Saturday 28 February 2015

GW/SW-001 and 005 with MW0IML/p



GW/SW-001 Pen y Fan

28/02/2015

I’d been saving most of these summits until Barry came up but the two today would be the ‘icing on the cake’ with 20 points up for grabs. Weather forecast was for high winds and hill fog. As Barry was ‘on holiday’ I let him have the run of 40m on the summits and I would  use 2m and 60m – method in my madness . ....less work for me :)  Anyway, we made our way up from Storey Arms via SN004215 to Corn Du agreeing to return via the Beacons Way as a round trip. It was windy and my pole broke almost immediately so 2m was the order of the day.  34 contacts in total with 1 s2s with Franz ON9CBQ/p on ON/ON-006 La Croix Scaille – thanks Franz. 


Corn Du in the mist

GW4VPX/p and MW0IML/p... SW-001


 Wet and windy Pen y Fan

 GW/SW-005 Fan Fawr

28/02/2015 
  
Tea and burger opposite Storey Arms was the order of the day before tackling Fan Fawr. Conditions were not much better so I opted just for 2m and it was nice to hear Steve MW0BBU calling in – one of 6 contacts for me. No s2s for me but Barry managed one with Paul G6GGP/p  on G/WB-013 Garway Hill. 38 contacts between the two of us and we were both glad to get down off this one. 

  Heading for Fan Fawr - invisible in the mist


Friday 27 February 2015

GW/SW-009 and 0015 with MW0IML/p




Joint activations with MW0IML/p in GW/SW.........................

GW/SW-009 - Mynydd Troed

27/02/2015


Barry had made his way up from Kent that morning and as soon as he arrived we  had some lunch and then made our way up to the summit. Although it was cold the sun was shining and during our brief activation we made 39 contacts including s2s with Pete GW4ISJ/p on GW/SW-008 Cefn yr Ystrad and Neil MW0ECX/p on GW/MW-003 Drygarn Fawr – thanks both.


 MW0IML/p
  
GW/SW-015 - Mynydd Llangorse

27/02/2015

As most activators will know this is summit is exactly opposite Mynydd Troed so with a quick cuppa at the cars we were on our way up again. 44 contacts this time with an s2s with Rod M0JLA/p  on G/WB-020 Burton Hill for Barry and Matt GW8XYJ/p on GW/SW-041 Black Mountain for both of us – thanks both.

 MW0IML/p and Llangorse Lake


Friday 20 February 2015

GW/SW-002 -Waun Fach



Another cold one!

GW/SW-002 -Waun Fach

20/02/2015

Parking the car at SO187289 I made my way up Rhiw Trumau  towards the cairn at SO204286 then North and  up over Pen Trumau through the mist passing  the ‘woollen line’ on the way.

 Rhiw Trumau
 Misty ascent over Pen Trumau
This has been a project to regenerate growth after a fire burnt away grass allowing erosion to set in so well worth a visit to the website. (https://woollenline.wordpress.com/2012/06/03/walk/

 The woollen line
As I past the ‘woollen line’ it got increasingly colder and I could see that the grasses had horizontal icicles attached to them.  I then hit the snowline and decided that this would have to be a short activation in the ever strengthening  breeze and freezing mist.  
 Out of the wind....view from the office :)
Remnants of the trig
Finding a reasonable shelter  close to the concrete foundation of the old trig point I put on extra layers, set up the dipole and prepared to send a spot to Sotawatch via RRT. I was interrupted as 2m burst into life with a call from Mal GW6OVD  asking if I was on summit. With Mal in the log a call from Rod MW0JLA/p on GW/SW-008 ensured that full s2s points were collected so thank you Rod.
11:53z
GW6OVD
144MHz
FM
Mal
11:54z
MW0JLA/P
144MHz
FM
Rod s2s
I sent a spot saying that I would only be on 40m due to the cold and my visit soon got underway with 3 chasers in the log before another s2s presented itself.
12:05z
G6TUH
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:05z
G3RXA
7MHz
SSB
John
12:07z
M0IML
7MHz
SSB
Barry
 Hiding out of the wind
 Mike 2E0YYY/p and Rob G7LAS/p were on G/SP-004 Shining Tor and both were soon in the log – thanks both.  With some wildly varying reports I had a feeling that something was not quite right with the Band Hopper 3 and I glanced quite a few times across both legs of the antenna as the VSWR rose slowly during the activation.
12:09z
G4WSB
7MHz
SSB
Bill
12:10z
M0MDA
7MHz
SSB
Mick
12:10z
G0VWP/M
7MHz
SSB
Terry
12:10z
G0TRB
7MHz
SSB
Roger
12:10z
G8MIA
7MHz
SSB
Andy
12:11z
DL3HXX
7MHz
SSB
Lothar
12:11z
CT1HIX
7MHz
SSB
Gomes
12:12z
G4APO
7MHz
SSB

12:12z
G6LKB
7MHz
SSB
David
12:12z
M6WSB
7MHz
SSB
Stephen
12:13z
M0BKV
7MHz
SSB
Damian
12:13z
G8VNW
7MHz
SSB
Nick
12:13z
DK7ZH
7MHz
SSB
Manfred
12:14z
G3RMD
7MHz
SSB
Frank
12:14z
M3FEH
7MHz
SSB
Karl
12:14z
EA1HMT
7MHz
SSB
Ignacio
12:15z
EA2CKX
7MHz
SSB
Pedro
12:15z
G4ASA
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:16z
MW6GWR
7MHz
SSB
Ricky
12:17z
EA2CZF
7MHz
SSB
Jose
12:17z
M0IBC
7MHz
SSB
David
12:17z
G0ELJ
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:18z
DL8DXL
7MHz
SSB
Fred
12:19z
DM2AL
7MHz
SSB
Andreas
12:20z
G4ZRP
7MHz
SSB
Brian
12:22z
G7CHB
7MHz
SSB
Roy
12:25z
ON6ZQ
7MHz
SSB
Christophe
12:27z
M0RMY
7MHz
SSB
Tom
12:28z
G0RQL
7MHz
SSB
Don
I tried to pass a few comments to some of the chasers  but it was evident that my signal not getting out as usual and as soon as everything went quiet I got up and went to take the antenna down. It transpired that there was a thick layer of ice on all parts of the antenna.  I thought of getting the camera and taking a picture of the ice but thought better of it and quickly bundled everything into the bag.  We have a saying in Wales....MoM (Mas o Ma) which means ‘Out of here’ so a quick ‘pack away’ and I was heading off the summit.   
 Ready to go...Mas o ma!
Now I usually have a cup of coffee and sandwich on summit but today I made my way down and after a nice QSO with Rod on 2m I opened the flask and sat in the comfort of the second little cairn at SO204286.

Thanks everybody for the contacts and s2s. Not sure when the next one will be but I will be out with Barry M0IML in GW/SW next weekend for at least six activations weather permitting.

73 Allan GW4VPX