Headed up GW/NW-044 Moel Famau today, the weather on the way was rain.
When I got to the carpark for the hill it was light rain with some mist.
Bag packed and on the way. Around 45 mins from the top carpark to the top.
Got setup as normal by the fence line with a little bit of shelter from the breeze and mist blowing across. Mast up and 2m vertical attached.
After 20 FM contacts I moved to SSB and made another 21 contacts.
SSB was very busy with a pile up
Part way through the activation the mast collapsed.
When I came to pack up the mast got stuck and would not collapse. It took some messing around the get the mast back to its normal length.
Headed back down to the car for a quick rest and to sort out the mast properly. On having a better look in the semi dry of the Land Rover, the last couple of sections had got split and jammed up. New last sections or a new mast needed.
Before I was a radio amateur and when I lived on the Wirral (been in GI land now 16 years) I was up Moel Famau many times! Scouse Mountain as it is nicknamed
I repaired mine using an epoxy like Araldite. Once set (allow sufficient time and a bit more!) use sandpaper on refinish the area which is a friction fit to the next mast section. Test and apply more epoxy and refinish if necessary.
I’ve even had the lowest pole section split in the middle in a howling gale and made an effective repair using epoxy and gaffer tape. Maybe I’ve spent too long activating in Scotland and the lock on my sporran has got rusted up.
Hi Gerald. one section had split the full length. I will have to look around again for spares. Or buy a new one.
SSB was a blast. I had a report that I was splattering across a frequency, I have since made some changes to the SSB settings on the 857.
I do have a 12ele 70cm beam in the loft I am tempted to take to the likes of Great Orme/Billinge Hill in the future. Maybe a 2m yagi is on the cards.
Wow, you don’t do things by half. Never had that happen to me, just a groove down a section which was easily filled.
2m SSB is my band/mode of choice for SOTA. Unfortunately I’m not active at the moment due to family commitments, but I might get out to do a bit of chasing in a few months.
Its is 433 alive day on Sunday 22nd Feb between noon and 3pm,so an ideal day to try somethig out when there is known activity.
I’ve alerted for Billinge for that day and willbe taking the 19ele beam (wind permitting) and intend to try some vertical ssb. If enough interest I could be tempted to switch to horizontal, but would be probably after 2pm when contacts on FM start to dry up.
Indeed. I was brought up in the “make do and mend” era. I absolutely hate waste, even to extent that when I see something discarded my first thought is “how can I use that?”
