160m… Welsh cakes… and three slightly over‑excited activators.
This Friday evening (20th March), Allan @GW4VPX, Kevin @MW0KXN and myself, Ben @GW4BML will be heading up Mynydd y Grug (GW/SW‑042) for a special SOTA activation. This one’s a bit of a milestone: it’ll be the first time Allan and I have activated this summit, and once we do, we’ll have completed all the summits in Wales again – thanks to the new SOTA edition. Another clean sweep (until the next reshuffle, anyway!).
To make the evening extra memorable, and possibly to confuse every noise floor in the UK, we’re planning to run 160m for a bit of fun. So if you’ve got a Top Band antenna that only gets used once per decade… Friday is its moment to shine.
We have also decided to use the following special event call-sign: GB6MYG
Plan of Attack:
• Start on 80m SSB
• Then move to 160m SSB & CW
• Try not to get tangled in 80m of wire
• Drink tea and judge the quality of Welsh cakes
We’re meeting Kevin on the summit at around 20:30 UTC, where flasks of tea will be cracked open and the Welsh cakes distributed with the efficiency of a finely tuned contest station. Expect a bit of banter, a joint activation, and hopefully a pile‑up or two if the radio gods are smiling.
Whether you’re chasing us, testing your antennas, or just listening in for the chaos, we’d love to work as many stations as possible.
Hope to catch you on the bands, and yes, bring your Top Band ears!
Thanks for the notice, Ben, it gives me time to bake a batch of Welsh cakes myself, to enjoy while listening for you. Sainsbury’s stock a commercial brand but you can’t beat the family recipe!
Yes, Kevin and I built one a few years back, and it’s served us really well. A full size 160m dipole, 80m of wire in the sky! We can just about see each others head torches in the distance when pegging both legs out on a night activation it works a treat with the Icom 705.
We should be on summit ready to call out on 160m about 21:00 UTC, +/- 30 mins. We will begin on 80m for the warm up planning to operate on SSB and CW. It would be great if we could work.
Hi Adrian and Ben,
thanks for great news. Being both the top band and SOTA enthusiast, I am considering upgrading my portable gear for 160m one day as well. I will put on my best effort (and receiving antennas for that matter) to pick you up from the noise tonight.
Good luck!
Jiri
We will listen out for you our working conditions will be a full sized 160m dipole, 10m pole holding the centre piece up, running into Icom IC705 radio pushing 10w.
Let’s hope the band plays ball and we make a few contacts this evening.
I just completed maintenance on my low-band antennas and confirmed that everything is in working order. So I’ll be listening out for you.
Maybe you could try 80m CW as well? With the local noise floor, I’m afraid I won’t be able to hear you on SSB. If not, I’ll be happy to work you on 160 CW
look forward to working you!
not 40, hi.