They say that domestics are on the increase during this time of forced “isolation” with family 
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That is so sad. And I am so very fortunate. Approaching 42 years now, her, I and 3 very large dogs.
Wishing everyone was as happy.
Vy73 – Mike – KD5KC – El Paso, TX.
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She looks charming, Mike, and that hat is a work of art!
Hi Mike, I used to work 10m from Dortmund with great success signing DA4GR.
I have just put my 4, spangly new 5Ah 3cell lipos into stasis at 11.1 Volts.
Just need to fast track myself to the start of the winter bonus season to complete my prep!
“Beam me up Scotty” “It’s life Jim, but not as we know it”
David
G0EVV
Off out for my daily exercise outing. Another circuit of my fab route. Not SOTA of course but will “activate” a couple of Summitsbase classics from the past - Longmoss Top and Great Weston Fell.
No Peanut today so just local 2m FM.
I’m lucky in that fairly open country is within walking distance, though nothing that I would call a summit.
The roads are quieter than usual too which makes for a pleasant walk…
Today I explored a local footpath for the first time, and found lots of open space suitable for SOTA antenna testing. It seems to be rather neglected farmland, so I guess it is destined for more house building at some point…
I noted the overhead HV powerlines for any future pedestrian portable experiments! With my FT70 handie, I had a nice chat on the local repeater GB3LH along the way, and will try to extend radio activities as time goes on.
It has been so easy up till now to jump in the car and head for the hills, that I have overlooked local walks to an embarrassing degree. Time to make up for that…
73
Adrian G4AZS
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QRV Great Weston Fell, TP5093 - 144.6125 C4FM
Hey Mike…Where were you stationed and what MOS? I was in Augsburg 77-79 and 84-87, 05H and 33S. DA1QZ and DA2KA respectively. It was tough getting antennas up living on the Kaserns (Flak and Sheridan) and In Housing…but I did find a way to put up dipoles.
73’s
Tim K5DEZ
S.O.T.A.S = Stoke On Trent Angling Society ?
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Not sure. Doubt it - bit out of the way of Stoke; not impossible though.
Well Birmingham Angling has signs for parts of the Rivers Severn / Avon near Tewkesbury.
Summits On The Air Sympathisers, of course!
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Hi Steve.
I actually went up on the second floor of my garage and pulled out the old log books. I did not find DA4GR in there. I was DA4DF from about 1977 to about 1979, and DA1WJ from about 1981 to 1984. I am almost certain I would have logged you had we worked. I was especially diligent about logging DA stations, we were so few in number.
Vy73 – Mike – KD5KC – El Paso, TX.
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Redesmere - alongside which I was walking when I saw that sign - isn’t on the list of S.O.T.A.S. waters you linked me too - but elsewhere online there does appear to be a connection.
Correct. Any prize off the bottom shelf.
Well it was time to establish a new route during this period of lockdown. I had an idea late last night for this ambitious circuit, and when I woke up at 4.30am BST this morning, I decided to give it a go.
In terms of lockdown guidance:
- Stay local
- No vehicle / non-essential travel
- One outing for personal exercise
The one aspect I might have struggled with is Michael Gove’s suggestion that a walk for exercise might be completed inside one hour. I think I might have “slightly” overshot that. But I rather suspect Mr Gove’s remarks are in the context of big city dwellers rather than people going into very quiet countryside. I saw one person in 8 hours - a farmer who was about 250 yards away.
https://osmaps.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/route/4642798/Macclesfield-West-285km-circular
The map calculates 28.5km for the route, but my Fitbit watch reckons I did 32km - and 41,000 steps, burning over 5000 calories. Some of those calories were replaced by a litre flask of Aldi butternut squash and smoked bacon soup, which was very good.
I took the handheld with me of course.
Longmoss Top (an old Summitbase user-added summit by @G3CWI) - zero contacts - but it was before 7 in the morning at that stage!
Tidnock (TP6480 - except that the WAB programme is currently suspended for /P and /M activators) - zero contacts. Tried to break into the usual guys in Crewe/Winsford/Wrexham on 145.425MHz, but they weren’t hearing me.
New Farm / “Great Weston Fell” (TP5093) - 3 contacts - G7RYN, @2W0JYN, 2E0BCJ
This is a long walk! I certainly underestimated how long it would take, but I did know it was going to be a trek! It was a very satisfying route almost entirely on countryside public footpaths, byways and bridleways, and a very low proportion of road walking. The section between Whirley and Nether Alderley is superb, and the walk around Capesthorne Hall and Redesmere is good too.
The question now is do I devise another lockdown walk - or dare I try to repeat this monster of a route?
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Another local walk today, of about 8Km, heading NW of Shrewsbury along the Severn Way long distance path, and exploring a couple of footpaths that branch off it.
The only radio activity was again via GB3LH repeater, but I did play Snap the SOTA along the way!
Stiperstones G/WB-003, centre. Slightly misleading from this angle, as the summit is actually a little to the left, behind the tree…
The Wrekin G/WB-010
Moel y Golfa GW/MW-027, centre
There should be at least five more that can be seen from vantage points around here, given a clear day, so there is something else for me to go at!
Spring is with us
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Looks like it was similarly grey, gloomy and overcast for you as it was for me then Adrian. I suffered a few spells of fine drizzle too. I now need to repeat my new big circular route on a nice sunny day in order to compile a set of photos - I didn’t bother today with the lack of suitable natural backlighting.
Anyway, glad to see that you, like me, are taking the opportunity to explore your local non-SOTA walking options in finer detail.
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