Beacon Hill GW/MW-009

Before yet another storm

Beacon Hill GW/MW-009

23/12/2015

Another window of opportunity opened up just before the approach of Storm Eva so we headed for Llandrindod Wells and Beacon Hill which lies well to the NE of the town.  Rhodri was with us today as he was home for Christmas and looking forward to a day on the hills. 

My GPS track

The footpath and our car parked in the distance

On our way in the sunshine

Wet underfoot...track to Beacon Hill to the left

This is a nice summit as the walk up is gradual although it’s still a good 2.73km to the summit taking in part of ‘Glyndwr’s Way’.

Left for Beacon Hill

Track to the trig

Now over the last week or so I have been involved with teaching the Amateur Radio- Foundation Exam to some of our club members which meant using the FT817 and battery. After setting up the antenna I noticed that a few of my usual setting had been altered and that the charge indicator on the 4Ah LIPo was not what it should be...had I charged it after the weekend?

Bothy bag deployed....priority... then HF antenna :)

 A few calls on 60m brought no reponse and RRT was not behaving from my seated position. I made a decision to plug in the linear and call into the WAB net on 40m as I knew they were expecting me to ‘pop up’ around 12:00hrs. An immediate response from ‘net controller’ Phil G7AFM and I soon qualified the summit and Trig (TP1133) with my dodgy batteries…thanks everyone. 

Working the WAB net

Shortly after Val told me that John G1STQ/p had popped up on RRT and was calling on 2m from G/WB-005 Long Mynd-Pole Bank ....he was soon in the log and sounding very happy as I was his first contact …..he was beginning to wonder if his rig was working…..thanks John.  

Cosy in the bothy bag

Sending Val out with my phone with RRT set up for her I started calling out and very soon I had a really good ‘pile-up’ as I had popped up 4 times in succession on the Spots…sorry… :)

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
12:05z	G7AFM	7MHz	SSB	Phil
12:06z	G4DUE	7MHz	SSB	Adrian
12:06z	G0GWY	7MHz	SSB	Geoff
12:06z	G0BFG	7MHz	SSB
12:06z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
12:07z	MI1AIB	7MHz	SSB	Paul
12:07z	G3PRI	7MHz	SSB	Dave
12:08z	MM3PDM/M	7MHz	SSB	Peter
12:08z	G0FVH	7MHz	SSB	David
12:09z	G0NEV	7MHz	SSB	Michael
12:09z	G0IPE	7MHz	SSB	Peter
12:09z	GI0AZB	7MHz	SSB	Ian
12:13z	G1STQ/P	144MHz	FM	John s2s
12:21z	G4TSQ	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:21z	2E0MBT	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:23z	GOVWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
12:23z	G4WSB	7MHz	SSB	Bill
12:24z	G0TDM	7MHz	SSB	John
12:24z	M0TLX	7MHz	SSB	David
12:25z	G6LKB	7MHz	SSB	David
12:25z	G4WHA/A	7MHz	SSB	Geoff
12:25z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
12:26z	G7BGA	7MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
12:27z	G4AFI	7MHz	SSB	Andrew
12:28z	M3FEH	7MHz	SSB	Karl
12:28z	M6RUG	7MHz	SSB	Dave
12:28z	2E0SCS	7MHz	SSB	Stephen
12:29z	EA2DT	7MHz	SSB	Manuel
12:30z	GW0IRT	7MHz	SSB	Phil
12:30z	G0GRI	7MHz	SSB	Ian
12:32z	M6LXG/P	7MHz	SSB	Tim
12:34z	M6BHQ	7MHz	SSB	Lee
12:35z	2E0GBK	7MHz	SSB	Keith
12:36z	DK7ZH	7MHz	SSB	Manfred
12:47z	G6OVD/P	144MHz	FM	Mal s2s

It was cold on top and we had quite a few rain/hail showers reminding us that it was winter.  I decided to pack away leaving the handheld on 145.500 mindful that Mal G6OVD/p was due on G/WB-002 Brown Clee Hill.  Just before I switched off the FT817 I noticed that I was running on the lowest power output..doh..another button that had been depressed without my knowledge....

s2s with Mal

With HF packed away and just before the bothy bag was tucked in the rucksack up pops Mal on the FT270 with my second s2s of the day..thanks Mal.

 GW4VPX/p packing up in the distance

It was nice to see the sun now and again

Heading back down the track

Although we had a few wintry showers during the activation it remained dry on our way down but not underfoot.....looking forward to the next one.....maybe before the New Year.

My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (0.5 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) Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts and a very 

73 Allan GW4VPX