Saturday 24 February 2018

GW/MW-024 Rhiw Gwraidd

GW/MW-024 Rhiw Gwraidd

21/02/2018

Chasing s2s and an unique summit for me

With Viki and Rod out on a couple of summits I had planned to activate two summits that would give me more or less a ‘line of sight’ path to theirs. I parked at SO 016629 and walked North up to the farm where I asked permission to use the track to the summit…no problems.

Track to summit
I had contacted Simon G4TJC to see if he could run a check on LIDAR for me as to whether the Trig was in the Activation Zone ….the answer was ‘Yes’ by about 2m and confirmed by the Relative Hills of Britain survey.

I was soon on summit (about 1km from car) and Radio Rucksack Tools was informing me that Neil GW0WPO was on Y Llethr GW/NW-017 and active on 20m.  I had set up for 80m with the coils in place…I could hear him so I dropped down a little and tapped the Tune button on the KX2..he was soon in the log…thanks Neil. The ATU in the KX2 works really well.
I was soon away on 80m after the excitement of the s2s with a steady run of Chasers…thanks everyone

10:59z
GW0WPO/P
14MHz
SSB
Neil s2s
11:15z
G0VWP
3.5MHz
SSB
Terry
11:16z
G4WSB
3.5MHz
SSB
Bill
11:17z
MW0XOT
3.5MHz
SSB
John
11:17z
G3OKA
3.5MHz
SSB
John
11:18z
G3RMD
3.5MHz
SSB
Frank
11:19z
G4IAR
3.5MHz
SSB
Dave
11:19z
G0RQL
3.5MHz
SSB
Don
11:20z
G0GWY
3.5MHz
SSB
Geoffrey
11:22z
GI4ONL
3.5MHz
SSB
Victor
11:22z
MW0ISC
3.5MHz
SSB
Steve
11:23z
G7AFM
3.5MHz
SSB
Phil
11:24z
M3FEH
3.5MHz
SSB
Karl
11:25z
G4SQA
3.5MHz
SSB
Dave
11:26z
GW6DGU
3.5MHz
SSB
Roy

A spate of s2s followed with Viki and Rod having arrived on Great Rhos GW/MW-002 after some difficulty as the boundary for the Ranges has been altered.  Now John GW4TQE/p and I had talked the previous night regarding the possibility of an s2s from Carningli GW/MW-033..surprisingly we made it without any major difficulty…thanks John, Viki and Rod.

11:35z
MW0JLA/P
5MHz
SSB
Rod s2s
11:37z
GW4TQE/P
144MHz
FM
John s2s
11:40z
MW6BWA/P
144MHz
FM
Viki s2s
11:41z
MW6BWA/P
433MHz
FM
Viki s2s diff band

By the Trig...no significant breakthrough on 2m from Comms Tower.. a few burst of data

I was aware that I would soon have to be moving to my next summit but not without a visit to 60m. A few new callsigns made my Log..best contact was Jack GM4COX but it was a difficult QSO.

11:48z
GW0PLP
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:49z
G0VWP
5MHz
SSB
Terry
11:50z
G6DFM
5MHz
SSB
John
11:52z
GW7MMG
5MHz
SSB
Phil
11:53z
GM4COX
5MHz
SSB
Jack
11:54z
G3OKA
5MHz
SSB
John
11:55z
G0FEX
5MHz
SSB
Ken
11:56z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:56z
G4IAR
5MHz
SSB
Dave
11:57z
G6NHW/P
5MHz
SSB
Pete
11:58z
G4WHA/A
5MHz
SSB
Geoff
12:04z
MW6LPU
144MHz
FM
Lee

I walked back down to the farm and thanked the farmer…it was time for coffee and a sandwich then on to The Begwns GW/MW-025.
Activation set up

 (HF) Elecraft KX2 (10 watts) and 4Ah LiPo
 Antenna - 3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (+15m extensions +80m loading coils)
Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

VHF Yaesu FT270 and Kenwood TH-F7 & cable tie dipole 2m70cms

Thanks everyone for the contacts


73 Allan GW4VPX

Monday 5 February 2018

GW/NW-021 – Rhobell Fawr

GW/NW-021 – Rhobell Fawr

04/02/2018

Simon’s Mountain Goat day

A belated Happy New Year to everyone.   It’s been a troublesome time at the home QTH with adverse weather causing drainage problems under the front lawn.  Last week we replaced the broken 450mm  bore concrete pipes with plastic ones. This is only Phase 1 and there is another stretch to be replaced during the next few weeks.
Our lawn!!
Anyway,  Simon G4TJC was on 999 points and only needed another one to get his Mountain Goat status.  I had promised him some time ago that I would join him for the important activation and after a few e-mails we decided on Rhobell Fawr GW/NW021 (6points + 3 winter bonus).  We met at SH 797249 having decided to use Gerald’s (MW0WML) ascent track from the Sota Mapping Project  https://www.sotamaps.org/tracks.php
Trig in sight
It was -2C when we left the cars and we soon hit the snowline and a sharp wind from the NE….it was going to be cold on top…it was probably -10C+ by the Trig. 
Cadair Idris GW/NW-009 in the distance
We had already decided that 2m was to be first band as we knew that quite a few chasers were waiting for us.  I helped Simon put up the Slim Jim  and within 6 minutes Simon qualified the summit.  The fourth contact in his log was Helen 2E0VMD/p..Simon’s wife who had gone out on a hill to chase him on his Mountain Goat day…success.
GW4TJC/p Mountain Goat ..pile-up
Happy MG
11:11z
M0VTD/P
144MHz
FM
STUART
11:16z
GW4ZPL/P
144MHz
FM
JOHN
11:17z
MW0ISC
144MHz
FM
STEVE
11:18z
2E0VMD/P
144MHz
FM
HELEN
11:21z
2E0DIJ
144MHz
FM
DUANE
11:24z
2E0JKR
144MHz
FM
RON
11:26z
G4ZWY
144MHz
FM
STEVE
11:27z
GW4TQD
144MHz
FM
John
11:27z
G7LMF
144MHz
FM
GRAHAM
11:29z
IE9GLB
144MHz
FM
JIM
11:32z
2E0VMD/P
433MHz
FM
HELEN
11:37z
M1EYP/P
144MHz
FM
TOM,IO93BM
11:41z
GW3XRM
144MHz
FM
DAVE
11:43z
GW4UKU/P
144MHz
FM
PETE
11:45z
2E0ICE
144MHz
FM
PAUL
12:05z
G8MKT/P
144MHz
FM
Chris,IO83XD
12:21z
MW1CJE/P
144MHz
FM
Andrew,IO81JS
12:29z
M0JLA/P
5MHz
SSB
Rod,IO82QL
Simon’s Log
I soon left Simon to his 2m pile-up and set up my HF station starting on 60m…it was really cold now but the run of chasers made up for it.
Our stations ..VPX on 60m
KX2 in use  
11:12z
M0VTD/P
144MHz
FM
Stuart
11:16z
GW4ZPL/P
144MHz
FM
John
11:17z
MW0ISC
144MHz
FM
Steve
11:18z
2E0VMD/P
144MHz
FM
Helen
11:25z
2E0JKR
144MHz
FM
Ron
11:37z
M1EYP/P
144MHz
FM
Tom s2s
11:50z
G0RQL
5MHz
SSB
Don
11:52z
G4WSB
5MHz
SSB
Bill
11:54z
G0EVV/P
5MHz
SSB
David s2s
11:54z
G4IAR
5MHz
SSB
Dave
11:55z
G8ADD
5MHz
SSB
Brian
11:56z
G3RDQ
5MHz
SSB
David
11:58z
G0HRT
5MHz
SSB
Rob
11:59z
GI4ONL
5MHz
SSB
Victor
12:02z
GM4WHA
5MHz
SSB
Geoff
12:06z
G8MKT/P
144MHz
FM
Chris s2s
12:22z
MW1CJE/P
144MHz
FM
Andrew
12:29z
M0JLA/P
5MHz
SSB
Rod s2s
My Log
60m soon went quiet so to keep warm I made my way over to Simon who said that once Rod and Viki were in the log we would head down and out of the cold wind.  Although we could hear Viki calling she could not hear us due to interference from the communication systems on her summit…sorry Viki.
He's got the badge
A final pic by the Trig and we made our way down to a sheltered spot for coffee and a piece of Christmas cake as a celebration of Simon’s MG.  We followed Gerald’s descent track which was fun but not recommended in foggy conditions.
Activation set up
 (HF) Elecraft KX2 (10 watts) and 4Ah LiPo
 Antenna - 3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (+15m extensions +80m loading coils)
Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts


73 Allan GW4VPX & Simon GW4TJC