Thursday 30 April 2015

Up the Tower - then 9miles!


 Yesterday, I had arranged for myself and Bob to take a trip up the Arqiva Tower in Emley Moor, Yorkshire.
 





This is where I work! At a height of some 1,200ft, it is about 1/5th of the total amount of ascent needed for us to complete the Lyke Wake! It takes 7 minutes in the lift to reach the turret room at the top. It will take us around 18h to complete the walk!

We were joined on this trip by Hanna from MAG.

 








On the horizon behind us in these last couple of photos, are the North Yorks Moors!



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After our visit up the tower, myself and Bob had a spot of lunch in the works canteen, before heading off for a short walk, around the village of Emley




A short walk of just 8.8miles! Both of us were carrying on this walk packs weighing in at around 17kg - close to the maximum we may have to start the Lyke Wake carrying. The only difference here being that all of that was dead weight. On the day of the walk, our packs will get lighter as we go, as we use up the water were carrying. I was also trying out a new pair of boots for the first time. My pack was made up of the RT-320 radio plus a set of heavy ankle weights that im using around the house, Bobs was bottles of water and bricks!



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Friday 24 April 2015

GB0MAG 1st Ever Mobile Special Event Station!

I am pleased to be able to announce that the UK radio regulator Ofcoms licensing division have today granted us a unique Notice of Variation (NoV) to operate as an amateur radio Special Event Station during the walk, under the callsign GB0MAG.

One of the standard rules of special event stations is that they must be operated from a fixed location - no mobile operation is allowed!

Normally!

Some time ago I made a proposal to Ofcom requesting permission to operate pedestrian mobile, in other words, whilst walking, within a +/- 10m wide corridor along the Lyke Wake Walk route. Today Ofcom have granted that request and issued us with the callsign GB0MAG, as well as a number of specific rules regarding public access, interference mitigation, and station identification. They have also permitted operation on two fixed detour points - the two SOTA summits, which might require a few dozen meters off the route, and along a fixed line that covers the detour around the Lion Inn.

As far as I am aware, this is the first time a mobile special event station has ever been approved! This makes our activity unique.

Operation will be on 145MHz FM, at a transmitter output power of around 5W, using my trusty Alinco DJ-F1


However, we will be building a special rucksack mounted antenna to improve our range! We will be at the mercy of battery life however, and unless we can find some kind company who will loan us a suitable lightweight Lithium Polymer battery, the only other alternative is sealed lead acids, and the weight is a worry there.

For the radio hams - look up GB0MAG on QRZ.com, I will build more information onto the page as we get closer to the 28th.

The next four days might be hard to find much training time, but im sure we will fit some miles in somehow! We have an 8 miler scheduled for next week after the Tower visit, to be done with full weight pack (around 15-20kg) in as fast a time as we can. I myself did nine miles with 13kg today. I had on a pair of 'lined' walking socks, and have a few tender spots which I didnt seem to get with my single layer thick socks?! Im also a little concerned over the rate of wear of the soles of my boots - time to bring the reserve pair into use!

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