Just done a smash and grab of the newest Welsh one, Weather as usual turned “Nasty” while up there.
couple of things:
1st) Someone kindly left us some coax up there stored in the Summit Cairn, Grey coax one end bare and the other end has a PL259 plug on it. (approx 4 metres) I have left it there as I didnt need it but may come in handy for next activator! Hi Hi
and 2) just a quick thanks to all who contacted me before the “Orrible weather” came in and not only stopped the activation but also our circular walk. We parked in Marian Cwm and walked on the Offas Dyke path for a bit. but coming back we just went straight back to car as fast as possible in torrential rain and gusty winds!
13 contacts all on 2m, with 11 on ssb and 2 on FM.
Sorry to hear about your SOTA litter. When Tom and I activated that hill, we spotted a wire hanging down from a tree near the cairn and close by we found a two section mast of black PVC pipe held together with red insulating tape. We took the mast home for disposal but despite several attempts we could not pull the wire out of the tree.
It is disappointing to find SOTA “litter” - especially when it is so easy to remove that the activators who left it should have removed it themselves.
It’s possible that SOTA was not the source of this “litter” The other day I heard of a summit (not one of ours) where a couple of substantial metal poles can be seen - these having been there for many years. They were once part of a vertical used on 27MHz.
I am aware of someone (now a Radio Amateur but NOT a SOTA activator) who admits to having left a 27MHz antenna in the Trees on May-Hill (G/WB-019) many years ago when apparently you could drive all the way to the top.
Very unlikely that any of what you found was SOTA litter due to the fact that the wire in the tree was there only ten days and four activations after it became a SOTA summit. It looked from the state of it to have been there a long time. The hill is used as a playground by local children and I suspect the ‘mast’ was there to recover something one of their friends had thrown up a tree. I spotted several wires and ropes in other trees put there to make swings.
I know that in days gone by CBers often hid equipment near their favourite DX spot so as not to be caught with it by the DTI. Maybe someone still uses the area as a bolt hole for 27 mHz SSB or even scanning.
I would suggest that removal of so called litter might be considered theft by the land owner who may have left it for a purpose. Similarly cutting down a wire from a tree might be considered criminal damage if that wire had been placed there as a swing by the land owners children. I suggest we tread very carefully because in the present world no good deed goes unpunished.
Well that’s what I had to do when I “collected” a 7AH SLAB from Sharp Haw NP-029 earlier this year. It was kind of someone to provide on-site power, but their visit was somewhat premature and they forgot SLABs don’t retain their charge that well - perhaps next time they’ll leave me a LiPo - at least then we will be able to blame it on the model aero enthusiasts
Interesting point. We were staying on a caravan park near Llanberis at the time and were amazed to find that they had no recycling facilities at all. I was slightly surprised that such a situation was even legal these days.
Your previous e-mail reminded me that there used to be a design for a beer-can vertical so possibly even the cans were left by a radio operator!
In reply to GW7AAV:
can you see the cb’ers using coax for a swing, they must be muppets, lol, after reading the reporty again sounds like some one that use’s a beam, realy giving sota a bad name,
