GW/SW-013 Tor y Foel and GW/SW-011 Sugarloaf

A break in the weather and a few hours off meant a chance to activate two more summits. The sky looked quite pretty on the drive up, but the old saying “Red sky in the morning” came to mind.

First up today was SW-013 Tor y Foel. The drive up was good and ice free. We arrived at the parking spot and we were soon on our way up the hill. This one isn’t a long walk, but does have 3 fun little rises before the actual summit. From the start the wind started to pick up, but thankfully it was dry.

We reached the summit and looked for some sort of shelter. We found a small hollow big enough for the two of us and set up our gear. With the hf and vhf antennas up, the poor pole was bending well in the wind. Thankfully it held up.

We started on vhf, and although I posted a spot on the SOTA site, things were pretty quiet. 2 contacts were made, but then it went quiet (we were early on summit). We switched to hf and called on 20m. I took half a dozen contacts and Maldwyn took quite a few more. After this we went back to vhf to see if anyone was looking for us, but it was quiet, so after a few CQ calls, we shut down and packed away the gear, wanting to move on to summit no.2. The walk down was very windy, even managing to throw me around!

The drive to SW-011 Sugarloaf was quick and without event. We soon found the car park and after a quick coffee, we started walking towards the hill. The cloud was very low here, and while the wind was much easier at lower levels, visibility was not wonderful.

The walk up was quite quick, and we were soon on summit. Again, we managed to find a hollow on one side of the summit just away from the trig point, with the antenna set up on top. Bar a few walkers braving the cold and wind, it was very quiet.

This time we set up on vhf, with hf as a backup. Calls came in quite quickly and we both had the summit qualified in ten minutes. We managed a few more contacts after this before the weather finally started to come in, the wind picked up and it started with the wet stuff. I took a couple more calls, but we wanted to get down before getting drenched, so I called it. Sorry if there were any stations still waiting to contact us. We packed away with the wind getting stronger and were soon heading back down.

It didn’t take long to get back to the car, and we headed home... luckily we missed the worst of the bad weather which started as we left the mountain. I’m so glad we were not up there when it came in.

Many thanks to the stations that answered our calls and called us. Also, again, apologies to anyone that we missed at the end.

73, Ian 2W0IWM/p and Mal GW6OVD/p

GW/SW-010 Craig y Llyn

Quick activation report for GW/SW-010 Craig y Llyn (600m IO81er 4+3pts).

Mal (GW6OVD) once more rescued me for an hour out. From the start, the weather looked... damp? (Persistently raining). But... it was seven more points, and local.

Today’s target was SW-010 Craig y Llyn. Driving up... more rain.., heavy rain... I started to doubt our sanity, but Mal said it would be easing off at the summit. In fairness, it did. It stopped raining! Yay. It snowed instead...

The route to this one is an easy walk up the access roads for the wind farm. The track is good and fast going. Of note, take care if your going up there, as we were passed by a number of large logging trucks, tractors etc, all giving us a friendly wave. Stay to the sides of the tracks, as they can be hard to hear with the wind.

Once at the top of the track, it’s a little right turn into the forestry and within a minute, your at the trig point. Though sheltered, we opted to operate at the far end, overlooking the valley (though not today as it was full of cloud).

The trees can make vhf difficult in some directions, but it was chosen to start the activation, with hf as a backup. As we set up, it started to rain again... so we huddled under the trees and pulled Mal’s umbrella over the radio.

The first couple of CQ calls gained us two contacts, and with a little more work, we soon had the summit qualified. Then... the snow started. Heavy, fluffy snow. Yes, we must be mad! Huddled under the trees, in the snow, calling CQ 😂 (actually, it was good fun). After 7 contacts, things went quiet, so we went QRT and packed up.

The walk down was uneventful, and quite picturesque with snow clinging to the trees. Of course... the skies then cleared and we had nice views and blue sky! (Though it didn’t last long).

Thanks to all those that answered our calls. Catch you on the next outing.

GW/SW-009 Mynydd Troed and GW/SW-015 Mynydd Llangorse

Mal (GW6OVD) rescued me for a couple of hours so I could get a little fresh air, so we headed towards the Brecon Beacons intending to activate SW-009, SW-015 and SW-13 Tor-y-Foel.

An early start saw a cold morning with quite a bit of fog locally, but this seemed to lift as we headed towards the parking spot between the the first two summits.

On arrival, we found an empty Parking spot and it was blue sky sunny! with just a little ice and ground frost. The track and later “steps” up to Mynydd Troed are a particular favourite of mine... in a racing heart kind of way, so Mal pushed on ahead and I played catch up.

The steps section was particularly bad, with a lot of very slippery mud on the foot holds. Mal had no issue, but I found it hard going with my larger mass... I ended up walking up the clumps of heather. Slow, but safe. Take care if your heading up there in the near future. Once at the top, the remaining path to the summit was fairly good.

On MY arrival (some minutes behind my companion) Mal was already setting up (Hard week... my excuse), so I joined in to get the pole set up with guy lines and slim Jim. Mal was trying out his new Yaesu FT-857... but we immediately found we had an issue. The N type to SO259 was not to be seen, and mine was on my 857... and I didn’t bring my transceiver! ok. Umm... we were early on summit to the time on our posted Alert, so a quick swap around and we set up my Icom handset on the antenna.

Hard going... yes. 5w vhf from these two hills is hard work, but after a lot of calling and chasing we picked up 5 contacts as far afield as the Isle of Wight and Lancs... plus a summit to summit in North Wales, but virtually nothing local. The gear worked. Just hard for VHF.

We called it at that point having qualified the summit, so we packed up and headed down, trying a little detour to avoid the steps on the way down. It worked, but was 3x the distance. I’ll slide down on my rear next time.

Back to the car, we had a quick coffee, found the right adaptor for the 857 and then started to walk up SW-015.

The walk up this one is shorter and not at the same angle as Troed, and while the ground had quite a bit of frost in places, it was easy going as most of the mud was frozen or at least very firm.

We soon arrived in the activation zone and set up on some convenient rocks. This time, the 857 was brought into action on 2m and we called... and called... and called... now Llangrose is known to be a pain with VHF activations, but we have always found it fairly easy. Today, no. The gear was working fine, but after an hour and only 3 contacts, it was plan B and HF time. 20m was fired up and after 2 calls, Mal made contact with a string of US stations. I took over, and added a couple of contacts to qualify the summit. Wow...  too close to a fail there.

Down was an easy stroll. Sadly, time had gone on, and I had to head back home, so activation no 3 didn’t happen this time. It’s planned for next time out.

Lessons? Spare adaptors kept in our bags. Handset makes a great backup in a pinch.

Many thanks to the stations that answered our calls.

GW/MW-001 Plynlimon Pen Pumlumon Fawr 753m 6pts 

13th November 2019

Mal GW6OVD fancied a change today and wanted to head up into mid Wales. The target was MW-001 Plynlimon Fawr. The last time I did this summit with him, we walked from the farm Parking spot, in a blizzard... so while the photos we managed were spectacular, I didn’t get to see much of the scenery.

Today’s weather was looking much better. Snow was forecast, but only really in the later afternoon, so we hoped to miss it. It’s quite a drive up to the start point from our QTH near Mountain Ash, but traffic was light and we were parked up and sorting equipment by 9.50am Zulu.

Today’s start point was from the Nant-y-Moch reservoir side. Having seen the OS map for this area, I had a good idea of the upcoming terrain...

The first part of the walk takes us up an access track that leads up to the Llyn Llygad Rheidol reservoir. At SN 77807 87653, we turned off the access track, and started up the hillside following the path that runs parallel with the river.

This becomes a little steeper and very boggy / slippery. After topping the first rise, the summit came into sight, and from there, it was a matter of following the path until reaching the bottom of the small ridge running to the summit itself.

This last part is quite steep and slow going, but Mal the mountain goat was up it in a shot. I admit, I was a little slower. This last section took about 15 mins for me, but there are many footholds and steps cut into the path to help the winded walker.

Hitting the top of the ridge brought me out on the summit, with a view of the trig point and the two summit shelters. Mal was already setting up the antenna pole, so I grabbed a couple of photos, then helped set up the gear.

The weather was kind. Some cloud, some blue sky, a mild wind, it’s the temperature at around 3-5°c out of the wind (about -2° with wind chill). Though dry, it was gradually becoming more overcast.

After setting up, we were soon on air on the FTM-400XDE calling out on 145.500 fm. Contacts came in steadily and we piggy backed on the calls until we had both qualified the summit. With our 4 calls each logged and out of the way, we enjoyed the next 40 or so minutes taking calls as they came, including a summit to summit call.

Timing worked out well, as the calls dried up as the temperature dropped considerably. We packed up, and after a quick equipment check, we started back down the mountain. My descent was almost quicker than Mal’s after I managed to go head over tit on a steep section... I wish Mal had caught it on camera 😂 trying to get up found a twisted ankle. No damage, but it did slow us down a little heading back to the car.

The rest of the walk down was uneventful. A cracking activation with great views and good weather. I’m looking forward to the next one.

Many thanks to all of the chasers and other activators for the contacts.

73s, Maldwyn GW6OVD and Ian 2W0IWM 

GW/MW-025 and GW/SW-041

Well, firstly, I would like to offer an apology. The SOTA blog for Aberdare and District Amateur Radio Society has been left idle for quite some time. However, with a little encouragement from other members, the blog will now be updated every time any of the team venture out. 

There have been many activation's since the last entry on here, and it may be possible to add these in the future, but for now, the blog will be updated with any current activation's from this date. 

Also please note. We have a new club website where you can find the latest news and events happening at the AADARS Club. 

Aberdare and District amateur Radio Society

Wednesday 18th September 2019

The AADARS SOTA guys have been at it again. Maldwyn GW6OVD and myself (Ian 2W0IWM) left home quite early on Wednesday the 18th to give our legs a little stretch.

We didn’t really have any specific summits in mind, so after checking the SOTA alerts to see who was out and about, we settled on GW/MW-025 The Begwns and GW/SW-041, Black Mountain, with 025 being a unique for me. These didn’t clash with any other operators and gave us the chance of some summit to summit contacts.

GW/MW-025 The Begwns. 415m IO82jc. 1pt. 

Well, it’s fair to say there are some easy summits out there, and the Begwns is one. The summit is located about half a mile from the parking spot, and the ascent is quite gentle and pleasant. This is a good point for the inclusivity of the SOTA scheme.

The trig point is located to the side of a large circular stone walled enclosure, which has a semi circular stone bench within! No sit mat required on this one.

We arrived at the summit and set up our gear so we could sit on the bench while operating. A few calls started things rolling, and we both qualified in short order. Quick apology, I was distracted, and didn’t take any operating photos on this one. Only a couple on the way up. We chatted to a few walkers and explained what we were doing, then it was back to the car for a drive to Black mountain.

GW/SW-041 Black Mountain 703m IO82ka 6pts

I haven’t activated Black mountain for a while, and I’d forgotten its charm. Mal soon reminded me with a full frontal assault from the car part, meeting the diagonal path around 3/4 of the way up. My thigh muscles love you Mal! 

Shortly before reaching the top, we switched back along another diagonal track, bringing us out closer to the path we needed for the actual summit.

Once on top, we set a decent pace, and were soon on the summit. We set up on VHF once more and calls came in quickly on both 2m and 70cm. It was a glorious day, and we didn’t rush, taking a good page or more of contacts.

Of note was our company throughout the activation... I thought at first we were being chased by horse flies, but it turns out they were little bees drunk on heather nectar. We both had them all over us, but there was no harm caused. After a closing flurry of 2m calls that Mal let me take solo... it was a quick pack away, check of gear and descent to the car park. See the bees on Mal below!

We did intend to try for a third summit on the way home, but operator wear and tear during the black mountain decent made us think better of it.

All in all, a fabulous day with beautiful weather. Many thanks to the chasers and fellow activators for the contacts.

73, Mal GW6OVD and Ian 2W0IWM