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The Background
Several years ago our friend
Neville Allen, G4MIS, and his
wife Pat moved from
Sawbridgeworth to Dent, a small
village in the Yorkshire Dales.
They set up what is now a
thriving B&B. Neville’s new QTH
was very poor for VHF, being
surrounded by hills. During a 2
metre contest Neville and a
friend took to the hills and
tried out a site on nearby
Wether Fell. From this elevated
site G4MIS/P had no trouble in
working down to the south coast.
The Planning
When Neville told us about his
activity from Wether Fell this
gave us an idea for the
forthcoming PW QRP contest.
Fortunately all of Neville and
Pat’s rooms were vacant for the
weekend of the contest, so a
booking was made.
Our thoughts then turned to the
subject of equipment for the
contest. Being so far from home,
no item could be forgotten. In
fact spares for most items were
taken, in case of failure.
Neville had a 30ft mast and had
a table and chairs available so
we did not have to transport
these bulky items. Chris G7VJE
borrowed a frame tent and
organized a practice session in
his garden, so that we could
familiarise ourselves with the
way that it should be put up.
Ron G0WUZ and his wife Florence
decided to spend a couple of
extra days in the Dales and
travelled up during the week.
Chris G7VJE, Mark G0CPU and
myself (Tony G0PQF) drove to
Dent on the Saturday morning of
the contest weekend. George
G8ACT set off slightly later and
stayed at Scotch Corner on the
Saturday night but met up with
the rest of the group on the
Sunday morning.
The big day finally came
After an excellent breakfast,
cooked by Neville, we set off
for Wether Fell. Although the
weather was pleasant enough in
Dent, by the time we had reached
the contest site some 580 metres
asl the contrast was amazing.
The wind was overpowering and
threatened to send the tent
canvas into the next county!
Erecting the tent in Chris’s
garden on a calm, warm evening
was one thing, the top of Wether
Fell was quite different.
Eventually the tent was put up
and was lashed down with ropes.
The 30ft mast with the 13 el
Tonna was raised, eventually. It
became impossible to turn the
beam at times because of the
wind. The mast was lowered to
approximately 15 ft and this
helped enormously. The main
transceiver my IC251E. During
the contest the VFO knob became
stiffer, and stiffer, eventually
locking solid. Mark’s IC202 was
pressed into service and we were
back on the air within minutes.
The contest was hard going at
times. During the last few hours
it was virtually impossible to
find new stations to work. The
final tally was 29 G stations, 9
GW’s, 3 EI’s, 2 GI’s and 2 GM’s.
No continental stations were
worked. The best DX QSO was
G0AFH at 368 km.
The Results
The final log showed 45 QSO’s in
16 locator squares. Not a huge
score but it resulted in a final
position of 25th out of 63
entrants. It seemed that most
stations had found the going
tough, so our final position was
quite respectable.
Would we do it again?
Everyone involved enjoyed the
event and would do it again,
despite the various problems. A
few lessons were learnt,
however. A 15ft mast that will
actually turn is more useful
than a 30ft one that wont. A
tent is not a good idea at this
altitude; the back of a van
would have been a much better
place to operate from.
Our thanks go to Pat and Neville
for having us as their guests
for the weekend and making our
stay so enjoyable. |
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Click on the thumbnails below to open a larger version of the photo
G5ZG/P antenna
Nifty footwork from
Chris, G7VJE
Neville, Mark and Ron in the operating tent
Storm clouds brewing
over Wether Fell
CQ Dog Xray!
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