Did the 70cm FMAC and 70cm UKAC from The Cloud G/SP-015 on Tuesday night. Rubbish conditions, but still left the summit with 67 QSOs in the log.
Back up on Wednesday night for the 70cm FT8AC. Got to summit, set up 6 el. beam, starting setting up 817 etc and realised the little red bag containing the SignaLink interface was still in my car. Back down, back up, and QRV 25 minutes late. Still rubbish conditions - only 14 QSOs made.
Thursday night was the 6m UKAC, so back up again. Dreadful condx. Got to a pathetic 30 QSOs by 10pm (local) and threw in the towel. Packed up and called in on my 80 year old mum who made me cheese on toast. Ace.
Drove home, backed on the driveway and started collecting my bits and bobs to take in the house. Couldn’t find my little paper logbook anywhere. I’d definitely put it into one of the zip pockets on my trousers before leaving the summit. Turned car upside down, phoned my mum, no joy.
When checking the zip pockets on my trousers, started to wonder if I’d posted the logbook through the zip-off bit by mistake…
Drove back to The Cloud, ascended it yet again (5th time in 3 days). Found it on the summit.
Wonderful. So long as ascents equal descents all is well. Very respectable tallies for a backpack station. Worth a Koala Bear stamp for your lost and found log book which looks like a “write in the rain” one.
I must have had a complete sense of humour bypass…
No koalas, but the wallabies were still bounding around as I descended at 0120 local!
Yes - well ‘Rite in the Rain’ is what I used to use, this is a cheaper “lookalike” product. It’s rare I use pencil and paper logging these days as I’ve gone over to Ham2K PoLo. But I’ve not found a viable way to configure it for VHF contest operating yet, so revert to the waterproof paper notepad on contest nights.
Maybe. Who can refuse a bit of pampering from one’s mum though? Whether you’re 5 or (in my case) 55, nothing beats it!
My son was up there briefly on Sunday with a few others as he was doing the “Gritstone Grind” 35-mile run along the Gritstone Trail from Kidsgrove to Disley. Despite the rain and thunderstorm he came in a creditable 35th in a shade under 7 hours. I ought to get him doing SOTA’s !
Ha! I’m glad you recovered your logbook. Which reminds me…
During the recent W2 campout (great fun and my third SOTA campout this year) I was on Mt. Marcy W2/GA-001, the high point in NY state. The weather was fantastic but with odd wind conditions I’d never seen before: 95%+ of the time it was dead calm, but perhaps once every five to ten minutes it would blow like mad. I didn’t account for this when I happened to get up to adjust my antenna and also offered to take a photo of a couple of youngsters who’d make the trek up this popular peak. Suddenly a squall carried away my Thermarest Z-Seat foam pad and spiralled it high in the air periodically just outside my grasp. I chased it comically until I saw my logbook also blow away. Priorities! I captured the log and one of the youths snagged my sit pad which miraculously did not leave the summit area. Then I took their photo, smiles all around.
Great story, Tom.