Continuing the discussion from MM Holiday (Part 1) - #100 by M0HGY.
Previous discussions:
1 Like
So sorry to hear that, Jimmy. My condolences to yourself, your Dad Tom and the familly.
I hope your expedition is as stress free as possible, and a warm tribute to your Uncleās positivity.
Best wishes
Adrian
4 Likes
Really sorry to read that your uncle has passed away. My condolences to you Jimmy, your dad and to all the family. Iām sure that you will remember him and his positive attitude when you are out on the hills. Enjoy your time up in GM/SS and I hope the weather and midges are kind to you.
All the best,
Gerald
5 Likes
Me and my dad Tom @M1EYP activated Scawād Fell GM/SS-142 and Croft Head GM/SS-100 via a linear walk. Wx was nice on some parts of this linear walk and horrible on others parts of this linear walk so some parts of the linear walk were enjoyable and other parts of the linear walk were not enjoyable. When we reached the end of our linear walk, we met Jack @GM4COX who very kindly gave us a lift back to our car.
Jimmy M(M)0HGY
10 Likes
Just as well Jack was there to collect you two, else your walk would have been very non-linear.
Itās good to have SOTA friends. 
5 Likes
Sorry I bottled out ā¦ I must not read the weather forecast! ( It was mostly Ok in the North Pennines but the heavy showers wereā¦ heavy).
73. Paul
2 Likes
Totally agree Fraser.
Jimmy M(M)0HGY
4 Likes
We learnt today from todays experience that we would be better to use the images of the weather forecast in the area rather than rely on the rain radar. Today, the images of the weather forecast were more reliable.
Jimmy M(M)0HGY
2 Likes
Indeed it was my pleasure to meet the āladsā again.
Knowing that the āladsā planned to Activate SS-144 & 100, (both Completes for Andrew G4VFL and myself on 13cms) I required to Complete the adjacent GM/SS-082 on 13. So a sked was set-up with Nick G0HIK for G/LD-032 and Andrew on GM/SS-131 (if successful another couple of Completesā for Andrew and myself on 13) - the bike was loaded onto the car and off I headed.
Parking at NT138077 (so to rendezvous with the āladsā later) I cycled up to NT158072. Abandoning the bike and heading off up the hill to the Summit.
The wx was to be a mixture of sunshine and showers, and indeed this proved to be the case with a fairly windy day being ramped up when some severe showers blew them selves over the summit. This is where my tarp over the fence came into itās own.
The 13cms contacts proved a great success with 57/8 with Nick on SSB then 59 on FM with optimisation. Likewise a 59+ on FM with Andrew. Job done!! (interestingly I couldnāt work Nick on 2M FM though my set up is a fairly simple dipole, due to the wx, clipped on to one of my walking poles. The 13cms aerial is a 8 el Quad, again clipped onto my other walking pole and held up against the wind (see an example on GM/SS-100 below). Power 4W 2M ~ 2W 13cms)
Back off the hill and āskooshā back down to the car on the bike to await the āladsā and give them a lift.
Cheers
Jack(;>J
(Barry GM4TOE Iāve uplifted the āmerchandiseā from Tom and your daughter may wish to contact me for uplift)
9 Likes
Iām pleased the linear walk was achieved. I was originally going to the other end butā¦ I have a very flexible part-time working arrangement, I can pick which days I work, normally Wed&Thurs but sometimes they get moved about to suit me. I can in theory do 4 mornings or 4 afternoons or any combination that adds up to 2 days. Itās great. But the price is sometimes I have to work specific days or visit the office for face-to-face sessions. And so I was needed for some meetings Tuesday afternoon but I was able to video conference in and so didnāt have to travel in to Edinburgh.
However, it did mean I missed out on completes on 13cms and catching up with Tom and Jimmy. Iāve had a few 13cms QSOs now where the path has been workable on 13cms CW/SSB but fails on 2m FM. Of course CW/SSB gives viable QSOs at much lower SNR and on top of that most of us have considerably more antenna gain at 13cm than 2m. Itās still neat when a āmicrowaves only work for LOS pathsā signal diffracts and reflects through mountains and you have a QSO on the hard band but not on the easy band 
7 Likes
Sorry to miss you Andy. However Jackās plans meant that we could meet him at the end of our linear (13 miles) and handover my late brotherās collection of music books for the next stage of their relay up to Barry GM4TOE.
It was a great route with stunning views, but three short sharp showers dampened enthusiasm for Jimmy somewhat!
Jack reckoned that the first QSO of the activation had to be 13cm otherwise the Database would not recognise the activation for 13cm credit. Is this right? I know that any of the QSOs can be 10m to attract the Challenge multiplier, it doesnāt have to be the first. Anyway, that was one interesting conversation from yesterday.
Just done a fairly short 1-pointer near Biggar this morning what with a very wet forecast for the afternoon. Bang on cue, the rain arrived just at the moment we got back down to the car. Fifth activation - and fifth new activator unique - of the trip so far, now into its fourth day.
An early start on the ale could now be on the cards though today.
Awful HF conditions today and not the best VHF coverage either. So enough QSOs each for our points (and Challenge multiplier for me) but not a lot more. Apologies to @GM4COX and @M0CQE who called and tried, but good contacts were not completed.
4 Likes
Yes indeed. I was looking forward to seeing if you or Jim were continuing with the head mounted antenna theme after you and the head mounted loop on Cairnpapple last time we met. And look there is Jimmy sporting a head mounted fishing pole + MFD combo. The question is can he operate and walk at the same time? 
Yes I did Broomy Law last month with Josh WU7H. You can walk up from the farm through the farm yard and up the transmitter access track. We did the much less steep route from near NT100444, 2.2km 130m ascent i.e. trivial! The access is about a 1/3rd of the way along the A721 Melbourne to Kirdean road, thereās parking for 3 cars and fence/path to follow 80% of the way.
We found no interference from the transmitters, in fact looking carefully showed quite a few antenna feeders disconnected. Iām not sure if itās used as a cell site anymore, just the old antennas are still up on the mast and itās used as a microwave link. I find it a novelty to be on SOTA summits and not activateā¦ I left Josh to activate and blow me, he worked assorted DX on 15m including QSOs back to W7 and W6 land including Elliott K6EL! CW of course.
I was going to turn up with Jess and surprise the pair of you but I had another conference call to attend and Iām waiting for a delivery of a new home router, mine is now 12yrs old and keeps locking up. And yes, heavy drizzle here now the day is my own 
DX Heat says SFI=244, K=3, A=13. Probably not the best.
6 Likes
Iāve been thinking about that comment, Jimmy. On the face of it, it seems odd to prefer a forecast image to the actuality that you can get from the weather radar, but the radar has to be used in an interactive manner to get the best out of it.
The now cursor moves through the time display at the bottom of the map (or vice versa!) Now and the future are of course predictions and at 15 minute intervals, the past is shown in 5 minute intervals and there is a variable gap between the latest 5 minute interval and the now cursor which is the processing time. If you scroll through the recent past you are following the real weather, so you can extrapolate to find when a shower, a front or a clearance will reach you, with a bit of practice you can get this to within a few minutes, and be much more accurate than the forecast image, which seems to be rather generalised, BUT: 1) the weather is evolving and you have to guess the degree of change by what has gone before, 2) the registration of radar image to the map gets less reliable as you get further from the radar station, and 3) sometimes it is showing rain that does not actually reach the ground, evaporating as it falls, while at other times it tends to exaggerate the area of a microburst. Although you need to input some interpretive skills, it can be really handy to see a radar image of a shower cluster some fifty miles away and be able to predict its time of arrival and perhaps modify your plans accordingly.
3 Likes
The question is āAre we going to get wet?ā. Our experience this week is that the pictures/icons have answered that question more accurately and informatively than the rain radar. That surprises me, admittedly.
Obviously weāve been using both, but the last two days weāve attached more weight to the icons and less to the radar - and that has worked well for us.
3 Likes
With six decades of climbing in Scotland my experience is that in August you can usually answer āyesā without looking at the weather maps! At least the midges are less active in the rainā¦
3 Likes
No more SOTA activations planned this GM/SS trip. Time is now against us. Going to Gretna to get some Battered Haggis and Chips and then travelling home.
Jimmy M(M)0HGY
2 Likes
There hasnāt been any proper rain when weāve been walking. (We took the afternoons off and went to the pub instead when there was proper rain). No, just light drizzle - and midges seem to love that!
Itās been rather windy all week though - and that has been better than any midge repellent! They did catch us at the parking spot for GM/SS-172 yesterday with a bunch of them getting into the car and mithering us all the way back to the Tushielaw Inn!
GM/SS-199 this afternoon was non-trivial once on the ridge which sucked a bit of time and energy out of the day. Our second summit has been cancelled in favour of battered haggis and chips.
Plus Iām mindful Iāve got an early start for a festival gig in Upton-upon-Severn tomorrow! So off to Gretna for supper then driving home.
5 Likes