Martyn and I will be heading up to Scotland in a few days, with the intention of trying to activate some of the hills south of Edinburgh that are uniques for us. Having been to the area previously the ones that are left are typically lower and/or less interesting and/or trickier ones, so some advice might be useful.
On the list are Blackhope Scar and Windlestraw Law. From previous reports I have the impression that these both tend to bogginess, and if Scotland has had as much rain as we have down in the flatlands I was wondering if these were likely to be feasible.
We’re also trying to get permission to activate Arthur’s Seat. Provided we do we’re uncertain as to if it’s best to drive into Edinburgh and find somewhere to park or to use the Park and Ride (but negotiating my rucksack antenna on public transport isn’t fun - I have to carry it rather than attach to rucksack). We may well both be using VHF/UHF for this one as it doesn’t look HF friendly.
Other possible hills on our list are East Cairn Hill (having previously done West Cairn before they decided East was higher), Wether Law, Broomy Law, Mendick Hill, Goseland Hill, Cademuir Hill. Possible further afield if the weather looks better that way are Common Hill, Nutberry Hill and Corse Hill.
As usual we’re likely to decide on actual hills on the day, so may not have alerts. I’ll be looking for VHF and UHF contacts, and Martyn will normally start on HF unless conditions mean we’re reluctantly trying a VHF hit and run!
I did Windelstraw law a month ago and it was a bit boggy on the top but not impassable. The biggest problem I had was the cloud base started at 550m that day. I thought I would be alone that day but a hill runner showed up at the trig point as well.
I did Goseland hill a couple of weeks ago and sat in the sunshine on top of it, a nice walk and good views.
Wether law was an easy walk up the forest track after parking near the outdoor sports place, then a cut up a fire break to the fence followed by a slightly boggy bit before the last climb to the summit. I did this one last November for the Transatlantic event.
Cademuir hill is a pleasant walk up through the trees to the picnic table at the top. There are young trees growing in amongst the stumps from the previous forest. It took a bit of manoeuvring to peg out the HF dipole. I did this one last Autumn.
There is a car park for visiting Holyrood palace and the park bit it might be busy. It would be worth asking the park rangers when you seek permission for Arthur’s seat.
I’m in Edinburgh so can listen out for qso’s if I see an alert.
Hope this helps.
Andy
MM7MOX
There is room on Arthur’sSeat for HF. @G4OIG Gerald and @G4OBK Phil have done it on HF. I sat on the top rocks early one December morning and used a vertical, which may be best up there. VHF is fine too. Helps if you warm up the locals first.
I sat on the top rocks early one December morning and used a vertical, which may be best up there. VHF is fine too. Helps if you warm the locals first.
Thanks,
Besides the space we noted that the rules for the park include not sticking anything in the ground, so no guys. We have a vertical (a SuperAntenna MP1) which we’ve only once used on a summit (Mount Eagle, fighting the trees) which may be worth taking, though it’s definitely a compromise. That said Martyn did managed to work an Italian station from our high noise garden when testing it, so it does get out.
I used the St Margaret’s Loch car park for Arthur’s Seat which was free at the weekend. I think that a weekday may have marginally fewer people on the summit than at a weekend, but it will be busy. I had no problem setting up a vertical on the north side of the summit and had fewer “visitors” than I expected. The take off to the States is superb.
Windlestraw has a boggy track… when I did it it was mainly sphagnum moss rather than peaty bog. Blackhope Scar was the opposite… peat hags. Both needed a bit of time and care.
Hopefully I will be able to work you on some of the summits. I’m sure a few are required for Completes.
Not true. I sent photos of typical aluminium tent pegs to the rangers and got approval for their use. They are not long enough to disturb the archaeological remains. By comparison to the damage that foot traffic has done to the rocks at the summit, any normal SOTA activity woukd be extremely low risk. I used 4 guys and two radials on my vertical… didn’t bother with the two raduals in the southerly direction as they would have been going uphill causing a potential hazard. As for using the fence, I decided against it as it wasn’t where I wanted to be to get the best take off to the States.
MM0FMF You don’t need guys, you can tie off to the fence out of the way of the great unwashed masses climbing the hill.
Ah, I hadn’t spotted that there was a fence within the activation area. That might also be useful for the VHF antenna (unless on the wrong side of the hill for centres of population).
G4OIG Not true. I sent photos of typical aluminium tent pegs to the rangers and got approval for their use.
The message I got in reply to my initial request was adamant that nothing should be stuck in the ground. Unfortunately no further reply since I assured them we would use freestanding kit out of the way of people .
P. S. I’m happy for you to refer to my consent which was given late October 2023 if you think it will help. Unfortunately I’m not at home at the moment, so I cannot send you the actual email exchange.
There is a small bush just to the south of the westerly trig/ info point. I just threw a HF wire over this and the rocks and made plenty of QSOs. Or a pole could be stashed in this without need to guy. It’s off any of the main paths.
We now have the permission letter. What we need now is some decent weather, but the forecast isn’t looking promising. We are hoping we don’t end up with the sort of conditions we had on what is, to us, now a notorious activation - we did Hill of Stake in rain which got heavier as we went on, so when we finally spotted the trig point in the fog it was out with the handheld for a quick hit and run (thankfully Glasgow/Edinburgh was listening) and back down hoping stream crossings hadn’t swollen too much!
So I would be grateful for VHF listeners for activations from Saturday 13th to Thursday 18th inclusive. What we do will be weather dependent. I’ll call on 145.500, probably QSYing to 145.400 if free, unless anyone has tips for better frequencies to use (further north I’ve been aware of 145.575 for local chats). I’ll also welcome 70cms contacts.
145.350Mhz was popular when I lived in central Scotland. It’s worth programming in local repeaters too in case you need to use them to try and drum up some contacts.
I’m hoping to get up a hill myself on Saturday since the forecast looks dry but a bit breezy for the early part of the day. Hopefully we’ll manage s2s, I’ll have 2m, 70cm and HF kit with me.
Possibly White Meldon GM/SS-208.
Andy
MM7MOX
Glad I caught you for s2s from White Meldon GM/SS-208 to Mendick hill GM/SS-195 today.
I got rained off myself just after we spoke but it wasn’t too bad just off the top of the hill for a wee bit of shelter from the wind. Now back home drying things off.
Hopefully catch you for some more QSO’s during the week, if I see spots I can take the handheld up on the balcony or the top car park at work.
Andy
MM7MOX
Good to get you on 40m Andy, but unfortunately I missed Martyn and Caroline on Mendick having decided to make a start on removing the blighted box bushes from our front garden. Oh well, the Brownie points earned went some way to compensate. Maybe make contact over the coming days.
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