The weather dictated my choice of summit for this event. I was going to get wet, but how wet and would I be struggling to put up an antenna in tghe strong winds that were forecast? I selected a range of summits across Scotland and finally decided to activate Cat Law GM/ES-044 as it offered a well graded track access and had the benefit of stone shelters at the summit.
Setting out at 0605z, it took 3 hours and 40 minutes to drive to the parking spot which was 175 miles / 250km from my base in northern England. There was heavy rain for the last part of the journey, but it had reduced to drizzle when I arrived. Nevertheless the rain slowly got heavier as I ascended and with the increased wind speed as I gained height, it was not exactly pleasant at the summit. The ascent took me 1 hour 26 minutes - not quick, but I did have 13kg on my back.
After an inspection of the three summit shelters, I elected to use the smallest one as my tarp would spread across most of the top to give me some protection. I was keen to keep as dry as possible as this was the first outing for my newly acquired KX3. In hindsight, while this was quite a comfortable position, it was a poor choice as far as making Trans-Atlantic contacts were concerned. I would have been better setting up a tarp shelter further north on the fence line. In the shelter I was too far back from the edge of the hill in the north-west direction.
I used some of the rocks at the summit to create a support for my pole which worked well, but my choice of antenna was not in step with recent band conditions. I deployed my 20 / 17m vertical, but much of the DX action was on the higher frequencies. I did have a newly constructed 10m delta loop with me (untested), but I did not get around to deploying it on account of the weather. Setting up the vertical took long enough as it coincided with the worst of the weather.
It was 1230z when I was ready to go, but on key down the KX3 would not key properly, staying on transmit for around a second, producing a continuous tone which overrode anything I sent on the key. I suspect it was something to do with the damp atmosphere. Anyway after half an hour of faffing around without discovering a clear reason for what was happening, the problem went away. I started on 20m CW at 1300z with an EU S2S followed by calling CQ and a run which netted me 18 contacts in as many minutes. These were mainly around EU, but the run included an S2S with Scott N1AIA and a NA chase by John K8LJG in MI. Before moving to 17m, I bagged another EU S2S.
On 17m SSB I had a pleasant S2S with Erik N1CFO. A quick switch to 15m followed and trusting the misatch would not be too great for the amplifier I was using, I gave Fraser MM0EFI a call… he was only 40dB over 9 with me. 15m seemed to be the place to be at the time and Eric VA2EO and James KK1W were soon in log on CW for two more Trans-Atlantic S2S. I grabbed another EU S2S before putting out a CQ call, but that produced just 6 contacts, though one was with Alfred WX1S who was a huge signal. When the run dried up, I grabbed 3 more EU S2S on CW.
There was action up on 12m and 10m, but I couldn’t find any NA activators, indeed for some reason both bands seemed to be quite noisy so I decided to give 20m another try. First to call to my surprise was Colin M1BUU. In all the run totalled 13 contacts ending with a call from David EA3/N6AN/P. I checked across the band before changing the links on the antenna once again. 17m SSB produced a very enjoyable contact with Eric VA2MO. I attempted to work Mike WB2FUV on 15m CW, but was not successful in getting myself heard. So back on 17m CW I put out another call which produced a further 9 contacts including one with Tom W4JKC, but no S2S.
I was now 1620z and I was getting rather cold, so I decided to do some hunting around before I pulled the plug. I only managed one more contact, an S2S with Jean VE2JCW on 12m CW. An attempt to work Mike WB2FUV on 10m was not successful.
Reluctantly I switched off at 1640z which gave me the remaining daylight to pack up the kit, the rain now having stopped. After a quick text to the XYL and taking a couple of photographs, I set off back to the car at 1706z just as darkness fell, though I was able to make my descent in moonlight without needing my head torch.
During the activation I did take time to listen for Pete WA7JTM on whatever band he was spotted on, but I was disappointed to find that there was no propagation from my location to Arizona. I usually hear Pete, though I have not always been able to make myself heard through his pile up. In that respect, for me conditions were rather disappointing. I thought it was down to my set up, but others seem to have had similar results.
It took me an hour to get back to the car. The first 30 miles of my return journey were driven through dense fog, but as this was on narrow winding roads with very little traffic, I did not lose much time. It was 2156z when I arrived home.
So this was another enjoyable event for me with 6 Trans-Atlantic S2S, 3 NA chaser contacts and 9 EU S2S in the log of 58 contacts. Ironically the only one of higher bands that I did not make any contacts on was 10m… I should have deployed the delta loop. Maybe for the next event in April 2023 I will focus more on the higher frequencies.
Many thanks to everyone that made this event so enjoyable, especially those that went out in poor weather conditions.
73, Gerald
I only managed one. 
