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 

Time	Call	Band	Mode	Notes
12:29z	GW0SFI	144MHz	FM	BARRI
12:34z	GW0LGS/P	144MHz	FM	STUART
12:37z	MW6BWA/P	144MHz	FM	VICKY
12:38z	GW4GJA	144MHz	FM	KEN
12:40z	MJLAP	144MHz	FM	S-S ROD
12:54z	G0GRI	144MHz	FM	5/4 IAN
12:59z	M3GNM	144MHz	FM	STUART
13:00z	2E0YFT/M	144MHz	FM	5/2
13:01z	G7CVC	144MHz	FM	MORRIS
13:02z	2W0DSO/M	144MHz	FM	CHRIS
13:07z	G4CIB/M	144MHz	FM	BRIAN
13:20z	F1PXG	144MHz	FM	5/3 IN78WO FRANCE ALAIN
13:50z	GW0AVW	144MHz	FM	TERRY
13:51z	MW6URC	144MHz	FM	GLENN