On the way home from a week in Cornwall decided to try and activate Hensbarrow Downs - G/DC-008.
Posted on the reflector and spotted when I arrived - I would have posted earlier but the WX was the key to activating or not.
As luck would have it, the rain had stopped, leaving just damp ground and puddles.
Got setup at the trig point for 2m and put the mast in the hole in the trig point.
Called CQ for10/15mins on 2m and no reply,
Respotted on 7mhz and 14mhz and again no reply. I did think the bands sounded quiet.
After about 40mins no bites or nibbles. The only person(s) I saw drove past me while sat at the summit.
Imerys Land Rover towing a trailer off road.
The WAB folk would have appreciated you activating the trig point but the SOTA summit has moved to the top of the hill above you. It’s an old spoil heap from China clay workings but is so old it is now overgrown and has become “naturalised” so to speak. Still a difficult location for 2m in any case but in normal conditions HF would have been fine of course.
I believe it was the mother of all magnetic storms. Strongest one in our lifetimes. Slowed some LEO satellites down, caused havoc with GPS, killed HF and made my hair go curly.
Hi John
Maybe it was just as well I did’nt activate the summit then with summit being relocated.
I will be adding Hensbarrow/Brown Willy and High Willhays to my to(re) do list.
Those are the new name and reference, if you check sotl.as you will see the actual location. It’s a bit tricky using the OS 1:25K map as it doesn’t show contour lines for the spoil heap, just a white patch, but they are there on the 1:50K map, or at least they are on the online map.
If you search this reflector you should be able to find a thread discussing the change. The new summit is technically on private land, but Imerys appear to be reasonably relaxed about people going there. There is however, open access land well within the AZ… I checked it out before the summit change and have since operated from the OA land, not wishing to invoke the wrath of any jobsworth that Imerys might employ. I was up there for several hours operating in the Trans-Atlantic S2S event.
I did activate DC-004 many years ago on 2m SSB and can appreciate the lack of a response. Thankfully I had the Birmingham Mafia out looking for me (anyone remember them?), so getting 4 in the bag wasn’t to much of a challenge. Number 4 did come courtesy of a phone call to a mate made by Don G0NES otherwise I could have been stuffed.
Albeit you are right Tom, in this case - it didn’t matter that @M0VAZ went to the wrong place - but this thread also proves that we all need to research the summits we are intending to visit and gather as much information in advance as possible. There are several sources, the easiest one being to search for the summit of interest by name or reference on the SOTA reflector using the magnifying glass enter box at the top of the screen.
Some recovery this morning. Jarek SP15OTA easy to work on 20m CW, but on the main contest bands on SSB some of the weaker SOTA stations are being obliterated by the CQ WPX Contest activity.
73 Phil
PS e.g. Found by searching Hensbarrow Downs from your Jimmy:
Went to do the “new” summit last weekend and made the mistake of going via the trig-point paddling through the “stream” and getting caught by the gorse and brambles on the way to the new top.
Talking to a local dog walker that we met on the road down (far easier, dry and no scratches), use the wide roadway next time, walking is not a problem on or around Hensbarrow Downs or the surrounding areas, just keep away from “danger” areas and working pits. This all with the caveat of being responsible for your own actions.
A pleasant quiet area to spend a couple of hours walking and playing radios.
A 360 of the summit of Hensbarrow Downs (G/DC-008)
That’s the way I went recently. Follow the road to just before it starts to descend and at this point turn left and you can reach the summit area a few minutes later.
