GW/MW-008 and GW/MW-007

A testing double activation

GW/MW-008 and GW/MW-007

Drosgol and Banc Llechwedd Mawr

28/02/2016

Val and I arrived at the same time as John MW0XOT and we managed to park the two cars close together by the gate that leads down to Maesnant SN 7750 8796. 

Maesnant to Drosgol GPS track

Our target summit was Drosgol and we hoped we would be on summit before Rod MW0JLA and Viki MW6BWA would make it to the top of Banc Llechwedd Mawr.

Drosgol

We crossed the bridge at SN 7796 8912 and gradually made our way up on to the side of Banc Llechwedd Mawr then across towards Drosgol avoiding the large areas of boggy ground. 

The bridge at SN 7796 8912

Towards Maesnant from the side of Banc Llechwedd mawr

The bridge at SN 7663 8881

Drosgol summit in the distance

A call from Viki saying that they could see us meant that they had arrived a lot earlier than expected so we would be playing ‘catch up’ today. We arrived on summit to a flurry of s2s and with a little help from Aled, Roy and Simon we soon qualified the summit on 2m using the handhelds.

s2s on 2m..we soon qualified the summit

11:20z	MW0WML/P	144MHz	FM	Gerald s2s
11:24z	MW6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	Viki s2s
11:26z	MW6BWA/P	433MHz	FM	Viki s2s
11:29z	MW0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s
11:37z	MW3DLA	144MHz	FM	Aled
11:46z	GW6DGU	144MHz	FM	Roy
11:51z	GW4TJC/M	144MHz	FM	Simon

We eventually set up the HF antenna and retired to the little horseshoe shaped cairn. A few calls on 60m and Brian G8ADD was in the log. We had a short chat and by this time Don was on frequency and with a spot up I was away sharing the first few contacts with John although we had already qualified the summit. 

Nice cairn on Drosgol

It was nice to work so many on the band with many saying that 40m was full of contest stations. We had a little listen on 40m and decided that it was a non-starter and as we had a long walk back to Banc Llechwedd Mawr and Rod and Viki were on their way towards us it was ‘pack away’ time.

11:52z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
11:54z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:55z	G0EVV	5MHz	SSB	David
11:56z	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil
11:57z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
11:57z	G0LGS	5MHz	SSB	Stewart
11:58z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
11:58z	G7BGA	5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
11:59z	GM4WHA	5MHz	SSB	Geoff
11:59z	EI9GLB	5MHz	SSB	Jim
12:00z	G0TDM	5MHz	SSB	John
12:01z	G0HRT	5MHz	SSB	Rob
12:01z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
12:01z	GW6DGU	5MHz	SSB	Roy
12:02z	G4APO	5MHz	SSB	Roland
12:03z	G1BLJ	5MHz	SSB	Steve
12:03z	G8VNW	5MHz	SSB	Nick
12:04z	G4MD	5MHz	SSB	Paul
12:04z	G3RMD	5MHz	SSB	Frank

During our visit to 60m I noticed a PTT problem developing with the Yaesu microphone and as I finished with Frank RMD it stopped working altogether. A quick rummage in the rucksack and my spare microphone was plugged in…it worked…phew. Also as I was packing away I noticed that the Li-Po battery lead had broken which resulted in another rummage for the spare…what next?

Nice views of Nant y Moch res. from Drosgol

Rod and Viki on their way towards us

 As we were coming down to the bridge we met Rod and Viki heading up towards us. We spent a few minutes chatting but time was not in our favour so we bade farewell and made our way across the valley.

 Not much time for chatting

Drosgol to Banc Llechwedd Mawr GPS

I had decided to head towards the house which is North of the bridge at SN 7663 8881 in order to take advantage of the ridge which gives a gentler approach to the summit….sounds easy but not as bad as straight up the side! 

Banc Llechwedd Mawr

We were well into the Activation Zone when I decided that I’d better give Viki a call as they wanted to be heading down and up to MW-001 (Pen Pumlumon Fawr). To my surprise Gerald came back with an s2s call but not only that he then said ‘stand by’ for Simon who was also on the summit with him…thanks both.  Incidentally, with these s2s Gerald got his 1000 points ‘Shack Sloth’ all from his activations and Simon got his 1000 points silver award for S2S…well done both.  Minutes later Rod and Viki were in the log and John and I had qualified the summit.

14:10z	MW0WML/P	144MHz	FM	Gerald s2s
14:12z	GW4TJC/P	144MHz	FM	Simon s2s
14:14z	MW6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	Viki s2s
14:16z	MW0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s
14:17z	MW6BWA/P	433MHz	FM	Viki s2s 70cms

Banc Llechwedd Mawr summit cairn

Getting ready to activate on Banc Llechwedd Mawr

We only set up the HF antenna on the summit and with a few calls and a spot by John we made a total of six shared contacts so thanks to those chasers who made the log and gave us both signal reports.

14:49z	GW4CQZ	5MHz	SSB	Martyn
14:50z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
14:52z	G4AFI	5MHz	SSB	Andrew
14:53z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
14:54z	G4IAR	5MHz	SSB	Dave
14:56z	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil

Final leg of the journey...back to the car at Maesnant

It was getting cold so we made our way off the mountain looking for Rod and Viki as we made the steep descent. We spotted them as they made their way up….two black dots on the side of Pumlumon Fach. 

Looking towards MW-001..can you see them?

It gradually got warmer as we dropped into the valley and just after we had crossed the bridge I had a call from Viki saying that they were aborting their ascent to MW-001 as time was very much against them as after the activation they would be coming off the mountain in the dark. We all met up at Maesnant and had a ‘SOTA party’ of tea and biscuits....

Find of the day..John found this Bike chain rivet removal tool

Get that brew on John..vintage stove

Our routes today

Thanks everybody for an enjoyable day apart from those horrible mountain slopes. :) We walked 11.26km (6.75 miles) today.

My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo), 3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) into a ‘cable tie’ dipole.. Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts and spots

73 Allan GW4VPX and John MW0XOT