Nearly a year ago, OARC SOTA Day 2024 provided me with the excuse I needed to awkwardly step onto a hill, set up some kit, and start my journey into the world of outdoor amateur radio. I think it’s fair to say that’s been a success. And so when June rolled around again, it was of course time to get back to a hilltop for OARC SOTA Day 2025.

As I lamented last year, my corner of the world is not great for SOTA, and there are only two qualifying peaks within an hour’s drive. I visited Win Green last year, so this year it was time to do the other, G/SC-013 Nine Barrow Down.

Panorama from the top of Nine Barrow Down

I spent months being nervous about this one—not for the climb itself, which at only 200m above sea level is nothing to be worried about. No, I was worried about the land-owners. Several amateur radio folks had got in trouble before for activating this SOTA peak without permission and faced the wrath of an angry farmer. (In England at least, many SOTA peaks are on private land, and while there may be a public right of way, that doesn’t imply a public right of amateur radio station.)

Around three weeks before the activation, on 20th May, I submitted a polite request via the land-owners’ contact page at https://knitsonfarm.co.uk, and received a response back six days later giving me permission. The hardest part was over, and all that remained was the easy bit—a steep hike, a windy hilltop with little space and terrible solar conditions.

The fenced-in path along the eastern end of Nine Barrow Down

I parked in the lay-by at Ulwell, and struck out west up to the down. The walk is steep in places, though nowhere near as steep as the other side, and after around 1.5km it arrives at the top of the down. Here, the public footpath is fenced in from farmland on both sides, and there’s very little space near the summit where one could set up an antenna. The highest point is within enclosed farmland, and the whole area around the hilltop radio transmitter is also closed to the public. A small open patch of land was available on the south side just as you reach the top, but I had brought VHF as well as HF kit with me, and so I wanted to be on the north face of the hill if at all possible.

With luck, that morning, I was browsing the SOTA page for Nine Barrow Down and spotted this post from G4IPB which gave me a clue to a better spot.

I headed further along the hill, just outside the 25m altitude activation zone, and turned sharply right between two fields. Going through a gate then put me on National Trust land, and from there I struck out east again back towards the summit. The corner of this field, it turns out, is just inside the activation zone.

My route to the activation spot

Being National Trust land, no angry farmers would be turning up, and with not even a desire path leading up to the corner of the field, I had all the space I could ask for and barely saw another person the whole time. Plus it was north-facing, trees provided shelter from the wind, and this was the view:

View of Poole Harbour from Nine Barrow Down

I set up my VHF Yagi and tripod first, making contacts with Derrick D0DLD and Tony M7CVK before the suspect battery in my FT-60 gave up without warning mid-QSO. I was expecting this and brought the Quansheng as well, so a quick radio swap allowed me to complete it and also make contact with Steve M1SDH, my first OARC contact of the day.

After around half an hour on VHF only, I started setting up the HF antenna as well, though I kept the VHF setup running which allowed me a QSO with my second and final OARC member of the day, Lea M0XPO. This was my first time getting him in the log, and brought my VHF total to four to complete the SOTA activation.

Quansheng radio and fist mic attached to my tripod

Over on the HF side, band conditions were pretty poor on 40m and seemed like a near total wash-out on 20m. However, to make up for that there were plenty of SOTA stations around for summit-to-summit calls, and this weekend is also Bunkerfest, so there were a lot of bunker activators on 40m.

With plenty of space to play with, I set up the inverted-V dipole and spent a couple of hours on 40, alternating between calling CQ and hunting around for other portable stations. I had hoped to get a few more OARC members in the log, but sadly the bad weather in Scotland, Wales and northern England put off all but the most dedicated portable operators!

VHF and HF stations set up together

Of all my recent activations, I think this was genuinely one of the nicest. With tons of space, no passers-by, no time limit, and a nice sunny day to enjoy, it was a relaxing experience; the perfect counterpoint to some of the more dramatic or challenging radio adventures I’ve been on over the last few months.

I should apologise, though, to the contacts who had to endure the high level of environmental background noise where I was—this is SOTA after all:

Sheep on the Air!

Many thanks to my all my contacts yesterday, especially to the OARC folks that made it out. I hope to see the rest of you on the air when weather conditions improve!

QSO map from OARC SOTA day 2025