This weekend was both POTA’s Support Your Parks Spring event and week 16 of the 52-week Ham Challenge, “Make a contact with a xOTA station”, so naturally it was time for more outdoor radio. I headed up to Ballard Down, GB-0082 for POTA and GFF-0099 for WWFF.
And when I say “up”, I really mean up. I hoped that the morning’s rain would suppress Easter holidaymakers’ desire to climb hills, and headed for the lay-bys at Ulwell. I was right—my car was the only one there. From Ulwell, the walk up to the obelisk on top of Ballard Down is only around 500 metres, a very short hike by the standards of my POTA activations. But check out those contour lines: this is about 100m ascent over 300m, all gravel and wooden steps.
The climb from Ulwell to my activation spot on Ballard Down
The photo doesn’t quite do it justice, but this end of the hill is steep. From a cold start having just got out of the car, the ascent is pretty punishing on the thighs. And it’s not even SOTA!
Looking back down the steps to Ulwell
At the top of the steps is the obelisk, which commemorates the first fresh drinking water supply to Swanage in the late 19th Century. Demolished during WWII to prevent it being a landmark for enemy pilots, it was then re-erected in the 1970s in its current form.
The view from there is pretty incredible, but it’s not actually the high point of the hill, which lies a few hundred metres to the east. Naturally, that’s where I was headed, and the view from there doesn’t disappoint either.
By my reckoning, I could also see between 10 and 15 of my previous activation spots from here on a perfectly clear day.
I wasn’t going to pass up looking at this view for the next hour, so that’s where I set up. I brought the twice-gaffer-taped Sotabeams 20/40 dipole with me, which this time managed to stay intact through the whole operation, along with the usual FT-891 and 20Ah battery.
I started off on 40m, where band conditions weren’t great, and I couldn’t hear any of the folks that I was seeing spots for. So with low expectations, I picked out a frequency that sounded clear and started calling CQ. I needn’t have worried as the QSOs came piling in rapidly and largely from folks I knew! First up was Steve M1SDH, OARC regular and creator of the most useful xOTA tool. Within a few minutes I also had Carl M0ICR from the UK Bunkers on the Air team, England WWFF coordinator Carl 2E0HPI, England POTA Mapping Representative Paul M7CUW, and the Irish contingent of OARC including both EI2OARC and Vic EI5IYB all in the log. Line-of-sight QSOs also followed with John M6EAM and David G0FVH before the first 10 minutes were out.
My operating location on Ballard Down
After 16 QSOs in half an hour on 40m, I switched to 20 and spent another half hour there, netting another 36 QSOs with contacts around Europe. At one point a Coastguard van showed up behind me, and I had to pause the activation, so apologies to the ON3 station I was trying to copy at the time—I did call you back afterwards, but got no reply. It turned out the Coastguard officer was an ex-signalman and just wanted to see what I was up to, so I wasn’t in any trouble!
At the point I was about to pack up, HamAlert pinged me a spot of Roger M0AUI, another regular local POTA operator, so I quickly switched back to 40 for another line-of-sight QSO with him over in Christchurch.
54 QSOs was the total by the end of the day, for a successful POTA and WWFF activation. I headed back home via the ferry, and while I didn’t quite make it straight on, I was only five cars from the front for the next one—surprisingly quiet for an Easter Saturday afternoon. I wonder what all the tourists decided to do instead?
It did give me an idea though, because most of the ferry queue is itself inside a POTA park (GB-0047 Studland & Godlingston Heath). I wonder if I could fit a vertical HF whip on the roof of the car, and activate the park solely in the time I am waiting for the ferry?
One for next time, maybe.
Many thanks to my all my contacts this afternoon. See you on the air next time!
Add a Comment