After a few weeks off due to a combination of bad wx, gardening commitments & apathy, I decided to get back to activating again yesterday - despite a bad wx forecast. I decided to do the “new” summit of GW/NW-076. I looked at the database & was surprised to see it had already been done 6 times & provided 101 contacts despite only being in the program for a fortnight. No problem, due to the short walk from the car (10 mins) I could take my fishing umbrella & at least 3 x 7AH SLABS. Sorry I couldn`t alert - my internet connection is down at home (AOL will lose another customer if not sorted soon).
I set the alarm for 0500 but got up at 0455 before it went off. On the road for 0600, it was a cool 3C and a leisurely pace got me the 67 miles to the parking spot just before 0730. (I almost hit a large cream coloured owl just past the cat & fiddle pub). I had watched Roger MW0IDXs video & recognised the parking spot from 2 years ago when I found a geocache nearby. It was dry when I arrived which encouraged me to leave the umbrella in the car - glad I didn
t as it poured down later. The walk to the summit took all of 10 minutes, 5 min into the walk & I realised Id left the VHF co-ax in the car! No problem, I
ll do HF only (hope there`s no solar flares hi).
At the summit, I looked inside the cairn to find a strange logbook. You will see what I mean on you tube - I will upload a short video if & when I get back on the net at home. I set up the dipole with a little difficulty due to the tree density & the fact I
d taken my “winter” antenna (i.e. full size for 80m). Up went the fishing umbrella then I settled in for the next 2.5 hours.
The HF bands weren`t in great form, but certainly an improvement on the last couple of weeks. Contacts came thick & fast with a good selection of s2s contacts. I was just about to drop the dipole and pack up when one last listen on 20m produced Vlado Z35M/P working Mick M0PVA in Clitheroe (someone in Preston thought he was working them). Vlado came up to 5/5 with me & I worked him for my 1st Z3 summit. By the time I got the video camera out the qsb had taken its toll. A last call on 4m produced another 3 contacts making the total 102, it was pouring down & I had an offer 0f Sunday dinner - so it was time for a quick exit.
I packed up in pouring rain, got changed into dry clothes at the car (just as about 50 people walked past). Sunday dinner was enjoyed at chez GW0DSP the worlds top chaser. I did consider doing SP-016 on the way home as the sun had appeared, but decided to go straight home & do some gardening (bad idea the rain started 10 miles short of home).
Stats :-
102 contacts.
4m - 6
20m - 36
40m - 28
60m - 10
80m - 21
wx 7C rising to 9C then dropping back to 7C as the rain / hail arrived.
Total miles driven 160.
Environmental impact 32.5 kg CO2 (@ 125g/km)
Points accrued 1.
73 (short vid on youtube soon)