Christ Cross Hike - G/DC-005 SOTA (2020)
Summits on the Air Activation Report
Activation Date: Sunday 7th June, 2020.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Christ Cross, Devon & Cornwall, England.
Summit ID: SOTA reference G/DC-005 (0 points).
Summit Height: 261m elevation, 173m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 50.83723, -3.47248. Maidenhead Grid IO80gu.
Distance: 0.1km travelled with 2m of ascent.
Difficulty: Drive on summit.
Elapsed Time: 30m (including operating).
Weather: Feels like 15.2°C, 12 kph NW wind, 72% humidity.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: M1HAX/P.
Contacts: 2 (2m FM).
Trip Notes
Christ Cross is a small and unremarkable 261 metre hill north of Exeter city in Devon. There is a trig point and radio mast at the summit.
The minor road over the summit sits within the SOTA activation zone for the hill, so I operated from the roadside (hence there is no GPS track below).
It is possible to follow a track a short distance across private land to reach the trig and mast if desired.
This summit is notable as my first ever Summits on the Air activation failure. The low height of the hill combined with the lack of radio activity on VHF in Devon & Cornwall meant I was unable to get four contacts in the logbook before having to continue on to my next planned hill.
I would recommend using a HF radio to activate this small SOTA hill, and I will return at some point in the future to do this.
Photos
Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Christ Cross on Sunday 7th June, 2020.
Station Log
I logged the following 2 amateur radio contacts operating as M1HAX/P from G/DC-005 Christ Cross on Sunday 7th June, 2020 (all times shown are UTC):
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 Christ Cross:
- Sotl.as Summit Page for G/DC-005 Christ Cross.
- Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Christ Cross.
- Google Earth view of Christ Cross.
- Wikipedia entry for Christ Cross.
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