Post by 2e0edx on Dec 29, 2006 11:16:09 GMT
Shining Tor SP-04 1834 Ft ALT 2 Points
20/10/06 Up at 0500 hrs, car packed and on the M55 by 0600 hrs.The intention was to beat the work traffic and to be set up and QRV by 0900 hrs local, this was achieved with minutes to spare. Made good progress on the M6 southbound and found it relatively quiet of traffic, weather was behaving itself and all in all was looking forward to the activation. Left the M6 at junction 19 the Knutsford turn-off and headed through the town and onto the notorious A537 towards Macclesfield. Just after Macclsfield the A537 rises steeply towards Walker Barn and I was soon into heavy lorry traffic and thick pea soup mist which stayed with me until reaching the summit of Shining Tor. Managed to find the Cat & Fiddle without any problems, but parked about a hundred meters down the road at the entrance to the track Grid SK 000721, the other side of the antenna mast, with room for 4/5 vehicles. Onwards and upwards on a muddy track which was slightly undulating but easy to cover and could have been covered using the Landrover Discovery! The track was well signed with fingerposts and this led to the sharp left turn through the gate to the gravel track leading up to the summit, a nice easy incline. On reaching the summit I headed straight for Michaels Seat 1939-2000 and set up the FT-290 Mk2 with the SOTA pole and beam, vertical polarization to the well sighted fingerpost by the use of a bungy. The Jolly Rebel was attached to the pole and was flown admirably. WX was kind, light breeze, slight drizzle at times, but once the cloud lifted rays of sunshine were enjoyed. Was QRV at 09:02 hrs and straight into Dave, M0ZDH in Stourbridge, followed by Peter M3VTS/M in Stafford, Ron M0WSN in Birmingham, Graham G4NVH/M in Kidsgrove, Rob M0RDR in Winsford and Brian G3NIJ/M in Wellington. This was an enjoyable first excursion into the Peak District and my first activation of an SP summit.
20/10/06 Up at 0500 hrs, car packed and on the M55 by 0600 hrs.The intention was to beat the work traffic and to be set up and QRV by 0900 hrs local, this was achieved with minutes to spare. Made good progress on the M6 southbound and found it relatively quiet of traffic, weather was behaving itself and all in all was looking forward to the activation. Left the M6 at junction 19 the Knutsford turn-off and headed through the town and onto the notorious A537 towards Macclesfield. Just after Macclsfield the A537 rises steeply towards Walker Barn and I was soon into heavy lorry traffic and thick pea soup mist which stayed with me until reaching the summit of Shining Tor. Managed to find the Cat & Fiddle without any problems, but parked about a hundred meters down the road at the entrance to the track Grid SK 000721, the other side of the antenna mast, with room for 4/5 vehicles. Onwards and upwards on a muddy track which was slightly undulating but easy to cover and could have been covered using the Landrover Discovery! The track was well signed with fingerposts and this led to the sharp left turn through the gate to the gravel track leading up to the summit, a nice easy incline. On reaching the summit I headed straight for Michaels Seat 1939-2000 and set up the FT-290 Mk2 with the SOTA pole and beam, vertical polarization to the well sighted fingerpost by the use of a bungy. The Jolly Rebel was attached to the pole and was flown admirably. WX was kind, light breeze, slight drizzle at times, but once the cloud lifted rays of sunshine were enjoyed. Was QRV at 09:02 hrs and straight into Dave, M0ZDH in Stourbridge, followed by Peter M3VTS/M in Stafford, Ron M0WSN in Birmingham, Graham G4NVH/M in Kidsgrove, Rob M0RDR in Winsford and Brian G3NIJ/M in Wellington. This was an enjoyable first excursion into the Peak District and my first activation of an SP summit.