Just back from a weekend in South Wales. My first SOTA outing since August last year. The longest gap I’ve had between activations since getting involved with SOTA.
Saturday 11th January 2025
First up was Craig y Llyn, GW/SW-010, and I parked up by the entrance to the wind farm at SN 92169 02484. There was a little bit of sleet in the air, and a marked wind chill, but once I got walking I soon warmed up. There was some still some snow on the ground from earlier in the week, making a lovely wintry scene.
I enjoyed the walk to the summit, and setup near the trig point in the woods. I had bought along the little SW-3B for some lightweight operations this weekend and put a call out on 30m. I had a nice run of 14 QSOs, including a few G stations. Once the calls dried up, I packed up and headed back to the car, enjoying the scenery along the way.
Then it was off to activate Coety Mountain, GW/SW-012. I parked up at the Whistle Road Car Park at SO 23012 10340. A fairly straightforward activation here, with 11 QSOs on 30m.
As I’d kept my activations fairly brief, I had time to head over to nearby Mynydd Carn-y-cefn, GW/SW-014 before sunset. I parked up on Waun-Ebbw Road in Nantyglo at SO 18984 10504 and headed up to the summit.
It took a while to find an operating spot as the ponies near the trig didn’t seem keen on having company. I was definitely getting “go away” vibes! I retreated to a point where I was out of their sight, and thankfully wasn’t troubled with them. I was starting to get quite cold now, so was happy to call it a day after 7 QSOs on 30m.
Sunday 12th January 2025
After a good night’s sleep, I was ready for some more SOTA action. I wasn’t quite sure where to head for though. I eventually decided to try for Gospel Pass with a view to activating both Waun Fach, GW/SW-002 & Black Mountain, GW/SW-041. The only question mark in my mind was whether the road conditions were going to be a bit iffy up there with all of the recent snow. I believe it’s the highest mountain pass road in Wales, and I’m pretty sure the gritting lorries don’t make the trip up there!
I approached it from the south, passing through the hamlet of Capel-y-ffin. Things started well enough, but the road did start to get a bit icy in places as I started the climb about 2 miles south of the pass. At this point I decided to stop and ponder the situation.
It probably would have been fine on the top, but there was no way of knowing. The road is quite narrow, and I did wonder whether some of the passing places might still be slippery.
I didn’t fancy taking the risk in the end, so turned round and drove off to activate Sugar Loaf, GW/SW-011 instead, parking at the Fro Car Park (SO 29220 20048). I managed to get the last space! Phew!
As usual, the summit was very busy, with people trying to take selfies on the slippery rocks. There isn’t so much room for HF here, so fired up the handheld and had 4 QSOs on 2m FM. Apologies to Rod @M0JLA for being rather brief on our QSO. I had someone standing right behind me who was very keen to know what I was up to!
After getting back to the car, and having a quick bite to eat, it was time to get the walking shoes back on, and head for Bryn Arw, GW/SW-026, which can be accessed from the same car park. The sun broke out during my ascent, and I actually felt quite warm by the time I got to the summit! I had alerted for 30m again, but one of the required links broke as I was unwinding my dipole, so 20m it was! 15 QSOs later (plus 1 on 2m), it was time to head back to the car and drive home.
As I said at the start of the report, I hadn’t managed to undertake any SOTA activations since last August. As a result it felt extra special to be out there again, playing radio. A thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying weekend.
Many thanks as ever to all chasers worked, and hopefully this time it won’t be a few months before the next adventure!
73, Matthew M(W)0JSB
