Wanting to try out my new budget HF kit outside of my local stomping ground, I opted to activate Pen Y Fan because it was foggy (I thought there might be a chance of seeing an inversion).
A new car park opened in 2023 - Pont ar Daf. I thought I’d see what it’s like to ascend/descend from there. It’s expensive at £7.50 per day. There was no option to pay for a few hours. It’s only a 5 mile circular from that car park, so you might want to get your money’s worth and extend the route.
Taking the Beacons Way path (at the bottom of the car park) up to the summit, it takes little time to ascent. I’d say that in wet weather, it were better to descend using that path - because descending towards the Story Arms Centre via the Cambrian Way is quite steep, and slippery when wet.
There was little visibility on the way to the top. I found a grassy area ideal for pegging/guying my mast, and a small step ideal for sitting at. I got to work.
Once set up, the sun was trying to break through the mist. I realised I was stood in the middle of a rainbow of sorts… stepping away from it, my radio and logbook were at the end of it - I knew this was going to be a great activation.
After spotting on SOTA watch, I called CQ on 20m. I had 8 QSOs in 7 minutes, including a S2S with @IK2LEY on HB/TI-137.
Next, 10m. 6 QSOs in 5 minutes, including one from the USA.
On 40m, 10 contacts including two unexpected DX QSOs.
I decided to chase a few more S2S contacts, which paid off. @HB9CCZ on HB/BE-118, and @GM5ALX on GM/ES-001 (a 10 pointer!).
Keen to try 2m, I managed 5 more relaxed QSOs. It was nice to speak to other hams and have a conversation, as opposed to the speed dating type of QSOs on HF.
I decided to pack up… and then the fog cleared for 5 minutes. the view was spectacular - an inversion just as I’d hoped.
What a fantastic day - thanks for the QSOs, particularly the S2S contacts.
31 QSOs, 13 countries and most importantly a lot of fun.
I did have issues with my audio/modulation. Despite that, I managed a reasonable number of QSOs on different bands. The G106 isn’t that bad - it works… but I really want to figure out the modulation/audio issue on 20m and 10m. Fingers crossed.
