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Thursday 27 March 2014

GW/MW-040, 019 & 024

Wednesday 26/03/2014






Summit Information for GW/MW-040
Carn Gafallt - 466m, 1 point
Association: Wales  Region: Mid Wales   
Latitude: 52 16 9 N, Longitude: 3 33 17 W
Grid Reference: SN 940646, QTH Locator: IO82FG 
Today's Sunrise: 05:57 UTC, Today's Sunset: 18:41 UTC 


Today's triple activation started at SN 940 600 where there is plenty of room to park. The access road from the A470 is very narrow with passing points few and far between but I was lucky enough not to meet any oncoming traffic.  Following the gravel track to the first hairpin I then headed north west through the woods.  There is no obvious path so I kept the mature trees to my left and the younger growth to my right.










As I emerged from the woods the gradient became much steeper and the knee deep heather made progress very slow










As you near the summit Caban Coch Reservoir comes into view, 
pity the visibility wasn't a little better.






Plenty of room on top for antennas but on this occasion the 8m fishing  pole I had, proved to be much too bendy to support the new 6 band link dipole I had just completed, and this cost me some operating time

 


Summit Information for GW/MW-019
Gwastedyn Hill - 477m, 1 point
Association: Wales  Region: Mid Wales   
Latitude: 52 17 0 N, Longitude: 3 29 11 W
Grid Reference: SN 987661, QTH Locator: IO82GG 
Today's Sunrise: 05:57 UTC, Today's Sunset: 18:41 UTC 







After carefully parking at SN 990 658
I headed north west to SN 988 659 where I picked up the bridal path and headed north east. After a while the path curves around to the north west
and then cuts back south west to the summit.




For the second activation I took the 10m pole, which proved to be a lot easier to erect.  From the summit you can clearly see the TV mast on the next hill, which was to be my third and and final activation of the day.
After a brief activation on 2 and 60m  I decided to take a more direct route back to the start point, so I started my way down the very steep hillside.  Much quicker than the route I took up but I wouldn't attempt coming up this way.
  

Summit Information for GW/MW-024
Rhiw Gwraidd - 442m, 1 point
Association: Wales  Region: Mid Wales   
Latitude: 52 15 35 N, Longitude: 3 27 12 W
Grid Reference: SO 016634, QTH Locator: IO82GG 
Today's Sunrise: 05:56 UTC, Today's Sunset: 18:41 UTC


The route for my third activation is very easy,  I continued up the road from the start point (SN 0160627)
through the farm yard and followed the road up to the TV mast.  From here I headed east to the summit.
Using a fence post to support the pole I erected the antenna and had a listen on 2m.  Due to the strong interference from the mast I decider 60 & 40 would be the best option for the last one. 


Many thanks to all you chasers for your continued support.

73, Mal GW6OVD/P


Monday 17 March 2014

GW/SW-010 Craig Y Llyn



Summit Information for GW/SW-010
Craig y Llyn - 600m, 4 points
Association: Wales  Region: South Wales   
Latitude: 51 43 0 N, Longitude: 3 35 0 W
Grid Reference: SN 907032, QTH Locator: IO81FR 

Today's Sunrise: 06:20 UTC, Today's Sunset: 18:24 UTC 

This summit covered on a previous post

                     



                     Date:17/Mar/2014 Summit:GW/SW-010 (Craig y Llyn) Call Used:GW6OVD/P
TimeCallBandModeNotes
12:40zGW4ZAR7MHzSSBDave
12:44z2E0GCD7MHzSSBGeorge
12:46z2E0VOV7MHzSSBMark
12:48zM0MDA7MHzSSBMick
12:49zG4UXH7MHzSSBColin
12:50zM3NHA7MHzSSBTony
12:50zM6NHA7MHzSSBSara
12:51zG0RQL7MHzSSBDon
12:53zM0JLA7MHzSSBRod
12:54zG0ELJ7MHzSSBDave
12:55zMW6GWR7MHzSSBRicky
12:55zG4ZRP7MHzSSBBrian
12:55zG1OHH7MHzSSBSue
12:57zG6ODU7MHzSSBRob
12:57zM0NTC7MHzSSBJez
12:57zG0VWP7MHzSSBTerry
12:59zDJ5AV7MHzSSBMichael
13:04zG0MJY5MHzSSBDave
13:12zG0HNW5MHzSSBPaul
13:13zG6LUZ5MHzSSBSteve
13:14zG6MZX5MHzSSBGeoff
13:17zG8ADD5MHzSSBBrian
13:25zGW6DGU144MHzSSBRoy
13:42z2E0MIX/P7MHzSSBDEREK S2S G/LD-045
13:52z2E0JMK70MHzFMMark
14:10z2W0RZL144MHzFMBob
14:14z2W0CVL144MHzFMNathan
14:17zMW0RHD144MHzFMBob
14:30zGW1WRV144MHzFMRoy

Sunday 16 March 2014

GW/SW 008

Summit Information for GW/SW-008

Cefn yr Ystrad - 617m, 4 points

Association: Wales Region: South Wales
Latitude: 51 48 51 N, Longitude: 3 19 33 W
Grid Reference: SO 087137, QTH Locator: IO81IT
Today's Sunrise: 06:22 UTC, Today's Sunset: 18:21 UTC







The summit for this weekend’s activation was Cefn Yr Ystrad which is in the Brecon Beacons National Park in Wales. Present at the activation were Phil (MW0PJJ) and Andy (GW7RKC).


There are a number of ways to reach the summit but we chose to start our journey from the village of Trefil which is roughly 4km to the East. On a previous visit to this summit we had taken the direct route from Trefil which meant navigating the undulating, rock strewn moorland. For this outing we decided to use mountain bikes and take the road which leaves the village in a NNW direction. This route is probably twice as long as the aforementioned direct route but we thought that the bikes would make up for this.



We arrived at our start point in Trefil around 10am and prepped our kit. We parked by the roadside at the top of the village (but on the village side of the barrier). It is tempting to drive through the barrier to get closer to the summit but in our experience it is best avoided as the barrier may be closed and locked while you are the wrong side of it. In fact, this was the case when we arrived back from the summit but as we were on bikes it presented little difficulty.



The road presents a gentle incline for the first 2km or so which culminates in a left hand bend by a large standing stone. By this time, the road levels out, and further up you pass through a disused quarry area and approach the summit from the North. 







For the last 1km we were forced to push the bikes as the terrain became difficult.




We arrived at the summit just after midday and setup the equipment. It was a pleasant sunny day with temperatures ranging between 14-16 °C, although it felt colder in the brisk wind.
 









Our equipment was a well proven arrangement consisting of a Yaesu FT817 with a 20W linear amplifier and a homebrew ladder-line ‘SlimJim’ antenna.















The station was soon up and running with Phil and I taking turns, logging a few contacts each before swapping Mic. duties. From the outset we were doing good business and our logs began to fill with speed. During the activation we experienced a brief period of ‘lift’ and logged a contact in Redruth Cornwall (Martin  2E0YFT/m) and Roscoff in Brittany (Alain, F1PXG 5/2 Report). Summit to Summit contacts were also made with Rod (MW0JLA/p) and Vicky (MW6BWA/p) on GWSW011 Sugar Loaf.





Phil (MW0PJJ) at the mic.

Andy (GW7RKC)









Phil’s log and a GPS track of our route may be found at the bottom of this page.

As always, I’d like to say thanks to all stations that took the time to call in and help with the activation.

73

Andy (GW7RKC).





GPS Tracklog



Date:15/Mar/2014 Summit:GW/SW-008 (Cefn yr Ystrad) Call Used:MW0PJJ/P Points: 4 Bonus: 3 

TimeCallBandModeNotes
12:29zGW0SFI144MHzFMBARRI
12:34zGW0LGS/P144MHzFMSTUART
12:37zMW6BWA/P144MHzFMVICKY
12:38zGW4GJA144MHzFMKEN
12:40zMJLAP144MHzFMS-S ROD
12:54zG0GRI144MHzFM5/4 IAN
12:59zM3GNM144MHzFMSTUART
13:00z2E0YFT/M144MHzFM5/2
13:01zG7CVC144MHzFMMORRIS
13:02z2W0DSO/M144MHzFMCHRIS
13:07zG4CIB/M144MHzFMBRIAN
13:20zF1PXG144MHzFM5/3 IN78WO FRANCE ALAIN
13:50zGW0AVW144MHzFMTERRY
13:51zMW6URC144MHzFMGLENN