GW/SW-041 Black Mountain

Gospel Pass here I come :)

GW/SW-041 Black Mountain

09/02/2015

As I made my way along the A40 Pen y Fan and Corn Du stood out against the blue sky with not a cloud in sight. It looked good for my activation of Black Mountain. I had thought about an ascent from the car park at SO239373 but decided to head for the other car park at the head of Gospel Pass. The journey was a little hairy as the road was covered with snow that had turned to ice with deep ruts and a drop on one side! Four wheel drive engaged and hoping that nothing would be coming the other way...I made it :)

 Hay Bluff Trig ahead

I reached the trig at Hay Bluff quite quickly knowing that this would be my activation spot for the Worked all Britain Trig award on the way back. Heading South along the Off’s Dyke Path I soon found a mound of earth within the activation zone for Black Mountain that protected me from the bitterly cold wind coming from the North. 

 Towards the summit from Hay Bluff

I kicked off by calling Carolyn GW6WRW/p on GW/SW-015 Mynydd Llangorse for my first s2s of the day and within minutes Steve GM1INK/p on GM/SS114 was also in the log – thanks both.

11:54z	GW6WRW/P	7MHz	SSB	Carolyn s2s
11:58z	GM1INK/P	7MHz	SSB	Steve s2s TP3474

GW4VPX/p on Black Mountain

 A visit to 60m I opened my activation with Brian G8ADD answering my calls and an offer of a spot. A good run of regulars followed so thank you Brian.

12:02z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
12:03z	G8MIA	5MHz	SSB	Andy
12:05z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
12:06z	G0TRB	5MHz	SSB	Roger
12:07z	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil
12:07z	G6ODU	5MHz	SSB	Bob
12:08z	G4ZRP	5MHz	SSB	Brian
12:09z	M0JLA	5MHz	SSB	Rod
12:10z	G0ELJ	5MHz	SSB	Dave
12:10z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
12:11z	M0ELS	5MHz	SSB	John
12:11z	G4ASA	5MHz	SSB	Dave
12:12z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
12:12z	G0TDM	5MHz	SSB	John
12:12z	GM4WHA	5MHz	SSB	Geoff

A quick listen on 7.118 to see if Carolyn had finished....... I asked if she was still there only to be told she was on another band and would I like a spot. It was Rob G0HRT and within a short space of time I was into a pile-up after Rob’s spot went up on Sotawatch - thanks Rob

12:18z	G0HRT	7MHz	SSB	Rob
12:19z	G4WSB	7MHz	SSB	Bill
12:19z	G8VNW	7MHz	SSB	Nick
12:20z	G0VWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
12:21z	G6TUH	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:22z	ON5SWA	7MHz	SSB	Francois
12:22z	2E0MIX	7MHz	SSB	Derek
12:22z	M0IBC	7MHz	SSB	David
12:22z	G0TRB	7MHz	SSB	Roger
12:23z	M0TPM	7MHz	SSB	Terry
12:23z	G0RQL	7MHz	SSB	Don
12:24z	M3FEH	7MHz	SSB	Karl
12:24z	G0TDM	7MHz	SSB	John
12:24z	ON4FI	7MHz	SSB	Karel
12:25z	DF5WA	7MHz	SSB	Berthold
12:25z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
12:25z	M0TTE	7MHz	SSB	Simon
12:26z	EA1IPN	7MHz	SSB	Paco
12:26z	MW0BYS	7MHz	SSB	Bill
12:27z	DL8MLD	7MHz	SSB	Lutz?
12:29z	DL2EF	7MHz	SSB	Franz Josef
12:29z	EI9GLB	7MHz	SSB	Jim
12:30z	DL6MST	7MHz	SSB	Klaus
12:30z	2I0BOW	7MHz	SSB	William
12:31z	PA3GFY	7MHz	SSB	Rob
12:31z	PA0HRM	7MHz	SSB	Hans
12:34z	GW4AZS/P	5MHz	SSB	Adrian s2s + Trig
13:12z	MW0ECX/P	144Mhz	FM	Neil s2s + trig

I was delighted to finish my run with a call to Adrian GW4AZS/p on GW/MW-001 which included a nice QSO and s2s. As I finished packing everything into the rucksack I heard Neil MW0ECX/p calling from GW/SW-010 Craig y Llyn so I ended the SOTA activation with another s2s – thanks both.

 Activating the Trig for Worked all Britain (WAB)

Pen y Fan in the distance

The mountain was quite busy today and I had to explain what I was doing several times. Back to the Trig on Hay Bluff which I had noticed was also very busy so I hoped that I would have a ‘visit free activation’. I bungeed the pole to the trig and a call into the 'WAB net' brought an immediate response from Ken G0FEX and I was quickly working my way down the list.

13:46z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
13:46z	G0FVH	7MHz	SSB	David
13:46z	G4JZF	7MHz	SSB	Graham
13:46z	MM3PDM/P	7MHz	SSB	Peter
13:46z	G0TRB	7MHz	SSB	Roger
13:47z	SM6CNX	7MHz	SSB	Dan
13:48z	G4PYW	7MHz	SSB	Mike
13:48z	MW3WSC	7MHz	SSB	Wil
13:49z	G7BGA	7MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
13:50z	M0ZYD	7MHz	SSB	Denis
13:50z	M0BKV	7MHz	SSB	Damian
13:51z	G4NUJ	7MHz	SSB	Ken
13:51z	G0VWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
13:55z	G4SQA	7MHz	SSB	Dave
13:56z	G4JJS	7MHz	SSB	Simon

I'm glad I had the protection of the trig and plinth and I was soon happy to be making my way down to the car. Despite the cold it was great to see a couple having a picnic in the sunshine!........

Gospel Pass below

I heard a helicopter and looking around I saw an Air Ambulance pass overhead... It suddenly slowed and dropped down to the car park which was to be my initial departure point. It landed next to a number of vehicles. As nothing had happened on my part of the mountain I can only surmise that something had happened down near where it had landed....... Not wishing to go back over the icy road with a chance of something coming up to meet me I headed South down the Gospel Pass for Abergavenny and back onto the A40 towards home.

Thanks everyone for the contacts and spots.

73 Allan GW4VPX