We were out on a small local summit G/WB-024 Aconbury Hill yesterday where VHF/UHF contacts are always a challenge as it is only 276m and the sides of the hill fort are heavily wooded. However it is only a very short walk and the area inside the main rampart is very pretty - especially when the bluebells are out (another week?)
I set up rather perilously on a high bit of rampart which overlooks Hereford
and I had a better view than usual as the leaves were only just coming out.and perhaps that influenced my VHF contacts as I had qualified within 10 minutes -an all time record. I was helped by a s2s with Gerald MW0WML who was out with friends on the Begwns GW/MW-025 which I was hoping for, but he hadnāt noticed our alert but recognised the voice. Perhaps this was the reason that he was not sufficiently equipped for our encounter as he had NO70CM WITH HIM. Fellow activators will know that this is the greatest SOTA crime in my rule book and I hold him personally responsible for the fact that, once again (as this also happened on our last activation on GW/NNW-059 Allt y Main near Welshpool) I was stuck with 3 70cm contacts and just couldnāt get that vital 4th. My grateful thanks to locals stalwarts G4WUH, M7SDO and M5RJC who did make contact and G8AOJ in Coleford, Forest of Dean who had a try but it didnāt happen. I have certainly found that VHF/UHF contacts are down since the various storms earlier in the year and it seems that the 70cm mast is the last to be reinstated (if at all).
After about 30 mins of calling I gave up, took down the mast and was coiling the guys with the VX7 on the ground (with just the stick aierial) when I heard on 145.500 a rather quiet call which seemed to end with āAeronautical Mobileā so I reacted quickly. I eyed the neatly packed mast, thought of the RH 770 but picked up the radio as it was and QSYd to 400 as instructed. There I found G0TPZ/AM calling so I hopefully answeredā¦ and a reply came back but I wasnāt sure it was to me as others must have heard the call. However my luck was in for this call as we had a 59/59 conversation as he flew in a Skyliner 2 seater above Hereford (āI can see the racecourseā) while heading for Cardiff at about 3,500āā¦ I knew I had long ago had another /AM contact and Kev confirmed that weād spoken to me before (unless there was yet another SOTA activator called āVikiāā¦) but not from the Hereford area. We gave a chance for anyone else to join in but no-one else appeared so I had time to walk across the fort, past the trig point,
and offer the contact to M0JLA Rod who was just starting to pack up his HF equipment. I donāt often see him that quick to stand up and take the radio but this was his first /AM contact. After a short chat Kev commented that that he was going into thin cloud and would have to go up to 4,000ā and continue on his way. It was a more cheerful pair of activators that returned to the car (HF hadnāt been too good either as 20m yielded only 3 contactsā¦). The only sadness is that we hadnāt been able to spot the plane but the tree cover is rather extensive - and we are not sure we would have seen him at that altitude. Thanks Kev. I look forward to the next encounter.
Viki