I successfully managed to make my first unplanned contact and first SOTA activation recently when climbing Snowdon. Having recently acquired my foundation license and being presented with an opportunity to climb Snowdon with some friends, I decided to take my Baofeng UV-5R w/ Nagoya 701 and attempt my first SOTA activation.
We made decent time to the summit and after some lunch and a very disappointing coffee from the cafe I went outside to attempt the activation, sheltering on the west of the summit at the cafe wall. Initially I heard a lot of traffic on 145.500MHz, so I was quite anxious as this would be my first ever unplanned contact. After fiddling with the radio a little I called CQ to getā¦ nothing. I had forgotten to spot myself, so a quick spot later and still nothing. About 5 minutes passed while listening to mostly nothing before I tried again and got a reply from @GW4ZPL, just in the valley underneath the mountain ā what a relief.
This is where I realised my second mistake ā I hadnāt thought about how Iād log my contacts for later. The note taking app on my phone would have to do. After a few kind words and advice to use the W RSL to get more interest from any English stations my first contact was over. I decided to move around the mountain to just below the summit on the east, to shelter from the wind. Here 145.500 was much more busy and I managed to get three more contacts, each interesting in their own right: another UV-5R user (@MW7DBF /P) trying out a new beam antenna (who also spotted me ā thanks!), one station south of Aberystwyth (~90km away, GW8UKZ) and station just north of Manchester (~130km away, G0XBU/P), reports of 55 from the latter two were a positive surprise!
Activating Snowdon was a great experience that has really whet my appetite for more serious gear and to activate some more summits. I think my first actions will be a DIY antenna (J pole and/or beam I think) to try and eek a little more life out of my UV-5R before I consider a better radio.
Great to hear you activated your first SOTA summit successfully Matthew! Itās a very addictive scheme, but great fun and thoroughly enjoyable. Look forward to hearing you out again soon, and we might even make a S2S good luck!
Congratulations on the first activation! As a recent M7 myself, I totally understand the initial anxiety around activating. I found it didnāt take much time after my first activation to build up a little confidence and momentum for SOTA.
Luckily, most people on frequency (and not just in the SOTA community) will go out of their way to help you make a QSO, and will spot or provide guidance to us recent Foundation licence holders.
I activated Snowdon this year for the first time after approaching from the southeast, tackling Y Lliwedd (GW/NW-008) before descending via Y Gribin to approach Snowdon via Crib Goch.
Thanks all for the kind words - it has been very reassuring how welcoming SOTA and amatuer radio is in general. I am living in Cambridge currently, which not optimally placed for SOTA, but hopefully Iāll find more opportunities to be near summits and maybe speak to some more of you!
Itās nice to hear from another recent M7 too, and that Iām not the only one who gets a bit anxious at first.
I was also surprised at how busy Snowdon was - the queue for the summit was quite obvious from a distance so we didnāt bother going to the summit itself and made do with a photo from 0.5m beneath it on the east side. Iāve done a few munros but even the busiest summits have still had plenty of space on them, this was something else. I did have one person ask me if I was staff when he saw the radio!
That route via Y Lliwedd looks spectacular - and I assume the summit was much more pleasant. Are you aware of any resources like https://www.walkhighlands.co.uk/ but for Wales? I was struggling to find any good resources about the routes up Snowdonā¦
Y Lliwedd is very rocky and depending on how you do it can involve scrambling, its a great summit though as you have a steep drop and a fantastic view to the North East.
I am not aware of any resources as good as walk highlands for non-scotish mountains. Friends use Komoot or Alltrails for suggestions.
Having previously lived in Cambridge I wish you the best of luck with your trips out of the county for SOTA activations in more hilly locals!
Welcome @M7OYL to the SOTA community and congratulations on your contacts on Snowdon.
Y Lliwedd Is well worth it. Top Summit. I approached from the Bealach, Bwlch Cilau with a few minor scrambles in places. Here are some pictures to give you an ideaā¦.
; welcome to the fraternity, itās a great hobby, and fun. Enjoy!
