Hi All,
Tom M1EYP/P is currently active on PSK31 from G/SP-015 The Cloud & is a good signal with 5 Watts from his FT817. He asked me to post on here that he is doing a late night activation so feel free to listen for him & give him a call.
80m seems to be working quite well now so give PSK31 a try 
73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G0VOF:
Evening Mark
Despite my finger trouble on the keyboard I managed a contact earlier!
Regards
Dave
In reply to M0TUB:
Hi Dave, Yes I watched your QSO
It took me a while to send a readable signal as I had to reset my audio levels & the gain within the radio to avoid being very wide.
I wonder if you saw me working Tom & if my signal looked OK?
73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G0VOF:
Hi Mark
I did see you work Tom ok but my screen is built into the radio and doesnât really give much of a waterfall picture! At the same time I was trying to figure out which F key to make it send a message. Got there in the end although the damned thing started to send some built in macros afterwardsâŚdoh
Sorry about that Tom
73
Dave
In reply to M0TUB:
Thanks Dave, Iâve been there myself, it doesnât half confuse things when a macro starts sending in the middle of a typed exchange HI!
I had just been in the RSGB SSB CC so was not set up for PSK when I saw Tomâs spot so it took a bit of playing around to get PSK working correctly. I Think Tom has gone to CW or SSB now, which is more easier to understand Hi!
Thanks & 73,
Mark G0VOF
In reply to G0VOF:
Yup!
I managed to work him on CW too. Gosh, I havenât half got rusty at things radio!
About time I got back up on a hill too.
Speak soon
Dave
In reply to M0TUB:
I managed a very spontaneous activation on Saturday myself, last time I was out before then was in September when you were on Pen-y-ghent.
Catch you soon
73,
Mark G0VOF
Bank Holiday Monday 6th May 2013 was scheduled for the 80m club contest, SSB session. I had assumed I was sitting this one out due to other arrangements, but some last minute happenings meant that I could go out.
So to The Cloud G/SP-015 it was to lap up the final part of this beautiful day. It was shirt-sleeve order for ascending the hill, although that did make my pack heavier with coat, fleece, hat etc stuffed inside.
People seem to be getting ever more interested in radio, and the questions from passers-by are coming thicker and faster than ever before. Therefore I couldnât rush setting up, and the station was ready by 1840z. This was too late to try and find and hold a clear frequency ahead of the contest - they were all gone!
So it was S+P for me all through again, and I actually did worse than last month, down three to 34 QSOs. After the contest, I met with Tall Trees Contest Group members Brian G3UJE, Reg G3TDH, Jimmy M0HGY and Jim G3KAF on our usual after-contest net frequency of 3.645MHz for a natter. I then held this frequency to work any SOTA chasers. In total, I made 41 QSOs on 80m SSB.
I next went onto 80m PSK31, and I had to check and adjust the settings for audio volume out of the smartphone and DIG GAIN on the FT-817, while toggling between the PWR and ALC meters until everything was set properly. It was very satisfying to then work five SOTA chasers - M0TUB, G0VOF, LA8BCA, DJ5AV and HB9CUE.
Finishing the activation on 80m CW, I switched to the HB1B transceiver, but could only find one contact - Dave M0TUB. I was too tired to consider changing the links on the HBIV and trying some different bands, although I did intend to call on 2m FM on the VX7R after packing away. However, as the packaway was nearly complete, a cloud of midges (or other small lively mithery flying insect) descended on me and seemed quite persistent. Descent was the only option. Total QSOs for the activation = 47.
To my surprise, the little so-and-sos accompanied by headlight (and face) all the way down to the car, most unpleasant. Oh well, I guess there is a downside to the start of this magnificent weather.
Tom M1EYP
In reply to M1EYP:
To my surprise, the little so-and-sos accompanied by headlight (and face) all the way down to the car,
most unpleasant. Oh well, I guess there is a downside to the start of this magnificent weather.
Just back from Australia, where biting flies and mossies were the prime tormentors. Abandoned one beach after only a few minutes because of biting flies. Iâm told (but not convinced) that the mossies home in on carbon dioxide and humidity; stop breathing for a while and, allegedly, they canât find you. The duration of âa whileâ is left as an exercise for the reader to determineâŚ
73, Rick M0LEP
In reply to M0LEP:
Iâm told (but not convinced) that the mossies home in on carbon dioxide
Do you have some evidence to disprove the CO2 attracts them hypothesis Rick? There does seem to be significant evidence to suggest CO2 is a big draw for biting insects like them and midges.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Do you have some evidence to disprove the CO2 attracts them hypothesis
Rick?
Nope. No clear proof, either, though. I guess CO2 levels could bring the mossies into general proximity, but theyâre using other senses to narrow down the target, as they seem to home in on hands, ankles, or any other bits of exposed flesh, rather than heading for faces, which is where Iâd expect CO2 levels to draw them.
The Aussie biting flies seemed to favour attacks from behind; backs of legs, between the shoulders, and other places hard to swipe at. Wind direction didnât seem to have much (if any) bearing on their direction of attack, and clothing provided no obstacle. A suit of armour and a force 8 gale might help, I guessâŚ
73, Rick M0LEP
Thereâs an app for that:
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/app/scottish-midge-forecast-uk/id375094872?mt=8
In reply to M0LEP:
CO2 is one of the precursor attractants. Increases in CO2 can draw them from 50m away. CO2 producing traps work extremely well at drawing midges and mosquitoes away from humans.
As to who and where they bite seems to be heavily based on cholesterol levels and the byproducts of cholersterol metabolisation which are exuded in the sweat and lay on the skin.
There is work on using chemicals which can blind or disrupt CO2 sensitivity. Some cause the CO2 receptors to stop working and others produce such a strong response the insects have much reduced CO2 sensitivity for some time afterwards. Sort of like looking into the sun then trying to see in a dark room.
So there does seem to be a fairly significant body of evidence that says CO2 has a major effect in attracting them to you in the first place.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
There is work on using chemicals which can blind or disrupt CO2 sensitivity.
If it leads to something that keeps the mossies away Iâm all for it! 
73, Rick M0LEP
In reply to M0LEP:
Live from G/SP-015 right now
QRV on 10.141-psk31
Tom M1EYP/P
In reply to M1EYP:
What a lovely evening for it TomâŚwe are still on 145.400 if you want to collar usâŚps had some excellent reviews about your band the other evening.
73
Russ
M6RGF
Home now.
Yes, the weather was nice again, albeit rather breezy. This however did allow me to solve the previous nightâs midge mystery. They werenât midges - it was dust! We have had a long dry spell, and the surface of the summit of The Cloud G/SP-015 is very dry and dusty. The non-stop medium strength breeze tonight was such that midges would not have been out dancing. But my headtorch still illuminated clouds of little specks in front of my face, and my face feeling the irritation from it. It was dust! Made me realise how much dust is in the air around us in such conditions, because you just donât see it in daylight - but a good headtorch reveals the grim truthâŚ
So, Tuesday 7th May 2013, and the 2m UK activity contest. The running clubs were out in force across the summit. I asked them if theyâd had a sudden increase of members as there wasnât anything like as many of them in the previous four months of the year when it was wet and bitterly cold.
Signals on 2m were a little bit up compared to how they have been, and I enjoyed a pretty decent event. 81 QSOs and 16 multiplier squarea, plus âDXâ with two QSOs into France, to add to those into G, GW, GD, GM and GI. There was more to be done though. 100 QSOs should have been doable I reckon, and IO80 and IO86 proved elusive, as did other stations in France, Netherlands etc.
Here is a map of my contest QSOs: Google Maps
The 30m dipole was hanging from the top of the SOTA Pole above the SB5 2m beam, and after the contest I set about using it. Only one station was worked on 30m PSK31, this when I responded to Miguel EC1DJâs CQ call. And then only one station was worked on 30m CW, when SP5RE answered my call in what was sounding like poor and deteriorating conditions on that band.
The âhanging on transmitâ issue returned to haunt me on PSK tonight, which surprised me using a dipole where the legs are well raised off the ground. I got around the problem by âhidingâ the Wolphi-link interface box underneath the FT-817. I have now popped some ferrite beads into my coat pocket to put on the cables next time Iâm out.
Tom M1EYP
In reply to MM0FMF:
CO2 has a major effect in attracting them to you in the first place.
An interesting brief discussion about mossies and the things theyâre attracted by on BBC Radio 4âs Today programme this morning, prompted by research apparently showing that the malaria parasite alters the way mosquitos respond, both by making infected mosquitos more strongly attracted to potential human victims, and by making infected people more attractive to mosquitos. Sweaty feet are, they said, the body-part anopheles mosquitos are particularly attracted to. Just the sort of report itâs nice to hear as youâre waking up, particularly when they play the sound of a hundred buzzing mossies over the airâŚ
73, Rick M0LEP