Monday 15 February 2016

Pen y Fan GW/SW-001

Glorious sunshine but icy cold

Pen y Fan GW/SW-001

15/02/2016

Couldn’t resist this one today as the forecast was for glorious sunshine but it would be cold. We knew it was going to be busy as the schools were on half term and even though we arrived early we had one of the last parking spaces available before it would be necessary to park alongside the main road….not a good idea as the police don’t take kindly to this. 
Our target for today..Pen y Fan (Corn Du on the right)
My GPS track
On our way
Dark clouds over Corn Du
Nearly there
Val waiting her turn for the summit pic..... :)
I immediately kicked off on 60m with a self spot with six chasers making my log. Others had been listening but could barely make me out in the noise and waited till I moved to 40m.
11:57z
G4WSB
5MHz
SSB
Bill
11:59z
G4OBK
5MHz
SSB
Phil
11:59z
GW6DGU
5MHz
SSB
Roy
12:00z
GI4ONL
5MHz
SSB
Victor
12:01z
GI8SKN
5MHz
SSB
David
12:01z
G0TRB
5MHz
SSB
Roger
A text from G6TUH telling me that 7.115 was clear but as soon as I got going and having worked some 5 chasers I was stamped upon by some really strong EU stations so announced a QSY lower on RRT..…this did the trick so thanks everyone for following me down.
Bothy bag deployed
12:10z
G6TUH
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:11z
G4WSB
7MHz
SSB
Bill
12:12z
G0TDM
7MHz
SSB
John
12:12z
GORQL
7MHz
SSB
Don
12:12z
G0ELJ
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:13z
M0JLA
7MHz
SSB
Rod
12:14z
G0TRB
7MHz
SSB
Roger
12:17z
M0IML
7MHz
SSB
Barry
12:17z
EA2CKX
7MHz
SSB
Pedro
12:17z
M0NTC
7MHz
SSB
Gez
12:18z
GW7MMG
7MHz
SSB
Phil
12:18z
DJ5AV
7MHz
SSB
Mike
12:19z
M6RUG
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:19z
EI9GLB
7MHz
SSB
Jim
12:19z
M3FEH
7MHz
SSB
Karl
12:19z
G6LKB
7MHz
SSB
Dave
12:20z
HB9AGH
7MHz
SSB
Ambrosi
12:20z
M0YDH
7MHz
SSB
David
12:21z
G4KDX/P
7MHz
SSB
Chris
12:22z
GW0HGP
7MHz
SSB
Ionan
12:23z
DF5WA
7MHz
SSB
Berthold
12:24z
GW6DGU
7MHz
SSB
Roy
12:25z
G1BLJ
7MHz
SSB
Steve

Summit coffee- Corn Du in the distance
Corn Du
Apologies to Victor GI4ONL who would have liked a 2m contact but I had not set up the 2m dipole as the wind was strong (and cold) and I decided on a quick activation by only visiting 60m and 40m. I also missed a couple of s2s as I was on my way down…ah well…
A steady stream of people coming up from below on their way to the summit....we kept well away from the path as it was very icy.......

My activation set up today:-  (HF) Yaesu FT817 (5 watts) (4Ah LiPo),  3 band link dipole (60/40/20),  (VHF) Kenwood TH-F7E  (5watts) and ‘cable-tie dipole’. Antenna support - 7m Fishing pole.

Thanks everybody for the brief chats in what was a very orderly and pleasant activation :)

11/02/2016 (a few days ago) – It was a cold day but dry so I decided to activate a Trig (TP5023) for the Worked All Britain group.  Now this trig is up on the mountain behind my QTH. 
My log and FT857 today...22Ah LiPo battery 
Chilly today
The trig with Communications masts behind..no interference on HF
My trig lashing kit...very easy assemble and light to carry
With 21 contacts in the log and 2 trig to trigs I was very happy. Thanks to Ken G0FEX for doing a splendid job as net controller.

73 Allan GW4VPX

2 comments:

  1. Looks like your snow was a bit more forgiving than ours! We could have done with a few of your crowds to trample it down a bit..
    I see Pedro EA2CKX usually makes it into your 7mhz log too, same here! How does he do it, it's too early for EA on 7mhz from GM but he (and no-one else) is always there!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Hi Andy..yes, it was nice to see some of the white stuff. We don't seem to have had it quite as bad as in Scotland. I'm some 600ft above sea level and usually get a fair share of snow during the winter months but this year it's been nothing but rain and gales...you seemed to be enjoying yourself though even though you had to abort an activation. I don't think Pedro goes to sleep as looking back on my activations he is always there..thanks Pedro..not heard Manuel EA2DT recently. Ben Nevis for SOTA is on the cards for this year May/June I should think. Anyway thanks for the comment and keep safe on the mountains. 73 Allan GW4VPX

    ReplyDelete