High Willhays G/DC-001. 2m DX + brain (and battery) exhaustion.

[M9OMS]

Having already activated this summit in January, one would think that it wasn’t on my to do list this weekend.

But with the lure of that tropospheric lift (DX?), there is no taller summit in the south of England… neither could any summit (within a reasonable driving distance) tempt a friend of mine.

This was all off the back of the Dartmoor radio rally. Whilst I wasn’t going to attend, John was keen to go. We therefore arranged to meet at the Meldon Reservoir car park to activate the summit, giving him time to visit the rally in the morning.

We realised that G4TCU was going to be up there before us - so we had our HTs ready at the car park. Listening on the way up - there was absolutely no need to contact him. He was on a roll almost instantly.

John (unfortunately) decided on bringing his FT-991A, along with a lead acid battery. About 0.75 miles in, he quickly realised that he wasn’t going to make it up to the top. I encouraged him to setup on a flat area whilst I hiked up and activated quickly. He was going to work 2m SSB.

I got to the summit just as G4TCU was winding down. Lovely chap, who was in possession of the most bijoux 2m amplifier which gave him 35w out. VERY jealous.

I normally operate QRP, but I was keen to try 20w from the summit today, so I powered my AT-778UV with a 3s LiPo for the activation.

I started with a chase - M0VTS on G/WB-005.

I didn’t get a chance to call CQ on 145.500 - it was very busy on the calling channel, plus I was concerned about not finding anywhere to QSY to.

I called on 145.425 a few times to find that nobody was using the frequency. So, I called CQ there, and not long afterwards I got my first contact. From that point, there was absolutely no rest.

I managed about 25 contacts before my 3AH battery started to complain - so I dropped the power and kept on going. I was already very pleased to have contact with MW0JLA on GW/NW-010 (S2S contacts are the best) as well as contact with stations further than I had managed before, so I wasn’t concerned about running out of power.

But about 6 minutes before my battery finally gave up, I made contact with MI0SRR - who was close to, but not on a summit yet.

Two contacts later, the battery died. I’d have gone home then - but the MI contact lured me to switch to the HT for a final attempt at DX. He was my next contact, this time on GI/MM-006. Success. DX S2S on 2m-fm.

By then, I was mentally exhausted and starting to sound like it was my first summit activation HI. I made one more contact and announced I was going QRT.

I returned to John, who was a good few hundred meters below me in the valley - he’d managed a station in the Outer Hebrides on 2m SSB. Jammy git!!!

Cracking day… 0 activation points… but there’s nothing like S2S contacts regardless. Add in the MI station, plus Jersey (which I hadn’t worked before). I most definitely can’t complain about probably my best SOTA day out so far.

[M0JSB]

Brilliant stuff! Great that you were able to take advantage of the lift on 2m. Hope your brain has recovered!

73, Matthew

[M9OMS]

Thanks Matthew.

It was a challenge - my second VFO kept breaking squelch whilst I was trying to QSO on 145.425. It led to confusion at times, as well as some missed information. The front end could be better, but there was a heck of a lot of activity to deal with.

Towards the end, I set both VFOs to the same frequency which led to smoother operation (but it was a bit late in the activation).

[G4ZRZ]

Well done on that activation. It sounds like a lot of fun too. I activated the summit in 2004, got 3 random 2m ssb contacts and then really struggled to get the 4th. Eventually finding one on FM. What a contrast to yours.

Russell G4ZRZ

[EI8JEB]

What an adventure. It makes me want to try VHF activations again (my first attempt on Mangerton failed). I need to do that. Very cool report, thanks for sharing!

[M9OMS]

@G4ZRZ

I activated the summit in 2004, got 3 random 2m ssb contacts and then really struggled to get the 4th. Eventually finding one on FM. What a contrast to yours.

@EI8JEB

What an adventure. It makes me want to try VHF activations again (my first attempt on Mangerton failed).

Thanks for the encouragement. I’m a big fan of VHF - the more CQ calls and QSOs, the more likely people are to listen to the calling channel.

G/SC and G/DC is a bit hit and miss with VHF - some days, hardly anyone’s listening (especially G/DC)… and on others, there are loads of SWLs… (if you have line of sight to Wales, you have a better chance of success IMO).

A local-ish Ham (M7MFS) recommended the 2m flowerpot antenna and a fishing whip, which changed everything for me. That said, on some G/SC summits I’ve worked 2 hours to get 4 contacts. The problem being I can get rather stubborn (and possibly benighted!).

I’ve since invested in basic HF kit, and I’ve slimmed it right down (QMX + accessories + EFHW). If I’m carrying a mast anyway, it’s not a lot of extra weight or space to help get things done.

[G4ZRZ]

I’m with you on the VHF activations, especially 2m FM. It’s where I started in amateur radio in 1983 and I have a soft spot for it. But, like you, I’m planning to head down the HF route for some of the activations in the South where vhf contacts can be difficult.