Wednesday 4 March 2015

GW/SW-004 Waun Rydd



 I would not be alone on the mountains today.....

GW/SW-004 Waun Rydd


04/03/2015

On arrival at the car park at SO056176 I could see that I would not be alone on the mountains today. Military and various groups clad in matching mountain wear were preparing to make their way on to the hills.
 A busy car park
A short steep ascent northwards up past the waterfalls then it’s an easy walk above Craig y Fan Ddu and Craig y Fan Las to an intersection of paths at SO058207. 
Looking back along Craig Fan Ddu and Craig Fan Las
The summit is ENE from here and not too far although I setup short of this in a snow drift protected shelter to get out of the bitterly cold wind.   
 My snow and peat hole
 Protected from the wind
As I was about to set up for HF I heard Mal GW6OVD calling me on 2m with an offer of a spot. I told him that I would be ready in 10 minutes. Thanks Mal.
11:25z
GW6OVD
144MHz
FM
Mal
I set the pole in a snow drift but couldn’t get full height due to the wind. Having seen Mal’s spot Brian G8ADD was already keeping the frequency warm with Mick LB6BG over in Norway.
11:49z
G8ADD
5MHz
SSB
Brian
11:50z
LB6BG
5MHz
SSB
Mick
Thanking both Brian and Mick I set about the activation and very soon eight regular chasers and activators were in the log with good strong signals even though the pole was not at optimum height.
11:52z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:52z
G8MIA
5MHz
SSB
Andy
11:52z
G6WRW
5MHz
SSB
Carolyn
11:53z
G3RMD
5MHz
SSB
Frank
11:53z
G4OBK
5MHz
SSB
Phil
11:54z
G7UFI
5MHz
SSB
Barrie
11:56z
G4ISJ
5MHz
SSB
Pete
11:56z
G4WSB
5MHz
SSB
Bill
The view from the 'office'
A quick listen on 7.118 revealed a quiet frequency so I rapidly changed the links and gave a call out which was greeted by a ‘Good afternoon’ from Rod in Hereford city. I was away again after spots from Mal and Nick thanks both.
12:02z
M0JLA
7MHz
SSB
Rod
12:03z
G8VNW
7MHz
SSB
Nick
12:03z
G6TUH
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:04z
MM6LDC
7MHz
SSB
Rob
12:04z
G4WHA/A
7MHz
SSB
Geoff
12:05z
PA0SKP
7MHz
SSB
Sake
12:05z
EB2CZF
7MHz
SSB
Jose
12:06z
G0RQL
7MHz
SSB
Don
12:06z
M0IBC
7MHz
SSB
David
12:07z
G4MCQ
7MHz
SSB
Steve
12:07z
M3FEH
7MHz
SSB
Karl
I noticed my VSWR had risen whilst talking to Karl M3FEH so with a few ‘last calls’ and no response I went to investigate....sections of the pole had collapsed into each other so one leg of the antenna was touching  the ground. Time to pack up and head for home.
 GW4VPX/p with Pen y Fan as backdrop
 Corn Du, PyF and Cribyn
I’ll be back on 20m soon but at the moment the weather and temperature dictates the duration of my activations.  Thanks everyone.

73 Allan GW4VPX 

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