Allt yr Esgair GW/SW-023

Second activation of the day

Allt yr Esgair GW/SW-023

25/10/2015

After leaving ‘The Begwns’ I received a text from Phil MW0PJJ/p saying that he along with Mal GW6OVD/p  and Ian 2W0IWM/p were about to start their way up to GW/SW-030 Mynydd Machen.....Val and I were still 10 miles from our summit and hoping that they would be still around when we reached ours :)  Even though it’s only a one pointer it’s still a steep climb up to the summit from the parking spot at SO1229 2565 by the Community Hall...beware of mountain bikes coming down the narrow lane with it’s high sided banks.

The path towards the summit from the parking spot

Beware of Mountain bikes

Top in sight

With the contest in full swing on the other bands 60m was once again the chosen frequency with fingers crossed that our s2s would work out.

14:24z	M0BKV	5MHz	SSB	Damian
14:25z	EI3TDD	5MHz	SSB
14:26z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
14:26z	MW0PJJ/P	5MHz	SSB	Phil s2s
14:27z	GW6OVD/P	5MHz	SSB	Mal s2s
14:28z	G0TDM	5MHz	SSB	John
14:29z	G4FGJ	5MHz	SSB	Gordon
14:30z	MW0IML/P	5MHz	SSB	Barry s2s
14:31z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
14:32z	EI3FEB	5MHz	SSB	Andrew
14:32z	M1MAJ	5MHz	SSB	Martyn
14:33z	M0VCM	5MHz	SSB	John
14:33z	G1JCW	5MHz	SSB	Tony
14:35z	2W0IWM/P	144MHz	FM	Ian s2s

I manged to self-spot  and very soon had a good run of chasers including s2s with Phil, Mal and Barry. Now Ian 2W0IWM/p was unable to use 60m to get the s2s so I quickly arranged to QSY to 2m and Ian was soon in the log...great stuff.

 GW4VPX on HF

All set up for HF and VHF

Pen y Fan distant

Towards Tor y Foel

I had a quick listen on the other bands but there was heavy QRM so I decided to pull the plug, dismantle the station and look for the Geocache on our way down...we found it and made our way back down to the car for a coffee. 

Heading back from the Geocache

Heading back down - Llangorse Lake in the distance

Back at the car

Back at the car I had a text from Phil saying they were on their second summit and calling me on 2m...nothing heard even when mobile later...sorry guys.  It was nice to meet up with Barry again and we spent  a pleasant time talking SOTA and enjoying our evening meal.

My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  UK-MX 50M linear (for 817) and 12V 9.2 Ah Lithium Ion battery,  3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (+15m+80m extensions),  (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) into a ‘cable tie’ dipole.. Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts

73 Allan GW4VPX

The Begwns GW/MW-025

Another easy summit

The Begwns GW/MW-025

25/10/2015

This is truly another easy summit with a gentle walk from the parking spot at SO16204420. 

 From the parking spot

Barry was out on another two today so I picked two nearby summits to coincide with his activations and the intention was to meet up with him later for an evening meal in Crickhowell. As Black Mountain GW/SW-041 is visible from The Begwns we kept in touch on 2m and I picked up the Trig at Hay Bluff (TP5402) as he walked past it on his way to the summit. 

GW4VPX/p at TP6353 The Begwns

For 60m I set up the linear on the 40m setting and was very happy with the results...according to reports it  seems to boost my signal and audio just enough  to get through to those with high noise levels as opposed to the straight 5 watts from the FT817...still work in progress :)

10:51z	MW0IML/P	5MHz	SSB	Barry s2s
10:56z	G1ZGZ	5MHz	SSB	Rick
10:56z	GW2HFR	5MHz	SSB	Jonathan
11:02z	G4PLX	5MHz	SSB	Anthony
11:06z	G4PEK	5MHz	SSB	Les
11:08z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
11:08z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
11:09z	M0BKV	5MHz	SSB	Damian
11:10z	G4BDY	5MHz	SSB	Dave
11:10z	G0TDM	5MHz	SSB	John
11:10z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
11:11z	G4APO	5MHz	SSB	Roland
11:11z	GM4COX	5MHz	SSB	Jack
11:25z	M0JLA/P	5MHz	SSB	Rod s2s

With Barry first in the log for an s2s followed by a spot by Jonathan (thanks J) for both of us I had a very good run of regular chasers including quite a few WAB chasers who wanted the The Begwns Trig (TP6353).  It was really nice to get an s2s with Rod M0JLA/p up in the Lake District and with Barry also getting in on the act I handed him the frequency. With a contest in full swing on the other bands I decided on a quick visit to 2m.  

 Operating outside the Roundabout on the The Begwns

Despite calling on 2m there were no takers although later I answered a CQ call from David M6HDY calling from near Birmingham and had a nice QSO with him..thanks  David.  As we had another summit lined up I did however venture on to 80m with Ken and Roland coming back to my calls. Roland was running 5 watts but perfectly readable...thanks both.

11:32z	M6HDY	144MHz	FM	David
11:47z	G0FEX	3.5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:49z	G4APO	3.5MHz	SSB	Roland

A call from Barry on 2m to say that he had handed over the frequency to Rod and that he was packing up prompted Val and I to do the same...Allt yr Esgair was our next summit....

 

My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  UK-MX 50M linear (for 817) and 12V 9.2 Ah Lithium Ion battery,  3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (+15m+80m extensions),  (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) into a ‘cable tie’ dipole.. Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts

73 Allan GW4VPX