The activation attempt today started marvellously… between Sunday buses, me fat-fingering my alert time to be an hour early, and not planning my route well, it was nearly two hours after my original alert time before I was able to activate. But I got six QSOs, and particular thanks to @MM0UHR, @MM7MOX, and @MM0RTO who were listening in on the local repeater and tracking me on aprs.fi to be sure I got some contacts!
I found a route on WalkHighlands which looked promising if a little steep in places a while back, and decided it would be a good activation for a busier day. Well, roll around today - and between plans this morning and plans this evening, I was determined to make it out to the hills in the lovely weather. Well, make it I did, thanks to a kind bus driver who let me know the bus was apparently not meant to call at that stop but who did anyway.
I set off from the Hillend Snowsport Centre carpark around 1415, aiming for a 1500 activation - which seemed reasonably sporty, given the summit was 3km away, but worth trying. Unfortunately, I almost immediately realised that I had underestimated this hill (after overestimating my last activation hill, Dumyat GM/SS-216 - eventually I’ll get it right!) and took the first of many breaks (though the only one on anything so salubrius as a bench.)
Having enjoyed the view and caught my breath, I continued on; stopping another few hundred metres of steep and slightly scrambly ascent up. This time, I was able to catch the repeater, and those more wise to the Pentlands than I informed me that this route - going up Caerketton first - was definitely hard mode, but that I was better to push on than descend and reroute. I took their advice, a picture, and a moment to update my alert on SotaWatch, then continued.
At the top of Caerketton, I took another break to appreciate the view and the gorgeous weather. After months of grey skies and rain, a bit of blustery blue skies was just the ticket! The traverse over to Allermuir was reasonably easy, with a descent and probably 75m of vertical climb packed into a little under a kilometre.
After an awful lot more climbing than I had bargained for, the summit was a welcome sight - I took a quick picture and then headed for a spot that looked like it might get me some good wind cover before spotting and calling CQ. The kit today was a new(-to-me) AnyTone DAT878-UV handheld and a telescoping high-gainer antenna, and I quickly racked up the three contacts who had been following my progress in Edinburgh, plus one more - thank you, @MM7FEE!
I could also hear a station crackling away in the background occasionally, so opted to brave the wind again and try transmitting from the absolute highest bit of ground; I was rewarded by another two QSOs with @GM0AXY and @GM0VEK, who was my farthest today over outside Glasgow!
I waited another 10 or 15 minutes, but time was ticking on by this point so I packed up and set off for home. I didn’t realise that we had hielan’ coos in the Pentlands, so it was a pleasant surprise to meet these ladies (from a respectful distance, and with a good zoom lens on my phone.)
Not long after, I was in Swanston, a beautiful old village, and with the sun to my back I finished the last kilometre or so of the route chatting on the local repeater.
I’m really glad that I was able to make it out today, exactly a month since my first activation. Hopefully, the next won’t take so long; I’m also eyeing a kit upgrade in the form of a QRP Labs QMX+ kit, which will significantly expand my options for bands. Being a maker-y sort, I’m hoping to make an antenna for it - early research suggests a linked dipole would probably be the business, but I’d be keen to hear from others what they use - especially in windier places like Scotland where we can’t rely on trees to hold a long antenna up!
73,
Yasha