GM4OBK/P Phil operating with XYL Judy on SS-263

The activation of Linton Hill fitted in well with our journey south from Scotland back to North Yorkshire. We stayed overnight at a B&B near Kelso and managed an early start. We were QRV by 0915z. The hill was only a one pointer, yet until we arrived it had not been activated for SOTA.

Linton Hill is a prominent feature with a substantial radio mast  on the top. Access to the summit is via a rough track. We parked  our car on a wide section of the track near some farm buildings at NT 774271. The summit (282m) was reached within 30 minutes after a one mile walk. The top of the hill is very green and there  is plenty of shelter from some well built dry stone walling near to the fenced off radio mast. The picture above shows me operating using the SOTA Beam with the WASP Special. Only 2m was used and we struggled for contacts. The Summit was only just qualified with five QSOs:

Weather conditions were excellent and despite working some long haul DX on 144 MHz no further stations were forthcoming. During the operation we had a visit from the farmer in his 4X4, who just came to see what we were up to. No problems.

With a dearth of contacts after an hour, we made our way down the hill, being quiet and vigilant as we passed the bull grazing in one of the fields that we had to pass through. The lack of contacts made me decide that HF operation was probably the way to go during future activations this far away from major centres of population.