Great Orme Walk - GW/NW-070 SOTA (2019)
Summits on the Air Activation Report
Activation Date: Saturday 20th April, 2019.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Great Orme, North Wales, Wales.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GW/NW-070 (1 point).
Summit Height: 207m elevation, 201m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 53.33254, -3.85226. Maidenhead Grid IO83bh.
Distance: 0.1km travelled with 5m of ascent.
Difficulty: Drive on summit.
Elapsed Time: 15m (including operating).
Weather: Feels like 9.5°C, 15 kph SW wind, 77% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MW1HAX/P.
Contacts: 6 (2m FM).
Trip Notes
The Great Orme (207m) is a large headland located in Conwy County Borough, North Wales. It is a popular tourist destination known for its dramatic coastline, beautiful beaches, and rich history. The Great Orme is home to a variety of wildlife, including seals, seabirds, and a herd of feral Kashmiri goats that have roamed the headland for hundreds of years.
This is a drive-on summit with a tarmac road leading up to a pay and display car park on the summit. The activation zone is grassy and spacious, but is a popular site with tourists.
For this activation, I drove to the car park at the summit. As such, no ‘walking route’ or GPX information is provided in this SOTA trip report.
This is a popular location for HF activations, with almost as many total SOTA QSOs logged on the 20-metre band as there are on the 2-metre band. This is known to be a good location to work in to the USA from on HF.
My VHF activation was quick as I was just passing through with family in tow. On a sunny day this is great place to enjoy the views and work many stations.
Photos
Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Great Orme on Saturday 20th April, 2019.
Station Log
I logged the following 6 amateur radio contacts operating as MW1HAX/P from GW/NW-070 Great Orme on Saturday 20th April, 2019 (all times shown are UTC):
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11:00 | GW4ZPL/P | 2m | FM | 5/9 |
| 11:02 | MW0ISC | 2m | FM | 5/1 |
| 11:04 | G4DQB/M | 2m | FM | 5/6 |
| 11:06 | G0WGL/P | 2m | FM | 5/9 |
| 11:10 | EI6KO | 2m | FM | 2/2 |
| 11:11 | 2W0DDD/P | 2m | FM | 5/9 |
In the notes field I will usually log the other operator’s name and the signal report they provided. In accordance with the Summits on the Air rules, I do not make a log entry where a complete exchange of callsigns and signal reports was unsuccessful.
Additional Information
The following resources may be helpful to walkers, mountaineers and SOTA activators interested in Great Orme:
- Sotl.as Summit Page for GW/NW-070 Great Orme.
- Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Great Orme.
- Google Earth view of Great Orme.
- Wikipedia entry for Great Orme.
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