It’s been a busy week since I activated G/TW-001 last Friday. This was the first HF activation for me where I have had to walk some distance to reach the summit since I was in Germany with @GI4ONL on 3rd July 2024. Since then in the hobby, I’ve done a lot of SOTA Chasing, taking part in RSGB VHF contests and improving my equipment and antennas in the home QTH. I did activate two drive on summits in the G/TW area in the summer during the good weather we had, including trying out FT8 from a summit on the 10m band. I also activated Place Fell in the G/LD with a handheld in November. I’m trying to maintain my interest in SOTA after many years but I have other interests in the hobby and outside of it and sometimes they take precadence.
Our dog Treacle, a cross Lakeland - Border Terrier who started off the Dogs On Summits Thread sadly passed away with failing health aged 15 in August 2023. A month or so later we went to a farm in Westerdale on the North York Moors and brought home a Border Terrier puppy that we called Pippa. She’s a very loyal friend who has matured into a fine, chunky and tough excitable dog! I felt the time was right to take her on an activation with the YouKits HB1B and see how Pippa adapted to sitting around for an hour or so while I activated the summit.
I arrived at Clay Bank on the B1257, the usual parking place for G/TW-001. Forestry England are charging £3 to park there now on the large car park, however there is free plenty of roadside parking so I used that and saved my money. Pippa and I readied ourselves and left the car. SENIOR MOMENT! . After walking 100m with my coat on and gear in the rucksack, hat, gloves sorted etc I realised I hadn’t booted up! Isn’t old age marvellous… I went back and shed my shoes and put on my Scarpa’s. We passed the trig point in less than an hour and went on leaving the moorland bridleway to find the line of grouse butts where I set up the station inside one. Most of the previous weeks snow on the moor had melted, but the sunken grouse butts still contained a good cob of snow. I decided to set the station up with on a snow cob in the second butt, with the cob supporting the pole without guying by ramming the butt end of the LIfesabreeze 5m pole into the snow. Sit mat on the cap of snow, me on top. No I did not get piles, thanks to my Paramor trousers! I was able to dangle my legs off the snow pile and it was relatively comfortable activation.
Meanwhile, as far as Pippa was concerned she was having a great time. There were no people or sheep on the moor as I walked up on the Cleveland Way so I was able to let her have freedom without the lead. She doesn’t stray far and followed me no problem at all. Great news that, something that Treacle never accomplished! Any scent and Treacle would have been off chasing the scent so it was never safe to let her loose on SOTA territory since she got lost a couple of times for long periods of time! Pippa is not like that - she has a different mind set. As the grouse butts are off the Cleveland Way no one came close to the activation area so I was able to allow Pippa to rome freely around the activation spot and she never went further than about 50m away for the whole time I was there. There were grouse around, and plenty of them too,although she chased a few they were too fast for her. I felt that was OK to let here off losse as it wasn’t nesting season and the gamekeeper wasn’t around and neither were the shooters.
It wasn’t a bad activation with the HB1B on 40m and then 20m. 33 minutes activity produced 24 CW QSOs including 3 HF X S2S, @DL6GCA/P, @DL1CR/P, @G4OOE/P and @IW2OGY/P.
I had already worked Nick @G4OOE 4 miles away on G/TW-002 on 2m FM, along with stations in Leeds, Darlington, Wetherby and Barnsley. Pretty good for a plateau summit using an FT-65 handheld and an RH-770 whip. The aerial on HF was an home made OCFD cut for the 40m band, a wire aerial that I am a big fan of. The YouKIts HB1B performed well considering it is a cheap Chinese 5 watt radio that puts out less than 4 watts. I doubt I would have made any more contacts if I had used my KX3 instead. The HB1B had been carried abroad several times in recent years on SOTA Tours in Europe as a backup rig but had never been used for a very long time. It was great to work Luc @ON7DQ two way QRP on 40m as Luc was also excercising his own HB1B!
I packed up and walked back to the car for my lunch before returning the 20 odd miles drive home.
I had chance to Chase a few stations before we lost progation after dark to USA and I put @DL2DVE, @WB2LJK and @N6AN into the logbook before I had my dinner.
Here are some photos of Pippa at the activation site on Urra Moor / Round Hill, the highest point in the North Yorks Moors National Park that does not qualify for the winter bonus.
73 Phil G4OBK