I lived in the Worth valley, around the village of Haworth (famous for the Bronte family) all of my life until 2018. At the back end of 2018 we moved the family to Bentham at the edge of the Yorkshire Dales. Unfortunately Bradford Council had no suitable education setting for my son and we eventually won a funded place at a school near to where we live now. It simply was not sustainable to travel the 40 miles each way to school.
Rombalds Moor G/NP-028 was my nearest SOTA summit when I lived in the worth valley, so I believe Iāve activated that summit more than anybody else. (I think Iām up to 66 activations now.) I remember years ago that there used to be an informal activation day around New yearās day and I would activate G/NP-028 to take part. Over the years G/NP-028 has traditionally become my first summit of the year. (Although there has been deviation!)
I work for an organic farm shop as a delivery driver, delivering to home addresses in Lancaster. Due to Christmas and New Year holidays, the main supplier was not able to deliver on the normal timetable this week. This meant that the order packing process would be upset. There was an idea that we would deliver one day out of sync, but then it was thought to be too confusing. The end result was that I didnāt have to work today I didnāt want to āwasteā my unexpected day off, so I thought Iād kick off my 2022 SOTA score.
My wifeās best friend lives near Bingley, just off the edge of Rombalds (Ilkley) Moor and my wife had a Christmas gift for her that weāve not been able to get to her. It all seemed to tie up nicely. I dropped my son off at school near home and then headed to Bingley to take the Christmas gift to my wifeās friend. It took about an hour to reach Bingley, the A65 was a bit scary looking with icy patches but I managed without incident. The speed camera van was out zapping motorists again - Happy new year!
I was right on schedule as I reached the parking place near the mast. The road up to the mast was quite icy, I was very impressed by the car though, it seemed to be very sure footed. Iāve only had the car for two months and havenāt used it in slippery conditions yet.
I put on my boots and headed along the flagged path to the trig point. It was very icy but I think my recent ice skating experience in Lancaster gave me confidence so I was OK!
First time on skates!
The path, looking back towards the parking area.
I set up just a bit away from the trig point, using my home made dipole. I made the dipole for my MTR-5B, but as I tuned it with my NanoVNA, itās the best antenna I have in my gear store. I chose to run only 30m today.
I was pleased with my 44 QSOs, including an S2S with Jürg DL/HB9BIN/P. After 49 minutes my brain was fried, so after one round of CQ after the pile up had diminished, I pulled the plug.
A great day!
Thanks to all chasers and HNY to all.
73, Colin