Wednesday 3 February 2016

GW/SW-013 Tor y Foel

Strong winds but the sun was shining

GW/SW-013 Tor y Foel

02/02/2016

The weather forecast had promised winds between 40 and 50mph with the occasional shower of sleet/rain. With quite a few other activators braving the elements we decided that we would try Tor y Foel as I knew there were a few nice holes we could shelter in. 
My GPS track
On our way
Sugar Loaf in the distance
As we were reaching the summit I could already hear Viki on GW/SW-014 Mynydd Carn y Cefn in QSO with Glyn on GW/SW-001 Pen y Fan so an s2s call was made using the handheld and very soon they were in the log including Rod who was about to set up his HF antenna…thanks everybody.
10:36z
GW4CFS/P
144MHz
FM
Glyn s2s
10:39z
MW6BWA/P
144MHz
FM
Viki s2s
10:41z
MW0JLA/P
144MHz
FM
Rod s2s
Viki made a comment that Tor y Foel was one of the coldest summits that she has activated from. Yes, it was very windy with a noticeable chill factor and I also had to leave a few sections in the pole to keep a low profile. 
Mal had sent me a text asking which band I would be on first so I replied with 5.398.5Mhz. I gave a call and David G0EVV was first in with a promise of a spot quickly followed by Mal who had also put up a spot for me…thanks both. Now they both had trouble with my signal and with a few VSWR bars showing on the FT817 I was a little bit concerned as the ends of the dipole were nearly touching the ground. Next in was John TDM with an excellent signal report followed by Don RQL with 5/9 each way so it was not all doom and gloom and although the majority were giving me 5/5 their signals were 5/9 on the summit…thanks everyone.
11:00z
G0EVV
5MHz
SSB
David
11:02z
GW6OVD
5MHz
SSB
Mal
11:03z
G0TDM
5MHz
SSB
John
11:05z
G3RMD
5MHz
SSB
Frank
11:06z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:07z
G0ELJ
5MHz
SSB
David
11:07z
G4WSB
5MHz
SSB
Bill
11:08z
G1BLJ
5MHz
SSB
Steve
11:09z
GW6DGU
5MHz
SSB
Roy
11:09z
MW0JLA/P
5MHz
SSB
Rod s2s
Rod could not resist an s2s with me on this one and I finished my session with an announcement that I was moving to 40m. Prior to  my visit to 60m I had taken off my right hand glove which had left my fingers quite numb.…that cold wind was deceptive.  I could hear Viki saying that she was going to 70cms so I plugged in the 2m/70cms cable-tie dipole  into the FT817 to give her the s2s…job done.
11:11z
MW6BWA/P
433MHz
FM
Viki s2s 70cms
Shelter from the wind
Quick change of links and a call on 7.118 brought Mike G6TUH to the frequency saying that he had already spotted me…thanks Mike. I had a nice run of regulars chasers and apart from one EU station everybody was a solid 5/9 on the summit.
11:16z
G6TUH
7MHz
SSB
Mike
11:18z
G0TRB
7MHz
SSB
Roger
11:20z
2E0SCS
7MHz
SSB
Stephen
11:21z
ON5SWA
7MHz
SSB
Francois
11:21z
G4WHA/A
7MHz
SSB
Geoff
11:21z
G0TDM
7MHz
SSB
John
11:21z
M3FEH
7MHz
SSB
Karl
11:22z
DJ5AV
7MHz
SSB
Mike
11:23z
DL6FBK
7MHz
SSB

11:24z
EA2CKX
7MHz
SSB
Pedro
11:24z
G4WSB
7MHz
SSB
Bill genuine 5/9 :)
11:25z
SP8RHP
7MHz
SSB
Rob
11:26z
ON4TA
7MHz
SSB
Filip
11:26z
HB9MKV
7MHz
SSB
Rudi
11:26z
MW0BWS
7MHz
SSB
Bill
11:28z
G0RQL
7MHz
SSB
Don
11:29z
M0TVU
7MHz
SSB
Paul
11:29z
M0WBG
7MHz
SSB
Neil
11:30z
G4OOE
7MHz
SSB
Nick
11:31z
2E0NON
7MHz
SSB
Geoff
Looking towards Waun Rydd GW/SW-004
...on the 'to do list'
Below us was a Geocache so after a quick ‘pack away’ we dropped down the North side of the summit and found it, signed it and made our way down to the car.
Heading away from the Geocache
Now I had a plan….our coffee and sandwiches could be consumed at the Storey Arms car park so that I could give Glyn GW4CFS/p a chaser contact whilst he was on Fan Fawr GW/SW-005…….the radio contact part failed but we were just in time to meet him coming off the mountain (his second summit of the Pen y Fan GW/SW-001 double activation). 
Man on a mission..Glyn GW4CFS/p with Fan Fawr in the distance
GW4CFS/p and GW4VPX at Storey Arms
Nice to meet up with you Glyn and looking forward to hearing you once again on the summits of South Wales.

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 some of the pics today.

Thanks everyone for the s2s, contacts and spots

73 Allan GW4VPX

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