Thursday 7 December 2017

GW/SW-014 - Mynydd Carn y cefn

GW/SW-014 - Mynydd Carn y cefn

4/12/2017

Some bands were behaving….

During our activation of Disgwylfa Fawr on Friday Matt had said that he would be out again on the following Monday in South Wales so I told him to keep me posted via text over the weekend.  The weather  forecast  looked good for Monday and  deteriorating towards the end of the week so come what may Val and I would be out somewhere..that somewhere was Mynydd Carn y cefn.  The last time I did this one Barry M0IML and I had to abort the activation due to severe weather conditions….grey skies and a little drizzle at times today.  
My GPS track
Approach on the track from the NE (SO 185093 and park at SO 185093. Follow a rough track until you have to head west for 200m to reach the Trig. Matt was already activating his first summit Allt yr Esgair GW/SW-023 so I sent him a text to say that we would be on summit shortly and by the time we reached the trig he was calling me for an s2s and eager to be heading to his next activation.  
Checking the links
I quickly set up the HF antenna and the 2m/70cms cable-tie dipole but before I had settled down I picked up two s2s in rapid succession. Thanks to David XRT/p on G/SP-004  Shining Tor and John TQE/p on GW/NW-034 Cyrniau Nod.

10:48z
GW8XYJ/P
144MHz
FM
Matt s2s
11:04z
M0XRT/P
144MHz
FM
David s2s
11:06z
GW4TQE/P
144MHz
FM
John s2s

Too busy to show my face

It had started to drizzle so I pulled the bothy bag over my head and answered Adrian AZS/p on GW/NW-046 Rhialgwm for another s2s..thanks Adrian.  I announced I was dropping down the band where Phil OBK picked me up and soon had a spot in place for me..thanks Phil.   A steady run of chasers followed with good signals all round…thanks everyone.  I have designed and made a cover for my KX2 and was putting it to good use in the light rain that was now coming down.

KX2 cover..work in progress but nearly there

11:17z
GW4AZS/P
5MHz
SSB
Adrian s2s
11:20z
G4OBK
5MHz
SSB
Phil
11:21z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:22z
G8VNW
5MHz
SSB
Nick
11:22z
G4WSB
5MHz
SSB
Bill
11:23z
G0FEX
5MHz
SSB
Ken
11:23z
G4IAR
5MHz
SSB
Dave
11:24z
GW0PLP
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:24z
PA0SKP
5MHz
SSB
Sake
11:24z
G0VWP
5MHz
SSB
Terry
11:28z
GW7MMG
5MHz
SSB
Philip
11:28z
MI0RTY
5MHz
SSB
Martin
11:32z
G6NHW/P
5MHz
SSB
Peter

Val was by now looking for a Geocache and as I changed the links for 40m I saw her disappearing in the distance, GPS in hand. 40m was not  behaving but I did pick up an s2s with Rod JLA/p who was on GW/SW-013 Tor y Foel and saying that Viki BWA would be on shortly.
11:46z
F6GWB
7MHz
SSB
Gerard
11:46z
HB9DHA
7MHz
SSB
Ray
11:47z
PA7ZEE
7MHz
SSB
Geert
11:48z
MW0JLA/P
7MHz
SSB
Rod s2s
11:50z
DL8DXL
7MHz
SSB
Fred
11:51z
EA2DT
7MHz
SSB
Manuel
11:52z
PC9DB
7MHz
SSB
Mark
11:52z
G0VWP
7MHz
SSB
Terry
11:53z
EA2CKX
7MHz
SSB
Pedro

I could hear David EVV/p calling from Carnedd Llywelyn GW/NW-002 and saying that it was very cold on top so I quickly grabbed the s2s for the log…thanks David.  An s2s with Viki on 2m and 70cms followed …thanks Viki.
12:05z
GW0EVV/P
144MHz
FM
David s2s
12:18z
MW6BWA/P
144MHz
FM
Viki s2s
12:20z
GW1BXX
144MHz
FM
Adrian
12:21z
MW6BWA/P
433MHz
FM
Viki s2s diff band

I changed the links to 20m and got back in the bothy bag and it was then that RRT informed me that Michael G0HIO/p  was calling on 10.118 CW from G/WB-004 Titterstone Clee Hill. He was a strong signal on my 20m dipole so I dropped down slightly and hit the tune button on the KX2..the tuning was instantaneous and I was very soon completing a CW s2s with him…thank you Mike.
12:28z
G0HIO/P
10MHz
CW
Michael s2s

Time for coffee I think?
Val was back so we had a cup of coffee and then  I sent a spot via RRT for 14.285Mhz. As soon as the spot hit Sotawatch George N1GB was calling me from Vermont, USA, 5/6  5/7 reports ..thanks George.  I kept calling but there was no response until George came back again informing me that Rod was also calling on the band..we had a quick chat and that was it for 20m..not a single EU station and no other DX…strange conditions.

12:48z
N1GB
14MHz
SSB
George, Vermont, USA

I could hear Matt chatting to Viki on 70cms so I gave them a call to collect my second s2s with Matt who was now on GW/SW-020 Craig Syfyrddin….thanks Matt.  I should have tried 80m sooner but the s2s excitement early on in the activation had upset my flow through the bands.  
Coils for 80m with Val still searching in the distance!!!

Anyway, I attached the 80m coils catching a glimse of Val who had gone back to searching for the elusive Geocache. I had a few nice contacts with SOTA and WAB regulars...80m was still working but I should have visited it earlier in the activation…thanks everybody.
12:55z
GW8XYJ/P
433MHz
FM
Matt s2s
13:10z
G0FEX
3.5MHz
SSB
Ken
13:11z
G4IAR
3.5MHz
SSB
Dave
13:12z
G0RQL
3.5MHz
SSB
Don
13:12z
M3FEH
3.5MHz
SSB
Karl

Sunshine in the distance...Sugar Loaf GW/SW-011 on the right..we were heading down

A really good day on the radio with a couple of key moments.  Val never did find the cache and looking at the Geocache website when we got home there were many many DNF (Did Not Find) for this one…back next year then…..
Activation set up
 (HF) Elecraft KX2 (10 watts) and 4Ah LiPo
 Antenna - 3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (+15m extensions +80m loading coils)
 (VHF)  Yaesu FT270 (5watts) into a ‘cable tie’ dipole
Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts

73 Allan GW4VPX

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