTA LD weekend was a welcome coincidence except that we were travelling from Kelso to the Dumfries area on the vital 11 September. This meant that some of the activity was already over by the time we reached the modest summit GM/SS-274 See Morris Hill but M0JKS/P Dave Helvellyn (LD-003) was in the bag before the dipole was assembled and Rod had difficulty setting up the HF aerial as I kept calling him over for s2s! Thanks to all 5 activators who answered ‘my little 5w signal from Scotland’ and it would probably have been more if we had stayed there rather than ticking off another summit GM/SS-224 Bennan Hill. ‘Follow the signs and path to Turners Monument’ - well we would happily have done so if there had been the slightest sign of a path. Our route did have one high spot - the most difficult to open gate of the trip as there was a heavy (fairly new) wooden post each side of the gate which meant it could only be opened by pulling one of them out of the ground and then undoing the parcel string which was knotted round the gate (photo to follow…?) and then rebuilding the defences before continuing. Then it was just plod upwards and hope a monument would appear eventually. By then (start 1521UTC) all sensible SOTA operators were wending their way to their cars and then the pub but G0AZB (Ian, better known as GI0AZB!) had different priorities and came booming in at 1600 from G/LD-008 Blencathra on 2m and 70cm. I think he would have been late at the pub!!
The LD SOTA stardust remained the next day when a visit to GM/SS-217 Fell Hill yielded 10 s2s (starting with 3 more people on Blencathra!) including a marvellous 70cm (51 58) from G/LD-010 (Tim, St Sunday Crag). The second summit, Bogrie Hill GM/SS-205 started with the only s2s from GM/WS-031 Fraser, Geal Charn 51 33 so the 5w only just made it! From the 20 activations I made 48 s2s contacts with 39 2m and 9 70cm thus increasing my s2s total by a splendid 211 points from 4318 to 4529. Thanks to all activators and great to get some more activator callsigns in the log - now 433.
The longest s2s on 2m were from GM/SS-194 Cairn Hill to GW/NW-021 Rhobell Fawr 2W0XYL, 2W0TDX Karen and Neil (281 km) and on 70cm from GM/SS-070 Blackcraig Hill to GW/NW-004 Y Garn 2W1PJE Peter (246 km). It was from this last summit, GM/SS-070, that we had the most unexpected s2s which was from MW1FHM on Great Orme GW/NW-070 (lots of nice sea in the way!) This was follwed by GW4VPX on GW/NW-013, the 40cm contact with Y Garn (above) and then… another s2s, this time from Neil, MW0WBG on Great Orme GW/NW-070 yet again! It was only a few days later that we discovered that 3 activators had visited this summit on that day but we had luckily started the descent or we might have had a 3rd in the log. This was an interesting hill (good clubmosses) but the wind increased so we had to get down fairly quickly. However it was already fairly brisk, this meant that when we put the pipe lagging on the barbed wire, so I could duck underneath safely, it was blown off and started to roll away! SOTA activations are rarely dull even if the reports may be!! Thanks everyone for your help and company on our ‘little tour of Southern Scotland’. There are still many summits on the list. (A few photos may be added sometime.)
73 Viki M6BWA
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Have they removed the old RADAR antenna yet? Or is it still lashed to 1ton concrete blocks along side the radome?
Last time I was there I was conscious those trees were getting big but they were still only as tall as me and there were some empty spaces still. It must be getting fairly well covered now and the deer fence sounds new. What do you reckon, another 2 years and it will be very difficult to activate?
aka Riddings Hill. This has a good take off South, East and North. It’s LOS to Green Lowther and Cambret Hill (next to Pibble HIll) and has good views of many Lakes and GM summits. The big mast there was a fundamental part of the GPO/BT network from the 50’s until fibre started replacing the uwave links.
This is another hill with surprisingly good take off to England on VHF and up. You’d think it would be rubbish considering how far inland it is. But there’s nothing much in the way. I worked a nice 125km 13cms S2S with Nick G0HIK from here. 59++ both ways and no matter where I pointed the antenna, I couldn’t get the signal worse than 59!
I’m glad you had a good SOTA time. Thanks for the assorted S2S on 2m and 70cms.
Great to catch you both while you were up in GM and thanks for the S2Ss.
The S2S when you were both on GM/SS-070 was a good one - when I got home I realised that the sleeve on my dipole had broken so I was pushing 2W of 70cm into a 2m antenna!
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I think it possible, Andy, that you might guess my answer to that? I spent a long time up there attempting to get more than 2 replies on VHF/UHF and I was lucky to get them. The were GIGDB Derek in Bothel and MM0JNL George from Churnside who gave me the 70cm contact as well. I tried the Duns repeater and got MM7DSA but there was no chance direct. I believe it is 10 years since you visited and the trees have grown well. Any attempt to get further over the hill was thwarted by a rather robust deer fence parallel to the stone dyke with about 3m in between. M0JLA had no problem on HF with 8 on 60m and 9 on 40m in about 40 mins. Take HF!
I notice that G4OBK ends his account of doing this hill (and 2 others, only one of which they qualified on VHF):
‘One thing we proved - don’t expect to qualify the summits in that area on VHF FM, even when you are running power. Lesson learned!’
“This is another hill with surprisingly good take off to England on VHF and up. You’d think it would be rubbish considering how far inland it is.”
We liked this hill but not the almost endless stony track on the way up. No idea why it had been fairly recently upgraded - unless they are going to extend to wind farm which, at present, is the other side of the fence. As you hear, we got 4 NW s2s (LD summits had all gone strangely silent after the weekend ‘party’ so we then reached (mostly) the higher summits of GW/NW with ease on 5w) along with MM6XDA on the Arran shoreline and various Scottish locations I haven’t yet found on a map!
“Have they removed the old RADAR antenna yet? Or is it still lashed to 1ton concrete blocks along side the radome?”
Can’t help you with that as I was trying to ignore these ‘blots on the landscape’… but I have a picture of a balloon on a stalk and a sheep but little else. Does that help? I was more amused by the trig pt (when I finally reached it) absolutely dwarfed by the mast just behind (which probably necessitated the use of the 2m filter when I erected the dipole …)
Thanks for the s2s - wish we had more as I have only chased about 3 of the summits that I activated and I think I only got 2 completes from the LD party as most people were up the high ones and its the low ones I need. Perhaps we’ll have to turn left at Kendal or Keswick and listen out whilst amongst the Lakeland fells but new uniques are still rather attractive and we finished LD-land some time ago.
73 Viki
Phil,
There was more QRN on this summit than I would normally expect, so can only put it down to the wind turbines. It was nuisance value, and didn’t stop me making any QSO’s.
73’s
David
G4ZAO