G/WB-003 and others..

G/WB-003 and others...

10/03/2017 to the 12/03/2017

Welsh Borders and another…rather a long report this one….

The weather was looking good for the next couple of days so Val and I decided to head to Ludlow for a couple of days to hit a few of the 2 pointers on the Welsh Borders and pick up a few Winter Bonus points before the cut off date.   It would also be a good chance to give my Elecraft KX2 its first outing.

10/03/2017 (Friday) Stiperstones  G/WB-003

Nearing the top

I decided to run the FT817 (5 watts) on this one as it was spitting with rain and I was still apprehensive about exposing the KX2 to rainy conditions.  I was straight in with two s2s from Cracoe Fell G/NP-032 on both 60m and 2m…thanks Martyn and Caroline.  60m was working well and my visit to 80m produced some good signal reports.  I was pleased with s2s points from both Jonathan (Great Rhos) and James ( Wendover Woods).

13:49z	M1MAJ/P	5MHz	SSB	Martyn s2s
13:52z	M3ZCB/P	144MHz	FM	Caroline s2s
13:53z	EI3GYB	5MHz	SSB	Michael
13:54z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken
13:59z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
14:00z	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil
14:01z	M0JLA	5MHz	SSB	Rod
14:03z	GW2HFR	5MHz	SSB	Jonathan s2s
14:04z	G6TUH	5MHz	SSB	Mike
14:05z	EI9GLB	5MHz	SSB	Jim
14:05z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	terry
14:06z	G4AFI	5MHz	SSB	Andrew
14:07z	M0JCQ/P	5MHz	SSB	James s2s
14:07z	G8VNW	5MHz	SSB	Nick
14:08z	G3RMD	5MHz	SSB	Frank
14:09z	G4IAR	5MHz	SSB	Dave
14:10z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
14:10z	G0GWY	5MHz	SSB	Geoff
14:11z	G4FGJ	5MHz	SSB	Gordon
14:17z	GW2HFR/P	3.5MHz	SSB	Jonathan s2s diff band
14:27z	G0VWP	3.5MHz	SSB	Terry
14:27z	G0GWY	3.5MHz	SSB	Geoff
14:28z	M0BKV	3.5MHz	SSB	Damian
14:28z	G0RQL	3.5MHz	SSB	Don
14:29z	G4IAR	3.5MHz	SSB	Dave
14:37z	M0JCQ/P	5MHz	SSB	James s2s
14:40z	G4WSB/P	144MHz	FM	Bill
14:45z	M0NTC	144MHz	FM	Gez
14:47z	G4IZZ	144MHz	FM	Mike
14:51z	G8ALS	144MHz	FM	Mike
14:54z	2E0MDJ	144MHz	FM	Matt

Trigpoint above

We had arranged to meet our friend Matt G8XYJ for an evening meal in Ludlow and as he said he would pick us up from the B&B later in the afternoon we made our way down after an enjoyable activation of Stiperstones. 

Ludlow Castle on our conducted tour with Matt

  

Matt G8XYJ and our venue for the evening

After an enjoyable evening with Matt we arranged to meet at the car park below Titterstone Clee Hil at 9:30 the following morning.

11/03/2017 (Saturday) Titterstone Clee Hill G/WB-004

Misty, damp and windy are words to describe the morning as we made our way up to the summit so once again I decided against using the KX2. 

Misty and damp...Val and Matt heading to the summit

G4VPX/p

Matt on 2m ssb

G8XYJ..2m ssb

Matt had opted for 2m ssb and made 10 contacts and I had a good run on 60m…sadly no s2s although Matt did manage to get Tom M1EYP as an s2s..ah well.

10:06z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
10:06z	G3TPW	5MHz	SSB	Steve
10:08z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
10:09z	G1BLJ	5MHz	SSB	Steve
10:10z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
10:11z	MW0XOT	5MHz	SSB	John
10:12z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken
10:13z	G8VNW	5MHz	SSB	Nick
10:14z	G4IPB	5MHz	SSB	Paul
10:15z	G3SED	5MHz	SSB	Mike
10:20z	EI3GYB	5MHz	SSB	Michael
10:21z	G3TLD	5MHz	SSB	Mike

With Matt having to go elsewhere for the afternoon we parted company and made our way towards Brown Clee Hill…would this be the first outing for the KX2?

Brown Clee Hill G/WB-002

Decision made….I would carry both rigs to the summit. 

Communications tower shrouded in mist on Brown Clee Hill

G4VPX/p setting up

On reaching the summit and setting up at my usual spot I fired up the KX2 on 60m with excellent results.  Having not used it before on air I was apprehensive whether or not the settings were correct in respect o Mic Gain etc..…good reports all round from some KX2 owners including an s2s with Jonathan on his KX3 from GW/NW-047 Mwdwl-eithin…thanks Jonathan. Thanks to Nick G8VNW who spotted that somehow I was alerted for my previous summit…he spotted the correct summit and Brian G8ADD altered my initial spot..I’ve had this problem before when spotting with RRT?

Out of the wind with the KX2

12:45z	G1BLJ	5MHz	SSB	Steve
12:46z	G8VNW	5MHz	SSB	Nick
12:47z	GW2HFR/P	5MHz	SSB	Jonathan s2s
12:48z	EI9GLB	5MHz	SSB	Jim
12:49z	G3RDQ	5MHz	SSB	David
12:49z	G4IAR	5MHz	SSB	Dave
12:50z	M0JLA	5MHz	SSB	Rod
12:51z	G4AFI	5MHz	SSB	Andrew
12:52z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
12:53z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken
12:53z	G3RMD	5MHz	SSB	Frank
12:55z	G4VME	5MHz	SSB	Richard
13:08z	G0RQL	3.5MHz	SSB	Don
13:11z	G0FEX	3.5MHz	SSB	Ken

Val and I left the summit and headed for Long Mynd Pole Bank…I had made the decision to only take the KX2  for this one……..

Long Mynd Pole Bank G/WB-005

I set up close to the Trigpoint but out of the way of the walkers and Mountain Bikers…this is a very busy summit as it is part of the Shropshire Way so I left Val to answer the questions that came flooding in :)

15:24z	G0GWY	5MHz	SSB	Geoff
15:25z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken
15:26z	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil
15:27z	EI9GLB	5MHz	SSB	Jim
15:28z	G4FGJ	5MHz	SSB	Gordon
15:29z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
15:29z	G4AFI	5MHz	SSB	Andrew
15:30z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
15:32z	G4IAR	5MHz	SSB	Dave
15:33z	G1BLJ	5MHz	SSB	Steve
15:34z	M0WPS	5MHz	SSB	Wayne

It was spitting with rain so the activation was short and sweet and I did not venture on to any other bands as I also had a feeling that Rick G0LEP/p was on his way to this summit.  Another summit in the bag for the KX2…I was feeling more confident with it now…still on a learning curve.  My assumption was correct as on the way down we met Rick making his way to the summit..we had a short chat and I promised to give him a call as soon as I got back to the car to give him a helping hand with his activation. Back to Ludlow to the B&B and an evening meal in The Squirrel…we were heading home in the morning….

Coming down the infamous Burway Hill...Val took this out of the car window...

12/03/2017 (Sunday) The Begwns GW/MW-025

On our way home I had a contact with Glyn GW4CFS/p who was on Pen y Fan GW/SW-001. Thinking that he might do Fan Fawr GW/SW-005 across the road from PyF Val and I thought we might activate The Begwns which was only a few miles off our intended route and hope for an s2s with him.

The trig and me......

11:41z	M0LEP/P	5MHz	SSB	Rick s2s
11:44z	G4AZS	5MHz	SSB	Adrian
11:46z	MI1AYB	5MHz	SSB	Paul
11:46z	G4IAR	5MHz	SSB	Dave
11:47z	G1BLJ	5MHz	SSB	Steve
11:47z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:48z	MW0XOT	5MHz	SSB	John
11:49z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
11:51z	G0GWY	5MHz	SSB	Geoff
11:51z	G3RMD	5MHz	SSB	Frank
11:52z	G4ZRP	5MHz	SSB	Brian
11:53z	EI3GYB	5MHz	SSB	Michael
11:54z	EI9GLB	5MHz	SSB	Jim
11:54z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:55z	EI8DJ	5MHz	SSB	Don
12:46z	GW7HEM/P	144MHz	FM	Mike s2s

My first contact and s2s was with Rick on Brown Clee Hill and after a short chat I found another frequency and had a nice run of chasers.  It started to rain so the KX2 went further in to the dry bag and rucksack to complete the activation. 

On the The Begwns..starting to rain....

I soon packed everything away happy with the performance of the KX2 and my ability to keep it dry…it’s not waterproof!!   I must say that my back is going to be very happy on those long treks to the high pointers as this little rig is a real light-weight especially combined with my 330gms 4Ah LiPo battery. Never did hear from Glyn but as we waited and listened on 2m in the pouring rain I was surprised by an s2s contact with Mike GW7HEM/p on Waun Fach …thanks Mike.

My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) + Elecraft KX2 (10 watts). Battery 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