It's been quite a while since I last activated a SOTA (Summits on the Air). According to the database, my last activation was 2010, though I think there may have been a couple more recently that I've lost the logs from.
Having just acquired an Elecraft KX3, I decided it was time to put it through its paces, so Neil G4HUN and I decided to head to one of our local summits for the day. "Local" is perhaps a little kind - the nearest qualifying hill to Cambridge is an hour and a half's drive!
Nonetheless, we went for Bardon Hill, reference G/CE-005. The summit is a relatively walk - perhaps a mile - from a convenient parking spot, and while somewhat muddy, not a difficult ascent. The weather was pleasant enough for a February day - dry, not too cold, but rather misty:
Neil started on 2m FM and easily qualified the summit by the time I'd set up on HF; I started on 30m CW using a 7m vertical with a 9:1 un-un, and made 14 QSOs inside ten minutes. Switching to a low 40m dipole and SSB made for some nice contacts with those back home, including M1ACB, G8NWC and G1SAA, as well as several others. After lunch, 40m CW bought a further 17 QSOs, all at 3W from the KX3.
Meanwhile, Neil had good success on 2m SSB using an FT-817 and Arrow antenna (3-ele yagi). My KX3's internal batteries (8 non-rechargable lithium AAs - <£10 on eBay) easily lasted the day, which gives me the confidence not to take an external battery pack in the future!
Finally, someone asked whether we were within 30m of the trig point - I think so!
