As with others a full report will follow. I was on Red Screes in the Lake District UK, G/LD-017, bitter conditions on the summit but quite nice on the ascent/descent. My wife and eldest daughter braved the elements and as it unfolded the radio was a teamwork effort - as the third falling of my 7m mast resulted in a break in the middle my daughter kindly held the remaining half aloft long enough for 10 14m QSOs including George in Vermont N1GB and Robert in New Hampshire AC1Z - not bad for a 20m dipole at around 3 metres! Good collection of European countries also in the log, many thanks to all the 20m and 2m FM regular chasers! The bothy bag and Jetboil earned their keep on this outing. After the descent we retired to the Queens Head for a cheeky beer and sandwich with chips and it was dark when we left!
It was a great excuse to get out but maybe we could arrange a âheights of summerâ S2S event as well?
73. Mark.
Hi Barry,
Min tnx for the info abt my Signal on 17m.
On this summit i had a vy strong local bc Signal and i couldnt hear any station.
RBnhole shows also 2 msges from state side on 17m to my cw signal.
So i hpe for the next Time and will find another , better one.
I hpe to meet u agn, best 73
Paul DL6FBK
Just got back from W7A/CS-045, which I activated this morning for the NA to EU s2s event. Wx conditions were fairly cool at dawn, about 23 degrees F and a bit of wind, but no rain.
A quick look at the log shows 78 QSOâs. Of those I made five contacts with European stationsâŠEA, PA, HB (all home stations I believe) and two s2s contacts to G4OIG, one on 20 and one on 17 Meters. Looks like 16 s2s contacts, 14 in the USA, and the two into England.
It looks like last year was definitely better to Europe, but I think the Solar Flux was a little higher last year also.
Running my FT817, 30 watts to a 2 element wire beam (brand newâŠitâs first outing).
Anyhow other than the cold everything seemed to work well and my Black Labrador and myself had lots of fun. Thanks to all who gave me a call today.
73
Pete (and Shadow)
WA7JTM
W7A/CS-045 (DM45) Arizona
Me, 8 contacts on 20 metres SSB, 3 were S2S including Pete.
WX conditions were cold (truck thermometer was -12C when I started to hike) and a strong west wind and no place to hide from it. Always enjoy activating summits.
First HF activation for ages, and it was up to G/WB-004, Titterstone Clee Hill again.
I was in 2 minds after some awful weather in the morning (rain, fog, and more rain) but around mid day, at least the rain had cleared.
Getting to the car park, it was quite obvious that it was going to be quite damp, the pot holes in the ground overflowing with muddy water
So, up the familiar path to the summit. The clouds closed in, reducing the visibility to a few meters. I looked for the outline of the NATS buildings⊠only to find that theyâ appear to have been demolished since the last time I was up thereâŠ
The remains of the NATS buildings⊠I have no idea when they were demolished!
I quickly had the antenna up (20M linked vertical with 3 radials) and the rig attached, only to be delayed by explaining what I was up to to a group of walkers.
Linked 20m GP antenna bungied to the footpath sign
Eventually getting on air, not a fantastic amount of of QSOs, 2 to NA, including a s2s with KI4SVM on W4C/EM-066 (Thanks for persevering!) the rest being in the EU, all on 20m
I rounded off the day with a s2s with Jordan M3TMX/P just down the road on G/WB-020 with the 2m handheld as I finished packing up
Thanks to all the chasers, and the organisers for arranging the event!
Just a briefnote to say thank you to everyone that turned out for this event. There will be a full report from me when I get home, but in brief I made 6 QSOs on 2m at the start of the session, followed by another 30 on 17m / 20m. 16 Trans-Atlantic QSOs, 7 of which were S2S. There were several significant highlights and I finished at 16:45z very well pleased.
Well done Gerald! I heard you working VE2DDZ, I had been trying for ages to get through but he just couldnât hear me although he was peaking 589 at times.
I did hear callers, but very faintly, no callsigns, but a couple of letters only. I had higher noise than I would have liked on the summit, S3-S4 on 20m. Iâm sorry I couldnât work you Colin, maybe another time. I was delighted to work Gerald, the only EU S2S I got yesterday. I had 6 NA S2S in among 49 contacts in about three hours on the air.
I must admit to using CW rather more than SSB, but there were contest stations on both modes. Several contest stations were sat between 14.060 and 14.070 which did cause issues. I had to move several times and often found stations calling on my frequency, but it wasnât me they were calling.
I ran CQs on 17m CW from 13:00 to 14:00 - first up was Rich N4EX who was 579, so I knew there was propagation. The going was slow, so I decided to leave SSB until later. Barry N1EU gave me the first S2S. With a decent internet connection, I ran S and P on 20m, both CW and SSB between 14:00 and 15:30. The internet went down for a while, so I managed just 7 summits during this period. I then started CQing on 14.066 which gave some Eu chasers the opportunity to bag DC-008 - another 9 contacts ending with a chat with Jose CS7AFI who was running just 2 watts.
I saw Pete WA7JTM was up on 17m, so decided to check the frequency and found I could copy him with the vertical tuned for 20m. A quick change on the antenna and a second S2S with him was made. I was surprised to find 17m still awake, so self-spotted for 18.160 and was rewarded with a run of USA and Canadian contacts including an S2S with Pete WH6LE and a surprise in the form of Phil G4OBK. Unfortunately I ran out of batteries at 16:45. I might have dragged a few more contacts out had I juggled the least drained cells, but 5 hours on the summit was enough for me. Apologies if anyone missed out.
I will put a bit more flesh on the bones in due course. In the meantime you can chastise me for being half way to the States by being down in Cornwall.
I was truly delighted to work you Malcolm - my first S2S to Canada. You were stronger a short while after we worked and I could hear many people that you were working. The same applied when I worked Pete WA7JTM - I could hear most of his callers as well. It was a real quandary as to whether I would be best calling CQ or going S and P. I guess there is no ideal solution.
Our s2s QSOâs were the highlights of the day out here in Arizona. I did not even hear any other EU activators, which surprised me a bit. I called CQ for quite a while on both 20 and 17 meters CW, working a few EU SOTA Chasers, but no more EU s2s contacts resulted.
Last year I completed four EU s2s and heard many others, so conditions were definitely down.
I could tell that your batteries were going downhill fastâŠbut the little âchirp/frequency shiftâ reminded me of the good old days when that sort of thing was common (for other reasons or course).
I will be looking forward to your report of Hensbarrow Downs G/DC-008. Will this report be posted on the reflector due to Summitsbase being closed for maintenance?
I just couldnât resist calling you a second time Pete. Pleased that you managed to copy me okay with the chirp. When I went onto SSB, it must have got gradually worse, but I didnât receive any negative comments until Rob VE1CHW called me at 16:40 to say my transmission was more FM than SSB. Still, we managed to pass the necessary information.
I agree that conditions were down on last year. For me that extended to the china clay slag heap that I was sat on! However, I reckon the north-west facing slope helped me get out.
Hi Gerald,
So it seems 17 metres performed very well for you as well. I must bear that in mind for next time. 17m is contest-free of course, another advantage.
I guess the contest that gave me trouble on 20m must have been the LZ DX contest - which started at 12:00 - although to me it seemed to be worst between 1230 and 1330 - at which point I had to pack up and leave if I were to get back down the (one-way) mountain road, before it would be closed for another hour.
I was already on my second battery when I packed up, so I was trying calling, but it wasnât to be it seems.
Perhaps next year we could look at having it a month earlier?
Splendid cycling trip activating GW/MW-012 Carnedd Wen. Circular ride 41 km 760m ascent (mostly in the first few km). 15 QSOs including 2 x s2s. Several known chasers in the mix but nobody spotted me which was handy as it was rather tight to get back to the 'van and get camped before dark.
