I needed to be in Tewkesbury this morning with time to spare for a SOTA activation. Close by summits include Cleeve Hill and Bredon Hill but a opted for Worcestershire Beacon – G/WB-009. In preparation I read through Phil, G4OBK and Tom M1EYP’s activation reports and worked out that my best option for a start point would be the Beacon Road car park which is located at SO770441.
The warm spell over the last few days lulled me into a false sense of security and it wasn’t until we were close to Cheltenham that we realised that there was snow on Cleeve Hill. It was about 6 degrees at the car park but it was a lovely clear day with intermittent cloud cover. The car park charge has increased a little and is now £4 but the proceeds go to the upkeep of the Malvern Hills and so it is well worth the fee.
Despite the cold, with patchy snow on the ground there were plenty of people out on the hill, some ‘serious’ walkers and some families out for a brisk walk before lunch. I has with me my most bask SOTA kit being FT-817 and simple dipole with a walking pole for support. I had banked on a quick activation without HF.
First in the log in quick succession were Giles, G0NXA and Stewart, G0LGS both in Cheltenham and regular SOTA chasers. Many thanks to Stewart for spotting me on SOTA watch. A return to 145.500 found Mike, G0XAE followed by Ian, G4WTF. I then changed to 2m SSB and could hear M0CDQ calling. Unfortunately I couldn’t make myself heard and decided to call CQ myself finding G8JVM (sorry I didn’t log your name) in Telford. By now I was getting really cold and needed to get back down the hill but a final call on FM found Les, M6IOI in Redditch.
A fun but cold day on the hill and I have made a note to come back to this summit on a nice warm summer’s day with plenty of time to play on other bands.
