GW/SW-026 Bryn Arw & GW/SW-020 Craig Syfyrddin

GW/SW-026 Bryn Arw & GW/SW-020 Craig Syfyrddin

25/08/2017

On a mission

We were on a mission today and that was to catch Gerald DL/M0WML/P on two 10 point summits over in Germany.  Bryn Arw was our first summit but we were delayed by a diversion in Abergavenny which put pressure on arriving on summit in time to catch Gerald.  He had already sent me a text to say he was now walking to the summit and gave me his ETA….panic.

 

GW/SW-026 Bryn Arw

We parked at the Nature Reserve car park (room for 4 cars) at SO 293211 then made our way initially on the boardwalk  towards the summit. It’s not a steep walk  but when you are in hurry….. :) 

On the boardwalk

Late...panic setting in..where is the summit?......great fun.

Quick set up..lots of bracken on this one so first clear spot in AZ and I'm ready

Working the pile-up with Sugar Loaf GW/SW-011 in the background

Gerald was already into his activation when I finally got everything up and running….he was soon in the log..thanks G.  Bill G4WSB had told me a few days ago that he was crossing the Channel so I was delighted to get another s2s in the log from ON land…thanks Bill.  I dropped down the band and sent a spot then all hell broke loose…40m was working today :)

10:22z	DL/M0WML/P	7MHz	SSB	Gerald s2s
10:27z	ON/G4WSB/P	7MHz	SSB	Bill s2s
10:31z	M6HQD	7MHz	SSB	John
10:32z	G0RQL	7MHz	SSB	Don
10:33z	M0JLA	7MHz	SSB	Rod
10:35z	G0FEX	7MHz	SSB	Ken
10:35z	GW3OAJ	7MHz	SSB	Cess
10:37z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
10:37z	G0JNJ	7MHz	SSB	Alan
10:38z	M0VMS/P	7MHz	SSB	Martin
10:39z	EI9GLB	7MHz	SSB	Jim
10:40z	SQ9PPW/P	7MHz	SSB	Adam s2s
10:41z	OE5YYN/P	7MHz	SSB	Sylvia s2s
10:42z	HB9MKV	7MHz	SSB	Rudi
10:42z	OE5AUL/P	7MHz	SSB	Peter s2s
10:43z	M6GAD	7MHz	SSB	Gary
10:43z	G1BLJ	7MHz	SSB	Steve
10:43z	GW7MMG	7MHz	SSB	Philip
10:44z	GW4DWN	7MHz	SSB	Huw
10:45z	HB9DHA	7MHz	SSB	Reinhard
10:45z	EI7KG	7MHz	SSB	John
10:46z	G7LMF	7MHz	SSB	Tony?
10:47z	MM0XPZ	7MHz	SSB	Steve
10:47z	DJ9BX	7MHz	SSB	Michael
10:47z	PE1PIC	7MHz	SSB	KeesJan
10:48z	GB2CPM	7MHz	SSB	Pete
10:49z	G8FMX	7MHz	SSB	David
10:50z	G4PDF	7MHz	SSB	Bob
10:50z	M6COJ	7MHz	SSB	Glyn
10:52z	M0ICR	7MHz	SSB	Carl
10:54z	M0KZC/P	7MHz	SSB	Martin
10:55z	2M0CDO	7MHz	SSB	Danny
10:56z	G4TCX	7MHz	SSB	David
10:57z	M6VWX	7MHz	SSB	Graham
10:58z	GW1CSU	7MHz	SSB	Bob
10:59z	ON7DQ	7MHz	SSB	Luc
11:00z	ON4CB	7MHz	SSB	Kurt
11:01z	EA2DT	7MHz	SSB	Manuel
11:02z	G0HKP	7MHz	SSB	Mike
11:03z	F5LMK	7MHz	SSB	Schmidt
11:04z	M0HRT	7MHz	SSB	Rob
11:12z	G4WHA/A	5MHz	SSB	Geoff
11:13z	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
11:14z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick

I picked up another few s2s with calls from Adam, Sylvia and Peter..thanks everybody.  I finished the activation by dropping down to 60m as I knew I’d missed one or two faithful chasers…got them :)

Time had passed by so quickly and I could see that we were running out of time for our next summit. Quick pack up and we were heading down hill…fantastic first activation.

Let's go.....Craig Syfyrddin awaits

GW/SW-020 Craig Syfyrddin

We parked at SO 411212, not by the road but in the field. The farmer was bringing in the silage and there is only room for one car at this point and that point would have meant me obstructing the gate.  Luckily he came along just as we were arriving so I asked if I could park in the field…no problem.  The OS map shows the PROW to be on the tarmac road up to the bungalow …you have to follow the track in the field as this leads you to a stile at the top of the field..turn left at the stile …head for the next gate then follow the fence to the summit with it’s Trig and small Comms tower ( no breakthrough problems).

Heading up towards the stile

Quick set up with 2m dipole as well.

Gerald was once again well into his activation but nevertheless we made the contact..nice when a plan comes together :)   

Self spot away...I hope...

40m had changed completely from what it was in the morning but I did have a mini-pileup with a bonus s2s from Juerg…thanks Juerg.  20m was not brilliant either but I managed to get a few entries in the log. 

Quick check on 2m...s2s?

I gave a few calls on 2m after a self spot and enjoyed a nice rag-chew with my friend Matt in Ludlow…he told me that 6m and 4m were wide open and he had been having fun working a load of stations.

13:20z	DL/M0WML/P	7MHz	SSB	Gerald s2s
13:24z	M0JLA	7MHz	SSB	Rod
13:25z	SM6CNX	7MHz	SSB	Dan
13:25z	EA2CKX	7MHz	SSB	Pedro
13:25z	IN3ADF	7MHz	SSB	Markus
13:26z	IX1IHR	7MHz	SSB	Claudio
13:27z	F5LKW	7MHz	SSB	Roger
13:27z	G0VWP	7MHz	SSB	Terry
13:28z	GM4IAR/M	7MHz	SSB	Dave
13:29z	IW3AGO	7MHz	SSB	Heinrich
13:30z	IK2LEY	7MHz	SSB	Fabio
13:32z	HB9BIN/P	7MHz	SSB	Juerg s2s
13:34z	OM1AX	7MHz	SSB	Vlado
13:41z	M0NTC	5MHz	SSB	Gez
13:43z	M0MDA	5MHz	SSB	Mick
13:47z	DL/M0WML/P	14MHz	SSB	Gerald s2s diff band
13:53z	RW3XZ	14MHz	SSB	Alexi
13:55z	EU2MM	14MHz	SSB	Vladimir
13:55z	IK2LEY	14MHz	SSB	Fabio
13:56z	EA2DT	14MHz	SSB	Manuel
13:56z	SP9AMH	14MHz	SSB	Mariusz
13:58z	F/DD6DO	14MHz	SSB	Stephan
13:58z	CT1HIX	14MHz	SSB	Carlos
14:05z	G8XYJ	144MHz	FM	Matt
14:10z	GW0JTU	144MHz	FM	Allan
14:14z	M6STL	144MHz	FM	Steve

Nearly ready to go...Comms tower and Trig

Downside of the day was that Val never found the Geocaches….I suppose we’ll have to come back next year :)

Activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (4Ah LiPo), UK-MX 50M linear (for 817) 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 Kenwood TH-F7 for 70cms 

Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts

73 Allan GW4VPX