Brief Report on Great Shunner Fell 13/02/2023
This was somewhat different to my first attempt on Great Shunner Fell way back in 2016 Didn't manage to activate G/NP-006 - advice needed … On that occasion I managed three contacts, today was 53 and I wasn’t trying very hard. I also don’t know if it my imagination or my improved fitness but the hill seemed much smaller and easier to walk than it did back in 2016. One of the reasons for doing SOTA was to get fitter - it seems to have worked although some may say that being towed along by two spaniels makes this an unfair test…
(The boys on the final few meters to the summit)
I must admit to being distracted, the retirement present is a rather nice camper, which arrived just in time for some generally rubbish winter weather, and although it is smallish (6 ft 9 wide) it is somewhat bigger than a car, so today was another opportunity to gain a bit of confidence on some Pennine roads. I am pleased to say that went well, which included an improbably large number of wide vehicles on the narrow bits between Kirkby Stephen and Hawes, so with all the paint still intact I could concentrate on the radio, which probably explains why I left my lunch in the van….
Anyone working me must assume that our house is totally mad with a barking dog. The main occasion that Woody barks is on a summit when I’m playing SOTA. He doesn’t bark on the way up or down, in the car or in the shack, just on the summit. Whilst I’m fairly sure he understands he can be heard for a few hundred yards around I don’t think that his brain gets the concept of his barking being transmitted across most of Europe…. So apologies…thankfully the summit was deserted when I was there so it was only the chasers that were impacted.
I did read the comments about tropo on 2m, but my 2m horizontal yogi is, well mechanically sub-optimal and getting a better antenna that would stay in the same polarisation on the mast without dropping the odd element or so is on the long list…no 2m SSB then… So it was without really thinking that hard that when my phone decided to lose its 4G signal I decided just to put a call out on 145.500 and get a couple of contacts….and it went mad with 4 S2S calls and contacts into Wales Scotland and the South Coast. ( When I put my mast up I currently put up a J-Pole for 2m and a linked dipole for HF so I don’t have to lower the mast ). I’m old enough to remember the 25 KHz channel spacing on 2m, and today I think was the first occasion when it felt like the smaller 12.5 KHz spacing was needed. Thanks to all the callers on 2m.
Despite lunch being 7km and 450 m of descent away it seemed a bit rude not to try 40m too, and again conditions were really good, particularly for inter G with some really nice reports, and some very civilised chasers…( or it could be that in comparison with the complaints from Woody woofing at great volume everything seemed civilised ). Thanks everyone.
I was now really noticing the lack of lunch, but with the links on the dipole set to 40m if seemed a good idea to try 15m as well - and the rig loaded up perfectly and the third pile up of the day started with good reports across Europe. Thanks to all the chasers, and apologies for Woody’s barking.
Finally I walked up the hill today in a shirt and thin hoody, adding one thermal layer when I stopped for not eating lunch and playing radio. There was a bit of frost when I arrived at the summit, but for February at 700m in the North Pennines it was impressively warm … possibly worryingly warm …. The blog from walk highlands is quite interesting - and although it is nice getting winter bonus points wearing not much more than a “T” shirt it does make me wonder what will happen next … will we need to replace the winter bonus with a summer one for dealing with extreme heat?
( Rigs 2m FT-270 and J Pole about 6m up the mast, HF KX2 and a 40m linked dipole )
Back in the van…(Woody and Jet)
73 Paul
! You were booming into the South Downs, and in fact after I’d packed up, I switched on my handheld with the stock rubber duck, and I was still getting a few S points from you!