GW/MW-038 Disgwylfa Fawr

At least it wasn’t raining

GW/MW-038 Disgwylfa Fawr

22/01/2016

As promised the overnight storm moved to the East leaving a strong wind, low cloud but thankfully no rain on our way up to the summit.

Nearing the top...pathetic cairn on this one

I did have to put a back guy on the top of the pole as the wind was very strong even though we had dropped down from the exposed summit…plenty of hiding places on this one :)  

Blowing in the wind

Without a phone signal I called out on 5.398.5 and almost immediately Mal GW6OVD answered with a 5/9 followed by Don G0RQL with a promise of a spot…thanks Don. Within a couple of minutes I had qualified the summit and very happy to get the additional 3 winter bonus points. It was a very orderly pile-up that followed with regular chasers/activators calling in for the summit….thanks everyone.

11:53z	GW6OVD	5MHz	SSB	Mal
11:54z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:55z	G3NIC	5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:56z	G0TDM	5MHz	SSB	John
11:57z	M0JLA	5MHz	SSB	Rod
11:58z	G4APO	5MHz	SSB
11:59z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
11:59z	G4FGJ	5MHz	SSB	Gordon
11:59z	G0TRB	5MHz	SSB	Roger
12:00z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
12:00z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
12:01z	GI0HWO	5MHz	SSB	John
12:02z	G0AKU	5MHz	SSB	Rob
12:04z	G7BGA	5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
12:05z	G4ISJ	5MHz	SSB	Peter

I thought about putting on my headphones for  40m as the bothy bag was rather noisy as it was battered by the wind. I decided not to and gave a call on a quiet 7.118…G6TUH came back with a low 4/4 but nevertheless we made the contact and with a promise of a spot I called once again with Don G0RQL replying with a 5/9..band was in good shape and once again an orderly pile-up with no need for the ‘phones as the majority of stations were a genuine 5/9 on the summit. Don had told me that John MW0XOT/p was on 60m and calling from GW/MW-005 Llan Ddu Fawr but by now I had a steady stream of chasers so I couldn’t really leave my frequency. However, all was not lost as John quickly finished on 60m and popped up to get me so thanks John and to Don for the ‘heads up’. Only one more contact after John and despite quite a few ‘last calls’ I decided to ‘pull the plug’ and head back to the car for the customary coffee and sandwiches.

Bothy bag ready for the rain which never arrived :)

12:10z	G0TRB	7MHz	SSB	Roger
12:10z	G0RQL	7MHz	SSB	Don
12:10z	G6TUH	7MHz	SSB	Mike
12:11z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
12:12z	2E0SCS	7MHz	SSB	Stephen
12:12z	G3RDQ	7MHz	SSB	David
12:13z	OZ7JZ	7MHz	SSB	Jan
12:14z	G4WSB	7MHz	SSB	Bill
12:14z	MK0BKV	7MHz	SSB	Damian
12:14z	M3FEH	7MHz	SSB	Karl
12:15z	DL2EF	7MHz	SSB	Franz Josef
12:15z	G0VWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
12:15z	DK7ZM	7MHz	SSB	Heinz
12:16z	MW0XOT/P	7MHz	SSB	John s2s
12:16z	ON4TA	7MHz	SSB	Filip
12:18z	G6TEL	7MHz	SSB	Steve

Banc Llechwedd Mawr in the mist..on the 'to do list'

I had expected that there would be quite a bit of snow still on the ground but there was no trace of it so it looks as if we might hit a few of the higher summits next week if weather conditions remain the same….plenty on the winter bonus list :)

My activation set up today:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  3 band link dipole (60/40/20),  (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole. Thanks to Val for most of the pics today.

Thanks everyone for the contacts and spots

73 Allan GW4VPX