We knew we were pushing ourselves to the limit with 6am
get-ups after being out activating until 9pm in the evenings, but
motivation and enthusiasm gave us the required energy to defeat the
fatigue.
The previous day had started with a full cooked breakfast on the ferry,
and then no soup. Today, Friday 28th March 2008, we reversed that with
our normal "operating conditions" for the holiday of cereal bars for
breakfast, and a litre flask of hot soup carried in my rucksack. Today's
offering was Blue Dragon Thai Green Curry soup - and very nice it was
too.
Agnew's Hill is the closest SOTA hill to Larne, and so after driving out
on the A8 and then the A36 Ballymena road, we were soon turning right at
Kilwaughter and heading upwards with the hill sloping up on our left.
The parking spot here is a small rectangular walled pull-in. We walked a
few hundred yards down the road from here to the large ladder stile into
the field, signposted The Ulster Way.
The ascent was a steady slog up bleak peaty moorland, parallel to a wire
fence, reminiscent of the approach to
White Hill G/SP-006. When
the cross shape of the ladder stile loomed out of the thick mist, we
knew we were nearly there. The path here starts to weave gently upwards
through rocks and heather (and bog of course) before reaching a cairn on
the long summit plateau.
The wind was strong and cold, and carrying stinging icy rain, so shelter
was vital. We dropped off in a southerly direction, choosing a bank to
settle into for the operating position. Jimmy and I laid out the dipole
legs and erected the 80m aerial on the fishing pole. We did a decent
job, with the configuration barely looking threatened despite the
hostile conditions.
Despite being at least an hour earlier than planned (and one summit
ahead of schedule), the very first call on 3.557MHz CW was answered by
Mike GW0DSP, who was followed by a decent run of a further 13 QSOs. The
switch to 3.660MHz SSB worked beautifully again, with Alistair GW0VMZ
answering Jimmy's initial call. Jimmy quickly worked another four,
before the frequency lay empty. We packed up in the miserable drizzle
and unanimously agreed not to bother with the usual departing calls on
2m FM on the VX-7R and RSS.
The descent was difficult and eventful, as a result of the incredibly
slippery and greasy surface of lush wet grass on steep peaty banks.
Despite the best efforts of my Meindl boots and both Leki walking poles,
I was flung onto my backside twice! The second time, was on a long bank,
and my waterproof overtrousers offered no friction whatsoever. The
result was an accelerating slide down the bank, which appeared
unstoppable as I looked for a way to arrest my plummet. I hadn't thought
to bring an ice axe! A large rock accelerated towards me from below, so
rather than injure myself on it, or slip past it into a large deep
puddle, I thrust out my left boot at it to bring myself to a halt.
Jimmy, witness to this Frank Spencer-esque mishap, lowered himself down
the same slope extremely gingerly!
We were back at the car at 9.30am. Things were still going well. I
turned the ignition, turned the heater up full blast, and let Jimmy
direct me around to Slemish
GI/AH-007. Many thanks to the following stations, all worked on 80m
with 5 watts:
GW0DSP |
Connahs Quay |
Mike |
CW |
T |
G3RDQ |
Stockbridge |
David |
CW |
T |
G4SSH |
Scarborough |
Roy |
CW |
T |
M0CEF |
Farsley |
Jan-Martin |
CW |
T |
G4CPA |
Crosshills |
Geoff |
CW |
T |
MX0BCQ/A |
Crosshills |
Geoff |
CW |
T |
G4OWG |
Rawdon |
Roger |
CW |
T |
G3OHC |
Selby |
Graham |
CW |
T |
G4OBK |
Pickering |
Phil |
CW |
T |
ON4CAP |
Oostkamp |
Andr� |
CW |
T |
GM0AXY |
Edinburgh |
Ken |
CW |
T |
G0ANV |
Girton |
Daryl |
CW |
T |
G0NES |
Hollywood |
Don |
CW |
T |
EI2CL |
Dublin |
Michael |
CW |
T |
GW0VMZ |
Merthyr Tydfil |
Alistair |
SSB |
J |
G4JZF |
Willenhall |
Graham |
SSB |
J |
G0VWP |
York |
Terry |
SSB |
J |
G6MZX |
Thornton-in-Craven |
Geoff |
SSB |
J |
G6WRW |
Kidderminster |
Carolyn |
SSB |
J |
|