We (Fraser MM0EFI and I) had plans for a big day out on Lochnagar (GM/ES-008) yesterday but were thwarted by the vagaries of the Scottish weather (calm to storm over six hours) and the present state of Fraser’s oral health (emergency dental visit). So, I put the crampons and ice axe back in their bags, probably not to make another appearance now that I have them and completed a winter skills course! Not wanting to waste a sunny day up here in the North East of Scotland and being short of time due to dog-sitting duties, I chose a local summit, Hill of Foudland (GM/ES-071). I had just built an EFHW with a 49:1 transformer and wanted to test it. Laziness dictated that I wouldn’t bother putting a mast up in the garden so it was straight up a hill with my first real go at antenna construction.
There are two ways up Foudland, but having done it last Easter, I prefer the route via Red Hill for good off-road parking and a bit more of a leg stretch. The storm-damaged trees are still there, but there is a route around them which is relatively easy to follow.
The only snag with this route is finding a gate in the deer fence that the blocked path will take you straight to but a quick patrol up and down with reference to last year’s GPS track took me to the first gate. There is so much rewilding up here that deer fence access is now the new blocker to land access!
There are two cairns on Red Hill but I’m not sure why they are there as the hill is pretty insignificant.
On the way up, I could hear the GM/ES massive starting to activate, accompanied by the usual deluge of WhatsApp messages! At the trig, the forecast wind didn’t disappoint and after three local contacts on 2m (I could nearly see Mike 2M0WNA), I started to search for somewhere to get my Tactical Mini up without the chance of it snapping. The lee of the hill drops way sharply and is covered with the remains of the old slate quarries, which are akin to bomb craters, so they are unsuitable for EFHW placement. After recent GM/ES discussions about the state of trig point receptacles (people like to shove plastic water bottles in them), I was pleasantly surprised to see that this trig was available for mast placement all the way to what looked like the magma!
With everything up and withstanding the wind, I had a quick look at the SWR via the IC705 function and couldn’t see a thing on 15, 20 or 40m. Thinking that being an AMATEUR, I was misusing the function, I spotted and selected SWR on the S meter. All was good, with the meter barely registering anything over 1.3:1 apart from at the upper reaches of 10m, which is to be expected. Job done! Nineteen QSO’s in all on 15, 20 and 40 with 4x StS.
I quickly descended and was back with the pooches within an hour, with the sun breaking through the early mist and haze.
If anyone is interested in Landys and camper conversions, I have created a YouTube channel hopefully showing the transformation and subsequent adventures: Alan the Defender
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