GW/SW - 009

GW/SW 009   25/02/12. - Mynydd Troed

Height 609M / 1997 ft

Grid reference SO 166293

Arriving at the foot of the hill at 10.10am, at a height of 300m we still had 309m to go! The first section of the walk starts as a gradual climb, however the gradient soon increased and the heart rate too!

Taking time for a pose for a photo with a chance to take a breather.



More photos with some fantastic views can be viewed in the photo gallery on the top right.

The peak behind in the photo proved to be a challenge with many stops to catch your breath as the gradient was very steep. The gradient eased towards the last section of the climb and sight of the summit was most welcomed.

After finding a hollow to shelter from the wind, contacts were soon made on 2 metres and 4 metres.

Phil in QSO MW0PJJ

Andy in action

At the summit we we joined by a group of walkers who were interested what we were doing as they could see the aerial as they approched the summit and thought it was a perment feature at the summit !

This is our first video uploaded to blogger !! taken from the summit.

INTERESTING LINK !

http://www.adventureradio.de/sotamap/index.php

2M contacts - 145Mhz -FM 10watts

MW0TMI

GW0UHO

G3LVP

GW4XUE

GW8XYJ - SW041 SUMMIT - SUMMIT

M6NRW

2W0XYL - MW009 SUMMIT - SUMMIT

2W0TDX - MW009 SUMMIT - SUMMIT

M0BNZ - Lizzard 160 miles / 257 km

M0TYM

G7RHF

M0JLA  

G0LGS

G0RQL - Devon

MW3WDS

MW1AZI   

4M contacts - 70Mhz -FM 5watts

G8JSM - G/SP- 017

GW4CQZ  GW/NW-004                

GW/SW - 008

GW/SW 008 19/02/12. - Cefn yr Ystrad

Height  617M / 2024 ft

Grid reference SO087137

After de-icing the car and meeting at Mals QTH at 9.30AM. a twenty five minutes drive following the Sat Nav our path was blocked by a locked gate with three and a half miles left to drive.

Parking the car and using GPS summit details entered a trek of  3.1 km to the summit. Starting the assent the wind chill cutting into uncovered skin with flakes of snow! After climbing the first rise the summit still not visible the ground was hard going with streams, heather and rocks to clamber over. Actual route taken shown on map in blue line.

After the first forty minutes of walking the summit was finally in view far in the distance. arrival at the summit at 11.50Am.

The group consisted of Mal (GW6OVD), Phil (MW0PJJ), Andy (GW7RKC) & Corinne (map reader).

Setting up the radio Kenwood TM-V71E, Antenna MK2 Slim Jim built by Mal and making a cuppa. Many stations could be heard operating andf some SOTA summits could also be heard and it was very difficult to find a free frequency to operate on.

Contacts were made with

MW0TMI
GW0UHO
2W0KED
GW4SXA
MW6BWA
MW6BAF
G8XYJ
MW6BAF
GW7HDC 

Summit to Summit contact with G8XYJ distance of 88 Km / 54 Miles on summit G/WB-002, on 5Watts of Power. Brown Clee Hill, Welsh Borders, 540 m, grid reference S0 593867.

Summit to Summit contact with MW6BWA distance of 21.2 Km / 13.1 Miles on summit GW/SW-006 on 5Watts of Power.  Fan Gyhirych 725m, grid reference SN 881191.

GW/SW - 004

GW/SW 004 12/02/12. -Waun Rydd 

Height 769 M / 2523 ft

Grid reference SO 062206

Arriving at the car park at 10.30 a.m. on Sunday 12th February 2012 where the temperature was +3 degrees C. The group consisted of Mal (GW6 OVD), Phil (MW0 PJJ) & Andy (GW7 RKC)  and we headed towards the summit taking once again breathtaking views along the route. The start of the walk passes a natural waterfall.


Visibility started to decrease as the mist increased as we climbed (please note that the photograph we taken on the descent)


The map on the right was the walk mapped by Andy using a GPS overlay on OS mapping software.


The first 45 minutes of the walk you climb a step path. This then starts to become a gradual rise to the summit ( top photographs) but was made difficult with the snow and ice under foot in places.




The cloud cover made visibility of the area that we were walking very difficult but the paths were clearly defined for most of the journey until some of the area had deep snow.


On arrival at the summit we were surprised that there was no snow directly on the summit but worked out why quite soon as the wind picked up and the wind chill started to bite.

We quickly setup the home brew antenna designed by Mal and attached to a 10M pole and connected the kenwood checking SWR.


Using 5 watts of power contacts we made on 145.500 and then moved to 145.400 this being the frequency that we generally use for the valleys net. Taking it in turns to operate the radio as we needed to keep warm and to eat our lunch. as we only had a limited time before we had to make our return as we had under estimated how long the climb would take.

As we desended the visability improved and on the odd occasion the sun was visible the views of the mountain were fantastic.








Some of the Contacts made
MW0TMI
MW6BWA
GW0IRT
G0LGS
M0MST
G8XYJ
2W0ZJA
M3WDS

GW/SW - 025

GW/SW 025 4/2/12. - Cefn Eglwysilan

Height 382 M / 1253 ft

Grid reference SN 097905

Surprising what you find up in the mountain when you go out walking ! take care when driving on icy roads (PS. not my car)

Leaving the warmth of home to walk up a mountain we must have been mad!

The group consisted of Mal(GW6 OVD), Phil (2W0 PJJ), Alex (MW6 AZP) & Corinne (alex's mum) leaving the cars in a small car park and walking up the on the side of a wall proved to be challenging.

On reaching the summit we quickly setup camp however the water we had brough with us had frozen so tea and coffee would have wait!

Contacts we made as far as Somerset and Ilfracombe. recording of the contact was made difficult by the freezing of the pen lucky a pencil was found.

Soon the weather started to turn and started snowing quite bad. It was time to pack up loosing visibility, showing how quickly you could become lost on the mountain top but lucky we have corinne who has fantastic map reading skills.

On returning to the cars after slipping and sliding, was I glad to see the cars and warmth !.

What a fantastic morning spent.

GW/SW - 010

GW/SW 010  28/01/2012. - Craig y Llyn.

Height 600 M / 1969 ft

Grid reference SN 907032

The group arrived at the car park at 10.30 a.m. on Saturday 28th January 2012 where the temperature was -2 degrees C.  The group consisted of Mal (GW6 OVD), Phil (2W0 PJJ), Dean (2W0 XTP),  Andy (GW7 RKC) & Corinne and we headed towards the summit taking in the breathtaking views along the route of the Brecon Beacons. 

On reaching the summit the antennas were erected and contacts were soon made with local stations. 

We were joined at the summit with Baz (MW0 TOX) and Janet and the dog! Alfie (who helped pull Baz up the hill!).

Contacts were made with a number of local stations and two stations on other SOTA summits and a distant station was heard from Snowdon.

As the sun started to fall below the tree line the temperature soon started to drop and it was time to start packing up and return back to the car. 

GPS route taken