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