Looks like a bit of a gathering forming for tomorrow (Saturday)
I piggy backed on Barry (MW0IML) coming over, now Mike (2E0YYY) is coming too!
Anyone else?
WX could be a bit sketchy.
Although if we are all on the same hill it won’t be much good for the chasers or the S2S award.
If Mike stays on Moel Famau maybe Barry and I can contact him from Foel Fenlli afterwards on the 430-790THz band…
73
Gerald
2W0GDA
Jubilee Tower is a bit of a building site at the minute with JCBs, 4x4s and lots of metal fences. And a volunteer warden who came right down to my operating spot well away from the summit area to ask if I’d had permission. I said “No, but I understood I wouldn’t need it for a temporary low-impact activity”. She asked me how long I was going to be there, to which I replied “About 25 minutes”, which seemed to (pleasantly) surprise her, and she did acknowledge that I had set up “well out of the way”. Nonetheless, she did advise that she was going to check with her supervisor, so I told her that if she came back and asked me to take it down, I would do so without question. She didn’t.
All the same, I don’t think Moel Famau is currently the best place for a mass activation with big antennas near the trig point and a long stay making hundreds of QSOs. Foel Fenlli, Moel Gyw and Penycloddiau all better suited for this sort of thing while Moel Famau is populated by volunteer wardens and JCBs I suggest.
Tom M1EYP
Geoff M6PYG and I set up an HF station here on Wednesday 6th March using a 40m dipole against the fence near the trig point, luckily we weren’t noticed by anyone. We did see two workers trying to work in appalling weather conditions and only about six or seven other walkers. I agree with Tom that Foel Fenlli and Penycloddiau would be better for longer activations as we didn’t see anyone else on either of those.
Nick G4OOE
In reply to M1EYP:
There was no activity on the ‘building site’ today. In fact Moel Famau was the quietest I have ever seen it probably due to the poor wx. From the fence by the stile I could just see the trig point; the Jubilee tower didn’t exist. So in fact it was only the few people who came to cross the stile to head down to Cilcain/Loggerheads who even knew we were there. Fear not, all is well in the Clwydian Hills and we had a most enjoyable activation offering UHF, VHF and HF. Thanks, as always to all chasers.
Karen
2E0XYL
In reply to M1EYP:
Interesting Tom.
I’ll have a chat about access to the head of the local Warden Service and/or one of the full time wardens.
First is a colleague in the management committee for one of the local crags (I’m the MR representative) and the second is a member of my MR team.
Edit: just to be VERY clear, any discussion would be an informal chat between myself an some people I already know - this is not me trying to conduct an access negotiation on behalf of the SOTA programme, which I know is the preserve of the Management Team.
From my discussions with the Wardens group all they are usually bothered about are damage or activities which may cause conflict with other hill users, like mountain biking down the main track, leaving litter etc.
As Karen says it was a “driech” day which rather dissuaded the masses. From the fence line which overlooks Cilcain we almost couldn’t see the tower.
I had conversations with a few people who were very interested in what we were up to.
I had a fantastic time meeting up with Barry, Karen and Mickey. It was very useful to see how they operated and I was grateful for the chance to use their equipment to operate bands I hadn’t done before.
What a super day was had by all!
73
Gerald
2W0GDA
In reply to 2W0GDA:
What a super day was had by all!
73
Gerald
2W0GDA
Yes - Many thanks to all three of you for joining me - a great day indeed.
I hope you are feeling a lot better now Mickey - Esgeiriau Gwynion Tuesday
with me?
Barry
Better late than never.
Here are the stories, photos and logs from my 4 SOTA day in the Clwydians, in the last week of February. Just click the link to move onto the next summit towards the end of each page. There are some pictures of the building site that has overtaken Moel Famau’s summit!
Tom M1EYP
In reply to 2W0GDA:
Not sure if this link will work if you don’t have a Facebook account.
But here are some photos from the summit restoration work that is going on.
https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.587209027958274.1073741825.129551100390738&type=1
73
Gerald
2W0GDA
In reply to 2W0GDA:
Interesting to see what they are doing. What are they doing?
But having visited Facetwit to see the pictures I’m off to shower in bleach in order to cleanse myself! 
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Restoration of the tower.
More details here.
BBC… much “cleaner” so you don’t need to sully yourself with Facebook
73
Gerald
2W0GDA
In reply to 2W0GDA:
Thanks for that Gerald. Here are two Victorian views of the tower from some postcards Brian G4ZRP has in his collection.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mm0fmf/4792816849/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mm0fmf/4793451002/
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Phew, that was a close one Andy. Had you been asked to access Twitter, then I suppose you’d have had to put on your decontamination suit and then scrub out the hard drive afterwards!
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
It’s OK, I accessed The Great Satan of Privacy Theft via a VPN located outside the EU!
Andy
MM0FMF