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