A quick activation was possible on Saturday 17th April 2010, again due to Liam being at an event in Congleton. I grabbed the last parking spot on Cloudside and ascended in the warmth. I did take my jacket in the rucksack, but in the end it wasn’t required. The fleece was though.
I set up a bit further along the summit than usual, to give myself a nice view, and a more secluded perch away from the trig point area. Still lots of people came to chat about what I was doing!
40m CW brought in 12 QSOs from F, OE, DL, HA, G and S5, while 15m CW brought just the one from 4X. Undetectable from ground level in Macclesfield, my vantage point on The Cloud gave a much more obvious impression of the volcanic ash visiting UK airspace from Iceland. Also distinctive was the complete absence of aeroplane trails in the sky above, as well as the complete absence of airband traffic on my scanner earlier!
Descended, went to the football, watched Macc play well again and beat Chesterfield 2-0.
I managed to go for a walk on Sunday 18th April 2010. I asked Jimmy and Liam if they fancied a curry for lunch, to which they naturally answered in the affirmative. We then set off (without me announcing the plan!) on a walk to the north end of Bollington to visit the Viceroy restaurant. To be fair to Liam, he worked out what I was up to while we were still walking on our estate in west Macclesfield, but he pressed on unfazed. The walk outward on the Middlewood Way (disused Macc to Marple railway line) and return on the Macclesfield canal towpath was probably about 12 miles - and while not a SOTA expedition itself, it unwittingly created one.
I was still feeling the effects of Sunday’s walk all day Monday, leading to me hitting the sack about 10pm Monday night. Which in turn meant that I was awake by 5.45am on Tuesday 20th April 2010. Hence one of my early-bird pre-work activations of The Cloud G/SP-015 was in order.
So taken aback was I by the comments of a certain political party leader on BBC Radio 5 Live, that I completely missied my turning for North Rode, and found myself heading into Congleton. No worries, this just meant turning left up the A54 from the town and cutting across to Cloudside via Key Green. I don’t think I lost much time.
It was, visually, a lovely bright sunny morning on summit. However, there was a biting cold wind from which there was little shelter, so the sunshine could not be fully enjoyed. 7.032MHz CW wasn’t very busy and I made a few contacts, just about into double figures. A quick listen on 15m inidcated that the band had not yet opened, while a self-spotted QSY to 7.118MHz SSB produced no QSOs whatsoever.
After packing away, a call on 70cm FM was also unanswered, so I decided I would use the spare five minutes to pull in for a BLT sandwich on the way to work.
Here’s hoping for more bright sunny mornings this summer, but not so cold!
No, the spots via Spotlite or SMS aren’t working Geoff, along with the Database. I had forgotten that when first writing my report!
I was up early again this morning - Wednesday 21st April 2010 - so went up The Cloud again. This time there was hardly any wind, so it was much more comfortable and possible to enjoy the bright dawn sunrise.
Earlier, I was packing the 80m dipole into the rucksack and noticed something out of place. Closer inspection revealed that one leg of the dipole was separated from the coax braid it was supposed to be attached to. Grrr. And just when I thought my full compliment of portable gear was back up to full fitness!
I dashed back into the house and changed my alert and self-spot from 3.557-cw to 7.032-cw. Not too much time was lost, and my first QSO from the summit (with F5UKL on 7.032MHz CW) was timed at 0604z. I went on to make nine QSOs with DXCCs F, OE, HA, SM, DL and OH - thanks to all. No response again to my departing calls on 2m and 70cm FM.
If I make it again tomorrow morning, I think I will have a crack at 20m.
In reply to M1EYP:
Hi Tom I Knew the datbase was down and didnt realise that the spots went that way Mike G4 BLH told me the reason that my spot for SP014 hadnt gone on this afternoon.My Cw is rubish so dont think that I will bother.ATB Geoff.
Do it! Experiened ops, and indeed SOTA ops are very patient and supportive if they are working a station with “rubbish” CW. I wouldn’t have been encouraged to continue in the mode otherwise. Sean M0GIA will vouch for this as well.
If you called me tomorrow with rubbish CW at 3wpm, I would be delighted to work you. Anything better than that - bonus!
Spots direct through the internet are working, but spots via Spotlite or SMS are currently down due to lack of database.
I overslept by half-an-hour on Thursday 22nd April 2010. However, the extra rest resulted in me feeling fresh enough to make a sharp exit from the house, and I was set up and QRV on The Cloud G/SP-015 only about ten minutes late.
It was another bright and calm morning, and the same was true on the 20m band. Signals heard and worked were good, but activity was low. I made just the four QSOs, into Ukraine, Hungary, European Russia and Asiatic Russia. I did call CQ lots and lots of times on 14.013MHz though!
In reply to G6MZX:
Tom is right in what he say’s, Rubbish CW or not you will be a wanted OM! On air is the best way to improve and something I dont do enough.
I see 20m didnt bring in lots of QSO’ this morning, not too bad DX considering conditions. Sean M0GIA
In reply to M0GIA:
CW is only rubbish if it isn’t accurate. Relax! The speed just doesn’t matter. In fact the FISTS Club motto is “accuracy transcends speed”.
What is really irritating, and all too common on the bands, is ops trying to send too fast, then constantly having to repeat themselves to get it right, and taking much longer in the process.
Guilty as charged Ken. I was up to 27wpm, but it was mistake ridden. I have since swallowed my pride and settled down to a nice steady 22wpm which seems to be the right speed for me. It is weird, because the mistakes come back now when I try to send more slowly than that, as well as more quickly!
I was really tired when my alarm went off at 6am on Friday 30th April 2010, but having advertised my 80m CW activation on the reflector as well as the alerts, I felt somewhat obliged to make the activation!
It was a sluggish and fatigued start though and it was 6.30am before I was on the road. The morning was mildly damp but not too bad. Walking up from Cloudside, I checked out the cottage to find that it now seems to have had new windows fitted at the rear. I remain intrigued to see what will become of this property. Maybe it will be a Wrekin / Leith Hill / Wendover Woods type cafe, or maybe a residence. If the latter, I wonder if it will be lived in by the developers or put on the market - and if so how much
By the time I had reached the summit of The Cloud it was drizzling and whipping up in the moderate wind, so I was glad I had opted to don my overtrousers down at the car. I struggled a little to erect the 80m dipole, but was set up and QRV just after 7.20am (0620z).
The activation comprised 7 QSOs on 80m CW (DL, G, SM, F, HA) then 2 on 80m SSB (G, GW). Reports both ways on 80m CW were good, apart from HA7UG (449/339). Outgoing reports from me were very good to Geoff G6MZX and Steve GW7AAV on 80m SSB - they both had massive signals and superb audio. However, although I peaked at R5 with both of them, it was clear that overall they weren’t hearing me as well as I was hearing them.
7.40am is pushing it somewhat to start packing up, so I cracked on with it and did a speedy descent. I just about made it to work on time. Thanks to all callers.
Unlucky Brian, I started calling on SSB at 0634z! There is always the option of calling me on CW. I know some of the SSBers are listening on CW before I QSY, and I would love a call from any of them, any speed at all. Believe it or not, I still haven’t worked GW on 80m CW this year, so maybe AAV will be tempted sometime soon - I know he has dabbled in the past.
A new month, a new 2m activity contest! Tuesday evening, 4th May 2010 saw me ascending The Cloud G/SP-015 with concerns about my gear. An intermittent short in the BNC plug of the feeder had not been addressed from the weekend, while the pole, hastily made up of sections from four damaged poles, had not been tested.
As it was, I had managed to select a couple of sections where the join between them was weak, but fortunately the mast only collapsed twice! The feeder more or less behaved, and just once there was a sudden explosion of SWR until a quick wiggle of the cable got rid of it.
The night started quite windy with patches of very light rain, but this calmed to leave a dry and still evening for the most part. Conditions on the radio were interesting with much deep QSB and occasional reception of signals from Holland. My best DX was up into GM - IO86, and overall I had a healthy number of multipliers - 12, which were IO64, IO74, IO81, IO82, IO83, IO86, IO91, IO92, IO93, JO01, JO02 and JO03. As usual, there were many stations that “got away”!
Overall a pleasing activation combined with the activity contest. Distance scores and multipliers were good, but 58 QSOs was somewhat down on last month’s effort. Many thanks to all who called.
I blame night-time activating. Seem to have caught some particularly bad weather in some of the Tuesday night contests, and the ISW campover on Saturday night was just wild!
I guess “take care of your kit” translates to “don’t use it” in the kind of gale there was on Saturday and in some of the Tuesday night contests. But you know, when you’ve got your mind set on something, self-discipline like that can be difficult!
It’s not done me bad over the years.
Tom M1EYP (8 years and 926 activations on the clock!)
