Kinder Scout Tri-Band Activity Report

Old Reflector
1

Hi All,

Activation Report G/SP-001 Kinder Scout 17th May 2009:

We decided on doing Kinder Scout firstly as its an SP summit that needs to be crossed off the list and its the Highest on the list also. But also we thought it would be good to do SP-001 as a “Living over the brush couple” and then do SP-002 as a “proper married couple”.

So off we went from Home in time to get to Little Hayfield in plenty of time to stroll up to AZ. Richards notes said to park close to the Grouse Inn, which has a off road parking just before the disused red phone box for about 4 cars. 200 yds up is the stile to start a slow steady grassy path up to a Gate at the base of Burnt Hill. The path then goes a bit boggy and some loose gravel before reaching summit of Burnt Hill. If you look to the left and spot a Trig it belongs to Harry Hut a smaller summit.From then there has been provided a really good solid paved path right across the open moors to the summit of Mill Hill. On the way there are a number of relics of crashed aircraft,then we finally reached the second summit at Mill Hill. Nice Cairn here with a couple of stones to sit and rest before attempting the final steeper section to Kinder Plateau.Trig is another ten mins walk across it just after waterfall.

Had a bite to eat and a brew then started off about 15 mins early on 2m SSB,with Jimmy M3EYP coming straight back to me from home.Then Tom M1EYP/P with a S2S from Shining Tor,who told me there was a 2m contest on today aswell. Luckily I had the grid square and WAB ref to use as I thought I would have a Pile up now which would include contesters and SOTA chasers! Not too bad though only some stations wanted the info and log number so not too busy. Weather had turned Nasty by now with terrential rain bouncing off the overhang rocks we had found close to Trig. I was using the usual FT897 but no Beam,just the Jimpo from Peter @ Garex, which was doing a superb job getting contacts into Furness,Wigan and Graham in Selby. 16 contacts on 2m ssb later it went quiet and weather had improved slightly so decided on 4m FM,no call backs so switched to 6m ssb and got 1st call into Alsager with G4ERQ thanks Tony nice 5-5 both ways. Really pleased to get Mike GW0DSP in Connahs Quay,with a distinguished guest in the form of G1INK. 5 contacts later and Time to get off down tried to do 4M again on Wouxun with Rubber Duck,got a call back just before edge of AZ but he could not hear me,so no joy again.

To summarise, Nice walk in to summit from Little Hayfield,for us less used to steep summits. Good day on 2m and 6m and a really good summit to activate from.

Just one final addition, I did get a 4m Contact with Tony M0ATV in Stockport,but it was between Mill Hill and Burnt Hill so cannot put it on Database for a SOTA contact but at least it was a contact on 4m for the day. Thanks to Tony for coming back to my calls on the wouxun with the rubber duck.

Thanks again for all who contacted me up there,thanks to Tom for unique S2S and thanks to the XYL(soon to be Mrs C) for the lovely lunch again.

Elaine and Myself will be tying the knot on Friday 22nd May and we are off to Italian Lakes for a week.No Radio,but she has allowed me to take my SOTA T-Shirt with me to wear ,hoping to bump into an Italian SOTA Person if possible.

Logged all calls on database as usual and photos on Flicker.

73

Tony

2

In reply to 2E0LAE:

Excellent report Tony. Pity about 4m FM… more or less the same happened to me last Monday. I guess the regulars have gone into hibernation for some reason. Maybe it’s antenna cleaning month - something that can be done between rain showers!

73, Gerald

3

In reply to 2E0LAE:

A very nice report & great read as usual Tony :slight_smile:

I knew you were alerted to be active from SP-001 today & as I was planning to be on SP-005 Pendle Hill for the 144MHz backpackers contest I hoped to work you at some point.

Unfortunately it was not to be, but I am absolutely certain if I’d had the Wouxon switched on when you called on 4 metres, I would have heard you. After the contest today I did some tests with Mike G4BLH, & although his distance from Pendle Hill is minimal, I don’t think a full scale reading on the Wouxon literally led on the ground in a peat hag, from a handheld on the other side of the summit is to be sniffed at!

Four Metres has great potential for SOTA, as it does seem to bend round corners better than 2 metres.

I will post a report on my activity today very shortly.

Nice to hear you have persuaded your “other half” out on to the hills with you :slight_smile:

With SOTA, two is better than one, for a variety of reasons, which I won’t go into now :wink:

73,

Mark G0VOF

4

In reply to G4OIG:
Hi Gerald,

I think the problem was down to conditions while up on AZ as I have had a good few contacts on 4M using my halfwave wire dipole in the past.

But when I was walking across the AZ to come down,Then I was only using the Rubber Duck which as you know is as much good as a dummy load!! Hi Hi

Never mind we will keep trying.

73 Tony

5

In reply to G0VOF:
Hi Mark,

I did forget about the 2m contest and as such was not expecting too much from up there. would have been good to get S2S with you on Pendle.

The Wouxun has been great both recieve and TX in the past but I think its all down to Antennas and conditions at times.

Elaine always accompanies me as we both enjoy Fell walking and she encourages me to do SOTA while we are out up there anyway. She still wont give me a definate on whether she will do her Foundation Exam yet,and I wont nag her as she will not do it then. She is a Very Keen SWL and is happy to do that at present.

Look forward to your report and hope to catch you soon up another one. I have alerted for 14th June to go up Black Hill SP-002 and its the PW 2m qrp contest the same day so hoping for some S2S then

73

Tony

6

In reply to 2E0LAE:

Good to hear you one one of my local hills Tony - even though I was in GW0DSPs shack, hope my heckling in the background didnt put you off. You`re lucky the 2m contest was on as SP-001 is well known for being a let down when it comes to getting out on 2m despite its lofty elevation.
Btw your starting point was Chunal not Little Hayfield. I hope you went into the Grouse & spent a fortune as I have shares in Thwaites brewery :slight_smile:
73 Steve.

7

In reply to G1INK:

Hi Steve, I never thought , I should have asked to have QSO using G1INK/A just to get /A call in the log?? Never mind maybe next time?

Thats worth noting about 2m probs on Kinder ,I suppose if I hadnt got any 2m calls I would have still activated with the 6m calls so not too bad really.

We were going to go in Grouse Inn but it was full of kids running round when we got back to car at about 3.30pm so decided against it and Elaine wanted to get back home anyway. So no shareholders profit this time round. Sorry

73

Tony

8

I should have asked to have QSO using G1INK/A

Even better Tony, you could have had GW1INK/A!

It was good to catch you S2S in the contest. Mind you, it was taxing trying to determine a postcode for the summit of Kinder Scout hi!

All the best for the wedding.

Tom M1EYP

9

In reply to M1EYP:
Trust you Tom to remind of The GW prefix!! Hi Hi

Thats what I thought when you asked me for a postcode, I forgot the contest was on . Its a good job I always take info on Grid & WAB refs for the Summits I am up,otherwise I would have been in more trouble. Thanks again for the unique S2S thats 15 out of the 25 I need in my log to date.

Thanks for your best wishes for Friday, its a quiet one with close family and a Big Holiday on Lake Garda. We are going to try and bag one of the hills while we are there,shame I cant take radio.

73

Tony

10

In reply to 2E0LAE:

Trust you Tom to remind of The GW prefix!! Hi Hi

Some of us don’t need to be reminded about the GW prefix, we use it all the time regardless of where we are … on most activations in England, even at the home QTH! At least Paul G(W)4MD and myself will be using the correct callsign on our next activation… we will be in Wales of course.

73, Gerald

11

In reply to 2E0LAE:

I have to say, that when my Wouxon arrived I looked at the rubber duck that came with it & thought it would not be much better than a dummy load. But I have been most impressed with the radio, even on it’s extremely short (for 4 metres), helical.

Of course, when I have the time on a summit I will use a dedicated 4 metre J-Pole, taped to my fishing pole, which really does work a treat! I can recommend making one as it should out-perform your dipole, & is so much easier to mount vertically. There is a very good article on Summitsbase on how to build one. I built mine to the exact dimensions given & it worked first time with minimal SWR at 70.450 MHz. I actually mount it at the back of my house when I am at home & am seriously considering building one into some plastic pipe & making it a permanent addition to my very small antenna farm.

Here it is on Boulsworth Hill last month:

Imgur

For better performance than the supplied helical when I don’t have the time to set up the J-Pole I use a telescopic whip, extended to be a quarter wavelength at 70.450 MHz minus a couple of cms to account for the velocity factor.

Best wishes to you & Elaine for your upcoming wedding :slight_smile:

73,

Mark G0VOF

12

In reply to G0VOF:

Hi Mark,

The Rubber duck has only given me one contact and it was a case of stand still in that position and dont move(you know what I mean).

I am considering actually building a portable 3 element beam for 4m,I have the boom ready and dimensions on a sheet just have to get the other materials for lightweight easy set up. This will be after the Hols now and look forward to testing it on one of the summits soon.

I was impressed with the 2m Jimpo from Peter at Garex and will continue to use it although I know the Chasers prefer me to use my SotaBeam on SSB.

Thanks for your wishes and hope to work you soon.

73

Tony

13

In reply to G4OIG:

HI Gerald , I suppose Steve would have remembered to use the correct call from Mike’s QTH.

My problem is I enjoy myself so much up the summits,I start waffling and forgetting where I am up to at times!!

To Date Cadair Berwyn has been the best Summit for enjoying myself, and every summit since is being compared to that.

Only 7 South Pennine summits to go,so I am on target for reaching my goal at the moment.

Will certainly be increasing 70cm activity as I am also in the process of building a portable 70cm 6 element beam as well as a 3 element 4m beam. More experiments to come before Christmas>

73

Tony

14

In reply to 2E0LAE:

Just a quick one guys and gals,

Back from Honeymoon,couple of pics on Flicker, sort of radio related ( Sota T-Shirt on ) up 2000m without a Radio,

Makes me think I need my full call license for future european activations!!??

We back to live activations on 14th June,hope to catch you then?

73

Tony