GW/SW-004 Waun Rydd

GW/SW-004 Waun Rydd (6 points)

20/04/2018

What a glorious day!

It was a late start today as Barry M0IML was on his way from Kent and had not alerted for Tor y Foel GW/SW-013 until 13:30 BST.  Val and I aimed to be on summit at about the same time. It’s a stiff climb up to Craig y Fan Ddu then a long walk along Graig Fan Las to the summit…thirsty journey today.

My GPS track

Our late start meant the car park was quite full when we arrived

Heading up to Craig y Fan Ddu

Looking back at  Craig y Fan Ddu  from Craig Fan Las

Corn Du, Pen Y Fan GW/SW-001,  Cribyn, 2018

Our 2017 visit..

Following the new path to within 100m of summit...no more bog trotting

First in my log was my friend John from the Carmarthen ARS..he was on a canal boat near Brecon..thanks John. Barry and I soon had our s2s….we could see his car from our summit and with binoculars would have probably seen him on the summit.  I soon qualified the summit on 2m with Roy 2E0TKI and Lee MW6LPU from near Llangorse.

12:06z	GW3NKB	144MHz	FM	John
12:08z	MW0IML/P	144MHz	FM	Barry s2s
12:12z	2E0TKI	144MHz	FM	Roy
12:13z	MW6LPU	144MHz	FM	Lee

 Working my 80m pile-up with GW/SW-001 as a back drop

Our 2017 activation...brrr

I think 60m was broken as only 3 chasers made my log and despite numerous calls I decided to move to 80m….

12:22z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
12:23z	G8ADD	5MHz	SSB	Brian
12:25z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken

With loading coils in place I was away with Victor being first in the log.  I had to break off my run on this band as Rod was frantically calling me from Seager Hill G/WB-022 for an s2s…thanks Rod. 80m was working but it was a difficult s2s with Nick and Dave on Cross Fell G/NP-001…we eventually made it stick.

12:35z	GI4ONL/P	3.5MHz	SSB	Victor
12:35z	G0FEX	3.5MHz	SSB	Ken
12:37z	M0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s
12:38z	G4IAR	3.5MHz	SSB	Dave
12:39z	MW0IML/P	3.5MHz	SSB	Barry s2s diff band
12:40z	M0BKV	3.5MHz	SSB	Damian
12:41z	G8MIA	3.5MHz	SSB	Andy
12:42z	G4OEE/P	3.5MHz	SSB	Nick s2s
12:43z	G3TQQ/P	3.5MHz	SSB	Dave s2s
12:44z	G4AFI	3.5MHz	SSB	Andrew
12:45z	M0WPS	3.5MHz	SSB	Wayne

Barry's summit easily visible with Sugar Loaf GW/SW-011 in the the distance

Llangorse Lake and Hay Bluff on the right

We had arranged with Barry to meet at the café  in Talybont on Usk and as we had another appointment with a Geocache on the way down we quickly packed up to meet our 16:30 BST deadline.

My 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

GW/SW-002 Waun Fach

GW/SW-002   Waun Fach

14/04/2018

A different route

For a change I decided to approach Waun Fach from a different direction today. Val and I parked at SO185311 and headed SE up to the bwlch that would lead us over Y Grib.  Please note there is a quad bike trail that leads through SO192311 and is below Y Grib but brings you out after Y Grib…. this is slightly easier but today we wanted to do it the hard way and enjoy the view offered by the chosen route. It’s a long walk of some 4.66km to the summit but with the sun shining for a change it was very pleasant, indeed by the end of the day we had caught the sun on our hands and faces.

Our GPS track to the summit

Early start..heading up to the bwlch on the right

Heading for Y Grib

Looking back at our route and Mynydd Troed GW/SW-009

Remnants of snow...looking down the Rhiangoll river valley just before the summit

The summit was busy so I moved away from the new ‘slab’ and fancy stone work and set up for 60m. 

Val sitting on the 'slab' and admiring the stone work??

60m was not working and both Esther and Ian were struggling with my signal but we made it. Despite calling for quite a long time there were no further chasers so I decided to move to 2m as I knew the Cheltenham ‘gang’ would be hovering J

11:23z	GI0AZA	5MHz	SSB	Esther
11:24z	GI0AZB	5MHz	SSB	Ian

My friend Matt (Ludlow) was first in the log (despite what you see below) and we had a nice chat, he was followed quickly by Stewart and Frank (Cheltenham). A surprise call from Don G0RQL (Holsworthy, Devon) saying that he couldn’t hear me on 60m and was glad I had popped up on 2m. Another two Cheltenham stations Matt and Graham were next in the log followed by Rod with a nice strong signal from Hereford City.  I finished my visit to 2m with Roy and Ian…thanks everyone.

11:35z	G0LGS	144MHz	FM	Stewart
11:35z	G8XYJ	144MHz	FM	Matt
11:36z	G3RMD	144MHz	FM	Frank
11:38z	G0RQL	144MHz	FM	Don
11:39z	G4FUJ	144MHz	FM	Graham
11:41z	2E0MDJ	144MHz	FM	Matt
11:42z	M0JLA	144MHz	FM	Rod
11:44z	G0RMG	144MHz	FM	Roy
11:45z	G4WTF	144MHz	FM	Ian

At least the peat was dry

It was time for a visit to 80m which as it turned out was working well with a few nice QSOs taking place.

11:55z	G0FEX	3.5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:57z	G3RMD	3.5MHz	SSB	Frank
11:58z	G0RQL	3.5MHz	SSB	Don
12:00z	MW0ISC	3.5MHz	SSB	Stephen
12:01z	G8ADD	3.5MHz	SSB	Brian
12:02z	G4IAR	3.5MHz	SSB	Dave
12:03z	M3FEH	3.5MHz	SSB	Karl
12:04z	G6NHW	3.5MHz	SSB	Peter

It was time for Val to go Geocaching so I packed up and we headed back the way we came. 

Val in the distance heading for the Geocache

With GPS in hand Val headed for the cache that she wanted...this took us more than a mile off our descent route but enabled me to look at a few new routes to the summit including improvements being made to the path that leads towards Lord Hereford’s Knob and Gospel Pass. We found the cache….

On our way down....glider on tow above Y Grib

My 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