Winter activation of Red Screes G/LD-017

[M0NOM]

The weather in the Lake District has been rain, rain, rain over the last couple of weeks and in a surprise turn of events the forecast quickly got better for Sunday and an opportunity presented itself for a winter bonus.

I typically activate Red Screes in the Winter Bonus Season as it is the easiest 6+3 pointer and is only 20 mins drive from my QTH. Forecast today was for easing winds around lunchtime. Not much wind blowing in Windermere but I know not to believe that! I took a DD superlightweight although couldn’t find my walking pole so would have to rely on the antenna mast for support if required. My all-in-one thermal made another welcome outing - no more exposing flesh when stretching for antenna clips!

Trying to stay lightweight I took the IC-705 out of the 400g case I normally use to protect it and use bubble wrap and a dry bag instead. I took a 3S 2200 mAh LifePo4 which proved worthless as I hadn’t taken the power lead to convert to powerpoles! Solar conditions looked very promising with the SFI at an unprecendented 228:

Screenshot of dxheat.com

Much to my surprise as I ascended towards Kirkstone Pass there was snow on the hills above about 400m ASL. Too much snow can make the path up tricky to find, but today there was a maximum of 30 cm on the very top, with a lighter dusting on the leeward side of the ascent. Footing was good and I didn’t experience any ice on the stones making progress (apart from my terrible fitness) easy.

On the Ascent

First time on a Lake District Fell for some of these lads!

Semi-frozen fell top tarn

View towards Ullswater

Sotabeams Band Hopper IV and 10m compact travel mast deployed

The wind was biting at the top and I thought I’d have to jerry-rig the DD Tarp, but I found natural shelter on the leeward side. In the sun this was very nice, and at one point I had to take my hat off.

Radio was amazing. Using my 5w I got 3 transatlantic contacts and 100 total. I was keen for this to be my sixth qualifying activation for the Guru Memorial Key raffle so braved a 20m CW activation as well as a couple of CW S2S.

Now I know that I can complete a lengthy activation without needing a separate battery with the IC-705. I still had some power remaining.

Thank you so much to all the chasers, both HF and VHF for making this such a rewarding adventure!

Looking back towards the benchmark

Summit Station

Old Man of Consiton getting some precipitation

Classic ridgeline of Froswick, Ill Bell, Saddle

Windermere on the left, Coniston Water on the right

Stony Cove Pike

View down to the Kirkstone Inn

Selfie!

Mandatory Lake District Sheep Photo!

TIME	CALLSIGN	BAND	MODE	RST	RSR	OPERATOR	SIG	REF
11:24	CT1DIZ	20m	SSB	59	55	JOSE
11:25	EA2DT	20m	SSB	59	57	Manuel
11:25	F4IOQ/QRP	20m	SSB	59	57	DIXNEUF
11:25	SP9JKL	20m	SSB	59	55	Jerzy
11:25	HB9CMI	20m	SSB	59	59	Peter
11:26	EA4GU	20m	SSB	59	59	Manuel
11:27	SA4BLM	20m	SSB	59	59	Lars
11:27	OE6GND	20m	SSB	59	59	GERHARD
11:27	PD4EHJ	20m	SSB	59	59	Shivani
11:27	F6FNA	20m	SSB	59	59	JEAN-PIERRE
11:28	SP9AJ	20m	SSB	59	59	Adam
11:28	SP9KEK	20m	SSB	59	59	Adam
11:29	ON7TWA/M	20m	SSB	59	57	Geert
11:29	SV3IEG	20m	SSB	59	56	Dinos
11:30	HB9MKV	20m	SSB	59	56	RUDOLF
11:30	F4ISZ	20m	SSB	59	54	Franck
11:31	DJ9FBA	20m	SSB	59	59	Franz
11:32	HB9DDS	20m	SSB	59	59	Daniel
11:32	EA3HYJ	20m	SSB	59	57	Agustín
11:33	SP9TKW	20m	SSB	59	55	Marek
11:33	SP2NAX	20m	SSB	59	59	Piotr
11:33	EA2CKX	20m	SSB	59	55	PEDRO
11:34	EA2DDG	20m	SSB	59	57	Jose
11:34	G4OBK	20m	SSB	57	43	Philip
11:34	EA3EBJ	20m	SSB	56	55	Roca
11:36	HB9AGH	20m	SSB	56	55	Ambrosi
11:36	F6IPR	20m	SSB	55	53	Frederic
11:36	OE7PHI	40m	SSB	58	55	HANSJOERG
11:42	G7SXR	40m	SSB	59	59	Mark
11:42	G6LKB	40m	SSB	59	59	David
11:43	ON3QRP	40m	SSB	59	57	Frank
11:43	MW0OFA	40m	SSB	59	59	Frank
11:44	G0RQL	40m	SSB	59	59	DON
11:44	G3TQQ	40m	SSB	59	59	J
11:45	G0MHF	40m	SSB	59	55	JOHN
11:45	G1PIE	40m	SSB	59	59	MARK
11:46	G4FFN	40m	SSB	59	58	COLIN
11:47	G0KYS	40m	SSB	59	55	BOB
11:47	G8ADD	40m	SSB	59	59	Brian
11:48	M7CQX	40m	SSB	59	57	Nick
11:48	G0FEX	40m	SSB	59	58	KEN
11:49	2E0FEH	40m	SSB	59	55	Karl
11:49	G6AEK	40m	SSB	59	59	David
11:50	GI0AZB	40m	SSB	55	59	Ian
11:51	GI0AZA	40m	SSB	55	59	Esther
11:53	2I0WMN	40m	SSB	58	59	William
11:53	GM4WHA	40m	SSB	59	46	GEOFF
11:55	EA3EBJ	40m	SSB	45	55	Roca
11:59	GM4WHA	80m	SSB	59	35	GEOFF
12:00	2E0FEH	80m	SSB	55	44	Karl
12:01	2E0ESY	80m	SSB	59	52	MIKE
12:08	G8CPZ	80m	SSB	59	43	AJ
12:09	G8CPZ	80m	CW	599	439	AJ
12:28	LA9XGA/P	20m	SSB	58	59	Tor-Atle	SOTA	LA/RL-153
12:30	DL/HB9BIN/P	20m	CW	599	599	Juerg	SOTA	DM/RP-406
12:40	CT7/W0CGA/P	20m	CW	559	599	Ernest	SOTA	CT/ES-002
12:44	G7CDA	2m	FM	59	59	Douggie
12:44	G1OHH	2m	FM	59	59	Sue
12:45	M0SSD	2m	FM	55	55	George
12:46	G6HMX	2m	FM	59	59	DEREK
12:47	G4WPS	2m	FM	59	59	Dave,
12:50	SV2HJW	20m	CW	599	339	KOSTAS
12:00	DL1FU	20m	CW	599	579	Friedrich
12:02	W4JKC	20m	CW	599	559	THOMAS
12:03	OK2PDT	20m	CW	599	599	JAN
12:04	SP9NLI	20m	CW	599	559	Andrzej
12:05	OK1FMJ	20m	CW	599	599	Josef
12:06	EA2DT	20m	CW	559	559	Manuel
12:07	SP9AMH	20m	CW	559	339	Mariusz
12:10	LY2BNL	20m	CW	559	599	Valdas
12:13	PE2JB	20m	CW	599	599	Jaco
12:18	F5RMN	20m	CW	599	599
12:26	SP6KEP	20m	SSB	59	59	Radio
12:27	DD2TC	20m	SSB	57	55	Clemens
12:28	G8CPZ	20m	SSB	59	57	AJ
12:29	IU3GKJ	20m	SSB	59	57	Riccardo
12:30	OH1MM	20m	SSB	59	59	Pasi
12:30	LA9DSA	20m	SSB	59	58	Knut
12:31	PA5KM	20m	SSB	59	58	Coen
12:32	IN3ADF/P	20m	SSB	59	58	Markus	SOTA	I/AA-211
12:33	F4JUA/P	20m	SSB	47	44	CABANE	SOTA	F/AM-661
12:33	SV3IEG	20m	SSB	59	56	Dinos
12:34	OH3GZ	20m	SSB	59	59	JUKKA
12:34	PA2FA/P	20m	SSB	59	59	Frank
12:37	S57MS/P	20m	SSB	45	57	Marko	SOTA	S5/RG-017
12:37	IU3DWQ	20m	SSB	59	56	Alex
12:38	S57ILF	20m	SSB	57	44	FRANCI
12:38	PE1PUX	20m	SSB	59	59	Eric
12:39	F6GBP	20m	SSB	59	59	Jaque
12:40	F4IAW	20m	SSB	59	57	Eric
12:40	K2GRG	20m	SSB	57	44	Gregory
12:41	DK9CA/P	20m	SSB	59	57	Martin		DA-0121
12:43	M3DDY	20m	SSB	59	59	Martin
12:44	K2TRD	20m	SSB	59	53	Martin
12:46	ON8CW	20m	SSB	59	59	Croes
12:47	ON2LVC	20m	SSB	59	59	Luc
12:47	EA4GU	20m	SSB	59	59	Manuel
12:48	G8TXK	20m	SSB	59	59	Pete
12:49	IK2JTS	20m	SSB	59	59	ANGELO
12:49	SQ9JXS	20m	SSB	59	59	Piotr

Furthest contact

Highest S2S today

European Contacts

Transatlantic Contacts

All photos here

[M0WIV]

That’s a very impressive activation Mark.

I haven’t managed a CW S2S yet. Did the other station send “S2S” or did you identify where they were on SotaWatch?
John

[M0NOM]

Hi John

Yes, typically the other station calls S2S if on your frequency (to which I respond S2S?), although I find it much easier to jump on their frequency - that way I can copy the callsign and reference several times if required. Weirdly, although I am still struggling with CW at any speed I tend to get the reference when sent a couple of times. If necessary you can confirm with Sotawatch, but I don’t like relying on it.

The only question today was DL/HB9BIN/P Juerg on DM/RP-400 - I had seen the spot for DL/HB9BQU/P but wasn’t hearing that callsign. This must have been a joint activation between @HB9BIN Juerg and @HB9BQU Hans - I knew I hadn’t copied HB9BQU but had to check by replaying the IC-705 audio recorded to confirm it was indeed Juerg - he recognised my callsign I think because he said ‘GA Mark’.

I would suggest hunting out activators on their frequency to start with, even better possibly doing this as a /P chaser - that way you don’t have to worry about your reference!

Cheers, Mark.

[M0WIV]

Mark, that’s really helpful and confirms my suspicions that the easiest approach is a “search and pounce” on another activator.

Unfortunately, up to now when I do a CW activation I’m so focused on calling CQ I don’t look anywhere else!

And I also confess to using the recorder on the 705 to confirm a QSO!

[VK3SQ]

Hello Mark, thanks for a great report and fantastic photos. Well done and a great read…

Geoff vk3sq. HNY

[W4JKC]

Great to work you today Mark! 14-28 MHz condx to EU were fabulous here this morning.
Thanks for the stunning photos and the note on me being your furthest DX. A first for me. Looking forward to more early morning (my time) SOTA to EU.
73, Tom, W4JKC

[MM0EFI]

That’s a cracking haul for a cold snowy summit Mark. Congratulations!

I’m surprised there isn’t a 10 m QSO or two in there

[G4TGJ]

@M0NOM

typically the other station calls S2S if on your frequency (to which I respond S2S?)

On HF I am almost exclusively CW and I have never been called with “S2S”. The usual thing I hear from European operators is “/P” sent a couple times. Or they just send their whole call ending /P in which case I assume it is an S2S. It usually is although some are from WWFF, POTA or GMA or perhaps just portable and not an activation of any sort.

All my early S2S contacts on CW were from other stations calling me. It is only more recently that I have been the chaser. If you have a mobile signal then you can find their frequency and know their callsign and reference in advance which does make it easier.

[M0NOM]

Hi Fraser

I’d taken two dipoles, the Sotabeams Band Hopper IV is cut for 20/30/40/60/80. I also have a home-made dipole that covers 17/15/12/10 but I never put that up the pole. 10m is fun, but I find it very hit and miss for SOTA.

Mark.

[MM0EFI]

@M0NOM

I find it very hit and miss for SOTA.

Exactly what I’ve found! We need everyone to give 10 m a try this year. This weekend, people were having transatlantic QSO’s on 10 m FM, AM and SSB, so QRP from a summit is not going to be too much of a challenge.

[M6GYU]

You’ll find that the most common response from another activator in CW is “/P” “/P” and this was discussed at length in a previous thread a year or so ago… /P is quite distinctive in a pile up. The response on hearing this as the activator calling CQ is to reply simply, “/P K” and they should reply.

As Mark says, until you gain more confidence its a little easier hunting out activators as you can listen to their calls & references until you are 100%, But even if you get someone chase you with a /P suffix, and you don’t know their reference, its perfectly acceptable ask for it, “REF PSE?” ; or if they’ve sent it once and you didn’t get it; “QRM (or QSB) AGN PSE?.”

I never assume a s2s chaser knows my reference so in an exchange I always give my reference anyway - it also saves him/her from having to ask for it if they don’t know/have it.!!

Dave

[G8CPZ]

@MM0EFI

This weekend, people were having transatlantic QSO’s on 10 m FM, AM and SSB

I recall how dead 10m was a few years ago [whenever I happened to check] but propagation and activity really seemed to improve in 2022, which I put down to the new solar cycle ‘kicking in’. I’ve made a mental note to try 17m to 10m more often on my 2023 activations.

[MM0EFI]

@G8CPZ

I’ve made a mental note to try 17m to 10m more often on my 2023 activations.

Excellent Andy! I’ve qualified a summit solely on 10 m SSB in the past few months, with some regular chasers calling in. A trick could be to start your activation on a higher band, time and weather allowing.

[M0LEP]

I caught YO5IA/P on 15 metres from Kenya yesterday, and I heard but wasn’t able to work (partly, I suspect, thanks to the mouthfull of a callsign I have to use here) a few other activators on higher HF bands in the last few days, too, so they’re definitely worth a try at the moment if you want to work DX from a summit.

73, Rick 5Z4/M0LEP