(Dec) Radio Days……

The end of another years radio work, a hobby ? it could be if I slowed things down.

The year was covered in my two-part 2012 Retrothingy posts (see bottom of this post for links).

Let’s get going…

SOTA..

No activations more due to the weather which for most part was rain, rain and more rain. There were a few hardy souls venturing out on to the summits and as you will read, it turned out into the ‘Iain WJZ show’, all those months ‘Down Under’ yearning for the rain-soaked hills of Scotland ?. Mad I say.

Ben Donich trig point

Without further adieu, here is the ‘chasing’ bit..

On the first day of the month, three stations took to the summits. I headed to my usual Lurg Moor area trig and as I arrived I worked the aforementioned Iain to the north of me on Ben Challum. I knew fellow blogger Graeme 2MØGIL was heading to Ben Donich and although I could have worked Iain and Graeme from home with no problems, I thought time to get out and have the cobwebs blown away.

Whilst waiting on Graeme, Bob AWV turned up on Beinn Ruadh which was to the WNW of me on the Cowal peninsula, I could see the summits of both Donich and Ruadh from my location. Donich had a fair covering of snow as I found out when finally making contact with Graeme plus I knew the dangers of this hill in the snow. Fissures abound on the upper slopes adjacent to the path. The day was over as I finished working Graeme so it was the long way home.

The following day I caught Iain on Glas Maol, the highest point of the Mounth Hills and a part of the Glenshee Ski Centre plus the county top of Angus. I had used the beam from the home QTH to catch Iain and nab a good contact at 130km plus.

The following weekend, Iain was on Tullich Hill in the Glen Douglas area, a hill I then pencilled in for my first activation of ’13 (weather changed the venue). Two days later, Iain crossed to the east side of Loch Lomond and climbed the ‘Ben.

To finish December and ’13, I spoke with Iain on Ben Ledi and after a call from Steve UAU saying that Colwyn YCJ was on Meall an t-Seallaidh, a Corbett to the west of Loch Earn. A quick word with both and my SOTA year was finished as I missed those who headed out on Boxing Day. I had taken my packed rukkie to on my Xmas NE visit but King’s Seat will have to wait until another day, it was the hill that started off the discussion about ‘white’ trig points HERE.

Tullich Hill from Glen Douglas © Neil 2MØNCM

HF…

I spent most time using JT65 with the odd visit to the JT9-1 frequencies. I did return to PSK on occasion. A couple of new DXCC‘s in Iraq and Lebanon and the continuing search to work States to get my WAS, I’ve still 16 to go, I’m in for a long haul I think.

JT 9-1 still has some activity but I seem to ‘miss’ it…

Other..

I did more work with the dongle SDR stuff as I had ordered a upconverter (see image) to use in with the 820 tuner chip. I set up everything one evening when the HF bands were quiet and after following this short instructional video HERE, I was listening to AM stations in the 49m band area. I’ve packed all away as other things have taken up my time but I must return and do more work in this area to follow-up the earlier posts on SDR. This being able to incorporate the HF band opens up all sorts of possibilities. Looking forward to it..

SDR dongle earlier posts –  HERE and HERE

Upconverter available from HERE plus all documentation is HERE.

2012…Retrothingy posts – Pt 1 and the last bit

Upconvertor for SDR dongle

New contributor..

As you will have seen in the earlier blog post, Lance Mhor has joined us to regale us with stories of the saddle although he informs me that the present saddle could do him some damage, the blog has since purchased him a new gel one to ease the pain.

I’m sure you will as a regular reader remember the post where Bob’s rucksack wrote a guest post but if not the post is HERE

Retro…

Click Pt 1 HERE and Pt 2 HERE

Believe me, it is seriously worth a look….

A big 10.10, good buddies or ‘Root Toot am oot !!’

Once again, thanks goes to Wikipedia, Peakbagger and to Neil 2MØNCM for allowing me the use of his atmospheric image of Tullich Hill.

To embiggen images, click on image.

Beinn Dòmhnaich’…a return

We left my house and headed towards the usual route to Loch Lomondside where we took the road to Arrochar at Tarbet, Loch Long was quickly left as we headed up the famous A82 ‘Rest and Be Thankful‘ road until the Lochgoilhead turn off.

Activation of Ben Donich UHF Fun Day 27th March 2011

Ben Donich, a ‘Corbett‘ located due south of its more famous neighbours across Glen Croe, the Arrochar Alps of Ime, Narnain, Luibnean and ‘The Cobbler’ (Ben Arthur). The hill name literally translates to ‘Brown Hill’ but other theories lead to a possible link with St. Donan, a disciple connected with St. Columba or the opposite ‘Dona‘ which could translate as ‘Evil’. Intriguing !

The route steadily climbs up the North Ridge which starts at the junction of Glen Croe and Allt Glinne Mhor. You park in  a Forestry Commission car park about 600m from the junction of the B828 Lochgoilhead and the top of the ‘Rest and Be Thankful’, the trek starts along a forest track when you meet the signpost which points you to head steeply up towards a gate where the hill walk starts ‘properly’, a relentless climb upwards towards the summit in which there is an odd level break from the almost non stop climb. One hour in to the ascent, we stopped for a welcome ‘scran’ break, watered and refreshed we headed onwards, a few false summits later you reach the ‘Scramble’ which is self-explanatory, you now descend down a rock ‘wall’  of 15 to 20 feet in height, the hand holds are excellent although care would need taken when rock is wet.

Yer Man on the Scramble

Once again after you get through what is in geological terms called a ‘ Rock Slope Failure’ plus you must also avoid the ‘fissures’ next to the path, you now steadily climb to the summit plateau  topped by a trig point.

The weather had not been what the Met Office had forecasted for the area, there was a strong breeze racing up Allt Glinne Mhor as we set out and as we headed up, the weather steadily deteriorated to a ‘smirry‘ wet cloudy day and we had spoken with a lone walker who had headed on up past us and was now on her descent informed us the wind was strong and it was cold on the top. Mmmm.

We kept on until we eventually reached the plateau and trig point. We took shelter behind rocks to keep the chilling wind at bay, we had arrived earlier than our proposed ‘alert’ so it was time for a quick scran break before getting active on the radios. Visibility was poor.

I set up the 5 element beam first and called out on 70cm FM ( as it was a UHF Fun Day), I quickly had a reply from Steve UAU in Greenock followed by a call from Eric FSZ in the south Ayrshire area. Next was a welcome STS (summit to summit) contact with fellow blogger Graeme  on Sgiath a’Chaise, I also made the contact on 2m with Graeme. I called but no more takers so it was time to try my other band of choice, 4m FM, I instantly made the trip into Paisley to Robert IZC and after a quick QSO it was time to take a break.

After a short break it was back on to 4m where I next contacted Alan, XXP in Larkhall, a good contact as Alan was only using his handie with its  ‘Rubber Duck’ from his house.

Lastly I made contact on 70cm FM with blog regular, Robin PKT who was on the summit of Meall Ghaordaidh. I spent the rest of the time having a look round the summit area and marvelling at the fantastic views as with the cold air the clarity was excellent. I could see to the SW, Arran, Bute, the Cumbraes, the Paps of Jura, the hills of Islay, Ben More on Mull and coming round clockwise, Ben Cruachan, Ben Starav, Stob an Eas, Beinn Bhuidhe, Beinn Oss, the Arrochar Alps, Ben Vorlich, Ben More ( Crainlarich), Ben Lomond and too many more to mention….a panorama of snow-capped peaks in a 270 degree vista. This makes the journey more worthwhile. It was getting past mid afternoon when we broke down our stations and packed everything away, we headed back down and as we left the activation zone, Jack COX called out on 2m FM so first, Roddy then myself made the contact as we descended, the ‘scramble’ was negotiated and it was a steady walk down the path which surprising was dry although the weather had been reasonably dry the week running up to this activation. We reached the gate and a quick walk down the track where we had parked Roddy’s Land Rover, a last look at Donich and the Brack from our drive down the’ Rest and Be Thankful’, an hour later we were back in Inverclyde.

Once again, an enjoyable dual activation with Roddy, he once again slowed down to my pace whilst ascending and laughed at my rotten jokes. Thanks !

This hill has more to offer than just a slog up a well-worn path, the views from the summit are breathtaking plus ‘the scramble’ adds a bit of spice and avoiding the deep fissures which run along the path on occasions, it is advisable to avoid this hill in the snow for this reason. Sadly as recent as 2005, a walker lost his life by falling into one of the aforementioned crevasses on their descent (input from Neil 2MØNCM).

I will be back.

Photos of ‘Yer man on the Scramble’ and ‘Donich Ascent’ © Roddy 2MØIOB

A massive thanks to Wikipedia once again for all the linking material.

Information Overload

Ben Donich

My previous Ben Donich blog Post <HERE>

Picasa set <HERE>

GPX file of ascent <HERE>

Donich Ascent

The Brack

Yer Man on the Scramble

Beinn an Lochain with left Beinn Bhuidhe and right Ben Oss

Looking to Stob an Eas

Looking back to Inverclyde

Lochgoilhead

Loch Goil with the Firth of Clyde

Loch Fyne with Ben More on Mull in the background

Ben Lomond

Ben Cruachan

Beinn Ime

The SOTA activation venue is…..

Ben Venue….

a hill in the Trossachs area of Scotland of just under 2,800ft in height.

Roddy 2M0IOB had offered an invitation to go activate another hill and the hill of choice was Ben Venue.

Activation of Ben Venue GM/SS 058 5/3/2011

As always the weather forecast was watched closely from mid week onwards and it was looking as if fair conditions could be had. They got it completely wrong !

We left my house and headed the well-worn roads towards Loch Lomond, a run through Balloch then heading and bypassing Drymen then N to Aberfoyle before heading up over the Dukes Pass before dropping down in the Loch Achray area, in normal conditions, Venue would be showing to the SW but as the day would have it, the hill was hidden under cloud, the forecast had promised that this would clear around midday. We parked at the official car park at NN 506068.

A quick look at the notice board before getting kitted up, a last-minute equipment check and off we set, the start is through roughly pathed woodland until you meet the road which heads to Loch Katrine, where an alternative parking space with room for a couple of cars is at NN 500068 ( next time !!).

Setting off on the Water Board road until you reach the bridge over Achray Water, there are some good photographic opportunities in this area. As you follow the paths noting the blueish green markers, you criss cross paths until you reach open countryside and find the Venue path at NN499055, the path takes you through a scarred landscape of earlier tree felling until you reach forest proper again, steadily rising until you suddenly leave the forest and head on to open land following the broken path and avoiding as we did, the glaur.

At this part of the walk, we met a few walkers heading the same route, a group that we spoke to had mentioned to us that they had no maps or compasses, not a very good decision on a day when the mist was at best 40m visibility. We next met them at the top of the first scramble where they had decided to go no further, a wise choice as the mist was now closing down.

Regular checks of the GPS and Roddy’s OS phone app showed we were on the correct route and  slowly but steadily we rose higher but with no summit in sight.

It is up there somewhere

The path then headed steeply and with conditions being damp, the rock was slippy as I later found out. Slow progress by me on the steep sections was also hindered by snow patches along the route.

There was still no sign of any of the twin summits until we came across the higher of the two, which is 2m higher but the lower summit with the trig point was roughly 300m away but we got no sight of it.

It was time to catch my breath and set up the mast with my antenna of choice, the 4m JPole.

I called and instantly I worked Duncan, AHL/m who was near Lenzie. Duncan was my first 4m contact on my previous activation. I kept calling CQ but couldn’t raise a whisper. A break for scran whilst listening to Roddy working stations on 2m, I decided to build up the beam and give the 70cm band a go. I could get a signal for my phone but no matter how I tried I could not get any data connection which would have let me self spot on the SOTA pages.

An enthusiastic Bob at summit

I called out on the FM part of the 70cm band and Fred GOV in Dunlop returned my call then and after a quick qso I was called by Brian HMZ from Howwood, an exchange of info and I then heard Roddy working Bob, AWV/P on Beinn Dubh, I also worked Bob who was on 2m FM so at least one ‘Summit to Summit’ was in the log. I then gave a call out on my 4m handie and Ray, NZI from the NW end of Glasgow came back and had a quick QSO with me. I tried calling again on 4m but nothing.

It was back to 70cms again, Paul, PJD/m who was heading to pick up Robert, GUF and then walk up Tinto and play radio, unfortunately we would be well off the hill by the time they would be on air. A call from Brian, XQJ near Falkirk was next in the log, followed by James, WER/p who was to the south of Paisley in a local car park. The next contact was the most distant one, Eric, FSZ from Girvan and finally, my last contact, one of eight on 70cms was Ian, ISM in Irvine.

Most surprisingly 70cms proved the best band to work today, I had expected 4m to produce more as the take off to the south was excellent, I think a spot on the SOTA spot page would have probably helped. I had decided on the 4m and 70cms bands and to leave Roddy to work 2m, ‘chasers’ can only receive points from one operator in a dual activation.

We even had a quick attempt by the sun to shine through but not to be. Time to get packed and head back down, we had noted where it could be easier to head down grassy sections as the rocks were slippy. Taking summit photos before we left, Roddy added a stone to the cairn. We descended slowly until we reached the level ground before working our way down the rocky scramble area, scramble may be too dramatic to describe this but in the wet conditions, care had to be taken.

Heading down the section which leads back to the forested area, the mist started to lift slightly and as we walked towards the wooded area, we could hear and occasionally see two buzzards on the crags. Once on the forest path, the glaur disappears, these paths back to the car park are in excellent condition. We stopped for a quick scran break then headed down, Roddy stopped at the bridge over Achray Water to take photos but I just headed back to the car and just before the last section, I could heard footsteps running towards me, it was someone jogging the last section, yep IOB was taking the mickey out of me…noted.

Jings ! it would be Roddy 2M0IOB himself

Back at the car park, the light was dropping quickly, our kit was stowed away and we headed back to civilisation.

Another great dual activation done with Roddy, who I must thank again for the invite and the gentle goading to get me to the top. Did I mention his snowfield escapade ? I’ll leave that to him. Roddy’s blog post of the trip is <HERE>

The hill ? conditions obviously were wet, in fact, very wet and it may be only me but I was disappointed I missed the views the hill gives of the Trossachs area. The hill was activated and the surprise of the 70cms activity was well worth the trip.

No panorama video this trip…

Sir Walter Scott mentions the hill in his piece about Loch Katrine

High on the south huge Ben Venue
Down on the lake in masses threw,
Crags, knolls, and mounds, confusedly hurled, The fragments of an earlier world…

Information Overload…

Ben Venue means ‘ mountain of the cave ‘

The Gaelic name ….. ‘A’ Bheinn Mheanbh’

Ben Venue is 727m  or 2,385 ft ASL

Geohack info <HERE>

(December) Radio Days

VHF….

Last month of 2010 and still 2m is relatively quiet, I did have a few calls occasionally on 70cms, both FM and SSB but nothing. I had the usual occasional QSO on 2m.

SOTA…

No activations but a busy, busy month with two new Scottish Mountain Goat activators, first to reach 1,000 pts was Iain, WJZ who built up to reaching his points total with an activation on snow covered Ben Cruachan, a fitting hill on which to achieve the total. Later in the month after multiple December activations, Allan BJP also reached the magic total with a visit to Binnean Nan Gobhar, east of Loch Lomond. Neil NCM headed North late in the month to visit Tullich Hill.

Ben Lomond summit from the Ptarmigan Ridge

My first points of the month came from Iain, WJZ who was on a snowbound Ben Lomond, one week later, Iain was on Hart Fell, this time I had nipped up to the trig point on my local hill, 650 ft ASL. Iain was on Earls Seat the following day whilst Allan BJP was activating Beinn Bhreac at roughly the same time of day.

The following Saturday, Allan BJP activated a trio of Luss Hills, Beinn Eich, Doune Hill and lastly Cruach an t-Sidhean, the weather at times on this activation sounded pretty uncomfortable but Allan had walked out through Glen Luss. The next day, Iain WJZ qualified  Ben Cruachan, a hill unusually not overly activated, his 1,000pts had been achieved.

Near the end of the month, BJP crept nearer the 1,000pts with a visit of Beinn Dubh.

Neil NCM finally headed north and activated Tullich Hill whilst 60 mins later that day, Alan achieved his 1,000pts on activating Binnean Nan Gobhar.

A great month for ‘chasing’ but also to see the fourth and fifth SOTA Scottish ‘Mountain Goat’ awards being achieved.

HF….

Nothing different from the recent previous months, basically roamed the bands from 40m to 12m. European contacts in the main, new DXCC in Corsica. A quiet month for me on HF.

WSPR..

I did almost no WSPR work in December although a look on occasion to see what was happening in the forum.

Odds….

Have a few irons in the fire , hopefully get these going in late January