GW/SW-041 - Black Mountain

 

GW/SW-041 - Black Mountain (6 points)

23/04/2021

Cold breeze but the sun was shining

My target for the day from the parking spot at SO239372

Getting warmer now

More cars in the parking area now

Twmpa or Lord Herford's Knob with Pen y Fan in the far distance

I altered my Alert to try and get Carolyn in my log with an s2s. I could hear her calling ‘CQ SOTA’ from Sugar Loaf as I left the trigpoint at Hay Bluff.  A quick call to her to let her know I was on my way to the summit brought back the reply that she would hang around on the frequency until I entered the activation zone…thanks Carolyn.

Hay Bluff trigpoint with Pen y fan just visible in the haze

I’d forgotten that in the past the phone signal would be iffy if you were sitting down and it was only when trying to send a spot that I remembered. I think the last time Val had spotted me whilst standing up…anyway I was soon away on 2m when the spot eventually left my phone.

09:54	GW6WRW/P	144MHz	FM	Carolyn s2s Sugar Loaf GW/SW-011
10:15	G7SAI	144MHz	FM	Ellis
10:16	G4WTF	144MHz	FM	Ian
10:18	2W0BTR/P	144MHz	FM	Geoff s2s beacon Hill GW/MW-009
10:20	M5RJC	144MHz	FM	Rick
10:22	G3RMD	144MHz	FM	Frank
10:25	G1NCS	144MHz	FM	Adrian

Once again the bands were not in the best of shape and I’d left the linear at home in favour of carrying an extra large flask for coffee and a couple of bread rolls to eat while I waited for friends to reach their summits….I seem to be on that s2s roll again.

Good run on 60m with 80m not really delivering but happy to get regular chasers in the log..thank you.

10:45	MW0OFA	5MHz	SSB	Frank
10:46	G0RQL	5MHz	SSB	Don
10:47	G4OBK	5MHz	SSB	Phil
10:48	G4WSB	5MHz	SSB	Bill
10:49	G4IPB	5MHz	SSB	Paul
10:50	G0VWP	5MHz	SSB	Terry
10:51	GI4OSF	5MHz	SSB	John
10:58	G0FEX	3.5MHz	SSB	Ken
11:00	MW0VLO	3.5MHz	SSB	Barry
11:01	2W0LLJ	3.5MHz	SSB	Jenny

I set up on the Welsh side of the Offa's Dyke Path

I’d heard some activity on 2m and without even a spot I called G1VQN as he was /p but not SOTA. I suggested a QSY frequency which suddenly became my ‘hotspot’ of s2s and regular chasers/activators…that was great fun and enjoyable…thanks everyone.

11:09	G1VQN/P	144MHz	FM	Karl
11:12	G4HQB	144MHz	FM	Philip
11:14	M6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	Viki s2s G/CE-003 Bredon Hill
11:15	2W0TDX/P	144MHz	FM	Neil s2s Tal y Fan GW/NW-040
11:16	2W0XYL/P	144MHz	FM	Karen s2s Tal y Fan GW/NW-040
11:17	M0JLA/P	144MHz	FM	Rod s2s Bredon Hill G/CE-003
11:18	G0DUQ	144MHz	FM	Rob
11:19	2E0GZN/M	144MHz	FM	David
11:20	MW0OFA	144MHz	FM	Frank
11:21	M6BWA/P	433MHz	FM	Viki S2s diff band

Time to move on as my frequency fell silent on 2m so a move to 40m was in order but not before a cup of coffee. My phone had manged to connect to a network and Mal GW6OVD had sent a ‘What’s App’ message so I tried to send one back to him asking him to spot me on 40m…it worked then I lost signal….short pileup on 40m but regular chasers and Rod throwing in an s2s on a different band.

11:54	F4WBN	7MHz	SSB	Christian
11:55	EA2DT	7MHz	SSB	Manuel
11:56	PA0B	7MHz	SSB	Rob
11:56	M0JLA/P	7MHz	SSB	Rod s2s diff band
11:57	EA1DHB	7MHz	SSB	Ricardo
11:58	DL3HXX	7MHz	SSB	Lothar
11:59	HB9DHA	7MHz	SSB	Ray
12:01	EA1DHB	7MHz	SSB	Ricardo agn

 

My set up once again

For 20m I chose a frequency then I got up and walked around, eventually getting a spot up on Sotawatch followed by a super quick return to my seating position and ‘CQ SOTA’. It worked and a nice run of chasers made my log including one s2s and a lovely contact Stateside with Edward NX4TT and confirmed later on the SOTA Database…thanks everyone.

 

12:10	S57ILF	14MHz	SSB	Franci
12:12	EU2MM	14MHz	SSB	Vladimir
12:12	SM5LNE	14MHz	SSB	Jan
12:13	ON7TWA/M	14MHz	SSB	Geert
12:14	SA4BLM	14MHz	SSB	Lars
12:15	OH3GZ	14MHz	SSB	Jukka
12:16	DL1CR/P	14MHz	SSB	Christoph s2s DM/NS-127
12:19	NX4TT	14MHz	SSB	Edward Rockledge USA
12:20	UW8SM	14MHz	SSB	Adrij

Another cup of coffee and as I scanned 2m I heard Malc MW0NLG on Trum y Ddysgl and during the QSO we were called by Colin GW1KGW/p on Snowdon so bonus s2s in the log…thank you both.  I’d seen that Tony MW5OTA/p was due on Mynydd Troed so I waited a few more minutes and he was soon in the log and a nice final entry for an enjoyable activation….just like the old days.

12:32	MW0NLG	144MHz	FM	Malc s2s GW/NW-024 Trum y Ddysgl
12:38	GW1KGW/P	144MHz	FM	Colin s2s Snowdon GW/NW-001
12:44	MW5OTA/P	144MHz	FM	Tony s2s GW/SW-009 Mynydd Troed

 

Some of my contacts for the day..no plot of the Stateside contact

My activation set-up

HF:- Elecraft KX2 (8 watts) and 4.2Ah LiFe

HF Antenna – End-Fed - 49:1 Unun with loading coil for 80m

HF Antenna support – 6m Sotabeams Carbon Fibre Fishing pole

******

VHF/4m Antenna support – 4m Life’s a Breeze Glass Fibre Fishing pole

(VHF) Yaesu FT2 2m-FM (5watts) into a ‘Slim G

Thanks everyone for the contacts

73 Allan GW4VPX