Ben, you should have no problem as the radio path is largely over the sea. I regularly work GW/NW summits and home stations in north Wales from G/LD summits with my 2m FM HT to a RH770 ½-wave whip or a j-pole. Hope to work you S2S on Saturday.
regards, Andy
That sounds great Andy, I’ll listen out for you. I’m planning on been out all day Saturday on multiple NW summits and I’m then doing a joint activation on Sunday with a good friend of mine @GW4VPX Allan in MW 
have a nice time and safe ascent.
73, GW4BML. Ben
Just checked with the Brookside Inn, Windermere - they are serving food tomorrow up till 9pm.
I’m still testing positive at the moment, so it looks unlikely I’ll be able to make it.
Regards, Mark.
…excuses…
Thankfully it seems the weather forcast has improved and is now looking good, I have however picked up an bug (Negative LFD so not that bug) from my daughter and I will need to make it a shorter day. So Plan B is Dale Head (which will be a complete for me) starting from Honister which is a much shorter walk, and I’m afraid that I wont be hanging around at the summit for long.
On the positive side it has forced me to check my kit more carefully. I must admit that I had thought 2m had been a bit quiet recently, and on close examination it is just possible that the core of the coax becoming disconnected from the antenna may have had a detrimental affect! 
So tomorrow hopefully Dale Head (LD-020) - and unless I make a spectacular recovery it will be just one summit so saving Robinson (LD-021) for another day… I have now added some extra length to the efhw so hopefully 2m and 60m. I am going to give the pub a miss as I’m sure you don’t want any bugs…
Finally (Off Topic) if you think filling a car up is expensive there is an 1800l oil tank outside…
Paul
I will be on the north side of Kit Hill G/DC-003 with my 2m 10 element Yagi from 1000 tomorrow (Saturday). I will try FM but might have a better chance of reaching the LD on SSB. I’ve modified the antenna mount so I can now switch quickly between horizontal and vertical polarisation. I’m not planning to try 2m CW or Data (FT8/4) but will take the necessary kit in case anyone wants to try one of these modes.
Charged all my radio batteries and packed my largest rucksack ready to go early tomorrow. But now I’ve decided I’m too old and grumpy to be carrying 10kg+ up the hill in cold weather. The air temperature on Gummers How G/LD-050 at 10am tomorrow will be 2-3C.
I may live to regret this but I’m dumping almost 4kg of tarp, poles, groundsheet, inflatable mat, and my MPAS Lite vertical. Instead, I’ll take the 60/40/30/20 linked dipole and a bothy bag (0.86kg together). I hate operating radio from inside a BB but have used it before as a wrap-around-me windbreak.
As well as working 60m and 40m better [than the vertical] the linked dipole gets to share the 6m Life’s A Breeze pole with the 2m/70cm j-pole, which is more rucksack space/weight efficient.
I plan to be on Ben Rinnes GM/ES-021 on Sunday. Had to take minimal kit, as we’re up in Inverness for the Snowman Rally this weekend and when the Land Rover is loaded with recovery kit and our clothing, there is room for little else.
EDIT: I’m cancelling tomorrow. Knackered after 12 hours out on stages of the Snowman Rally. It was a day of many incidents.
Plan on having a lie in!
Cheers, Fraser
I’ve been in the Yorkshire Dales for the last several days. Off home tomorrow but I’ll be activating G/NP-024 Saturday morning.
7mhz CW.
Due to my home circumstances at the moment I had only two hours at a local summit G/LD-050, but it was good fun. Had mini pile-ups on 2m FM and 60m SSB - 25 contacts of which 10 were S2S. It was was warming up nicely by lunchtime in the sunshine on the leeward side of some small rocks - wish I could have stayed longer to do other bands and CW mode.
73 Andy
Thanks to Mark for suggesting this weekend. Despite being a bit under the weather I had a brilliant day on Dale Head and I would like to think the lack of wind was good planning, but it was probably just very good luck there was almost no wind either on the way up or down or during the activation…
Thanks for all the QSO’s S2S and Chasers…and apologies my daughter suggested that Woody was trying a Dog2Dog QSO…
Compulsary dog picture.
Thanks 73 Paul
Just back home after a lovely day.Thanks to all the chasers and activators and in particular @M5EVT who I spotted on LD-001 setting up his HF gear as I was setting up my 13cm gear. You never know who you might bump into on a summit.
What a diverse bunch of radio geeks we are 
Hope you managed to get up illgill head for a camp Matthew
Thanks to M0NOM for proposing a LD activity weekend. Nice to get many of you S2S in the log today as GB2OTA.
73 MW0IDX
Looks fantastic Paul, you cannot explain to normal folk the difference between no wind and a gentle, withering, biting breeze.
I did some chasing from home and then took Brooke for a paddleboard at Coniston Water.
Hope to get out tomorrow for an hour or so on the radio.
Mark.
With this weekend celebrating the 20th anniversary of the SOTA activation programme myself and Chris M0KPW went out to activate Harknott G/LD-034 IO84jj.
We had been looking at the weather forecast the past week and it had been getting better all the time.
This morning came and the skies were pretty much clear and it felt quite warm.
For a change I fancied the drive up the west coast and along the Eskdale valley, instead of the more direct route through Broughton-in-Furness, it turned out to be a bit of a mistake.
As we drove up the pass we could see several cars and people at the top, we thought “Oh No” we will never get parked up there. That was not the case, the pass was covered in Black Ice and it appeared we were the first car up, they were waiting to come down till the sun had risen enough for the ice to thaw.
We got to a very steep bend near the top and the car would not move.
I got Chris to get out and walk the route, I took my belt off in case I had to jump out, with much wheel spinning and a very weakened heart, I managed to get to the top, leaving Chris way behind panting his way up.
We got parked no problem and started the ascent, Andrew G7KSE had warned us it was likely to be wet, but as the ground had not thawed it was an easy and not boggy walk to the summit.
At the top I cracked open a tin of Brewdog and two of Dave G6HEF’s pub glass’s and drank a toast to him as he recently passed away and had ran the Hardknott brewery
After looking for suitable sites, Chris got his 2 mtr station going and I set up the QO-100 station, this was my first SOTA this year and I must admit, I did get a bit muddled, but I finally got into the Bird.
I worked my first station OH5LK and Chris shouted over that G7KSE was waiting for me on sked for a 13cm’s direct contact from Great Gable.
We completed nicely 5/9+ both ways and I swung the dish back round to align on the Satellite. Luckily the signals were stronger this time and I progressed to work another 12 stations, all in europe except for TF and PY.
Chris had a great day out with 22 QSO’s in his 2mtr F.M. log, 11 of them being Summit to Summit (S2S).
We both decided it was too cold to stay up any longer so we walked back down.
By now the route was it’s usual wet mess, but my SealSkinz socks kept it all out.
The route down the pass had now thawed out, we stopped at the WoolPack Inn in for a nice pint and reveled in the early March sunshine which made it feel like summer.
With a quick stop off in Holmrook to pick up some Cumberland Sausage for tea we went home.
A great little start to this years SOTA activities, thanks Mark
Nick G0HIK
Thanks for the S2S Roger, I did wonder who it was behind the key!
I was a bit surprised to work GW/NW-076 from G/LD-017 on 20m CW with 1 watt!
73, Colin
Thanks for the S2S Colin!
cheers Nick
Geoff vk3sq
I woke up at 05.10, five minutes before my alarm - how does that even work? 
I always faff about, it simply takes me ages to leave the house, no matter how much preparation I do the night before. Anyway, I left home at 6.10 after defrosting the car. I parked up at Swirls car park just a little more than an hour later. The views across Lake Windermere were quite simply breathtaking and emotional during the drive to the parking place, the hills behind illuminated in pink. I was reminiscing my early days in SOTA when I would drive up to the Lake District in my little Ford Fiesta early in the morning on weekends listening to DJ Spoony on BBC Radio 1.
The path to Helvellyn summit became icy about half to two thirds of the way up, it didn’t really warrant spikes but extreme care was needed. The wind was biting and ferocious. I made the summit a little after 0900.
I’d changed my alert by 15 minutes before I’d set off to 0945. I thought I might actually make it on air sooner but the wind was so strong and constantly changing direction, so putting the HF antenna up was a real challenge. I only dared to put the antenna up about 3 or 4m, so it was quite low. By the time I had won the battle with my antenna (I had forgotten my steel nails for pegs too, doh! I had to use my regular alloy pegs), I was calling CQ right on my alerted time.
I had 12 QSOs using the SW-20+ and Spanish straight key. When there was no response to a couple of CQs, I packed up as I was very cold. I couldn’t use my bothy bag as the wind was blowing it against my face at times.
Eventually I managed to defrost my drinking water tube and I got back to the car just before 1200, after very carefully negotiating the icy path. I’d passed lots of walkers making their way up. The Lake District appeared full! I ate lunch in the car before making my way up to Kirkstone Pass. I crossed my fingers in hope that I would find a parking place, thankfully I discovered a couple heading back to their car and I managed to squeeze in the space they had vacated. It was a that point that I chatted with a teacher from my son’s school! After the chat I kitted up and was just locking the car when a guy came over and said something like ‘are you doing SOTA?’. Turns out it was Martin M7BIA, he’d spotted my pole!
The walk from the Kirkstone Inn to Red Screes G/LD-017 has a high reward to effort ratio, you gain height really quickly and I simply love the views from there.
By sheer fluke I was on air within a few minutes of my alerted time of 1400. Of course I’d had to fight the antenna again, the wind had dropped a little but it was still quite strong. I used the paddle key this time, it was easier, and the rig has a keyer so why not use it? I made 18 QSOs on the SW-20+. I’d packed my ancient DJ-G5 handheld just for laughs, so I thought I’d try for a contact. I hooked up with G7CDA in Lancaster after a call on 145.500 MHz.
Getting back to the car just before 1600, I thought about going to a cafe to have a coffee and use wifi to upload my log to waste time before heading to the pub. However after doing an internet search, it seems as though cafe life stops after 4pm. I made the decision just to drive home, it seemed the most sensible option rather than hanging about for a couple of hours.
I really enjoyed the day, the views were great and got better during the afternoon. The weather was challenging but it made the success a bit sweeter.
73, Colin
That was a long and demanding day! I’m impressed by the straight key with wooden base - it must raise the tone of the activation so to speak.
