A big Thank You and a Happy Christmas to everyone that made my
log this year and for following my exploits on the Blog.
73 Allan & Val
Sunday, 24 December 2017
Thursday, 7 December 2017
GW/SW-014 - Mynydd Carn y cefn
GW/SW-014 - Mynydd Carn y cefn
4/12/2017
Some bands were behaving….
During our activation of Disgwylfa Fawr on Friday Matt had
said that he would be out again on the following Monday in South Wales so I
told him to keep me posted via text over the weekend. The weather forecast looked good for Monday and deteriorating towards the end of the week so
come what may Val and I would be out somewhere..that somewhere was Mynydd Carn
y cefn. The last time I did this one
Barry M0IML and I had to abort the activation due to severe weather conditions….grey
skies and a little drizzle at times today.
My GPS track
Approach on the track from the NE (SO 185093
and park at SO 185093. Follow a rough track until you have to head west for
200m to reach the Trig. Matt was already activating his first summit Allt yr Esgair
GW/SW-023 so I sent him a text to say that we would be on summit shortly and by
the time we reached the trig he was calling me for an s2s and eager to be
heading to his next activation.
Checking the links
I
quickly set up the HF antenna and the 2m/70cms cable-tie dipole but before I had
settled down I picked up two s2s in rapid succession. Thanks to David XRT/p on
G/SP-004 Shining Tor and John TQE/p on GW/NW-034
Cyrniau Nod.
|
10:48z
|
GW8XYJ/P
|
144MHz
|
FM
|
Matt s2s
|
|
11:04z
|
M0XRT/P
|
144MHz
|
FM
|
David s2s
|
|
11:06z
|
GW4TQE/P
|
144MHz
|
FM
|
John s2s
|
Too busy to show my face
It had started to drizzle so I pulled the bothy bag over my
head and answered Adrian AZS/p on GW/NW-046 Rhialgwm for another s2s..thanks
Adrian. I announced I was dropping down
the band where Phil OBK picked me up and soon had a spot in place for me..thanks
Phil. A steady run of chasers followed with good
signals all round…thanks everyone. I
have designed and made a cover for my KX2 and was putting it to good use in the
light rain that was now coming down.
KX2 cover..work in progress but nearly there
|
11:17z
|
GW4AZS/P
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Adrian s2s
|
|
11:20z
|
G4OBK
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Phil
|
|
11:21z
|
G0RQL
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Don
|
|
11:22z
|
G8VNW
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Nick
|
|
11:22z
|
G4WSB
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Bill
|
|
11:23z
|
G0FEX
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Ken
|
|
11:23z
|
G4IAR
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Dave
|
|
11:24z
|
GW0PLP
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Don
|
|
11:24z
|
PA0SKP
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Sake
|
|
11:24z
|
G0VWP
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Terry
|
|
11:28z
|
GW7MMG
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Philip
|
|
11:28z
|
MI0RTY
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Martin
|
|
11:32z
|
G6NHW/P
|
5MHz
|
SSB
|
Peter
|
Val was by now looking for a Geocache and as I changed the
links for 40m I saw her disappearing in the distance, GPS in hand. 40m was
not behaving but I did pick up an s2s
with Rod JLA/p who was on GW/SW-013 Tor y Foel and saying that Viki BWA would
be on shortly.
|
11:46z
|
F6GWB
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Gerard
|
|
11:46z
|
HB9DHA
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Ray
|
|
11:47z
|
PA7ZEE
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Geert
|
|
11:48z
|
MW0JLA/P
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Rod s2s
|
|
11:50z
|
DL8DXL
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Fred
|
|
11:51z
|
EA2DT
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Manuel
|
|
11:52z
|
PC9DB
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Mark
|
|
11:52z
|
G0VWP
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Terry
|
|
11:53z
|
EA2CKX
|
7MHz
|
SSB
|
Pedro
|
I could hear David EVV/p calling from Carnedd Llywelyn
GW/NW-002 and saying that it was very cold on top so I quickly grabbed the s2s
for the log…thanks David. An s2s with
Viki on 2m and 70cms followed …thanks Viki.
|
12:05z
|
GW0EVV/P
|
144MHz
|
FM
|
David s2s
|
|
12:18z
|
MW6BWA/P
|
144MHz
|
FM
|
Viki s2s
|
|
12:20z
|
GW1BXX
|
144MHz
|
FM
|
Adrian
|
|
12:21z
|
MW6BWA/P
|
433MHz
|
FM
|
Viki s2s diff band
|
I changed the links to 20m and got back in the bothy bag and
it was then that RRT informed me that Michael G0HIO/p was calling on 10.118 CW from G/WB-004
Titterstone Clee Hill. He was a strong signal on my 20m dipole so I dropped
down slightly and hit the tune button on the KX2..the tuning was instantaneous and
I was very soon completing a CW s2s with him…thank you Mike.
|
12:28z
|
G0HIO/P
|
10MHz
|
CW
|
Michael s2s
|
Time for coffee I think?
Val was back so we had a cup of coffee and then I sent a spot via RRT for 14.285Mhz. As soon
as the spot hit Sotawatch George N1GB was calling me from Vermont, USA, 5/6 5/7 reports ..thanks George. I kept calling but there was no response until
George came back again informing me that Rod was also calling on the band..we
had a quick chat and that was it for 20m..not a single EU station and no other
DX…strange conditions.
|
12:48z
|
N1GB
|
14MHz
|
SSB
|
George, Vermont, USA
|
I could hear Matt chatting to Viki on 70cms so I gave them a
call to collect my second s2s with Matt who was now on GW/SW-020 Craig
Syfyrddin….thanks Matt. I should have
tried 80m sooner but the s2s excitement early on in the activation had upset my
flow through the bands.
Coils for 80m with Val still searching in the distance!!!
Anyway, I
attached the 80m coils catching a glimse of Val who had gone back to searching
for the elusive Geocache. I had a few nice contacts with SOTA and WAB regulars...80m was still working but I should have visited it earlier in the activation…thanks
everybody.
|
12:55z
|
GW8XYJ/P
|
433MHz
|
FM
|
Matt s2s
|
|
13:10z
|
G0FEX
|
3.5MHz
|
SSB
|
Ken
|
|
13:11z
|
G4IAR
|
3.5MHz
|
SSB
|
Dave
|
|
13:12z
|
G0RQL
|
3.5MHz
|
SSB
|
Don
|
|
13:12z
|
M3FEH
|
3.5MHz
|
SSB
|
Karl
|
Sunshine in the distance...Sugar Loaf GW/SW-011 on the right..we were heading down
A really good day on the radio with a couple of key moments.
Val never did find the cache and looking
at the Geocache website when we got home there were many many DNF (Did Not
Find) for this one…back next year then…..
Activation set up
(HF)
Elecraft KX2 (10 watts) and 4Ah LiPo
Antenna - 3 band link dipole
(60/40/20 (+15m extensions +80m loading coils)
(VHF)
Yaesu FT270 (5watts) into a ‘cable tie’
dipole
Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.
Thanks everyone for
the contacts
73 Allan GW4VPX
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