GW/SW-041

Summit Information for 

GW/SW-041 Black Mountain - 703m, 6 points

Association: Wales  Region: South Wales   

Latitude: 52 0 30 N, Longitude: 3 5 12 W

Grid Reference: SO 255350, QTH Locator: IO82KA 

Post to follow.....

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes
12:10	M6CNG	144MHz	FM	Gareth
12:15	M0JLA	144MHz	FM	Rod
12:18	M0IBC	144MHz	FM	Dave
12:19	G3RMD	144MHz	FM	Frank
12:20	M6FOA	144MHz	FM	Vick
12:21	G0ELJ	144MHz	FM	Dave
12:23	G8ADD	144MHz	FM	Brian
12:25	2E0PRF	144MHz	FM	Paul
12:28	M0WYB	144MHz	FM	Russ
12:32	G3SMT	144MHz	FM	Peter
12:35	G4PPC	144MHz	FM	Brian
12:37	M0MSW	144MHz	FM	Mark
12:38	M0NTC	144MHz	FM	Gez
12:40	G0GSH	144MHz	FM	Chris
12:42	G4FAP	144MHz	FM	Roger
12:45	M3HNL	144MHz	FM	Jim
12:47	M3PSF	144MHz	FM	Rob
12:49	G0MKW	144MHz	FM	Tony
12:52	M0SBF	144MHz	FM	Steve
12:53	G4GBP	144MHz	FM	Colin
12:55	G8FWP	144MHz	FM	Peter

GW/SW-001

Summit Information for GW/SW-001

Pen y Fan - 886m, 8 points

Association: Wales  Region: South Wales   

Latitude: 51 53 2 N, Longitude: 3 26 12 W

Grid Reference: SO 012216, QTH Locator: IO81GV

Following some overnight snow, I woke to a clear sunny day and decider it was too good an opportunity to miss for an activation.  I quickly bundled  the kit in the Jeep and headed for Pen Y Fan.

There is ample parking at SN987 199, but arrive early as this is a very popular walk.  From here there is a good path all the way to the summit but it gets very slippery in winter so go prepared.  The path levels out at SO 006 210 and from here you can either continue straight on to Pen Y Fan or go left up to the summit of Corn Du and then on to Pen Y fan.

At the summit conditions were amazing, it was mild with just a light breeze and visibility was the best I have ever encountered from here.

I set up for VHF and had a very enjoyable activation including a summit to summit with Rod and Viki on GW/SW-011

Many thanks to all stations that assisted with my activation of Pen Y Fan and made this an very enjoyable day.

73

Mal (GW6OVD)

Corn Du viewed from Pen Y Fan

Making myself at home at the summit

The mist started to roll in around 13.00

Use this link for more photos

Time	Callsign	Band	Mode	Notes	Delete
12:00	GW0UHO	144MHz	FM	Peter	Delete
12:20	MW1AND	144MHz	FM	Mel	Delete
12:22	G0VFK	144MHz	FM	Mike	Delete
12:24	M0WYB	144MHz	FM	Rus	Delete
12:26	M0FOA	144MHz	FM	Micky	Delete
12:27	G4WTF	144MHz	FM	Ian	Delete
12:28	MW6BWA	144MHz	FM	Viki	Delete
12:29	G3SR	144MHz	FM	Rick	Delete
12:30	G0RQL	144MHz	FM	Don	Delete
12:33	MW0JLA	144MHz	FM	Rod	Delete
12:38	M3YYK	144MHz	FM	Keith	Delete
12:42	G0NES	144MHz	FM	Don	Delete
12:45	M6NHK	144MHz	FM	Nick	Delete
12:47	MW0TOX	144MHz	FM	Baz	Delete
12:55	M6BJL	144MHz	FM	Mike	Delete
13:02	G4EBL	144MHz	FM	Ralph	Delete
13:05	2W0MCB	144MHz	FM	Mike	Delete

GW/SW010

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  

For this activation Andy GW7RKC, Phil MW0PJJ and Ian who is a foundation student met up at the starting point at SN 921 024 where there is parking for 5 or 6 cars, and started making their way towards the summit.  

I arrived around 45 minutes later as I had just completed a long night shift and needed to grab a couple of hours sleep.  

The assent to Craig Y Llyn is very straightforward by this route with a forestry track all the way and just 115m to climb making it ideal for a bad weather activation.  

There is now a manned security barrier a couple of hundred meters from the main entrance due to the construction work that has just started.  They are building a new wind farm that will soon dominate the skyline so beware of  construction traffic. 

The track then goes around to the right past the construction compound and on to within 100 meters of the summit.  

The summit itself is hidden in the trees and very ease to miss, so watch out for the memorial on the left of the track as this is where you need to turn right.  

At the time of writing there was a fallen tree across the entrance making it even harder to spot.

The activation  itself was successful if a little disappointing with very few VHF stations heard. 

The weather on top was very cold with intermittent snow showers making operating a little challenging and it wasn't long before we all decided it was time to get back to the cars for a nice hot cup of tea.

Many thanks to all stations that helped with our activation of 

SW-010 Craig Y Llyn 

73

Mal  GW6OVD

GPS Track Log

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
12:21z	MW6TBU	144MHz	FM	Mal
12:24z	GW4SXA	144MHz	FM	Paul
12:26z	MW6GNA	144MHz	FM	Angela
12:28z	MW0TOX	144MHz	FM	Baz
12:36z	MC0TTR	144MHz	FM	Ian
12:42z	MW0UAA	144MHz	FM	Dave
12:45z	MW6ZOL	144MHz	FM	Beccy

For more photos of Craig Y Liyn click here

GW/SW-005

Summit Information for GW/SW-005

Fan Fawr - 734m, 6 points

Association: Wales  Region: South Wales   

Latitude: 51 51 45 N, Longitude: 3 29 49 W

Grid Reference: SN 970193, QTH Locator: IO81GU 

Car park at starting point SN 982 203 (Storie Arms)

I arrived at the Storey Arms car park at around 0930 and headed south west until I picked up the foot path at SN 974 196.  Nice and firm under foot, except for one small area around half way.  The path rises steeply from here, then eases off again as you approach the summit where there is a small cairn.  

WX on top was better than expected with a light breeze yet visibility was down to 50m.

I set up a small mast on a tripod for the first time, but it seemed a unstable at first. 

 I hung an bag  beneath it and added a few rocks which made all the difference.

It seemed very quiet on 2m and I only had 9 contacts in the hour or so I spent there but as 

I had good reports back from all stations I'm happy all the kit was working as it should. 

As visibility started to decrease by this tine  I decided to start making my way back down to Storey Arms

Many thaks to all thoes who helped with my activation of Wayn Fach GW/SW 005

73 Mal GW6OVD

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
10:43z	MW0TOX	144MHz	FM	Baz
10:52z	G4KPM	144MHz	FM	Malcolm
11:01z	GW6DGU	144MHz	FM	Roy
11:09z	GW0IRT	144MHz	FM	Phil
11:24z	G4STH	144MHz	FM	Tim
11:29z	MW0CXH	144MHz	FM	Peter
11:35z	2W0MCB	144MHz	FM	Mike
11:35z	M0JLA	144MHz	FM	Rod
11:42z	G0KDY	144MHz	FM	Adam

GW/SW003

Fan Brycheiniog - 802m, 8 points

Association: Wales  Region: South Wales  
Latitude: 51 52 56 N, Longitude: 3 42 30 W
Grid Reference: SN 825218, Locator: IO81DV 

Left to right - Mal (GW6OVD), Andy (GW7RKC) & Phil (MW0PJJ)

For the weekend of the 5th of January, Aberdare Amateur Radio Society SOTA group decided to activate South Wales summit SW-003 Fan Brycheiniog. This particular summit is located to toward the West side of the Brecon Beacons National Park. The group met at Aberdare and consisted of Mal (GW6OVD) , Phil (MW0PJJ) , Ian (Foundation Student) and Myself - Andy (GW7RKC). We drove towards our start point at SN 85288 21765 arriving just before 10:00, there we found a small area with enough parking for around 4 vehicles. 

Mal & Phil Forge Ahead!

 We wasted no time in getting our kit together and headed roughly East toward the summit. After crossing a stream the trail started  to steepen and in places was very boggy underfoot, this remained the case for most of the hike.











Soon the mist began to descend and completely obscured the view of the vehicle we had left behind.  Our first objective was to get to Llyn y Fan Fawr which was at the foot of Fan Brycheinog, this we managed in about an hour , covering around 2.3 km. The Llyn was quite beautiful in an eerie sort of way with the mist rolling across it and small waves being created by the wind. We took a few minutes to enjoy the view and a few refreshments before the final push up the mountain!

Llyn y Fan Fawr

At this point we still had around 1km to go, and the trail began to get very steep as we progressed up the mountain.





















As is often the case, as we neared the summit the wind became quite strong and care was needed as there are some quite dangerous drops at the trail edge.

It's A Long Way Down

The picture to the right shows one of the rather intimidating drops at the trail edge!

Phil modelling the latest in Neck-wear!

Mal & Ian arrived at the summit first and managed to assemble the equipment before Phil and I got there. A cylindrical stone shelter provided some respite from the cold wind.

By mid-day the station was underway and doing fine business with plenty of QSO's rolling in and we all managed to get our activation in no time. One particularly noteworthy aspect of this activation was the number of summit to summit QSO's with one of our group achieving 5! Part way through we were joined by around 4 or 5 hikers who also wanted to shelter from the wind. They seemed interested in what we were doing and Phil chatted to them about SOTA and amateur  radio.

By around 1.30 we had all bagged plenty of QSO’s and were starting to get a bit cold so we packed up the equipment and assembled at the nearby Trig-Point for a final photo before beginning the trek back.

 

Left to right - Mal (GW6OVD) , Phil (MW0PJJ) and Andy (GW7RKC)

Back at the car our efforts were rewarded by Phil making one of his legendary brews !

Time for a brew!

Many thanks to all the stations calling in and making this activation a success!

73

Andy - GW7RKC

GPS Track-log

2012 Activation Totals

Unique Summits Activated by GW7RKC

Number	Summit Name	Number of Activations	Date of First Activation
1	GW/SW-004 (Waun Rydd)	1	12/Feb/2012
2	GW/SW-008 (Cefn yr Ystrad)	1	19/Feb/2012
3	GW/SW-009 (Mynydd Troed)	1	25/Feb/2012
4	GW/SW-034 (Garth Hill)	1	03/Mar/2012
5	GW/SW-006 (Fan Gyhirych)	1	17/Mar/2012
6	GW/SW-007 (Fan Nedd)	1	17/Mar/2012
7	GW/SW-040 (Mynydd Dinas)	1	31/Mar/2012
8	GW/SW-029 (Foel Fynyddau)	1	31/Mar/2012
9	GW/MW-001 (Plynlimon-Pen Pumlumon Fawr)	1	26/May/2012
10	GW/MW-002 (Great Rhos)	1	07/Jul/2012
11	GW/MW-003 (Drygarn Fawr)	1	15/Jul/2012
12	GW/SW-024 (Mynydd y Lan)	1	22/Sep/2012
13	GW/SW-027 (Mynydd y Glyn)	1	03/Nov/2012
14	GW/SW-016 (Ysgyryd Fawr)	1	10/Nov/2012
15	GW/SW-020 (Graig Syfyrddin)	1	10/Nov/2012
16	GW/SW-002 (Waun Fach)	1	30/Dec/2012
17	GW/SW-010 (Craig y Llyn)	1	31/Dec/2012

Unique Summits Activated by MW0PJJ

Number	Summit Name	Number of Activations	Date of First Activation
1	GW/SW-010 (Craig y Llyn)	1	28/Jan/2012
2	GW/SW-025 (Cefn Eglwysilan)	1	04/Feb/2012
3	GW/SW-004 (Waun Rydd)	1	12/Feb/2012
4	GW/SW-008 (Cefn yr Ystrad)	1	19/Feb/2012
5	GW/SW-009 (Mynydd Troed)	1	25/Feb/2012
6	GW/SW-034 (Garth Hill)	1	03/Mar/2012
7	GW/SW-001 (Pen y Fan)	1	10/Mar/2012
8	GW/SW-007 (Fan Nedd)	1	17/Mar/2012
9	GW/SW-011 (Sugar Loaf)	1	24/Mar/2012
10	GW/SW-029 (Foel Fynyddau)	1	31/Mar/2012
11	GW/SW-040 (Mynydd Dinas)	1	31/Mar/2012
12	GW/SW-014 (Mynydd Carn-y-cefn)	1	08/Apr/2012
13	GW/SW-037 (Craig yr Allt)	1	05/May/2012
14	GW/SW-012 (Coity Mountain)	1	12/May/2012
15	GW/SW-013 (Tor y Foel)	1	19/May/2012
16	GW/SW-028 (Mynydd y Betws)	1	09/Jun/2012
17	GW/SW-015 (Mynydd Llangorse)	1	21/Jul/2012
18	GW/MW-004 (Pen y Garn)	1	16/Aug/2012
19	GW/SW-018 (Mynydd Eppynt)	1	01/Sep/2012
20	GW/SW-036 (Mynydd Sylen)	1	08/Sep/2012
21	GW/SW-039 (Mynydd Llangyndeyrn)	1	08/Sep/2012
22	GW/SW-033 (Wentwood)	1	15/Sep/2012
23	GW/SW-024 (Mynydd y Lan)	1	22/Sep/2012
24	GW/SW-038 (Mynydd Drumau)	1	20/Oct/2012
25	GW/SW-030 (Mynydd Machen)	1	27/Oct/2012
26	GW/SW-027 (Mynydd y Glyn)	1	03/Nov/2012
27	GW/SW-020 (Graig Syfyrddin)	1	10/Nov/2012
28	GW/SW-016 (Ysgyryd Fawr)	1	10/Nov/2012

Unique Summits Activated by GW6OVD

Number	Summit Name	Number of Activations	Date of First Activation
1	GW/SW-010 (Craig y Llyn)	1	28/Jan/2012
2	GW/SW-025 (Cefn Eglwysilan)	1	04/Feb/2012
3	GW/SW-004 (Waun Rydd)	1	12/Feb/2012
4	GW/SW-008 (Cefn yr Ystrad)	1	19/Feb/2012
5	GW/SW-009 (Mynydd Troed)	1	25/Feb/2012
6	GW/SW-003 (Fan Brycheiniog)	1	01/Mar/2012
7	GW/SW-001 (Pen y Fan)	1	09/Mar/2012
8	GW/SW-006 (Fan Gyhirych)	1	17/Mar/2012
9	GW/SW-007 (Fan Nedd)	1	17/Mar/2012
10	GW/SW-011 (Sugar Loaf)	1	24/Mar/2012
11	GW/SW-029 (Foel Fynyddau)	1	31/Mar/2012
12	GW/SW-040 (Mynydd Dinas)	1	31/Mar/2012
13	GW/SW-014 (Mynydd Carn-y-cefn)	1	08/Apr/2012
14	GW/SW-037 (Craig yr Allt)	1	05/May/2012
15	GW/SW-012 (Coity Mountain)	1	12/May/2012
16	GW/SW-013 (Tor y Foel)	1	19/May/2012
17	GW/MW-001 (Plynlimon-Pen Pumlumon Fawr)	1	26/May/2012
18	GW/SW-028 (Mynydd y Betws)	1	29/May/2012
19	GW/SW-017 (Hirfynydd)	1	19/Jun/2012
20	GW/SW-019 (Mynydd Twyn-glas)	1	30/Jun/2012
21	GW/MW-002 (Great Rhos)	1	07/Jul/2012
22	GW/MW-003 (Drygarn Fawr)	1	15/Jul/2012
23	GW/SW-015 (Mynydd Llangorse)	1	21/Jul/2012
24	GW/MW-004 (Pen y Garn)	1	16/Aug/2012
25	GW/SW-021 (Mynydd Marchywel)	1	30/Aug/2012
26	GW/SW-018 (Mynydd Eppynt)	1	01/Sep/2012
27	GW/SW-034 (Garth Hill)	1	06/Sep/2012
28	GW/SW-036 (Mynydd Sylen)	1	08/Sep/2012
29	GW/SW-039 (Mynydd Llangyndeyrn)	1	08/Sep/2012
30	GW/SW-033 (Wentwood)	1	15/Sep/2012
31	GW/SW-024 (Mynydd y Lan)	1	22/Sep/2012
32	GW/SW-038 (Mynydd Drumau)	1	20/Oct/2012
33	GW/SW-031 (Mynydd Uchaf)	1	25/Oct/2012
34	GW/SW-030 (Mynydd Machen)	1	27/Oct/2012
35	GW/SW-027 (Mynydd y Glyn)	1	03/Nov/2012
36	GW/SW-016 (Ysgyryd Fawr)	1	10/Nov/2012
37	GW/SW-020 (Graig Syfyrddin)	1	10/Nov/2012
38	GW/SW-023 (Allt yr Esgair)	1	18/Nov/2012
39	GW/SW-005 (Fan Fawr)	1	06/Dec/2012
40	GW/SW-041 (Black Mountain)	1	23/Dec/2012
41	GW/SW-002 (Waun Fach)	1	30/Dec/2012

Total Activator Points

 

Position	Activator Callsign	Summits	Points	Seasonal Bonus	Total Score	Avg. points per Expedition	View Log
1	GW4BVE	485	1680	372	2052	4.23	View
2	MW0IDX	235	1055	243	1298	5.52	View
3	MW0YLS	220	1008	120	1128	5.13	View
4	GW0VMW	199	784	195	979	4.92	View
5	MW0IML	220	617	270	887	4.03	View
6	GW8OGI	190	604	180	784	4.13	View
7	MW0ECX	80	417	90	507	6.34	View
8	GW0DSP	256	381	60	441	1.72	View
9	MW3NYR	92	310	99	409	4.45	View
10	GW3GUX	53	322	45	367	6.92	View
11	2W0GDA	53	259	39	298	5.62	View
12	GW7KXV	51	273	18	291	5.71	View
13	GW0TQM	63	185	54	239	3.79	View
14	2W0CYM	72	191	24	215	2.99	View
15	2W0UPT	47	146	45	191	4.06	View
16	GW7AAV	80	127	36	163	2.04	View
17	GW4GTE	30	115	36	151	5.03	View
18	GW6OVD	41	113	27	140	3.41	View
19	MW0UPH	46	98	33	131	2.85	View
20	GW7AAU	59	86	18	104	1.76	View
21	GW4HDR	11	92	6	98	8.91	View
22	GW4EVX	92	47	42	89	0.97	View
23	MW3SBH	9	72	9	81	9.00	View
24	MW0PJJ	28	60	15	75	2.68	View
25	GW7RKC	17	57	15	72	4.24	View