No HF

Sorry I didn’t come up on HF as alerted from Buckden Pike and Great Whernside yesterday. There were a number of factors which pushed Frank and myself toward fairly quick activations on these summits. The drive to the parking spot was a little tricky, took longer than expected and we certainly wouldn’t have got there without a 4x4 vehicle. The wind on the summits was an estimated 30mph and although this would not have precluded deployment of the HF antenna the wind chill would have made it very unpleasant. On Great Whernside the rocks in the steep gullies on the path were covered in ice. At one point Frank chose a hands and knees method on the grass while I persisted in the gully going three steps up and sliding back two steps. We knew this descent would be dangerous in fading light and we didn’t want to end up at the bottom rather quicker than planned. Coming down we managed to find a grassy route around the icy gullies the descent was not particularly difficult.

The conditions were not appalling or anything like that and the walking was very enjoyable, but we decided to be fairly cautious and also to stay comfortable on the summits.

Hopefully I will be back on HF on the next time.

73 John GW4BVE

Which was the right decision, safety is paramount. Well done on the activation and you can be forgiven as you both always attempt to do an activation in the best possible way.
Me and john are out Sat and Sun and I have to say I think the cold will be our biggest enemy, we have been playing with a halo with quite good results because of speed in setting up.

In reply to 2E0KPO:

We used Frank’s dipole, which I must say worked very well with the 50w from his FT857.

It is the combination of the low temperature and the strong wind causing wind chill - taking gloves off for an extended period is not pleasant. We had loads of spare clothing and good windproofs so body temperature was not a problem.

One good thing was that the boggy ground on the way up to Buckden Pike was fairly well frozen. Having said that both Frank & myself went through the ice a couple of times.

73 John GW4BVE