GW/MW-038 Disgwylfa Fawr

At least it wasn’t raining

GW/MW-038 Disgwylfa Fawr

22/01/2016

As promised the overnight storm moved to the East leaving a strong wind, low cloud but thankfully no rain on our way up to the summit.

Nearing the top...pathetic cairn on this one

I did have to put a back guy on the top of the pole as the wind was very strong even though we had dropped down from the exposed summit…plenty of hiding places on this one :)  

Blowing in the wind

Without a phone signal I called out on 5.398.5 and almost immediately Mal GW6OVD answered with a 5/9 followed by Don G0RQL with a promise of a spot…thanks Don. Within a couple of minutes I had qualified the summit and very happy to get the additional 3 winter bonus points. It was a very orderly pile-up that followed with regular chasers/activators calling in for the summit….thanks everyone.

11:53z	GW6OVD	5MHz	SSB	Mal
11:54z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:55z	G3NIC	5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:56z	G0TDM	5MHz	SSB	John
11:57z	M0JLA	5MHz	SSB	Rod
11:58z	G4APO	5MHz	SSB
11:59z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
11:59z	G4FGJ	5MHz	SSB	Gordon
11:59z	G0TRB	5MHz	SSB	Roger
12:00z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
12:00z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
12:01z	GI0HWO	5MHz	SSB	John
12:02z	G0AKU	5MHz	SSB	Rob
12:04z	G7BGA	5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
12:05z	G4ISJ	5MHz	SSB	Peter

I thought about putting on my headphones for  40m as the bothy bag was rather noisy as it was battered by the wind. I decided not to and gave a call on a quiet 7.118…G6TUH came back with a low 4/4 but nevertheless we made the contact and with a promise of a spot I called once again with Don G0RQL replying with a 5/9..band was in good shape and once again an orderly pile-up with no need for the ‘phones as the majority of stations were a genuine 5/9 on the summit. Don had told me that John MW0XOT/p was on 60m and calling from GW/MW-005 Llan Ddu Fawr but by now I had a steady stream of chasers so I couldn’t really leave my frequency. However, all was not lost as John quickly finished on 60m and popped up to get me so thanks John and to Don for the ‘heads up’. Only one more contact after John and despite quite a few ‘last calls’ I decided to ‘pull the plug’ and head back to the car for the customary coffee and sandwiches.

Bothy bag ready for the rain which never arrived :)

12:10z	G0TRB	7MHz	SSB	Roger
12:10z	G0RQL	7MHz	SSB	Don
12:10z	G6TUH	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:11z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
12:12z	2E0SCS	7MHz	SSB	Stephen
12:12z	G3RDQ	7MHz	SSB	David
12:13z	OZ7JZ	7MHz	SSB	Jan
12:14z	G4WSB	7MHz	SSB	Bill
12:14z	MK0BKV	7MHz	SSB	Damian
12:14z	M3FEH	7MHz	SSB	Karl
12:15z	DL2EF	7MHz	SSB	Franz Josef
12:15z	G0VWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
12:15z	DK7ZM	7MHz	SSB	Heinz
12:16z	MW0XOT/P	7MHz	SSB	John s2s
12:16z	ON4TA	7MHz	SSB	Filip
12:18z	G6TEL	7MHz	SSB	Steve

Banc Llechwedd Mawr in the mist..on the 'to do list'

I had expected that there would be quite a bit of snow still on the ground but there was no trace of it so it looks as if we might hit a few of the higher summits next week if weather conditions remain the same….plenty on the winter bonus list :)

My activation set up today:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  3 band link dipole (60/40/20),  (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole. Thanks to Val for most of the pics today.

Thanks everyone for the contacts and spots

73 Allan GW4VPX

GW/SW-010 Craig y Llyn

Another cold but sunny day

GW/SW-010 Craig y Llyn

20/01/2016

We parked in the large car park / viewing area at SN9266 0309 and made our way to the summit.

My GPS track

This involves walking alongside the main road for about 100m but then you soon leave the roadside and follow a track which has been cut up by off-roaders…thank goodness all the wet stuff was frozen over today. 

Frozen boggy bits

The track alongside the forestry

Corn Du and Pen y Fan in the distance

I called on 60m and Bill G4WSB was first in the log with a promise of a spot…thanks Bill. Not many on 60m today but I was told there were quite a few waiting for me to move to 40m.

12:10z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
12:11z	G8MIA	5MHz	SSB	Andy
12:13z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
12:14z	PA0B	5MHz	SSB	Rob
12:14z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
12:17z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
12:18z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
12:19z	G7BGA	5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey

Working the pile-up

Now 40m was very busy around 7.118 and I contemplated using the linear but up pops a text from Mike G6TUH informing me that there was a clear spot further up the band…I furiously wound the MAIN dial to get there....I keep forgetting about the SEL knob….A quick listen then a call to see if the frequency was occupied brought Mike to the log and a promise of a spot….thanks Mike. There followed a furious 23 minutes of action with both UK and EU chasers calling in for the points…thanks everyone.

12:27z	G6TUH	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:29z	M3EGU	7MHz	SSB	Ron
12:30z	2E0SCS	7MHz	SSB	Stephen
12:30z	G4WSB	7MHz	SSB	Bill
12:31z	G4ISJ	7MHz	SSB	Pete
12:31z	G0VWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
12:31z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
12:32z	M0XRS	7MHz	SSB	Chris
12:32z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
12:33z	M0NTC	7MHz	SSB	Gez
12:33z	DJ5AV	7MHz	SSB	Michael
12:33z	ON4TA	7MHz	SSB	Filip
12:34z	M6RUG	7MHz	SSB	Dave
12:34z	G3RDQ	7MHz	SSB	David
12:35z	OZ7JZ	7MHz	SSB	Jan
12:35z	GW0HGP	7MHz	SSB
12:36z	HB9MKV	7MHz	SSB	Rudi
12:37z	G7AFM	7MHz	SSB	Phil
12:38z	M6EBC	7MHz	SSB	Mark
12:38z	G4WHA/A	7MHz	SSB	Geoff
12:39z	SM6CNX	7MHz	SSB	Dan
12:39z	G6LKB	7MHz	SSB	David
12:40z	ON5SWA	7MHz	SSB	Francois
12:40z	G1BLJ	7MHz	SSB	Steve
12:41z	ON4SV	7MHz	SSB	Gabriel
12:42z	G0TDM	7MHz	SSB	John
12:42z	G4GEW	7MHz	SSB	Peter
12:43z	G4ZRP	7MHz	SSB	Brian
12:44z	ON6ZQ	7MHz	SSB	Christophe
12:45z	GW6DGU	7MHz	SSB	Roy
12:45z	2E0BBK	7MHz	SSB	Keith
12:46z	G8XYJ	7MHz	SSB	Matt
12:48z	M6AHW	7MHz	SSB	Tony
12:50z	M0VZT	7MHz	SSB	Bob
12:50z	GW0VYF	7MHz	SSB	Phil
12:50z	DF5WA	7MHz	SSB	Berthold

Cold in the shade

Now as soon as everything went quiet Val and I had a nice cup of warm coffee and I said that we would pack up and head down to the car. 

Coffee break

It had already been a long day as we were both up and about at 6:00am. Our friends were going to Australia for a month so we had to take them to Carmarthen to catch the bus to Heathrow. At 9:20 I had a dental appointment in the town followed by the drive to Craig y Llyn….all tasks accomplished…I love it when a plan comes together :) Now I had not seen the Alerts that morning so when I scanned around the 2m band before leaving the summit I was astounded to hear Viki and Rod calling from Waun Fach GW/SW-002…unexpected s2s in the log….thanks both.

13:20z	MW6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	Viki s2s
13:22z	MW0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s

Back at the car we had coffee again but this time with something to eat before looking for a geocache which we found fairly quickly using the GPS.

My activation set up today:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  3 band link dipole (60/40/20),  (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts and spots

73 Allan GW4VPX