Arthur's Seat - GM/SS-272 SOTA (2024)

Summits on the Air Activation Report

Activation Date: Thursday 18th January, 2024.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Arthur’s Seat, Southern Scotland, Scotland.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GM/SS-272 (1 point).
Summit Height: 251m elevation, 174m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 55.94408, -3.16182. Maidenhead Grid IO85kw.
Distance: 3.0km travelled with 235m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T1.^(?)
Elapsed Time: 1h 15m (including operating).
Weather: -2°C, light breeze, sunny.
Radio Equipment: Yaesu FTM100D, MFJ-1714, Zippy 4200mAh 4S LiFePo4.
Callsign Used: MM1HAX/P.
Contacts: 6 (2m FM).

Trip Notes

Arthur’s Seat, rising 251 metres above Edinburgh, is the remains of an ancient volcano that erupted approximately 340 million years ago when Scotland lay close to the equator. The dramatic peak and its neighbour, the Salisbury Crags, played a pivotal role in the history of geology - it was here that James Hutton developed his revolutionary theories about how the Earth works in the late 18th century. Today the summit lies within Holyrood Park, providing a remarkable pocket of wild landscape in the heart of Scotland’s capital city.

With 174 metres of prominence, Arthur’s Seat qualifies as a Marilyn and is worth 1 point for SOTA activators. My route began from the Palace of Holyroodhouse, following the obvious path that climbs steeply up the western flank of the hill. Despite being January, the weather was crisp and sunny with temperatures hovering around -2C and just a light breeze - ideal winter walking conditions.

The well-trodden path presented no navigational difficulties, though the final approach to the summit involves some rough, rocky terrain. Even on a cold January day, the hill attracted plenty of visitors taking advantage of the clear conditions for views across the city.

From the summit trig point, the panorama is genuinely spectacular. Edinburgh’s skyline stretches out to the north and west, with the castle clearly visible on its own volcanic plug. To the east, the Firth of Forth and the coast towards North Berwick lay spread out below, whilst the Pentland Hills formed a distant backdrop to the south.

I set up my Yaesu FTM100D with the MFJ-1714 antenna near the trig point. Conditions on 2 metres FM proved excellent for such a modest summit, and I completed six contacts in quick succession. The highlight was working Ken GM0AXY, one of the original activators of this summit back in 2002 when SOTA began. Other contacts included Peter GM0VEK, Tom GM4YWI, Steve MM0XPZ, Chris MM0UHR, and Mark 2M0IIG - all with strong signals across the Scottish central belt.

The entire circuit covered just 3 kilometres with 235 metres of ascent, completed in 1 hour 15 minutes including operating time. Arthur’s Seat offers an accessible urban SOTA activation that can easily be combined with a visit to Edinburgh’s many other attractions, though activators should be aware this is a popular and often crowded summit.

Photos

Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Arthur’s Seat on Thursday 18th January, 2024.

Walking Route for Arthur’s Seat

The interactive map below shows my GPS track taken to the SOTA activation zone for Arthur’s Seat. The GM/SS-272 summit area is marked on the map with a blue pin icon.

You can download the route shown above as a GPX file suitable for use with most GPS devices. This file is provided for information only, to support your own walk planning and research (it may contain navigation errors, detours and/or safety hazards). The route downloads provided here are governed by the Creative Commons BY-NC-SA 4.0 licence.

Station Log

I logged the following 6 amateur radio contacts operating as MM1HAX/P from GM/SS-272 Arthur’s Seat on Thursday 18th January, 2024 (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 Arthur’s Seat:

• Sotl.as Summit Page for GM/SS-272 Arthurs Seat.
• Hill Bagging UK Summit Page for Arthurs Seat.
• Google Maps Page for Arthurs Seat.
• Wikipedia entry for Arthurs Seat.

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