Beinn Chaorach GM/SS-062

Right where do I start.  Try and remember the wordpress logon and password would be a good way to progress.

Back in the hills, and glad to be there.  It’s been an awful long time since I managed to get myself up a SOTA hill, not that I’ve been sitting on my hands, just not doing any stuff of note.  I had been up a wee hill behind Dunoon recently, but not big enough to qualify for SOTA status, but a nice wander anyway.  Managed to chase Robin PKT from there, so the day was not wasted.  Being busy with this or that, I had not managed to get up any summits, but had planned a joint/separate activation with Bobby GAX, which had to be cancelled unfortunately.  So, what is a joint/separate activation you ask, well we had planned on traveling together to a certain location, then split up and do separate hills.

As the year tramped on, few occasions occurred when we could both manage an outing together, but with International SOTA weekend looming, what better time for my first SOTA activation of 2012?  The joint/separate activation of Beinn a’Mhanaich and Beinn Chaorach was on.  Bob was to to a’Mhanaich as he is quite fond of it, and it is one of his ‘”boomerang” hills which he keeps going back to – 4 times now.  I was to tackle Chaorach as I’d never done it before, so it would be another unique for me.

International SOTA Weekend was to be 05/06 May 2012, so on the Thursday evening we decided it was a go-er.  The WX was to be fine to start, with a bit of high level cloud to come in later, but only 4mph winds – ideal WX for heading out.    Saturday Dawned bright and cloudless as promised by the Met’ office.  I was up with the lark, or the dogs at least and found myself surprisingly on time for a change.  My Highlander 33 having been packed the previous evening after an overtime shift at work, it was a simple matter of jumping in the Landy, stopping at Tesco for a chit and crisps then off to pick up Bobby at his chosen spot.  Only 3 minutes later than planned, he had hoisted himself aboard the SOTA waggon and we were off.

The usual route of M8, Erskine bridge, A82 and then onto the ex MOD road (A817) saw us heading up Glen Fruin with a bit of high cloud rolling in above.  We sussed out a parking spot for the Landy then I dropped GAX at the foot of his chosen hill.  The red flags were flying on the Strone indicating that the firing range was in use.  A load of Police vans – probably MODPLOD – were parked up at the range, and the sound of firing could indeed be heard.  To my untrained ear it sounded rather large calibre rounds that were being used, not just the usual crack of a smaller cartridge, more a booming thud type noise.  Anyway, the bullets have been trained to fall from the sky where they meet the line of warning notices and red flags on the Strone, so as long as Bob stayed to the right hand side, he would live to activate another summit.  We made arrangements to be in contact via PMR radio frex and I left to head back to Chaorach.  Once at my parking spot of which there are plenty – good solid verge that keeps the whole car off the road and behind the solid white line at the side of the road just at BALLYVOULIN farm – I got my pack on, picked up my radios and soon I was off having started the Endomondo tracker on my phone.  For those with a smart phone, this free app’ ( paid for version is only slightly better ) is invaluable.  It tracks your progress, mileage, speed, average speed, split times which can be miles or Kms and even talks to you after each mile to tell you your lap time!  Even more, your XYL, or indeed anyone who cares, can track your progress more or less real time with about 1 minute delay.  They just go to the Endomondo site and find you.  I would imagine it being very handy in a rescue situation if the authorities can pinpoint your location quickly – or at least the location of your phone – and I’m sure there will be stories out there of this having been done.

Anyway, back to the hill.  You enter a sheep field ( Beinn Chaorach means hill of the sheep ) at roughly 295-888 on OS Explorer map 347 and basically head straight up.  Your objective is a gate at the top left hand corner of this field beside the small wooded area on your left.  By the time you reach this gate, you will notice that you are following a quad track, and the rest of the walk pretty much follows this track.  Your first objective is to reach the top of Auchengaich Hill which is the end of the steepest part of the walk and the worst is now behind you now.  A gentle stroll down a bealach and up onto Beinn Tharsuinn marked by a cairn.  I chose this as a resting point and to have a look about using my laest toy – a 10×50 Barr&Stroud Sprite monocular.  This inexpensive ( £40 odd ) spy glass is waterproof and nitrogen purged to stop it from fogging, so is ideal for up the hill.  It comes with a tabletop tripod, but can also be mounted on anything with a standard tripod mount – like my Leki stick which has the mount hidden inside the handle.  The Sprite is rubber armoured for ruggedness, and was a joy to have with me.  Obviously a decent pair of binoculars to the same spec’ would be better, but are also twice the price, and twice the size and weight of the monocular.  I spent nearly 20 minutes looking back at my home town, looking down the river to Ailsa Craig and up towards Paisley and beyond.    It had been noticed by Bob and myself that there were the odd snow flakes falling, and we chatted on the PMR discussing this and our progress.  I had also contacted jack GM4COX on 2m on his summit of the day and he commented that there was the odd flake there too.  Indeed, on closer inspection I noticed that there was still some ice on a couple of minor puddles on the hillside.

Despite the coldish temp’s. the ground was not firm, and the odd soft / wet patch showed itself where there was water sitting about on mossy areas.  With a slight bit of forward thinking, these areas were easily avoided and your feet can stay dry on your way to the top.  At one point, the mushy underfoot conditions were ‘jooked’ by merely stepping over the low fence away from the quad track and following the way up on the untouched and uncut ground.

The final push to the top is short and enjoyable and sees you on a largish flattish top with a fence running over roughly North / South..   The trig point is on the East side of the fence which is easily stepped over to reach your goal.  Endomondo showed my distance to be 2.69 miles in 1 hr 50 mins. Bobby had already summited his chosen hill and was on 4m by the time I got to the top.  We had a quick STS on PMR, which may be a first (?) before I got my 3 ele SOTA beam set up and attached the mounting pole to one of the fence posts.  My operating position was lying on the grass beside the trig point which was very pleasant when the sun was shining.  Once on 2m, my first contact was to Bobby GAX and my first of 3 STS’s of the day were in the bag.  I was using the new ‘Q’ identifier on my call sign which is available just now to celebrate 60 years of HM The Queen on the throne. This made me 2Q0IOB/p for the day.   It caused a bit of confusion and tongue slips during the day, and at least one chaser had to change his logging program to accommodate the new call.

The contacts came in reasonably fast to start with.  After Bobby, I spoke to :-

Bob AWV, Eunice UVL, Kai AUF and George YUI who were all /p in Ardgowan Estate near Inverkip with a scouting get together.  Theirs, along with most signals during the day were recorded as 5/9.  Next up was Jack COX with my second STS.  Jack was on SS-070 Blackcraig Hill which is down near New Cumnock.  He had spent most of the morning there with a small shelter to keep off the wind, and was working HF as well as 2m.  Next in the log was Christine YMM in Edinburgh.  She was one of my further contacts of the day.  Good as the signals were, they seemed to stop at the border with nothing outside GM land contacted.  There were stations on hills which I SHOULD have been able to work, but not this time.  After Christine, came – no, not Ken as you would normally expect – it was Allan GVX in Callander.  He was up on holiday and was using just 1w from a handie with a failing battery, so it was nice to make the contact.  We had a good gab, but it was time to move on to more contacts.  STS number 3 was with Robin PKT on WS-032 which is Chno Dearg and is as far North as Fort William, but a bit more Easterly.  More contacts followed in the guise of Stuart OXQ, Alan MWX, Mr 59+ Steve UAU, Scott CLQ, Alan XXP, Joe FTJ, Fred GOV, Brian HMZ, John OIN, Andy USU and my last one of the day Bill VCV in Alloa.  20 Contacts made this one of my busier activations, and certainly plenty to be logging into the SOTA site at the end of the day – although I did forget to put UAU in my SOTA log of contacts oops.

Just as I was starting to pack up, my only visitors to the summit arrived.  A middle aged couple who had started out late, had made good time to the top.  As he got his jacket out to put it on for a bit of extra warmth, she stripped down to her underwear to change!  Not something that you see every day on the hills, but it certainly brightened up my day. There had been quite a noticeable change in the temp’ once the cloud had covered the sun so it was as good a time as any to prepare to head back.  Once everything was packed away it was time for the off.  I was in contact with Bobby on the way down via 2m this time as the batteries in my PMR set were done, and I’d brought AAA replacements instead of AA ones – doh.

The return journey was the same as the upward one, but the views are always that bit better on the way down as it’s easier to see them, rather than the ‘hill ahead’ view of the upward journey.  Bobby informed me of an Army march taking place, but I never spotted a bit of it as it must have passed my hill by the time I got down.  Once back at the car, Endomondo showed me to have covered 2.68 miles in 1 hr 15 mins.   Having forgotten to bring my trainers to change into, I set off driving to pick up GAX.  I found him sitting at the side of the road enjoying the nice WX, but soon we were on our way home.  82.5 miles was my round trip driving, and a great day out was had by all concerned.  Once home, I discovered my SOTA chasing wasn’t quite over for the day.  Craig 2M0HCF was out on Hill of Stake, camping and taking in the sights of a ‘Super Moon’.  The points duly collected, It was time for a beer.

Doggy forecast.  As mentioned, the name translates as Hill of the Sheep, and indeed it was the case on the lower slopes.  Your four legged companion would enjoy this walk if kept on a lead for the lower part, and there is plenty of space to roam about further up without finding any dangerous edges.  just watch out though as the sheep might venture further up the hill after lambing etc, so you might want to keep fido on an extendable lead if his recall isn’t the best.

Ben More GM/SI-003

Another Ben More, albeit with a different spelling from the previous one -Beinn Mhor.

This is the tale of two planned weekends on Mull, One spectacularly successful, the other not so. It all started some time ago when I mentioned to my two favorite activating buddies that a weekend away to somewhere a bit further afield than our usual activating radius would be good. Bobby GAX and Patsy UPG both agreed so we set to work organizing something . To keep the costs down, a camping type weekend was envisaged, and with this in mind it was decided that Autumn time would give us the best chance to escape the dreaded Scottish Midge. With these criteria, and looking for something just a wee bit different, we settled on the idea of heading to the Isle of Mull and activating Ben More – the only island Munro outside Skye.

Saturday 10th September was looking like the best date for us, so it was duly booked up with Shieling holidays in Craignure on Mull. We would be staying in a shieling – basically a canvas house with hot&cold water, a shower and WC and cooking facilities. Maps etc were bought ( Explorer 375 for Ben More and 373 and 374 to cover the rest of the Island ) and bags packed in the run up to the weekend. The Tues’, Wed’ and Thurs’ before the big weekend found yours truly off work with the runs. Feeling better I went back to work on the Friday and looked forward to the next day – one more sleep ’till SOTAEX2011. The Saturday morning found me back to square one as far as my guts were concerned and I had to inform the guys that I would not be going unless I could drive sitting on a commode. Very decently they decided to postpone the holiday for another time instead of going without me. The following week was spent in bed recuperating with a Doctors line explaining my absence to my work. As it turned out, Scotland was battered by the tail end of a hurricane that had crossed the Atlantic from the USA that weekend and the WX took a dramatic turn for the worse. So, that was the unsuccessful weekend, although looking back on it a dose of the runs has never been so well timed as the weekend would have been a wash out.

Once back at work, I quickly arranged another weeks holiday and soon we were all booked up for heading to Mull on Saturday 1st October. With us all having our packs pretty much ready to go, there was little to do in the way of organizing things this time. The week before the 1st had a few very good days, but the WX was forecast to break for the weekend again. Unperturbed, off I set to pick up GAX and UPG at their homes and once the landy was loaded to the roof – not kidding – we attended at Tesco in Port Glasgow to fill the thirsty animal with Diesel. The road to Oban for our ferry took us through Inveraray and past some excellent looking future SOTA hills such as Ben Cruachan. We arrived in plenty time for the 11:55 sailing to Mull so a quick trip to Tesco saw us filling up with last minute goodies like breakfast packs and sweets. Back to the car and we were soon boarding the MV Isle of Mull for the 45 minute trip to Craignure where the ship spills out its huge load of passengers and vehicles.

The campsite is approx’ two minutes drive from the ferry terminal and here we got our first taste of radio on the island. Finding the reception desk empty, I looked for a bell to alert someone of our arrival. My attention was drawn to a speaker mike on the wall with the instruction to use it to alert ‘Debbie’ and ask her to attend at reception. This mic is attached to a 446 PMR unit and soon someone – not Debbie, unless she is going through some sort of gender realignment – was heading to deal with us. Initially our accommodation was not ready for us so we went for a drive round to Dhiseig on Loch Na Keal to view our intended target for the next day and to kill some time.

Once in our home for the next few days, a most important task was required to be carried out. We had to toss coins to see who would be sharing a double ‘room’ and who would get a room all to himself. The other two didn’t notice the double headed coins I slipped them so it was no surprise when I ended up with two beds to myself. The accommodation is far from luxurious, but we were not paying top end prices. It was however clean, dry and warm thanks to a portable gas heater and there were power points where the phones could be charged and a table and chairs to relax at.

We took a wander down to the communal tent which has a large table and a television. Only half looking at the telly, I gave a shout out through GB3HI repeater which was located within half a mile or so from us. Running the lowest power setting on the VX7, I was soon in QSO with Robin GM7PKT who stays up Loch Linnhe direction. Robin is Mr SOTA himself and we talked about the following days climbing. Robin would be heading to a lower hill – Beinn Lora, but as it would be line of sight with Ben More, he should be easily contactable. After a couple of beers it was time to turn in.

The Sunday dawned with a lot of cloud, but it looked high enough not to cause too much problem, and it was dry. After a very welcome and tasty heart attack inducing breakfast courtesy of our resident chef -GAX – we were packed up and set off once more round to Dhiseig. There is plenty of space to park many cars here at NM494359. Bobby and Patsy headed off a couple of minutes ahead of my departure time of 10:24 local due to my legendary ‘phaffing’ that accompanies most things I do. The track starts up a well made road towards a couple of cottages but just before you reach the houses there is a sign to point you off the road and onto the grassy hillside. Quickly you come to a large farm gate and once through this you are out on the hill proper. The track here is easyish going, basically you are following the Abhainn Dhiseig – a beautiful wee burn with a load of small rock pools and waterfalls which can supply the thirsty walker with refreshing mountain water. You are walking on grassland here, following a path with some muddy sections which are easily avoided. You cross the burn at NM506345 but there are plenty of rocks and large boulders to help prevent wet feet here. The hill now becomes a bit wetter, and there are many places where you will find yourself walking in the water that supplies the burn. I didn’t even have my gators on and my feet stayed dry, a good pair of boots is essential though if you want to avoid trench foot hihi. The going is slower here but the views down to Loch Na Keal and its islands of Ulva and Eorsa and beyond to North Mull are fantastic. A good few photos were taken along the route and the pace was not frantic.

The track can be thought of as in three sections. The first is up to the burn crossing. The second is from the burn up to a ‘lions back’ nearer the summit and the third is obviously the ‘lions back’ and up onto the summit plateau. As mentioned, this second section could be wet in places and exposed peaty soil can be slippery under foot. There are a few rocky steps to contend with, but these are nothing really. As we were approaching the third section, there was a lot of cloud rolling in from the West. After enjoying the views this far, I would have been annoyed not to get a few pictures from the top. I told the other two that I was going to push on a bit and try and get some pictures before the cloud came in. I set off at a faster pace and started to negotiate the ‘lions back’. Here the surface changed to rock and very loose stone which looks like it has been helicoptered in to cover the track and stop erosion. This was very slack and was like walking on marbles at times, the steepness of this final push not helping any either. I heard Neil 2M0NCM/m talking on S19 so I broke in and told him I should be QRV in about 20 mins. He posted an alert on the SOTA site as I could not get a decent signal on my phone. Once you have struggled up this section there is a very pleasant flatish area for the summit plateau and this is topped by a circular arrangement of stones which would provide shelter from a wind at the summit. I’m not sure what this was for originally, but similar Dun’s are to be found on other hills so it may well have been some form of early lookout post? If anyone knows please let me know.

It had taken 4 hours to cover the 3.1 miles to the summit. The views were outstanding, and the cloud I had been worried about only helped enhance some of the photos as it was below my vantage point and was passing through quickly. After being audibly impressed with the views and the suddenness of the drops from the summit, I got my pack off and settled down on a comfy rock to scan the airwaves for contacts. The VX7 was stuck in a handy gap in the rock and I stretched the speaker mic over to my operating position.

I heard the above mentioned PKT calling S20 so I went in for my first Summit to Summit (STS) of the day. Robin was 5/9+ as you’d expect for a contact only about 10 or so miles away. I was still on the battery I had been using the previous evening and by using 2.5w for most of the activation it lasted all day and then some. Next up was Neil NCM/m in Ballantrae and quickly followed by MI6ETE -Billy in Colerain NI. I have spoken to Billy before and he benefits from having his antenna about 60 feet above the ground on a grain silo at his farm. Again the signals were 5/9+ – not bad for a handie running 2.5w and using a rubber duck antenna. Fellow SOTA activator and Paisley Amateur Radio Club member Brian HMZ was out /m and easily made the contact. The second STS of the day was from Iain WJZ who was on Beinn Chaorach just across the Clyde from my own home QTH and again it was 5/9 signals. Iain’s WX was poor – misty with rain and this confirmed what my XYL had told me in an earlier phone call. We were very lucky with the blue skies, warm sunshine and light breeze we were experiencing. Next in was Jack COX/m who is having his shack remodeled so was out in his car to make the contact as he has no antennas presently connected at home. Another SOTA activator and Club member is Graeme GIL who was also out/m in the car to pass on his best wishes and claim the 6 chaser points for this hill. My second last contact was a booming signal from near Broadford on Skye. Bill RER gabbed to me on 2m but also to Bobby on 4m. Last contact for the day was a lad I have not spoken to for a number of years – Angus MM3BCA on Uist. The last time I spoke to Angus was when I was /m on Barra so we had a good ragchew and when we were done I started breaking down the shack. My last four contacts were with my homebrew 5 ele 2/70 beam that I had put up. I could have made more contacts if I had put out a few CQ calls, but I was happy with my haul and was enjoying the views too much to be bothered calling on the radio for the entire time we were up top.

It was 16:40 when I left the summit, a bit behind the other two, but not by much. I had a quick QSO with Robin on the way down, he mentioned there was a SeaKing helicopter flying past him on his hill, I joked and told him that I had booked it in advance to pluck us off the hill as I didn’t fancy the way back down. I had been the only one without injury when we started the walk, but I managed to strain my right calf muscle about a quarter of a mile in and was hobbling as a result. The unstable scree which was slippery on the way up was treacherous on the descent and I had a few hairy moments as my feet slipped away from under me. I quickly caught up with GAX and UPG and had the usual banter on the way down. Bobby was quicker going down than the rest of us and so it was very dusky as we entered the final third of the track once we had crossed the burn. We were all in radio contact so although Bob was ahead of us, we felt quite safe he was fine. It was black by the time we hit the road from the cottages back down to the car, but being prepared we had torches with us and so this was no obstacle to staying safe on our trek.

We fell into the landy, although UPG had to be levered into the back due to his aches and pains and off we set for ‘home’. Once back in Craignure we headed for the showers. Although we had a shower in the Shieling, UPG and myself headed to the shower block rather than wait our turn for it. Once clean and with fresh clothes on, it was time for some scran which tasted great. A couple of beers and we turned in for the night as we were all a bit tired.

The next day was to be spent doing a bit of HF from Iona, but when we drove down to Fionnphort the rain was bouncing off the motor, and watching the boat do its crossing and looking like a cork bouncing about on the rough seas, we decided to go for a drive round Mull instead. The scenery there is fantastic and changes from North to South and West to East. It was after 5 when we arrived in Tobormory to view the multicoloured main street. The chip van on the pier has a well deserved reputation for fine food as we discovered when we tucked in to our freshly cooked suppers. A drive back down the East coast following the Sound of Mull and we were home. The next day it was up, clean up our digs and head for the ferry for the 10:55 crossing. Patsy headed to a Cafe Bar to get something to eat, only to be told they don’t do food – I think they have the wrong sign above the door of this particular hostelry.

Once aboard, the crossing passed quickly as I met a couple with a Black and a Yellow lab. I spent the time fussing over their dogs and chatting about how we had all enjoyed our stay on Mull. Once in Oban we went up to McCaigs Tower or ‘Folly’ to look down on the town from this 111 year old monument. A safe drive home via Glen Orchy and Loch Lomond and once we filled the motor again in Tesco we were soon splitting the £101 that it had cost us in fuel for our weekend. All in all it was a fantastic weekend with great company (although UPG’s snoring would put a Diesel train to shame) and the weather we got for the climb was the best we could have hoped for. Some nice contacts and new friends made, and now it was all over for the first annual SOTAEX. Here’s to the next one if the boys will have me back.

OOPS!!! I nearly forgot my ‘doggy forecast’. We spotted a couple of friendly pooches on this hill, and in the main, I think your four legged companion would enjoy this very much. Plenty wet/muddy bits for them and plenty of easy access to the burn if they fancy a drink. On ascending the ‘lions back’ I would have my dog on a lead as there are massively huge drops from the summit plateau. As always, follow the outdoors access code and everyone will have a great day out on this Munro.

Blackwood Hill GM/SS-199

Ok, just getting round to writing about this although it was a couple of weeks ago.  I had written down a few notes about the activation so I’m using these to jog my dusty old memory about the days outing.

We were on holiday with the caravan in a wee village in the borders called Newcastleton.  The WX had been great all week and the wife had agreed to at least one SOTA summit.  WooHoo!!!   I had a look at a couple of hills, one being Roan Fell just to the North of the village. After having a look at the maps I decided that the walk in would be a bit too much for my XYL to enjoy.  Another was Larriston Fells which I have sussed out now and is on my ‘to do’ list for the next time I am down that way.  The simplest and most straightforward looking hill was Blackwood hill.  It was 447meters and worth 1 point for SOTA.  I had a scout about on the Thursday to see the hill from different sides and look for car parking spots etc.  I decided on the route to take and from where I was going to start. The map I was using to check out the hill was an O/S Explorer Map #324 ‘Liddesdale & Kershope Forest’ in 1:25000 scale.   On the Friday evening I had a look at the SOTA site about this hill and noticed there was info’ on it.  The suggested route was similar to my own but it also mentioned an electric fence running right over the summit.  Coupled with the large number of sheep in the area it was decided that I should tackle the hill myself and Mrs IOB would stay ‘home’ with the boys.

Saturday 6th August 2011 dawned bright with cloud but dry.  The temperature was fine, maybe a wee bit warm for hill walking for my like, but good anyway.  I decided not to take the 817 with me so I would be depending on the VX7 and dipole for my activation.  With my pack ready, off I duly set with long trousers on for the first ( and last ) time of the holiday.  The landy was parked at NY 532 938 in some long grass which would be suitable for a two wheel

drive vehicle to negotiate.  The track lay directly in front of me and pointed North.  My route took me up this path and past a sign warning of rifle shooting in the area on this particular day.  The drizzle came on and turned to light rain pretty quickly.  It only got heavier once I was into the forest proper.  From the North bound track, turn N/E along the dismantled railway track.  The first track on the left was taken at 5395 9495 and I headed W/N/W along here.  after a dog-leg North in this track you continue N/W at the T junction.  This track eventually leads you to an inhabited static caravan at the end of the road, complete with satellite dish and 4×4 parked outside.  Just before you get to the ‘van, there is a gap in the trees to your left marked by a roadside type black and white marker post.  Head into the forest here and basically continue up the hill in a N/E direction until you clear the tree line and find the electric fence.  It was while on this last push through the forest that I had to take cover under the trees and don my ‘waterproof’ jacket.  Not having my usual trusty 10+ years old North Face Summit Series jacket with me, I had opted to carry a lightweight nylon jacket that is at best shower proof.

Anyway, onwards and upwards and I was soon clear of the trees and faced with a fence which according to the report I had read was electrified.  It certainly looked like it could have been with insulating pieces protecting the two top lines from the wooden posts.  Not wishing to find out if it was still switched on, I kept my distance.  I followed the fence line North to the summit which is marked by a small cairn. It had taken just an hour to travel the 2.47 miles or 3.97 km as shown on the endomondo tracker on my phone.  I tried as best I could to get a bit of shelter for my backpack under the pine trees, but the rain was pretty heavy and constant by now.  There was little view due to the mist and rain, but a report I had read on the hill suggested that it was very pleasant on a nice day.  I got the VX7 out to see what was happening and could hear Iain WJZ calling CQ SOTA.  With just the handie and ‘rubber duck’ antenna I managed to work him on Beinn Eich GM/SS-068 for four chaser points.  I was absolutely delighted with this, grinning like a daft cheshire cat.  So why would these four points make me so happy, not like it was a 10 pointer or anything?  Well these four points took me over the magical 1000 chaser points to earn my place as Scotland’s #15 Shack Sloth on the SOTA roll.  I told Iain this and he congratulated me, he himself became Scotland’s Shack Sloth #14 only recently, although he already had his ‘Mountain Goat’ award for 1000 activator points – something very few people will achieve.

I briefly went QRT to set up the antenna and have a soggy sandwich and drink.  Back on the radio my first CQ was answered by Roger MWE in Maryport.  We had a gab before my next contact who was Colin XSD/p in Frizlington Cumbria.  Station #4 and the one to qualify the hill for me was M6KTT – Kevin in Carlisle.  We had a good long yap about life, caravans, dogs and radio before his XYL called him for other duties.  my fith and last contact on the activation was again Iain WJZ with another STS, this time on Doune Hill.  The signals were not so good this time, but it turns out he was only running 2.5 watts.  Not bad for 99 miles, or 159 km!!  Having decided that I could not absorb any more rain water, I decided to pack up and head for home.  Before I went I wanted to have a look at the view – if any – from the neighboring top of Arnton Fell.  Back along the tree line and past a gate in the electric fence and up to the summit of the hill.  Interestingly this is one of those hills that does not have the Trig point at the summit.  I reached the true top of the hill but decided not to continue to the trig as I would have to climb over a fence and gate, and I wasn’t in the mood to do it having been soaked right through.  With not a great deal to see here either, I took the track down the side of the forest and headed for the car.  This track although recommended in another report was very poor.  It was running with water and would have been a small burn if the rain was heavier.  It was also very steep and slippery in places and I was glad I had not chosen to go up this way in the first place.  About half way down I took a left which took me back onto the forest track and I returned back to the car.  While on the descent, I was scanning with the ( luckily waterproof ) VX7 and heard a guy calling CQ WOTA.  This is Wainwrights On The Air, and all 214 fells in the Lake District count towards this programme.  At this point you would be expecting me to give you the call sign of the WOTA lad, but instead I have to ask you to look at the picture here.  I had made the rather daft decision to keep my wet paper log book in my wet pocket and could feel it ‘jiggling’ about in my trouser leg pocket as I made my way to the car.  On retrieving it from my pocket I was laughing to myself but was also dismayed at my stupidity.  While moving about in my pocket, my wet paper log had worn off most of the important info!!!!!  All was not lost however and after telling Bobby GAX of my predicament he set to work. He looked up other web sites to see who had alerted me, who had spoken to me and anything else that could be of help including QRZ.com.  He managed to find all the contacts that I had ‘lost’ from my activation, so I didn’t push it to find out who the WOTA guy was.  His name was Terry and that’s as much as I know.

Back at the car I once again contacted Terry on another WOTA hill, this time I was much warmer and more comfortable although still soaked right through to my knickers!  A short journey ‘home’ and I was soon stripping off my soaking clothes and heading in a warm shower to clean me up and to wash off any ticks that had not yet attached themselves to me – there were at least two that I noticed.  So, the days activities were over, another activator point and my Shack Sloth in the bag.  I had resigned myself to the fact that I was going to get the necessary points from a G-land station, so it was good that a MM station brought me over the finish line.  Thanks to Iain for my STSs, thanks to my chasers for qualifying the hill for me but most of all to Bobby GAX for saving my bacon when I ‘lost’ my log.

As mentioned, there is a possible electric fence at the summit and if you take a different route through the fields there are quite a few sheep about so I wouldn’t recommend that dogs were taken on this hill, I heard one of mine come into contact with an electric fence in Glen Massan and the yelping is something I will never forget.

Waiting patiently

Hi folks, just a note to say that my next posting on 2m antennas is well overdue, but I’m going on holiday for a couple of weeks with no internet access so unfortunately it will be ‘on the stocks’ for a few weeks yet.  Check back in a couple of weeks to read about the 5 ele beam, and also to see if I managed up any hills on holiday.  My nephew will be looking after my home QTH while I am away, but not being a radio enthusiast it means he cannot be entrusted to write a bit about the beam in my stead.  Ho hum……

Cheers for now,   2m0iob

2m homebrew antennas – DIPOLE

I have been asked recently if I could put up a wee bit on my 2m portable antennas, and indeed this is something that I have been meaning to get round to for some time.  I will do posts on two different antennas, firstly the humble dipole and then a 5 ele beam.  All the stuff here can be built relatively easily, most of the components have been sourced from B+Q, but most large ‘homestore’ type places should stock this stuff, or your local electrical factor or plumbers merchant depending on what you are after.

Firstly the dipole.  This is probably my favorite antenna as it is so easily deployed and it was one of the first I made.  I take it on most of my SOTA climbs and it always performs.  The plus points about the dipole are that it does not suffer from wind loading to the same extent as a beam, it is omnidirectional so you don’t need to keep turning the antenna to bring in a station, it is virtually indestructible and it doesn’t weigh as much as a beam – very important when climbing hills.

So, what is it made from?

My effort was made from 20mm black plastic electrical conduit.  Apart from a 2m length of conduit, I also bought a ‘T’ box and a ‘coupling’.  You will see what I mean in the pictures.  I also needed some miniature ty-wraps and a small elasticated bungee cord.  Some black PVC tape was also used.  RG58 coax was my choice because it is readily available and is easily worked with.

So how does it work?

The T box is in the middle with two pieces of conduit roughly 18″ long sticking out the T box.  One of these legs is spring loaded so it can be folded over for ease of transporting. Inside these are the two elements of the dipole.  The coax comes from the T box out to your radio.

How was it built?

Start by stripping a piece of coax so that you have separated the inner core and the outer braid into two distinct pieces.  The length of these two ‘elements’ should be about 19″.  Take your T box and drill two small holes either side of a centre line from the ‘unused’ port of the box, but just below the centre line of the two ‘element’ ports.  As you can see from the picture, a miniature tywrap will be used to secure the centre of the coax at this point.  Drill another two small holes either side of a centre line taken from one of the element ports, but only at one side – again the pictures explain better.  These will be used to secure your ‘spring loaded’ element and keep the cable in place.  A hole needs to be drilled in the side of the T box for the coax to enter.  Some might just use the ‘unused port’ or third entry to the T box for the cable, but this can be utilized as a mounting if you decide to use the beam horizontally on SSB.  If you have no intention of this then you can just bring the cable in through this entry.

So, what you have so far is two pieces of conduit, a T box with some wee holes drilled in the back of it and a piece of coax which has the inner and braid separated .  What I done next was to secure the coax to the inside of the T box with a miniature ty-wrap.  This holds it all in place and takes some of the tension from the ‘elements’.  Firstly I dealt with the inner core of the coax. This was taken out one of the ports and fed inside one of the pieces of conduit.  Obviously it would just flop around inside the conduit if left like this so two small holes were drilled in the conduit about 1/4″ back from the end of the cable end.  A miniature ty-wrap was used to secure the inner core to the conduit here and keep it in place.  A wrap of insulating tape round the ty-wrap keeps out the weather.   You may also want to apply tape to the end of the conduit to provide a degree of wether proofing here also.  As this will be the fixed part of the beam, you can wrap a piece of PVC tape around the joint between the conduit and T box to seal this up as it won’t be coming apart again any time soon.

Now for the braid side with the sprung conduit.  Initially I used the braid as the element on this side, but after a good few bends, the braid showed signs of parting company so it was replaced with a similar length of Tri rated or Panel wire.  This type of cable has a multi stranded core which can be bent over many times without work hardening as is the case with thicker copper.  I dare say it will need replaced eventually, but mines has been used many many times and is still fine.  As with the core, the braid or Tri wire is brought out from the T box and fed and secured inside the opposite piece of conduit from the inner core.  This is fine if you have no desire to fold the beam for transportation, but there is a wee trick to making it a lot easier to get in your rucksack.  B+Q sell very light duty bungee cords which can be used here.  The bungee has a metal hook on either end, so the first job is to cut one of these off.  From here the next task is to use the miniature ty-wraps and affix the element onto the bungee cord.  The idea now is that you are going to tension the element with the bungee cord. before you do this, use a hacksaw blade and cut a slot in the end of the conduit about 1/2″ deep on one side of the conduit.  What you also want to do at this point is to utilize the second pair of wee holes you drilled in the back of the T box by fixing this element with a miniature ty-wrap so this takes the strain when you start to tension it.  Use a piece of string and loop it inside the conduit and hook it onto the hook on the bungee.  Pull this back up the inside of the conduit and hook the bungee over the end of the conduit and let is slide into the cut made by the saw blade.  This should tension the conduit sufficiently that it springs into place when required, but also that it can be pulled out of the T box and folded over for ease of carriage.

Now you have your balanced dipole inside its plastic conduit jacket, and your unbalanced coax supplying it.  What I done here was to make about 5 or 6 turns of coax inside the T box to act as a BALUN.  The end of the coax is brought out of the T box via the hole you drilled in the side of it and the lid complete with rubber gasket is screwed down.  You can now fit your PL plug, or BNC or whatever type of connection you desire.  Your antenna is now ready to test with a SWR meter, but you still need to mount it on something.  For this, I fitted the ‘coupling’ mentioned earlier onto the end of the sprung loaded section of conduit.  I used another couple of turns of PVC tape to keep it there.  This now gives two mounting options.  Using a piece of 20mm conduit, you can either mount the beam horizontally by locating the conduit in the third unused port of the T box for SSB work, or you put your conduit into the end of the coupling just fitted and this gives you a vertical for FM.  When mounting vertically, it will be wobbly and will need guyed to stop it from keeling over.  What I use is a short piece of conduit into the coupling then mount this on top of one of my upturned walking poles. The whole assembly is then guyed down.  This setup saves the weight of a mounting pole as I always have my walking poles with me when I am up on a hill.

Gear review on Highlander Forces 33 rucksack

As you might have read in my previous posting, I was very happy with my new second-hand rucksack that I used for the first time on Beinn Mhor GM/SS-053.  The bag in question is made by Highlander and is the Forces 33 in DPM camo.  It was new to me but second-hand being purchased from eBay for the Princely sum of £12.50 + P&P.  So for under 20 quid I had an ‘as new’ good strong rucksack for lugging my gear about the hills.

So, why did I go for another rucksack when as seen in previous posts I have various ones in small ( 15l ) and large ( 75l )?  Well, this one fits nicely between small and large at 33l.  A small ruckie is ok for a short wander in the hills or along a track when you do not require to carry a great deal, eg food, waterproof jacket and first aid for instance.  The big rucksack is fine for lugging all your kit about when you are to be out for a time, eg tent, sleeping bag, clothes and cooking kit for example.  What I wanted was a good strong bag that I could use on a SOTA expedition that could take all my safety equipment, radio equipment and grub for a good day out up a distant hill.  To this end there were certain requirements.  In no particular order this is what I was looking for from a new bag.  It had to be comfortable on the back, it had to be good and strong, it needed to have attachment points to carry gear externally eg SOTA pole and beam, it had to be cheap thus second-hand, it had to have sensibly sized side pockets to allow me to keep my most used items handy eg bottles of juice, map etc and it had to be between small and large and at 33 litres fits the bill nicely.

I had a look about and decided that something between 30 and 40 litres would be ideal.  A quick search online and many bags were found.  My requirement for external storage ruled out many of the fancy looking new bags which look very streamlined.  Military types usually have many buckles and straps for fixing kit to so my attention was drawn in this direction.  Having had a couple of British Army packs in the past and being very happy with these, I thought I’d concentrate on these.  One that I looked at was called the Northern Ireland Patrol Pack.  This looked to be about the right size, but as far as I recall it didn’t have many external fixings, or the side pouches were too wee or something, but whatever it was that put me off, I decided against it.  Looking on the likes of eBay I noticed the Highlander brand of army ‘style’ bags.  A wee bit of investigation and I thought the Forces 33 model would suit me. There was a quick you tube video demonstration of one and it looked like what I was after.  Back onto the popular internet auction site and there was one in as new condition with a low starting price.  There were also ‘supersize’ images of it so I could examine what it looked like in detail, and also check that it was as described.  So I placed my highest bid with the site and while we were in North Berwick climbing the Law, I got an e-mail on my phone informing me that I had the best bid and had “won” it.  It always amuses me when I “win” something on eBay, it makes it sound like you are the most fortunate person in the world, in fact it just means that other people probably got a better bargain than you as they will eventually buy the same thing as you but will more than likely pay less for it 😦 .

Anyway, the pack arrived and was exactly as described.  Being second-hand it got a decent run round the washing machine on a good long cycle and was left to dry for a couple of days.  The weather we have been having recently did not help the drying process which was done indoors.  So, on with the basics.  The material is a good strong abrasion resistant military spec type stuff.  Its called XTP900 and is strong, but reasonably compliant.  It’s not made of the same canvas type that the likes of a S10 respirator bag is manufactured from, but it is fit for purpose and weighs considerably less.  The complete rucksack comes in at 1.3kg.

As for capacities, well it’s called a Forces 33.    33 litres is a good size bag, but not too large that it is very heavy when loaded.  The main compartment is a single compartment of 30 litres – no baffle cords to split it up or anything fancy like that.  There are two side pockets each of 1.5 litres.  The pockets are a good size which will hold most of your smaller items with ease.  I had two 0.5l bottles of juice in one side and it wasn’t a squeeze and the zips closed easily.  The other side held my sunglasses, map, compass, first aid kit etc that I didn’t want to be rattling around in the bottom of the main compartment.

There is a top pouch in the ‘lid’ and this houses a waterproof rain cover which is held on by a plastic SRB buckle so you can’t lose the cover.  The cover can be removed, but the top pouch isn’t huge so I’d just leave the cover there incase it is needed.  On top of the top lid is an elasticated bungee strap which could hold light materials like a jacket for instance.  The lid is secured in the usual fashion with two mid size plastic buckles which are clipped to their mating part on a couple of webbing straps on the outside rear of the pack.  The side pockets and top pouch are secured with ’10 gauge self repair zips’ which are basically big chunky plastic zips with decent pulls on them that can be operated single-handed.  They will also fix themselves should you manage to pull them apart.

Onto the fixings on the pack.  Running up the outside of the pack at the back are three inline adjustable straps for carrying walking poles or whatever.  I found these took my folding dipole with ease and the centre of the dipole which houses the balun and is not waterproof when folded could be tucked up and under the top lid when it was buckled down.  As stated, these fixings are adjustable and could be opened to accommodate a SOTA beam and fiberglass fishing pole mast with ease.  They can obviously be tightened up to secure whatever it is you are carrying.    Also on the rear of the pack are two off three section ‘ladder’ type fixings which look good and strong.  For my test run all I had hanging from these were a Swiss Army knife and my StickPIC, but they could hold much more if you were to add the likes of a couple of webbing straps, or even paracord or shock cord.

On the bottom of the pack are four well sewn on flat loops.  To these I added two webbing straps also courtesy of eBay.  They were only a few quid and were new.  You should find plenty of these straps available from Army surplus sites and private sellers – usually ex forces getting rid of their old kit.  These straps were used to secure my fleece to the bottom of the pack when I was too hot while the waterproof was strung through the securing straps for the lid.  The loops and everything else have thick stitching and a piece of stiffening material on the inside of the bag where it is stitched on to ensure it stays put.  The bag is a quality piece of kit and there are many testimonials online from serving soldiers who have purchased it to supplement their supplied kit.

The rear of the pack where it sits on your back has three sewn in padded sections which create what Highlander calls a ‘Funnel System’ to keep airflow on your back.  The shoulder straps are thickly padded and each has four sewn flat loops to which more small kit can be hung.  There are also a couple of D rings which can take a carabiner or the likes.  I have my Garmin on one shoulder strap and my VX7 on its belt clip on the other.

Lastly there are two fixing straps that hold the thing on to you.  One is a sternum strap, the other is the waist belt, both with quick release SRB clips.  Unfortunately the waist belt is not padded, but is made of wide webbing.  It is still comfortable to wear, but I’m not sure how it would be if heavily loaded and the wearer was just wearing the likes of a T-shirt.  The answer to this is an easy one – do not overload it – simples.  One review I read stated that the two shoulder straps were fixed maybe slightly too close together for those of us with a wide neck area, but I didn’t find this a problem.

All in all, I was very impressed with my new purchase and I think it is of sufficient quality to provide good service for many years.  If you fancy this pack, it can be bought new for about 30 odd quid, and can easily be found online.  It comes in a variety of colours, plain and camo of your choice, and the best of it all is that Highlander is a SCOTTISH company!

Beinn Mhor GM/SS-053 ( 2011 )

With Mrs IOB having completed her first SOTA summit last time on North Berwick Law, she was looking forward to trying another hill, but maybe a wee bit higher this time.  The requirements were that it wasn’t to be anything too high, too difficult, and had to be dog friendly.  A local (ish) hill sprung to mind, but there was only one problem with it.  The hill was Beinn Mhor which I had been up last year, but the only fly in the ointment was exactly that – I had been up it last year.  While doing my SOTA activations I like to stick to uniques ie hills that are all new to me.  It was decided that breaking this rule was a small price to pay for what was hopefully to be a good day out with the dogs.

The date chosen last year was the 5th June for the hill, so it was exactly a year later when we did it this time  – the same Saturday, but the 4th June.  I had filled Mrs IOB’s head with tales about last year and how warm it was, needing the factor 25 on just incase.  So it was looking to be similar this year.  The Thursday and Friday were cracking hot and sunny days, and the forecast said the Saturday was to be similar but cooler – ideal walking WX.  Everything was packed up in my new second hand rucksack ( more on that later ) on the Friday evening and I checked the MWIS to see what the conditions were to be on the hills.  It said that there was to be cloud above 800 meters, so that shouldn’t have too much impact on us as we were only going to 741m.

The Saturday morning arrived and as we did not have far to travel – a short boat journey on the soon to be axed CalMac vehicle ferry from Gourock to Dunoon and a short drive on the other side – so I didn’t need to get up till about seven o’clock.  The day dawned grey but dry.  I looked at the hills down the river to check for any approaching high cloud or even sunny patches, but there were none.  It looked like the day was to stay dull.  After discussions with my sherpa, we decided to make a go of it anyway.  Mrs IOB’s back pack was loaded lightly and all her extra clothing was assembled.  With the boys recently toileted we set off for the 09:20 sailing from Gourock.

Once in Dunoon town it was time to stop for a roll and slice ( square sausage for those not familiar with the terminology ) at the excellent Blacks the bakers.  It went down very well and shortly we would be arriving at the end of the Glen Massan road to start the walk.  You can get details of the walk from my earlier post ( archives June 2010 ) or from the Walkhighlands web site which has loads of info on Scottish hills.  I was quickly changed into my boots and with my ruckie on we were good to go once we had released the hounds from the back of the Discovery.

The walk through Glen Massan is one we are very familiar with and enjoy very much.  On some web sites you will see that the glen has lovely forested areas to start the walk, but no more.  The loggers moved in a couple of months back and the place looks very scarred and bare in places.  As we all know, the trees are a crop and need to be harvested like any other, but it’s just not the same when you see a field of wheat cut down compared to a missing forest.  Going by previous harvests, it will not be long before the new trees are planted and the forest starts to look like itself again – albeit a bit smaller 🙂 .

Anyway, back to our walk.  Young Duncan started the walk off by running at 100mph everywhere and he was warned to save his energy for the climb ahead.  Andy had a quick run then settled into his usual slow ‘saunter’ and even stopped for a time to do a big poo – this was going to be a longer walk than expected at this rate.  We walked briskly up the Glen and by the now empty cottages to the start of the track heading up onto the hill itself.  I had started the walk with just my fleece on, but as we started the climb up towards and into the forest then it was time to strip down to just a T-shirt.  Mrs IOB was cursing me for making her bring so much stuff – in reality there wasn’t much, but she had her padded waterproof jacket hanging from her wee back pack and it was weighing her down a bit.  With plenty of quick stops, we were making good time through the forest.  Occasionally we would need to stop and wait on the dogs as they disappeared into the trees to sniff and usually eat something, but I didn’t want to look too closely incase it put me off my dinner.  One of our longer stops was after Duncan managed to get himself covered in some kind of sticky tarry oily stuff.  It looked to be natural as it was in a pool with the usual mud, but unfortunately this stuff stuck a bit better than mud.  It wasn’t washing off him while he explored the many wee burns and streams that we crossed with ease, and he was growing tired of having this stuff stuck to him.  He started to lick it off his front legs – a move which made me decide that if he didn’t want it stuck TO him, it would not be doing him any favours INSIDE him.  I got him into the next wee stream beside the track and spent a good ten minutes scrubbing him with my hands to try and remove the worst from him.  He was very patient and stood at peace as if he knew this stuff had to come off.  The fresh mountain water was not the warmest I have encountered and soon my hands were like blocks of ice.  Once ‘clean’ we continued up the track to catch up with my XYL and Andy who had gone ahead.  In another fifteen minutes we would be out of the forest and onto the bare hill.  Before leaving the shelter of the pine trees, I called our expedition to a halt for something to eat, and to put my fleece back on as it was only going to get colder the further we went up.  We were about 450m and the mist and low cloud was just beginning to make their presence felt.

As we left the shelter of the trees for good, I took a waypoint on my Garmin just to ensure we could find the forest path again should the mist get any lower on our descent.  Mrs IOB has only Brasher walking shoes, and they are not the most water-repellent of footwear.  Crossing the boggy sections while following the quad bike tracks up onto the ridge, my good Lady wife could not fail to get into some quite wet patches and soon had wet feet.  Once this had happened I offered to abandon my SOTA activation in favour of returning to the car and some heat.  Being the stubborn female that she is (I hope she doesn’t read this) she opted to continue upwards to the summit.  It didn’t take long before we were donning our waterproof outer jackets, and while we were at it I changed from my wide-brimmed hat into a warm fleece ‘beenie’ and Mrs IOB dug out the appropriate headgear from her wee haversack.  The further up we headed to the summit, the more misty cloud there was to obscure what should have a great view in June.  The wind had picked up a bit also and this was not making the walk any more enjoyable.

It was probably round about the 600m mark that I turned on the VX7 to listen to what was about.  Faintly I could hear a station calling and working SOTA, but I couldn’t get back to them.  About 10 mins later I managed a quick QSO to the other station who turned out to be Alan 2M0TXY.  The copy wasn’t great but I told him I would get him STS in about 15 mins if he could stand by.  This agreed, I tramped towards the summit with renewed purpose.  Unfortunately my wife did not share my enthusiasm for a STS, and she was starting to get a bit sore in the leg department. On sighting every false summit through the mist, I was asked “Is THAT the top?”.  On at least one occasion I was able to tell her the truth and say yes.  Considering Mrs IOB’s biggest hill to date was the 396m Kilbride Hill behind Dunoon during a good spell of weather in April, she was doing well on her first ‘mountain’ at 741m with wet feet in such miserable conditions!  On arriving at the summit the first thing to do was to contact Alan on his hill incase he was wanting to get off.  I called for him and another STS was in the bag.  Alan and his recently licensed nephew Scott were on GM/SS-066 Beinn a’Mhanaich.  They were suffering the same WX as we were, and after activating that particular hill in January of this year, I know it doesn’t have a great deal of shelter either.  Alan passed the ‘mic to Scott who got his first STS, chaser points and activator points too.  Lets hope young Scott enjoyed the activation and becomes a regular in the hills.  After bidding them a safe off, I went QRT briefly to set up my dipole antenna and get my logbook out etc.  Mrs IOB made comments about not staying long on the summit and about how cold she was.  I had got myself into a large crevice in the rock just at the trig point which was quite sheltered, but my XYL chose to keep on the move rather than sit and get colder.  It was to be a quick activation then, so I set about getting the required contacts.  After 2M0TXY and MM6SWC on a’Mhanaich, my next contact was another STS, this time with Mark MM1MPB/p on GM/SS-130  —  Criffel.  This was another wee bonus.  Mark commented that the sun had just put in an appearance where he was, but we were no to be as lucky.  Next up were GM0WNR – Alex in Motherwell, GM7UAU/m – Steve heading home from work and finally my old mucker GM7something who was sensibly in the house on such a lousy day.  The sigs to Bobby were not great, but he had four chaser points from me to send him on his way to Mountain Goat and Bar.

A quick call incase any chasers had followed us onto the frequency ( none ) then pack away the station.  My new ( second-hand) ruckie swallowed the hastily packed equipment then it was off to find my XYL who had disappeared into the mist. Andy appeared from over a wee rise indicating that his mum would probably be found in that direction, and so she was.  With Mrs IOB now wearing everything she could including my windproof gloves, we found the track down and set off back to the car.  The downward trek was reasonably uneventful until we got into the forest.  After a quick bite we continued but Mrs IOB started complaining that there was a problem with her eyesight!  Having had occular migraines before, and also the regular sort, she concluded that this was her problem.  Her sense of humour was now at an all time low so I kept silent on the way back so as not to experience her wrath.  It took just over two hours to return to the car, shorter than the 3:10 up, but everything about this day was slower than last time.

Once back at the Landy, the boys were enticed into the burn with some dried food thrown in and this washed the worst of the muck off them.  Our next port of call was Boots the chemist in Dunoon for some migreleave tablets.  Once she had a couple of these down her neck she wound the seat back and slept until we arrived in Gourock.

So that was basically that, another four activator points, no unique unfortunately, Mrs IOB had another hill under her belt and the boys had a great time running about a safe deserted mountain.  Apart from the wind and mist and no view and my XYLs wet feet and dodgy vision, it was a grand day out.  Beinn Mhor is a great hill for a walk and is very under activated as a SOTA summit.  GM/SS-053 has now been activated twice, both times by me.  The views are nice if not spectacular on a good day, and I would recommend it to anyone.

I was going to add more about my new second hand rucksack, but I think I will do a wee gear review on it soon as I was very impressed with it.

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North Berwick Law GM/SS-280

It was holiday time for my wife, two dogs and myself.  Well, not so much of a holiday for Andy the big dog as it was time for his annual visit to the dentist in North Berwick.  Andy was unfortunately born with poor enamel on his teeth and a condition where carbohydrate in his food reacts with his own saliva to form a particularly aggressive acid that eats away at his teeth.  With this in mind, he has had his diet changed and must visit the dentist yearly.  So far he has had over £6500 worth of dental work done, but thanks to PetPlan we only pay a £90 yearly excess.

So, we were in North Berwick, or actually Yellowcraig caravan site in Dirleton which is the neighbouring town.   Unlike the West coast, the weather in the East was fantastic.  Sunshine with a bit of a breeze, but dry pretty much for the whole week we were there.  We decided to head up the Law on the Tuesday 17 May but it was pretty much spur of the moment. The WX was fine and the dogs were happy to head out for a wee wander.  The car park for the hill is well sign posted around North Berwick and is easily found.  It is at the end of a short single track path off the B1347 Haddington Road.  There is a sign warning of thieves operating in the area, but I have noticed this in a few places in East Lothian so I think it might be some kind of general Police initiative instead of singling out this car park as one that is very prone to thievery.  There are plenty of parking places and also picnic benches incase you fancy stopping for something to eat.

We arrived after two in the afternoon and set off up the hill.  Taking it easy with a couple of wee stops to look at the view, it took the four of us just half an hour to get to the top of the 187m high hill.  The views from the top are much better than you would expect from your short journey up.  There are a few bits and pieces on this summit, most noticeably a set of replica whale jaw bones.  There have been whale bones here for 300 years now, with this latest fibreglass set arriving in 2007.  There is evidence of war-time activities with a large mainly intact pillbox / lookout post just below the summit.  Another much older dwelling is in the form of a ruined house like structure, but I’m not 100% on what this was for. I’m thinking monastery, but possibly not.   On the top itself is an intact white trig point complete with ‘intellectual graffiti’ and also a nice stone built view-point indicator with all points of interest on it.  Traveling light, I only had the VX7 with a wee homebrew two ele beam as my station.  It was mid afternoon on a Tuesday with limited equipment so would I get the contacts?  Time to set up the station of 2M0IOB/P.

I scanned the 2m band and heard a couple of stations so I thought at least I could break in and get a couple of contacts if I was struggling.  I had arranged with Bobby GM7GAX to call him, but due to his position in Port Glasgow, and the fact I only had a 2 ele instead of my 5, the trip wasn’t made so unfortunately he missed out on the chaser point.  I put out a general CQ call and was quickly answered by another GM7, this one was OWU/m – Dave in Dundee.  I think Dave was doing deliveries in the City of Discovery so he couldn’t stay on the mic’ too long.  Next up was the first of 4 GM4’s – FVM – Jim was in Ayton, Eyemouth about 50 odd km SE of my QTH.  GM4COX was the next station to come back to the call.  Jack is based in Law, South Lanarkshire and we had a good gab.  Jack is a very prolific SOTA operator and has activated the Law on two occasions, most recently being summer last year.  I had mentioned to Jack that he was number three in my log and that I needed another contact to claim the point for this hill.  Just after Jack said 73 to go chase MM6YCJ who was out and about up North,  GM4CXM came in to give me contact number four and qualify the hill for me.  Ray was at his home QTH in Bearsden and was messing about in his shack with various projects at the time.  The next voice I heard was one I always look forward to hearing on my SOTA activations, and indeed I would have felt rather cheated having travelled to the East coast if I hadn’t spoken to GM0AXY – Ken in Edinburgh.  Ken was just home having been out for a walk enjoying the weather.  He was telling me that he has activated all the islands that I could see out in the Firth of Fourth.   It’s always good to gab to Ken, and where there is a ken, there is usually a Christine too and today was no exception.  GM4YMM came on the mic’ with a 5/9+ and wished me well on my activating.

So that was basically that.  After half an hour on the top trying to amuse two dogs, Mrs IOB was getting a touch fed up and was ready for the off.  Indeed, we packed up and went down in such a hurry that I got few pictures of the summit.  On the Thursday when Andy was in the dentist having what turned out to be two new fillings and one replaced on another tooth that has had root canal work done, I decided to climb the Law once more and get the missing photos required to complete this blog.  Not having to drag a lazy dog behind me, and having seen the view from most points of the climb, it only took me 13 mins and 43 seconds from the car park to the trig point.  The WX was even better this time and the views were very fine.  Once the pics were taken it was time to head back to the car and await the phone call from DentalVets to say Andy was off the table and could be picked up.  On the way down there is a bench dedicated to a chap who worked on the Law during the war.  As you can see from the picture, it is not a new thing for people to climb the law and make contacts from the top, but in the times when Davie Ritchie done it, it wasn’t just for fun unlike todays SOTA activator.

Although very small, North Berwick Law fulfills all the requirements of the SOTA program and is a good wee easy hill to tackle if you find yourself in that neck of the woods.  I have used the radio from the top before but never thought it was big enough to be a SOTA summit so it just shows you.  As you will have noted from reading this account, dog access onto the Law is fine.  As usual, we kept our two on their extendable leads, more to stop them annoying other walkers and eating unmentionables than to keep them safe.

Cruach Ardrain GM/SS-004

International SOTA weekend ( ISW ) was approaching and it was decided between GM7something and myself that we would be out on a top to take part in the fun.  I had come up with a suggestion of doing two hills on the day, but GM7 said that his poor old tired legs would not be up to the task.  We settled on another hill, still an eight pointer, but we were told it wouldn’t be as hard a walk according to a lying 2m0 station who we have still to get a grip of.  The hill in mind was the 1046m Cruach Ardrain which lies just to the south of Crainlarich.

The WX in the run up to 1st May had been glorious for a couple of weeks and we hoped that it would last for another couple of days to get the most out of the day.  As usual I asked 2M0UPG if he wished to accompany us on our walk as it had been with him that I had climbed Ben Lomond the previous year on ISW 2010.  Still struggling to shake off the problems with his leg, he has vowed to seek proper physiotherapy help and join us on a hill ASAP.  So it was to be your usual intrepid duo that were to tackle the hill and get all the fun. The last days of April were used to charge up the batteries of the VX7 and 817 and also to pack the required stuff into my trusty rucksack.  The day before the hill would see me busy around the house then out in the evening for something to eat and to take in a wee show at the local Arts Guild.  With this in mind, my packing was done in advance to save me running around last-minute.

Needing to get an early start, the alarm duly went off at 05:15 – dark o’clock.  A quick keek out the kitchen window and I was happy with the WX, dry with the sun about to burst into life and no sign of cloud.  The only thing that the Met Office and the MWIS had warned of was a good breeze which could be quite strong on the tops.  After breakfast and attending to my four-legged pals, it was time to ensure everything was as it should be and not to forget the flask of tea.  As is now customary, I arrived at Bobby’s home QTH late, but not overly.  The drive to our chosen mountain took us over the Erskine bridge, down the A82 to Tarbet on Loch Lomond side.  Turning right at Tarbet and staying on the A82 we continued up the twisty Loch side and on towards Crainlarich.  Roughly 2 kms short of Crainlarich in Glen Falloch, there is a parking spot on the right hand side of the road at NN36941/23901.  This appears to be part of an older road and will easily accommodate a couple of dozen cars. A word of warning here, it was in this car park that scum dressed as a ‘hill walker’ type was spotted looking into the cars for valuables, but quickly took to his heels when he realised he was being observed  – as the Police always tell you, never leave valuables in your car.  We chose to park in a section closest to the main road in an effort to keep the car as visible as possible.  We had driven 58 miles and it had taken us roughly 1.5 hours from my home QTH.

After I had changed into my boots, switched on my GPS, put on my rucksack and attached my handie to it, we were ready for the off.  Indeed, Bobby was already over the stile and making his way across the dung covered field towards the railway underpass.  This takes you onto a reasonably well made track that you follow for the first kilometer or so.  You will see a rickety bridge down to your left ( if it hasn’t fallen down yet! ) which you should cross.  The path on the other side is not well-defined, but basically follow the grassy slope up and Westwards for about 1.5 kms and stay reasonably close to the deer fence that is on your left.  Following your map – O/S Explorer #364 – you will come to the ridge named Grey Height.  Climb this ridge in a SW direction from where a large stile crosses the deer fence (for those climbing from the Crainlarich side) and the path starts to become more noticeable from now on. A point to note here, if you had a dog with you, there is a ‘doggy door’ in the fence beside the stile if you have climbed up from the Crainlarich side.  You gain height quickly on this section which last for about 1 km.  There are a couple of small Lochans on the hill here which are a good place to stop for something to eat and to take in the view.

Up until this point I had just a t-shirt on and my wide-brimmed hat to keep the sun from the small baldy patch that is starting to appear in my long wavy curls – aye right, had next to no hair for years now.  As we approached the summit of Grey Height the wind was sweeping up from the valley beside us which had Stob Garbh and Stob Coire on the other side.  It was at such a force that at times it made my not inconsiderable bulk wobble a fair bit to the extent I nearly fell over.  I nipped back down to a sheltered spot and put my fleece back on which would stay on until I reached the same point on the descent.  Onwards we trudged, for it was becoming exactly this to me – a trudge.  My pack was way too heavy and I was feeling it.  As we reached the top of Grey Height I nearly fainted when I saw what lay before me.  After walking for three hours to get to this point there was still a huge mountain to get up!  Not only that, but at the end of this ridge the path dropped down a hundred or so feet before heading back up.  I was starting to get scunnered with the idea of making it to the top of this hill.  With a few more stops we were on our way up the South West side of Cruach Ardrain.

Being ISW and the reason we were there, I turned the handie on to listen for other activators on the air.  About 12:20 local time we heard Robin GM7PKT calling from his summit – GM/WS-066 – Gaor Bheinn ( Gulvain ).  A call back to him with the handie and we had our first chaser points of the day.  In QSO with Robin I mentioned that I was finding this hill heavy going.  We were now 4.5 hours in and still not at the top.  Robin then told me that he done this hill while attending the Crainlarich rally a couple of years back and said that he had found it a toughy too.  On hearing that Mr SOTA himself had broken sweat on this one I suddenly felt so much better and Bobby vowed to give the 2M0 station (who had told us it was easy) a right good kick up the archie.  We left Robin by saying that we would get him STS from the top.  About quarter of an hour later and not much further up the track we heard Bob AWV who was calling CQ SOTA fro the summit of GM/SS-222 Duncolm .  Another couple of chaser points in the bag for GM7 and myself and we again told Bob we would get him from the top.

At this point in the climb I was getting quite annoyed with the hill and decided a final push to the top was needed.  After a bit Bobby stopped for a rest but I had the bit between my teeth and kept on.  Very shortly after leaving Bobby to the circling vultures I was on the home run and had never been so glad to see the summit of a hill before.  A family group who we had met earlier on was at the trig and asked where my pal was.  Explaining to them that he had fallen off but that I knew exactly where his body was they looked a bit shocked then realised or hoped I was only joking.

I plonked my butt down at the summit and made contact with Bob then Robin for my first two STS contacts of the day.  Using just the handie and running only 1w I was happy to get good signal reports (nearly all 5/9) from my first four contacts to qualify the hill.  The third and fourth were Andy USU near Falkirk and Dave TAP/p in the Selkirk area.  Around this point, as if back from the dead, GM7something appeared over the first of the two rises that make up the summit plateau.  The weather really couldn’t have been any better, but as promised there was a stiff breeze with strong gusts blowing over the top.  We came down from the cairn and found a reasonably sheltered spot to set up our stations.  We both had 5 ele beams with us, but the gusts would have made them into 5 ele weather vains.  Bobby plumped for the J pole for his 4m start and I reverted to my trusty walking pole mounted folding dipole – a very wind resistant antenna.  I had lugged the 817 and slab to the top of this hill so I was going to use it.  using just the dipole and mostly 2.5w I was to get another 12 contacts in the book including another 5 STS.  The first of the 12 was Graeme GIL/p who was on GM/SS-239  –  Conic hill.  Graeme was struggling with the wind and was reverting to holding his mast up with his hands and body.  Next was Neil NCM/p (who is soon to get a kick in the pants from Bobby) with another STS from GM/SS-164  –  Kirkland Hill.  Another casualty of the wind, Neils beam had come down 3 times in as many minutes and at times was on the ground as he transmitted.  From the safety of his house, Brian HMZ called in.  He had gone AWOL from deck cleaning duties to do a bit of chasing and get at least 8 points closer to me in our race to become Shack Sloth with 1000 chaser points.  I must point out that Brian has turned to the Dark side and is chasing on HF too – bad form big man 😉  ( only kidding as usual – may the best man win, as long as it’s me! ).

“Give us a wave then” was the expression used by Barry XFM/p on neighbouring GM/CS-001  –  Ben Lawers.  Another ten chaser points in the bag with that one contact and nice to talk to Barry on a hill I have had my eye on for a bit.  My next contact and STS was Jack COX/p who was on GM/SS-165  –  Dungavel Hill.  Jack had been on his hill since mid morning and had made nearer 20 STS contacts, I imagine a lot were on HF as I don’t think there were 20 V/UHF activators on that day.  While the flurry of STS’s were going on – I wasn’t the only one looking to contact these guys remember – Christine YMM from Edinburgh had waited patiently on the side to break in.  Christine, like a lot of us that day, was using the special ‘R’ identifier instead of the usual M ( for Scotland ) that had been issued to celebrate the recent Royal wedding of Prince William and his tidy bride Kate.  As usual she was 59+.  Next up was WIL, Dave in Prestwick  followed by VYU which was Billy in Carluke.  My final and most distant STS of the day was one I heard talking to Robin.  Once Robin had gone QRT I called on MM6YCJ/p.  This was Colwyn and he was on GM/WS-052  –  Beinn Eighe – Ruadh-stac Mor to give its full title.  A distance of approximately 150km separated us so I went on to high power – a full 5w!  The report was 4/1 both ways, but a good readable copy was made.  I was very happy to bag this contact into Torridon in the NW area of Scotland.  Bobby also spoke to YCJ on my setup then brought in Ray SOE/m in Ayr.  Good 59+ signals were exchanged and we had a wee gab.  Last up was Ken AXY in Edinburgh.  With his good wishes ringing in my ears I closed down the station of 2R0IOB/p.

While I had been activating 2m, Bobby had done a bit of 4m without success and moved onto 70cms.  I’m not sure if he managed much better on this band, but if you have a look at his blog, a link to which you will find at the side, you will be able to read all about his exploits on the day.  With the prospect of a few hours walking ahead, we were leaving the summit at 15:30 local time and making our way down the well-defined track from the top towards Grey Height ridge.  As on the way up, there were very gusty parts on the track as well as other parts that hardly had a breeze.  The views on the return were every bit as spectacular as they were on the upward journey, but with the knowledge of what lay ahead of us, I wasn’t really looking forward to it.  After crossing onto the ridge, the hill was pretty much a constant down with few places to rest the legs with a wee flat section or an uphill gradient.  The worst bit for me was the descent from the ridge, and down the long grassy slope leading down to the burn in the bottom of the glen.  This section was torture on my now sore feet – a sensation I very rarely get when out and about.  Not being able to walk by putting my heel down first due to the gradient and with my feet being pushed into the front of my boots was starting to get very annoying.  I put my problems down to the overly heavy pack I was carrying, and vowed to go lightweight next time.

The sun was shining brightly and very warmly on our trip down so by the time I got to the burn I was looking forward to cooling down in the fresh mountain water.  In true cowboy fashion, I dunked my hat in the burn to soak it in cold clear water and put it back on my head to refresh me instantly.  I filled my bottle with this water too and drank a good amount.  As mentioned previously in this, and in Neil MCN’s blog, the bridge is in a bit of a state, and looking underneath it from the burn, it makes you wonder how long it will continue to stand.

So, this was us in the final run in back to the car.  It was a cracker of an evening and once we negotiated the cow-pat covered field and crossed the stile, we were back at the car.  It had taken us just about exactly 3 hours from the top and in that time we covered 5.62km.  I congratulated Bobby on his achievement of making it up this monster of a hill and we both decided that as good as the view was from the top, we would never again trudge up to this summit. After getting my boots off and letting my feet cool down, it was time to change into my trainers and get ready for the drive home.  Thanks to Bobby for the as always excellent company on the hill and for putting up with my moans and groans about how I was ‘suffering’.  Thanks also to the chasers who spend their weekends listening for our calls and checking the SOTA site for up and coming activations.

And now for my doggy forecast for this hill.  There was a family with a collie who made it to the summit and onto the summit of Beinn Tulaichean.  Their pooch was your typical collie, very attentive to its owner and not too inquisitive.  My own brand however – Labradors – would have been straying close to the edges, and there were plenty of them.  There are sudden and near vertical drops from the side of Grey Height and I just would not trust my two to stay under control in this type of situation.

Since starting the first draft of this report, I have indeed met Neil NCM for the first time and as Bobby was not there, I gave him the kick in the pants that he so deserved.