GW/SW-005 – Fan Fawr

GW/SW-005 – Fan Fawr

10/12/2018

Trying a new route

Viki and Rod were out again today so I alerted for Fan Fawr where I could get them on their first summit . I opted to try a new route to the summit instead of the one that starts at the Storey Arms car park.  I parked in the car park at  SN 988180 and after passing through the gate that leads up through the forestry I looked for a path that should lead to a stile and the open moorland….I missed it.

My GPS track

It’s only five metres after the gate and on the left and looking like a gutter leading into the main gutter alongside the road.  You can of course go out to the main road, turn right, go over the cattle grid and turn right on to the moorland at the edge of the forestry.....

If you come this far you've missed the path to the stile...looking back at the car park

It’s a nice gentle walk along the ridge to the summit unlike the steep slog from Storey Arms.

Heading towards the summit...faint grassy track in some places

As I approached the summit I was taken aback when I heard Viki saying that she would be heading down soon as it was bitterly cold.  To make matters worse David was calling “CQ SOTA” from Esgair Gwynion.  He was soon in the log….this was a good contact on my FT270…thanks David.   I switched to the Yaesu FT2 to get Viki in the log on 2m and 70cms then back to the FT270 for John G4TQE/p.  I thought the FT2 was not working properly but suddenly realised that it was a polarization problem…..I held the FT270 more or less horizontal and John’s signal increased dramatically….interesting.  Whilst setting up the HF I heard Rod calling me on 2m for my fifth s2s.

11:07z	MW0XRT/P	144MHz	FM	David s2s .. GW/NW-031 Esgair Gwynion
11:18z	MW6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	Viki s2s .. GW/SW-007 Fan Nedd
11:20z	MW6BWA/P	433MHz	FM	Viki s2s .. diff band
11:23z	G4TQE/P	144MHz	FM	John s2s .. G/WB-003 Stiperstones
11:42z	MW0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s ..GW/SW-007 Fan Nedd

I set up just below the cairn and out of the wind

I could understand why Viki wanted to head down hill so I dropped down below the cairn trying to get as much protection from the icy blast as possible.  A good run of regular chasers made my log including quite a few WAB chasers.  Rod couldn’t resist another call :)

11:45z	G8MIA	5MHz	SSB	Andy
11:46z	M0TMD	5MHz	SSB	Helen
11:47z	GW0PLP	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:47z	G4IAR	5MHz	SSB	Dave
11:48z	G0FEX	5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:49z	G4ZRP	5MHz	SSB	Brian
11:51z	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
11:51z	GI0AZA	5MHz	SSB	Esther
11:53z	G4OOE	5MHz	SSB	Nick
11:54z	G7AFM	5MHz	SSB	Phil
11:54z	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
11:55z	MW0JLA/P	5MHz	SSB	Rod s2s .. diff band
11:56z	M0GQC	5MHz	SSB	James
11:56z	G0GWY	5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
11:56z	G6NHW/P	5MHz	SSB	Pete
11:58z	GW7MMG	5MHz	SSB	Philip

Storey Arms below

I’d alerted that I was doing 80m and with the loading coils in place another good run of both SOTA and WAB chasers were in the log.  I was now feeling quite cold so I poured some hot coffee from the flask and tucked in to some sandwiches which I’d brought with me…I soon warmed up but not enough to hit a few more bands…it was time to pack up.

12:06z	GI0AZA	3.5MHz	SSB	Esther
12:07z	M0TMD	3.5MHz	SSB	Helen
12:08z	DG1NPM	3.5MHz	SSB	Nobbi
12:09z	M3FEH	3.5MHz	SSB	Karl
12:09z	MW6IUT	3.5MHz	SSB	Bryan
12:10z	G4AFI	3.5MHz	SSB	Andrew
12:12z	G4KRN	3.5MHz	SSB	Alan
12:13z	G7LMF	3.5MHz	SSB	Graham
12:14z	G0GWY	3.5MHz	SSB	Geoffrey
12:15z	G0VWP	3.5MHz	SSB	Terry
12:16z	SM6CNX	3.5MHz	SSB	Dan
12:42z	G4TQE/P	144MHz	FM	John s2s .. G/WB-005 Long Mynd-PB

Mist clearing below

I’d packed up and as I was leaving the cairn I heard John G4TQE/p calling from Long Mynd Pole Bank. A quick “summit to summit” call and I was first in his log…thank you John. Half way down from the summit I managed some points for chasing John M0XOT/p on Long Mynd Pole Bank…seems as if the two Johns were on the same summit…they did eventually meet up.

Groups of youngsters with their Mountain Leaders heading up towards Fan Fawr

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)

Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everyone for the contacts

73 Allan GW4VPX