GW/NW-027 Arenig Fach

Not so safe in a cairn!

GW/NW-027 Arenig Fach

02/08/2015

Some rain was forecast but clearing as we would arrive at our summit for today..that's what the weatherman  said. Now Arenig Fach is a  SOTA 4 pointer and it was the last on my list for this area which included Arenig Fawr and Moel Llyfnant.  Simon GW4TJC had alerted that he would be on Moel Llyfnant first and then Arenig Fawr so an s2s was guaranteed.  I was using Simon’s GPX track from the SOTA mapping project for my summit route  (http://www.sotamaps.org/) which corresponded exactly to what Barry M0IML had told me so most of the navigational hard work had been done...thanks both.

My GPS track - ever so slightly different to Simon's track

We parked the car on the grass verge at SH8262 3999 which was directly next to the Gate and stile which would lead us on the 2.26km trek to the summit. Avoid taking a direct route up on to Y Foel...deep 'leg breaking' holes amongst the boulders and all hidden in the heather.

 Our car below with Llyn Celyn and Mynydd Nodol in the distance

Simon’s GPS track differs slightly to mine as he had parked up in the lay-by during snowy conditions.  It’s a stiff climb up from the gate but Val and I made steady progress following some strategically placed way posts until we arrived at the gate leading on to the heather covered moorland.

Heather bashing to the 'bwlch'

Llyn Celyn with Mynydd Nodol GW/NW-048 right

It was going to be a hard slog working our way up through the knee deep heather :(  We were glad when we reached the ‘bwlch’ between  Y Foel and Arennig Fach where the going got a lot easier.

Easier going towards the summit

There was a cold breeze on the summit but most annoyingly it started to rain so we donned our weather proofs and I set up the station in the cairn and out of the elements. Now I had been talking to Simon on the way up and we soon had our s2s on 2m so thanks Simon for that and the GPS track.

11:19z	GW4TJC/P	144MHz	FM	Simon s2s
11:20z	G0BSD	144MHz	FM	Dave IO83ph
11:23z	GW4UKU	144MHz	FM	Peter
11:24z	EI9GLB	144MHz	FM	Jim
11:32z	M3TMX/P	144MHz	FM	Jordan s2s

A few more made the log although it went quiet even though Jim EI9GLB had spotted me on Sotawatch...thanks Jim.

 Trig..Arenig Fawr and Moel Llyfnant beyond..SOTA summits galore in the distance

HF 3 band (+1) linked dipole with homebrew 2m dipole on the fishing pole

I quickly moved to 60m with the links already set up and it produced a small number of regular chasers some struggling to hear me some not.

11:35z	M0BKV	5MHz	SSB	Damian
11:36z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:36z	G0ELJ	5MHz	SSB	Dave
11:37z	G8VNW	5MHz	SSB	Nick
11:38z	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil
11:39z	GW6OVD	5MHz	SSB	Mal
11:40z	G7BGA	5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
11:42z	M1MAJ	5MHz	SSB	Martyn

There was a Trig on this summit so as expected I was called by a few WAB (Worked All Britain) members as well but conditions as usual were favouring European stations.   

GW4VPX/p working 40m - linear by my right leg

I had by now plugged in the linear ready for 40m with Barry M0IML coming back instantly to my first call after I had spotted myself . Regular WAB chaser Peter MM3PDM/M made the log with Don G0RQL surprised that he could hear me so well on this band. It was also great to get an s2s with Guido HB9TNF/p on Piz Surlej HB/GR-058...thanks Guido.

11:53z	M0IML	7MHz	SSB	Barry
11:54z	PC2D	7MHz	SSB	Frank
11:55z	MM3PDM/M	7MHz	SSB	Peter
11:56z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
11:56z	EB2CZF	7MHz	SSB	Jose
11:56z	EA2DT	7MHz	SSB	Manuel
11:59z	HB9TNF/P	7MHz	SSB	Guido s2s
12:01z	G0RQL	7MHz	SSB	Don
12:02z	DK7ZH	7MHz	SSB	Manfred
12:04z	2W0DTB	7MHz	SSB	Dave
12:04z	M0MDA	7MHz	SSB	Mick
12:06z	F4VRD	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:07z	DJ1SD	7MHz	SSB	Joachim
12:08z	HB9BQR	7MHz	SSB	Roland
12:08z	ON4CAS	7MHz	SSB	Egbert
12:09z	HB9RDD	7MHz	SSB	Christian
12:10z	2M0KAU/M	7MHz	SSB	Martin

Coffee and sandwiches were now being served so a brief halt was called to the proceedings before moving on to 20m. Finishing our meal I got up and moved towards the entrance of the cairn remarking to Val that some of the stones which made up the wall were not too safe. As  I left the cairn I heard a thud looking around to see that I had dislodged one of them on to the coax for the antennas. The 2m coax was fine but the 20m was well and truly damaged...time to call it a day and as the sun was disappearing behind the clouds and it was getting colder... I ‘pulled the plug’.  

The damaged coax

The packing up was very much under way when the FT270 burst into life having been removed from the home brew dipole and replaced with the normal flexible antenna. It was David GW8NZN/p on Moel y Gamelin GW/NW-042, however,  to add to the confusion Karen 2W0XYL/p called me with another s2s and we all landed on 145.525Mhz. 

s2s with Karen 2W0XYL/p

It was great to hear Karen and Neil who were on Moel Famau  GW/NW-044 and we had a nice chat after I had finished my QSO with David....thanks everybody as it was a wonderful end to the activation..it pays to keep monitoring 2m all the time.

12:38z	GW8NZN/P	144MHz	FM	David s2s
12:44z	2W0XYL/P	144MHz	FM	Karen s2s
12:46z	2W0TDX/P	144MHz	FM	Neil s2s

Thanks to all the chasers and activators for the contacts during the day and to the activators especialy an added health warning  ‘be careful in those cairns’ :)

Down-loaded  this earlier....ARPOC Silver Award .....Gold next but it’ll take some time I think...

73 Allan GW4VPX