Thursday 29 October 2015

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