Background
Having made it through January without so much as making one QSO, I felt it was about time to trouble my logbook… so a lunchtime trip up the road was in order, offering an hour on site.
Band Conditions
With the Critical Frequency hovering around the 6MHz level, and having failed to work the two other GFFs active, expectations of inter-G were low… but the time-slot offered opportunities of east-coast US.
References
The operating location is within GFF-0324 (Ash to Brookwood Heaths SSSI) and within Worked All Britain square SU95. It is also only 825m from Mytchett Place, so also valid for CASHOTA and the World Castle Award as G-00452.
Callsign
Unlike recent activity which has used the club-call MX0WFF, I operated under my own callsign, M0YMA/P – additionally, I was broadcasting on APRS as M0YMA-9.
About GFF-0324
Parked up
GFF-0324 (Ash to Brookwood Heaths SSSI) is one of a number of distinct areas that make up the Thames Basins Heath Special Protection Area – additionally, it also forms part of the Thursley, Ash, Pirbright and Chobham Special Area of Conservation.
The majority of the designated area is used as a military training area!
The Activation
40m
Starting on 40m, I checked the ‘Worked All Britain’ frequency on 7.160 to find Sam GI4MBM working through a series of callers… as he finished with Peter MM3PDM/P and called QRZ he heard my callsign, thus becoming my first WAGI contact.
Moving to my own frequency, Paul MI1AIB quickly became my second WAGI, and Peter MM3PDM/P joining them in the log from his usual pier-side location.
Then Luciano I5FLN found me, and his spot brought the WWFF hunters, including inter-G contacts with Don G0RQL and Karl M3FEH (now without his MK prefix) plus Joe GI4TAJ as a third WAGI. By the time the pile-up had run its course, a total of 34 stations were in the log from 12 DXCCs.
It was especially pleasing to have a number of the non-Gx stations asking for the Worked All Britain square!
20m
Moving to 20m, I was immediately greeted on 14.265 by Jukka OH3GZ and Timo OH7JHA – both of whom kindly spotted me to the cluster. Over the next 25 minutes, a further 35 callsigns went into the log from 14 DXCCs.
Amongst my regular hunters, WAB-bookholder Sergei RV9DC made his usual appearance from Asiatic Russia to give me my second continent, whilst Bill W1OW in Massachusetts was the first of three trans-Atlantic contacts, followed by a struggle to log Mark K1RO in New Hampshire and then Ronald WN4N in Florida.
From memory, this is the first time I’ve logged three States in one activation, and my first into Florida since I gained my M0 call.
2m APRS
Disappointingly, the only reported route by which my APRS packets were being i-gated was MB7UG –> M6ORT-10
Log Uploads
The log has been uploaded to the following:
- Logsearch
- WWFF Logsearch
- WCA e-log
- Logbooks
- Logbook-of-the-World
- eQSL.cc
- QRZ.com
- ClubLog
Summary
Given the conditions, 71 contacts in an hour, from 24 DXCCs in 3 continents can be considered a success… especially from a location that I have activated so frequently.
Thanks all!
