Wednesday 12 February 2014

SOTA in the West Country - February 2014 - G/DC-005 Christ's Cross

There is very little to say about this activation. It was pretty miserable and wet....

Roadside Parking at DC-005 Christ's Cross
The summit top has a road running almost over the top of it and I chose to activate the summit against a muddy fence in a field at SS 96612 05020. This was 255m above sea level which is 6m below the highest position at the trig point. 

We had motored down from Taunton where we had stayed the previous night. I turned off the M5 at Cullompton and turned right into a very narrow lane in the village of Bradninch. I parked roadside at Christ's Cross and carried my gear into the field to set up. VHF 2m FM was a disappointment. All I could hear was a loud buzzing sound on most frequencies and calling CQ SOTA produced nothing. Reverting to the good old 40m band proved worthwhile though and 36 contacts were completed on CW and SSB. Part way through the activation it started to rain really hard. I ran back to the car to get my umbrella - at least the radio then remained dry.

Operating position near a muck heap on G/DC-005 Christ's Cross
The rain meant I had to cut the activation short so 20m operation was ruled out. The brown mud in this part of the country left my rucksack and gear well coated. It certainly clings to stuff more than the northern mud!  I packed up and we motored south for some lunch near Okehampton and our activation of High Willhays DC-001 on Dartmoor - see my later blog.

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