All going well I am going to head down South on Saturday 29th for my 1st GM/SS activation. Going to SS-154 then to SS-198. Hope to work plenty of new stations!!
Adrian
2M0ETR
In reply to 2M0ETR:
They’re a nice easy pair. You can park between the two and walk between them. Or if you’re short of time you can drive halfway up East Lomond. It’ll be busy on a Saturday so be prepared to explain what you’re doing
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Thanks for the info Andy, leaving early in the morning so i should get the 2 done from the central car parking place. Is there room for a 40M band inverted Vee with all the visitors or should i just stick to the VHF Yagi?
73
Adrian
In reply to 2M0ETR:
I found plenty of space for a 60m inverted V. Bags of space on West Lomond, less so on East Lomond. Also worth noting the trig point is quite some way below the summit of East Lomond. It was a tertiary trig point and its only purpose was to reduce the error of observations on trig points to the South so there was no need to observe any Perthshire/Fife summits from there. i.e. Edinburgh/Glasgow hills etc.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
When is a trig not a trig? I ran across one on the flanks of Black Hill that is marked on the OS map as “pillar” (no trig symbol). It seemed to be a standard trig point to me.
73
Richard
G3CWI
A similar situation exists on G/LD-052, which is also not marked on the map, but which is also undoubtedly a “trig point”.
I suspect it is the original purpose/use of the pillar that may mean it does or doesn’t merit a little blue triangle with a dot in it on an OS map. Apparently, while the pillar on Hey Edge was installed by the OS, it was never used for triangulation. So it’s just a pillar, and not a trig point! (Maybe, clutching at straws a little…).
Tom M1EYP
Activation Report for GM/SS-154 and GM/SS-198
The Journey South:-
After a rude awakening at 0330z it was time to get the day started. Put my food in my pre-prepared radio bag and out the door by 0410z. The A9(South) was very quiet at this time with only a few lorries to pass and some little hold ups with roadworks. The trip was starting to become a bore until just after Bruar, where i was met with a car coming towards me in my lane on a blind bend. The driver of this car waved as he passed me in this imaginary middle lane of a single carriage way, lets just say he did not get a wave back!! After a quick stop in Perth for breakfast is was onto Falkland. Once i reached a village called Strathmiglo the 2 summits are VERY prominent, thinking oh my what have i let myself in for today. I had a quick tour round Falkland, very nice and picturesque and i will have to come back for a proper look. On MM3XGP’s recommendation i parked up at Craigmead car park, a central location for doing the 2 summits.
GM/SS-154 - West Lomond 522m IO86if
The route is well signposted from the car park. The track is in excellent condition. Its almost safe to say if you had permission you could drive 99% of the way to the summit in a 4x4. Very wide, reasonably flat an solid underfoot. It took me just over the hour to walk in to the base and maybe 15mins to the top. It wasnt long before i had company at the top, we talk about mountain goats well in Fife they have mountain sheep HI! The Sotabeam was up in minutes and a self spot to the cluster led to the 1st call of the day on VHF SSB to MM0XXP Alan in Larkhall. After qsy’ing to FM to listen out for Andy FMF I worked plenty of stations except for the man i was looking for. Sorry Andy maybe next time. Had an long chat with G(M)7ESY & G(M)7ESX up from G Land to do some Raynet activities. I put the 10m dipole up and heard an EA, and F station but i couldn’t work them. The last call here was MM1HMZ, took a few attempts to get the his callsign correct but thanks for sticking in there Brian.
13Qso’s a mix of VHF FM and SSB
I took the same route back to the carpark. Along the way i was stopped by a gentleman shouting “Amateur Radio”. Well this was GM3HNQ Tom, it turns out we come from the same town up here in Ross-Shire but hes now living down south. Its oh so a small world indeed. Tom and his XYL were on the way up West Lomond, using my backpack antenna and both using HT’s we had a short qso, with him at the top and myself nearly back to the carpark.
GM/SS-198 East Lomond 448m IO86jf
Across the other side of the car park near the entrance is the footpath for East Lomond, sign-posted as 1 1/4 miles. I started the 2nd walk thinking “it’s smaller so it should be easier” It’s not the case! Not by any means difficult just steep and not such a good path at all. Very busy though with other hill walkers. Once at the top i noticed that more people seemed to come up from the other side parking at a big radio antenna installation. I activated using VHF FM only and had a few new contacts that i didnt make at west lomond which was nice. Good DX with Jim GM4FVM down in the borders 79kms away. The last qso with GM1OPO/m in Pebbles was very quick as some black clouds came moving in rapidly.
12 Qso’s all VHF FM.
WX @ 0830z 6.5 degress, overcast & slight drizzle, no wind
WX @ 1500z 16 degrees, sun breaking through, wind getting up.
The Journey North.
Not far out of Falkand i noticed the car was struggling when i “put the foot down”. Pulled over before i got on the M90, and found that the coilpack for one of the cylinders was not on the spark plug. It just pushes on like any other HT lead but the spark plug must be about 200mm deep into the engine casing. So i put it back on and sure enough the car stopped mis-firing. For about every 20 miles after this i had to keep stopping to put it back in, i think the rubber keeping it in must be worn. Heavy rain all the way home and plenty of traffic made it seem longer than the 3 hours it took. Called in a Ralia Cafe for a nature break and some grub. Can thoroughly recommend this place. A but pricey but good quality and excellent portions.
All in all an excellent day out in the Kingdom of Fife. Thanks to all the gentlemen and lady for the qso’s. I hope to get back down that way soon for some more SOTA.
Adrian
2M0ETR
In reply to 2M0ETR:
Sorry I missed you. I saw the spot that you needed more QSOs so placed a spot suggesting 2m FM. I can seem both summits from my house so I thought that I’d be an easy contact for you. I called a few times then the phone rang and then when that finished I was due out so now more opportunities for a contact. I did look out for you later on East Lomond but again I wasn’t about when you were on. Never mind, there’s always next time. Glad you enjoyed some of my local summits.
Andy
MM0FMF