Talking of low slung antennas, my pole collapsed in the middle of a qso with OH3GZ from Drumcroy Hill GM/CS-107 today. I was quite surprised to be able to complete the qso with the dipole half on the ground as the centre was 3m instead of 6m, before I had to re-hoist the whole assembly.
It was windy up there today but there was a handy wall to shelter behind.
Andy
MM7MOX
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On a very windy March day last year I gave up on any mast at all and draped my EFHW on the heather. I still got 11 contacts with my KX2.
Now of course I know it was horribly compromised… but it doesn’t mean it won’t work.
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One of my first SSB QSOs on 60m was with MM0FMF using my 40/30/20 EFHW [Yes, wrong antenna for 60m but thanks to KX2’s ATU]. As I recall Andy gave my 10W of SSB using the KX2’s internal mic a good report but then mid his over my pole fell over in the wind due to lack of soil for the guy strings pegs on a rocky summit. I could still hear Andy (probably 5/2) with the entire EFHW wire lying on the ground and heard him say my disappearance might have been due to a SID or something.
Ground-lying antennas aren’t to be recommended but it shows we shouldn’t fret that our summit-top wire antennas are not as far off the ground as we might like.
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Assuming the activator has alerted, there are likely to be chasers keenly listening out for them. This will overcome many dB of antenna loss 
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Remember it well. Like you, I was surprised that my KX2 tuner had no problem matching my 40/30/20 EFWH on 60m and have had a few decent QSOs on the band. There again my KX2 tuner matched (with some effort) a 4m length of RG58 and 1:64 match when the antenna wire disconnected. It achieved a 1.6 : 1 match. No signals of course!
I’ve worked OH on 12m when the pole collapsed with the simple vertical wire laying in a crumpled heap. Surprising when it happens… “Hey why’s his signal dropped and the SWR gone up? Aha, antenna has fallen down! Oh I can still hear him and he can hear me!!”
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I should have not bothered with a pole on Beinn a’Chaisgein Mòr, and just thrown the wire over the summit rocks in that weather. Probably would have been absolutely fine !
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I might as well fest up to where the antenna problem was my fault - but it still worked:
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After a run of 30m CW QSOs where the reports I gave and received were disappointing, I realised afterwards that I had forgotten to extend the 5.2m long telescoping whip on my Chameleon MPAS Lite vertical. It was still in its collapsed (58cm long) position.
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I was using a 4m long pole for my 2m J-pole antenna which is light enough to hold manually for a quick activation rather than to guy. I was having my first 2m FM QSO when I noticed the pole/antenna was lying on the grass. I had forgotten to raise it vertically. Good job the contact was reasonably local.
You’ve got to laugh. It bound to happen to the best of us if you do a lot of activations.
More confessions please …
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On my second trip to Stac Pollaidh GM/NS-086, I knew there wouldn’t be space to pitch the Link dipole so I took the SPX100 base loaded antenna instead. I just sat it on a ledge with the magmount on a steel tray about the size of a dinner plate for a bigger footprint and draped the counterpoise wires over the edge of the rocks. It worked surprisingly well on 20m and got me enough QSO’s to qualify the activation that time.
I took the SPX100 up Arthur’s seat as well this year but it wasn’t so good on 40m, I’ll need to experiment with it and the VNA.
It is surprising what works under these conditions.
Andy
MM7MOX
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Indeed it would most likely have been okay, though when I had to do that it was dry. I was amazed at how well it worked - 14 on 30m and 5 on 20m. Okay CW, but with just the 817 barefoot. Compared to 27 on 30m and 9 on 20m on the previous summit, even allowing for the time of day, it would suggest that there would probably have been more worked had I not left my pole in the car. 
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For what it’s worth, I’ve played with a 10m efhw for 14MHz, comparing sloping to 6m carbon mast to lying on the ground. Typically I loose just short of 2 S levels. Similar to a 1.5m whip and CP. A decent antenna for quickies…
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Andy,
You won’t be surprised to read this from me. The solution to the feedline running close to the yagi elements is to use horizontal polarisation. The insistence on being compatible with hand held or mobile verticals is a bit sad when horizontal works better anyway, there are very few mobiles around and no signal is actually perfectly vertical (or horizontal). We have had so much success with longer range contacts on nominally horizontal loops, I rarely use a vertical antenna and the number of contacts made is no less than it was with a flowerpot or plain 1/4 wave sticking out of a HT at any angle from 75 to 125 degrees. With, usually, no ground system
FM isn’t vertical.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
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Hi Tim,
Thank you for your efforts to activate 20 meters and try to contact you if the propagation and QRM allows.
Horrible Radar QRM yesterday on 14.310 . Sorry !
73s Chris F4WBN
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Yes, it makes it easy to minimise the effects the coax has. I remember reading that tests done for VHF propagation showed an improvement when horizontal was used over vertical polarisation, which is why VHF DXer use horizontal antennas. And because it’s harder to make omnidirectional horizontally polarised antennas, vertical polarisation was the popular choice for general non-directional operation favoured by mobiles/repeaters etc.
So we are where we are, the overwhelming majority of stations operating FM will use vertically polarised omni antennas. With the big decline in hams having rotatable horizontal antennas SOTA stations end up with a Hobson’s choice of use vertical Yagis with the attendant problems of cable routing or use even bigger horizontal Yagis to overcome polarisation loss between them and fixed stations.
TANSTAAFL, is the phrase that applies 
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Indeed, there are many pressures nowadays to minimise the home VHF/UHF antenna installation, not least the EMF regulations. Therefore the vertically polarised omni-directional antenna rules the day.
When running 2m from the summits, I always start on SSB and horizontal polarisation. Often excellent distances are achieved, but the number of people with decent horizontally polarised antenna systems has declined over the past 15 to 20 years. Longer dustance QSOs are significantly down.
However, all is not lost as I am still copied by people closer to my location using vertically polarised antennas and signal strengths are often good. When I change mode to FM, more often than not I cannot be bothered to change my antenna polarisation. Only if I am struggling to make contacts do I change my antenna to vertical polarisation and, has been discussed, the routing of the cable is then less than ideal. Thankfully I use 7mm semi-rigid cable, so I do manage to avoid it running parallel to the elements. I’ve often thought some form of support for the coax mounted on the boom might help, but have never got around to fabricating anything.
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Tim,
brilliant trip and great pictures, well done. I love that path back down to Carnmore, its amazing that you can walk from Poolewe all the way to the col below A’ Mhaighdean on good paths. I did it as a day trip on bike, leaving bike just short of the causeway.
I need to revisit A’ Mhaighdean, I activated but was horrible. Zero viz and roaring winds, could have been anywhere!! Not nice at all, but improved a bit on Ruadh Stac Mor.
I feel a return trip coming up!
73 Gavin
GM0GAV
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