Subject to weather, I can probably make it to some easy g/wb hill with a whole 2.5W from my ‘new’ FT-290.
Probably Saturday morning-ish
Checking SOTAWatch alerts, I can see very few alerts referring to this event - in fact just one today and one tomorrow. Is it that people have not alerted or is the weather so bad in the UK (and elsewhere) to effectively stop the people who were thinking of going out with vintage equipment from going out with it?
73 Ed.
The WX is really dire here right now… windy & wet. Tomorrow the WX forecast is that it will be worse.
Rob
What a classic rig, among the super headset and the smartphone. Just as well the technology does not have feelings… though that might explain a few past hardware failures. Great pic.
73 Andrew vk1da/2uh
Well, it started off a nice day!
Looked out the window to see the sunrise, with hardly a cloud in the sky… I could see both Brown Clee Hill and Titterstone Clee Hill framed against the sky as the sun rose… Looked like a great day!
Packed up all the stuff and drove off… Got as far as Ludlow and the clouds rolled in 
spots of rain on the windsreen turned more persistent as I drove up to the deserted car park at Titterstone Clee, headlights on in the gloom…
I staggered up to the top (must be great to be fit 
) to be greeted with a howling, cold wind, with about 20 yards of visibility.
I setup between the trig and the ATC buildings, trying to get out of the wind as much as possible, and could only extend the fishing pole about half way due to the wind (Coaxial colinear for 2m (half lying on the ground ) and linked dipole for possible HF (not with a handbag though…))
Oh, there appeared to be a contest on… all over HF…
So I virtually gave up the HF idea until packing away.
Plugging my ‘new’ FT-290 (sadly, a Mk2, not a Mk1 which I would have preferred, but beggars can’t be choosers, eh?, I gave a few tentative calls on 145.500 - nothing.
Tuned around, not much else on the go… maybe too early at 09:15 local time… I know I’d rather be in bed
Called out again, and had a reply from M6PPR, who it transpires, was running some ancient 2m channelised rig (probably older than mine!) and a whole 2W… into a discone antenna, via a very long length of coax!
He couldn’t give me a signal strength report, as there was no meter on the rig!
Not a huge amount of QSOs, less than 10 in fact, including a s2s with G4TQE on Brown Clee Hill (Ok, if the cloud had lifted I could have probably waved to him ) but quite enjoyable. Being so cold, I just couldn’t face building up the ELK antenna I’d taken for SSB, I gave a quick shout on 12M with the 857 and a couple of chasers made it into the logs there too!
Once or twice the sun threatened to break through, but it never did, I ended up getting soaked on the way back down…
Have a guess how many people were foolish enough to go to G/WB-004 today?..
Furthest QSO, with the electric handbag, wasn’t all that far away, but about 51 miles to G0PPM in Nailsworth was still quite impressive for 2.5W FM with half the antenna on the ground! (well, it impressed me, I’m easily pleased )
Thanks to everyone who took the time to make it into the log, and to Andy for suggesting it!
Don
m0hcu
I wonder who his Foundation tutor was and whether his pupils have been adequately trained if they cannot give a signal report, meter or otherwise?
That’s posing that is with a Mk2 
They were £500 or so in 1991 and having consulted a price inflation site, that would be about £750 in todays money. It shows how electronics has got so very much cheaper. £750 buys a lot more radio than a 290Mk2, an 817 is about £600 ISTR.
I’m glad you had fun Don and it’s just typical that the WX is so poor. The rain has stopped here for the past 2 hours and it’s been intermittently sunny. The wind is fresh and the mountain WX forecasts are talking of 60mph+ winds on some summits. I’m hoping for a wee shot at something tomorrow morning.
Hi, Don, I was listening and could hear you but not strong enough to work, same strength with the white stick and horizontal beam, I tried the 290R1 first and then the 817 but no dice. Here in South Brum I can usually work the handhelds on the Clees, but conditions must have been against me - I couldn’t resolve John, either!
Brian
I didn’t manage to get out, or even play much radio yesterday although the weather here wasn’t too bad. Tied up with other things this morning so only got around to chasing an hour or so ago.
I hope 2W0KGQ/P manages to get on the air with his 19 Set, it will take some effort with the wind today but I am monitoring 80m AM in anticipation.
Well done all who have been out so far.
73,
Mark G0VOF
It’s been grim this morning… windy and drizzle followed by windy and rain followed by windy and heavy rain. Now we have windy. Yes just windy. Pah!
Congratulations to Jonathon who got his vintage electric portmanteau on from Hope Mountain this afternoon, it was a thrill to hear that authentic horrible buzzy modulation exactly as it used to sound yonks ago! I hope he didn’t get a hernia from lugging it about!
Hollow state rules!
Brian
Indeed! excellent stuff…
I could hear odds and sods on 40m, but nowhere near enough to make a QSO, could hear lots of chasers though!
Well done Jonathon!
Don
m0hcu
Very pleased to eventually work Jonathan 2W0KGQ/P using his 19 Set 
80m was still very poor here although he was audible via the Hack Green WebSDR I don’t think he made any QSO’s on that band. Me & Geoff G6MZX did exchange an over using AM but Geoff couldn’t hear Jonathan well enough to complete a QSO. Given the poor conditions I thought 40m would be a better bet, despite one of the biggest SSB contests of the year being in full swing.
It was very nice to finally hear Jonathan having qualifying QSO’s although I still couldn’t hear him on my own antenna. I thought at best I might be able to help him out with a valid activator QSO by using a WebSDR to receive his signal, but as it happened, Jonathan couldn’t hear me so I resigned myself to not working him, although I continued to listen via a WebSDR.
At some point I turned the volume up on my own radio & there he was, and he was fully readable. Band conditions must have changed from earlier & I called him. This time he heard me, & after confirming that Mike G6TUH had got his report we actually had a nice chat
I was very pleased to hear so many stations taking the time to call Jonathan on AM & it was obvious that most of us rarely use the mode, based on the quality of some signals, however I’m sure Jonathan didn’t mind at all
Thanks to all who ventured onto AM so we can actually have some genuine AM QSO’s in the database, & especially to Jonathan 2W0KGQ/P for doing so well with such an old radio. I don’t think 19 sets have been in production for quite a while 
Chatting with Roy G4SSH a short time ago we both wondered whether this is the first summit qualified using HF AM alone? Neither of us can remember that being done before, I wonder if anyone can provide a definitive answer?
Jonathan, I hope you took some photos of your exceedingly heavy vintage, or should that be veteran electric handbag. I’m sure there a many of us that would appreciate a short write up along with a photo or two for inclusion in the SOTA News. You can email me at mark@brownhill.demon.co.uk or send it direct to Roy G4SSH at g4ssh@tsicali.co.uk
Once again well done, & thanks for the AM QSO
73,
Mark G0VOF
Hello Jonathan & Mark,
On 80M I got carrier ‘blips’ but not sustained so it could have been anybody. On 40 it was a steady R3 because of QRM, QSB, carrier break up and a brief interlude of someone playing music on the frequency. I was using 25W-C to an inverted V (nothing heard at all on the vertical). So was pleased to make the trip.
Well done Jonathan on this adventure 8)
For those who don’t know about these ‘portable’ sets…
http://www.pyetelecomhistory.org/prodhist/prodinfo/pthc-ws19.pdf
Thanks
Mike
When I could hear it I thought Jonathan’s modulation was just fine - better than one chaser’s for sure! I barely heard anything on 80m, other than through Hack Green. On 40m if the QRM had stayed away it would have been no trouble to Glossop. Marginal as it was.
I hope you’ve got some pictures Jonathan.
I didn’t get out for an activation, but I did use my TR2400 hand-held brick to chase Viki, M6BWA, and Rod, M0JLA, on Billinge Hill. I also heard Rob, G(W)7LAS, on Moel y Gamelin, but my 2W didn’t make it stick.
A repeat of this would be great, if somebody can book good WX.
73, Simon
I struggled to hear Jonathan on 80m, possibly heard the carrier, but no mod.
QSB on 40m, taking him from barely perceptible to 5x5.
I made contact using my 1980s FT757 with its low level AM, sorry if I pushed it too hard, as I suspect I did in the exitement ;o)
I listened to most of the activation on my early 70s Drake R4B which gave better results, but the signal still dipped below readable in the QSB troughs. I guess 48 Km is not the ideal distance - despite the original 19 set spec quoting a range of 50 miles :o)
Great effort, Jonathan, and thank you very much for making it.
73s
Adrian
G4AZS
Well - that was a lot of hard work in the wind and rain! Took the XYL, Ben and Talia (aged 8 and 2) to the top of Cryn-y-Brain…
The TR751e isn’t an electric handbag as such (i.e. it doesn’t have handles) - but I stuck it in a neoprene bag in to create the ‘essence’ of the event. Here’s me XYL modeling it:
Using 2w and a halo I managed one QSO on 2m SSB, with “Don in Devon” G0RQL at circa 240km (I consider that pretty good for 2w and a unity antenna). After that there were no more on SSB - a quick change to FM gained me the other contacts I needed, still using the halo HORIZONTALLY!!! 
After that the kids and wife did some off-road-push-chairing action half way up Moel y Gamelin, while I went up to the summit. I only took the FT270e up there with the slim jim as the rain was really pelting down now.
How typical!!! You can be on a summit and not get ANY contacts and often it takes hard work to reel in the four needed - however, in the pouring rain and gales contacts just kept coming and coming and wouldn’t dry up! I’m nearing 100 activations now and I’ve never seen anything like it on 2m FM!!! As far as I could tell conditions were flat as there was no great dx to talk about - but there’s clearly an increasing amount of participation of SOTA chasers!
I promised Viki and Rod that I would try and hang on for an s2s as they were half way up Billinge Hill (G/SP-017) and still it rained and rained and the contacts kept flooding in!
Finally the contacts subsided, we made the S2S and I chucked all the sodden gear into the backpack and began the descent… you guessed it AS IT STOPPED RAINING
Apologies for the quick contacts, I don’t normally do the rapid “john you’re 5/9 QRZ” thing - but the conditions required it.
Thanks to all the chasers!
Rob GW7LAS/P
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Well done Rob 
Isn’t it always the case, when you need to make a hasty exit there is always another caller!
Thanks & 73,
Mark G0VOF
I’m thinking about it
sure
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Okay, I’m a little late, but this idea is really cool.
Now I absolutely have to remove some of my radios that are sleeping on the shelf..
Soon they’ll be smiling on the air again
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