13th Trans-Atlantic S2S event, 4th November 2023
I chose Arthurâs Seat GM/SS-272 close to the centre of Edinburgh for the event primarily because of convenience and I needed to activate the summit to further my goal of activating all the GM/SS summits south of the Glasgow - Edinburgh line. If Iâd have thought about it rationally I would have never chosen this summit for a protracted stay as climbing it is one of the âthings to doâ when visiting Edinburgh. But this was November⌠surely there couldnât be that many people up there could there, even though it was a Saturday? HmmâŚ
After dropping off the XYL close to edge of the main shopping area, I parked up at the St Margaretâs Loch car park at 1030z. It wasnât very busy⌠a good sign perhaps? To check out the situation on the hill, I decided to approach the summit from the east which gave me a side-on view of the main path coming up from the direction of the city centre. The path was absolutely crammed with people, both ascending and descending. Arghh, what had I been thinking? However it didnât seem so bad when I joined the masses on the final pull up to the summit.
When activating this summit Phil G4OBK had used a gorse bush on the east side of the hill to get some screening from public view, but could I find it? There was no option, but to find my own spot. At the summit, the trig point on top of the rocky outcrop was surrounded by about 20 people. No chance to top-out, especially with a 15kg pack on my back. I felt overdressed in my waterproof walking gear and 3 season boots. There were at least 50 across the summit area, with more arriving all the time, virtually all wearing trainers and jeans.
On the north side there is a sharp drop off, but I was pleased to see there was enough of a flattish area for me to set up on⌠and it was clear of people. Once I had found a suitable spot to operate from, I used an app on my phone to check I was well within the AZ. Setting up the pole on the steep slope needed care and there was only just enough space before the drop off for the radials to fit in down the slope. As I was setting up, a young lady approached me to ask what I was doing. I tried to explain, but Iâm not sure she fully understood. A few minutes later another young lady approached me. Thinking I was going to get asked the same question, I was completely surprised when she said, âis this amateur radio?â She introduced herself as the daughter of Simon VK3ELH⌠and there he was on a video call on her mobile phone! We had a brief chat and I explained what I was up to. The chance of that happening must be infinitessimally small.
Expecting further enquiries as to what I was doing, I decided to run the KX3 barefoot to keep the power down. I started on 20m CW and soon found Scott N1AIA for the first S2S of the day at 12:50z. A thought then entered my head⌠could I qualify the summit on Trans-Atlantic S2S contacts alone and with KX3 without the amp? SOTAwatch revealed more action on 15m CW, so I retuned the antenna and soon Roy WN3F and Mike WB2FUV were in the bag. Then up to 10m CW to catch Eric VA2EO. Deed done! The Slidewinder wasnât tuning well above 28.1MHz as the wire is cut a little longer than it should be, but I wasnât going to drop the mast and invite more questions from the public. The morse key and headphones seemed to keeping them at bay.
At 14:00z with 6 in the log I plugged in the amp and ran 30 watts⌠the public were staying away. Up until 15:00z I didnât call CQ, but just went up and down between 20m and 10m slowly picking up S2S contacts. I did look at 17m and 12m, but those bands seemed to be overflowing with signals, so in the end I avoided them. On all the bands my position on the hill was definitely limiting signals from EU. My first 10 contacts were all Trans-Atlantic S2S, with only a quick call to say Hi to Simon GM4JXP/P on 10m SSB for my sole EU S2S contact and sole SSB contact. I had to queue for quite a while to work Fredi KP4/KY0T on 10m CW as he was suffering QRM.
My first CQ session was on 15m CW. This netted the 5 EU chaser contacts that I made, 2 US chaser contacts and 3 more Trans-Atlantic S2S. After this run I was having a snack when up popped Dale AA7OY on the frequency I had been using. Hey ho, another in the log. Moving to 10m CW at 15:55z, Paul K9PM/P was first of the session which netted 3 US chasers, 6 Trans-Atlantic S2S and a second band for Dale AA7OY.
By 16:30z I was starting to get damp from the dew, really chilled and aware my XYL would have spent up some time since, I went QRT. I texted my XYL about my intentions and was on my way down to the car at 16:55z. On the descent I got away without having to use my headtorch, the light pollution from the city providing enough light⌠and I wasnât the last to leave the summit. I actually passed someone ascending in the dark.
So, 19 Trans-Atlantic S2S plus the second contact with Dale AA7OY.
N1AIA 20m, WN3F 15m, WB2FUV 15m, VA2EO 10m, VA2YZX 20m, WN2G 20m, WA7JTM 10m, VA2NM 10m, KP4/KY0T 10m, W7CBK 15m, AA6XA 15m, KX0R 15m, AA7OY 15m, K9PM/P 10m, K6EL 10m, NM3A 10m, AA7OY 10m, AB1WX 10m, N6AN 10m, W6ARW 10m.
5 Trans-Atlantic chasers in AZ, MN, CA, OR and NV.
1 EU S2S GM4JXP/P 10m SSB.
5 EU chasers in EA, GM, HB9, US3 and OH.
The getaways were mainly on 10m SSB where I wasnât heard, probably due to my antenna, although the auto-ATU did tune it okay. I actually ran two auto-ATUs, that in the KX3 ensuring a good match to the amp input circuitry.
So just 31 in the log, but WOW what a log!
Many thanks to everyone that made this event such a success. Special thanks to Pete WA7JTM for rustling up a veritable army of support in W7A. When I first suggested we try this event back in 2016 little did I know how popular it would become. Naturally conditions helped this time, but we still need backsides on summits to make this event viable. Well done all. See you in the Spring.
73, Gerald G4OIG (GM4OIG/P)
I very much doubt that anyone failed to qualify their summit due to me not wanting to make a qso.
