GW/NW-012 was interesting yesterday, It was my first larger summit activation. Completing the activation successfully in a 7 Hr round trip. Although slow and battling with sleet, rain and wind speeds in excess of 30 Mph it all turned out well.
One of the main issues I had overlooked though around 700m up is that I was in complete cloud with very limited visibility, this did not hinder me much in terms of getting to the summit as I had studied the walk well enough. In terms of logging the activation the cloud / mist was saturating the logging paper under cover and I had resorted to writing in an old book page by page to keep the contacts fresh and free from saturation by the wet.
Hence this got me thinking as to what the “seasonal” activators use for such difficult conditions ? I am interested to see what people use as an alternative or is this just something I am going to have to deal with the hard way ?
I also apologize to any S2S stations trying to call, I completely forgot that some of you may have been trying to get through the pile up.
Hi Jonathan - nice to make the contact with you on GW/NW-012 yesterday.
You may like to have a look at www.aquascribe.co.uk
Having worked on a fish farm for many years - an activity which involves devising new ways to get cold and wet (what does that remind you of?) - when it comes to water their notebooks are indestructible.
You could also try a digital voice recorder such as the type of thing sold in Aldi for a few pounds every so often, or cheaper still, download a voice recording app assuming you have a smart phone.
You could try “Rite in the Rain” waterproof paper which can be printed up with your preferred log sheet using a laser printer or copier and allows you to use a pencil. I am currently trying the Memory Map product, but it doesn’t take pencil, so I am using an Inka pen with it. Can’t say that I will be buying any more.
73, Gerald G4OIG
P.S. I’ve used my smart phone in rainy conditions, but prefer a paper log.
Thanks for all the useful replies. I have ordered a rite pad from Ebay. The embedded Audio recorder sounds interesting I am thinking now if I can implement it into the Minima TRX Homebrew unit I am building it would be nice to listen back to it to confirm the contacts.
Thanks to all that worked me yesterday, really feels like an achievement in those conditions. Sorry for the slightly shaky voice, if that large Stone structure had not been there it wouldn’t have been possible.
Hi Jonathan, I think you are making the right decision.
I have used the video function on my phone to log contacts on a particularly wet & windy activation & although it worked, as the phone is not waterproof this could have proved very expensive!
I used one of the SOTAbeams waterproof log books(now discontinued)on exercise in the lake District yesterday & it coped perfectly in heavy rain.
I am going to purchase some A4 Rite in the Rain paper in order to print my own A5 contest log sheets. Now that I have taken to VHF contesting from my motorbike, the biggest issue is keeping the kit dry, & my A5 log sheets printed on normal paper don’t survive more than a couple of drops of rain, which is not much good in this part of Lancashire!
Best of luck & I hope to catch you on the air very soon.
The Rite in the Rain 4" by 6" notepads are perfect Mark. You quickly get used to them, so you don’t really need to print contest log columns over them. It’s easy enough to keep everything in neat(ish) columns just with a sharp(ish) pencil - without actually needing the column lines (or headings) there.
I am going to purchase some A4 Rite in the Rain paper in order to print my own A5 contest log sheets.
We all have our preferences, but I concur with your thoughts Mark that A5 is about the right size for a log sheet. I have tried all kinds of different formats and have now settled on a design set up in Excel which is based upon a log sheet that Paul G4MD designed. It is slightly less than A5 on a portrait layout that allows me to get 30 QSOs on a sheet. I find that 30 entries is usually sufficient for an average activation, with just a single change of log sheet required if there is a pile up - even Mike YYY would only need two or three log sheet changes for one of his average activations!
I have my log sheets on a lightweight plastic clipboard and use an elastic band to hold down the loose ends. Being less than A5 and smaller than the clipboard they are less prone to the effect of the wind. It can be quite trying changing log sheets when the wind is strong, but thankfully I now don’t have to do that very often.
In reply to M1EYP:
Ditto Tom.
Can’t beat riteintherain. Pages don’t stick together when they dry out after getting wet.
I use a very small pad and a pencil. No need for overlaid columns. I know what I need to capture. Plus, if it all goes wrong you now have a note book ready to use to capture emergency info like location, party size, condition of casualties etc. So when you phone (or radio?) for assistance you have it all at your fingertips.
Inspired Andy! Rite in the Rain must be the one thing less suitable for lavatory purpose than that awful Izal toilet paper beloved of institutional facilities
73 de Paul G4MD (devoted user of RITR for it’s intended function!)
The important fact I have learned here is that RITR pages do not stick to each other when the wet pages dry out. My Aquascribe notepad is terrible for this. I maybe tempted to punt for a RITR for this reason alone even though I have an unused Aquascribe notebook.
