Thursday 24 December 2015

Beacon Hill GW/MW-009

Before yet another storm

Beacon Hill GW/MW-009

23/12/2015

Another window of opportunity opened up just before the approach of Storm Eva so we headed for Llandrindod Wells and Beacon Hill which lies well to the NE of the town.  Rhodri was with us today as he was home for Christmas and looking forward to a day on the hills. 
My GPS track
The footpath and our car parked in the distance
On our way in the sunshine
Wet underfoot...track to Beacon Hill to the left
This is a nice summit as the walk up is gradual although it’s still a good 2.73km to the summit taking in part of ‘Glyndwr’s Way’.
Left for Beacon Hill
Track to the trig
Now over the last week or so I have been involved with teaching the Amateur Radio- Foundation Exam to some of our club members which meant using the FT817 and battery. After setting up the antenna I noticed that a few of my usual setting had been altered and that the charge indicator on the 4Ah LIPo was not what it should be...had I charged it after the weekend?
Bothy bag deployed....priority... then HF antenna :)
 A few calls on 60m brought no reponse and RRT was not behaving from my seated position. I made a decision to plug in the linear and call into the WAB net on 40m as I knew they were expecting me to ‘pop up’ around 12:00hrs. An immediate response from ‘net controller’ Phil G7AFM and I soon qualified the summit and Trig (TP1133) with my dodgy batteries…thanks everyone. 
Working the WAB net
Shortly after Val told me that John G1STQ/p had popped up on RRT and was calling on 2m from G/WB-005 Long Mynd-Pole Bank ....he was soon in the log and sounding very happy as I was his first contact …..he was beginning to wonder if his rig was working…..thanks John.  
Cosy in the bothy bag
Sending Val out with my phone with RRT set up for her I started calling out and very soon I had a really good ‘pile-up’ as I had popped up 4 times in succession on the Spots…sorry… :)
Time
Call
Band
Mode
Notes
12:05z
G7AFM
7MHz
SSB
Phil
12:06z
G4DUE
7MHz
SSB
Adrian
12:06z
G0GWY
7MHz
SSB
Geoff
12:06z
G0BFG
7MHz
SSB

12:06z
G0FEX
7MHz
SSB
Ken
12:07z
MI1AIB
7MHz
SSB
Paul
12:07z
G3PRI
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:08z
MM3PDM/M
7MHz
SSB
Peter
12:08z
G0FVH
7MHz
SSB
David
12:09z
G0NEV
7MHz
SSB
Michael
12:09z
G0IPE
7MHz
SSB
Peter
12:09z
GI0AZB
7MHz
SSB
Ian
12:13z
G1STQ/P
144MHz
FM
John s2s
12:21z
G4TSQ
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:21z
2E0MBT
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:23z
GOVWP
7MHz
SSB
Terry
12:23z
G4WSB
7MHz
SSB
Bill
12:24z
G0TDM
7MHz
SSB
John
12:24z
M0TLX
7MHz
SSB
David
12:25z
G6LKB
7MHz
SSB
David
12:25z
G4WHA/A
7MHz
SSB
Geoff
12:25z
EA2CKX
7MHz
SSB
Pedro
12:26z
G7BGA
7MHz
SSB
Geoffrey
12:27z
G4AFI
7MHz
SSB
Andrew
12:28z
M3FEH
7MHz
SSB
Karl
12:28z
M6RUG
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:28z
2E0SCS
7MHz
SSB
Stephen
12:29z
EA2DT
7MHz
SSB
Manuel
12:30z
GW0IRT
7MHz
SSB
Phil
12:30z
G0GRI
7MHz
SSB
Ian
12:32z
M6LXG/P
7MHz
SSB
Tim
12:34z
M6BHQ
7MHz
SSB
Lee
12:35z
2E0GBK
7MHz
SSB
Keith
12:36z
DK7ZH
7MHz
SSB
Manfred
12:47z
G6OVD/P
144MHz
FM
Mal s2s
It was cold on top and we had quite a few rain/hail showers reminding us that it was winter.  I decided to pack away leaving the handheld on 145.500 mindful that Mal G6OVD/p was due on G/WB-002 Brown Clee Hill.  Just before I switched off the FT817 I noticed that I was running on the lowest power output..doh..another button that had been depressed without my knowledge....
s2s with Mal
With HF packed away and just before the bothy bag was tucked in the rucksack up pops Mal on the FT270 with my second s2s of the day..thanks Mal.
 GW4VPX/p packing up in the distance
It was nice to see the sun now and again
Heading back down the track
Although we had a few wintry showers during the activation it remained dry on our way down but not underfoot.....looking forward to the next one.....maybe before the New Year.
My activation set up:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (0.5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  UK-MX 50M linear (for 817) and 12V 9.2 Ah Lithium Ion battery,  3 band link dipole (60/40/20 (+15m+80m extensions),  (VHF) Yaesu FT270 (5watts) Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.
Thanks everyone for the contacts and a very 


73 Allan GW4VPX

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