From the mountains to the beach [059]

Greetings from IO72W78 Morfa Bychan...

HERE

Writing this in Wales. IO72W78. Technically working but fish and chips on the beach with a bit of radio is also allowed.

For those new here I’m Christian G5DOC, a UK amateur radio operator based in Cambridgeshire on a never ending exploration into a hobby that has no end.

---

THERE

You may (or may not) have noticed, I’ve have been away. Since I last wrote I have been on a mission to revisit somewhere very important to me.

25 years ago I found a piece of paper in a backpack. On it were the co-ordinates of an Alpine valley on the Swiss Italian border.

I’d been given the location a year before by a Swiss guy I met in Laos called Stefano. He’d promised me if I arrived in that place on a certain day, he'd teach me how to be a ‘Pastore’ (Shepherd/Cowherd).

Back then I was coming to the end of a decade of travel. Not wanting to slip straight back into society, I felt this might be the perfect transition. It was the kind of job I'd always wanted to do. So true to my word, I journeyed into Switzerland and after a train, a bus and a cable car… I hiked to a hidden valley in Ticino.

Stefano was expecting me.

He showed me how to tend to the 37 head of cattle. How to forage for mountain food. He showed me how to operate the mechanical winch that would bring up the bulk of my supplies from a village 1000 feet below. After three days of tuition and guidance, he felt I was ready and left.

Over the summer I lived on the mountains as I drove the cattle slowly up the valley living in a few simple dwellings that got more basic as I ascended the mountain.

It’s still the strangest job I’ve had. Dotted across the Alps were others like me that I never got to meet. Hippies and hermits, happy with the isolation and basic living.

This was one of the best times of my life. And recently, Google earth told me that one of the cabins I stayed in might still be there. So a quarter of a century later, I returned to that valley and documented it all in my other Substack. 

If you are a supporting subscriber here let me know and I will unlock all of the posts over there for you.

These are the ones documenting my recent trip…

Preparation: Towards Knowing and Being [477], Day one: The Obstacle Is The Path [478], Day Two: Pilgrim Soul [479], Day Three: The Expectation Gap [480], Day Four: Waldenponding [481], Day Five: Genius Loci [482], Day Six: Saudade [483], Day Seven: Escape From The Snow [484], Day Eight/Nine The Journey Within [485].

I wasn’t really there to do radio but I could not help have a play. I was packing so much camping gear I decided last minute not to take my tiny HF radio in favour or taking my Yaesu FT5D handheld and a Meshtastic node. Boy was that a bad idea.

Even though I was up at 2100m ASL (almost 7000ft) there was nothing for my 868MHz node to connect to as I was in an isolated horseshoe valley.

I didn’t fare much better with the handheld.

In a number of positions.

Outside of some digital stuff that I could not decipher, when I climbed even higher I picked up a few APRS stations over in Germany and down in the valley below I could hear but not understand people on the 446 PMR frequencies. I did try to break in but I think they were a little freaked out to hear an English voice.

The hike to that hight was a slog with camping and cooking gear plus food for five days, but if I had left the handheld behind and packed a HF radio I cannot help think things would have been different. You live and learn.

You’d think you’d need the handheld in case of an emergency in the mountain but they were well served for 5G and even though I found a few GSM dead spots, you can be sure that if i’d have broken a leg I’d have reached for the phone.

On the way down the mountain I spotted a Motorola in a small cable car. I imagined was only for emergencies should there be a mechanical issue in the air and wondered what model it was. I have something similar in the shack.

Thankfully friend and radio comms engineer Richard M0OFF knew and informed me it was older than the one I have and is a VHF/UHF Motorola GM900. I was surprised to see it was also labeled as doing 4m and found a bunch for sale on eBay for £150. 5x 900s which are harder to program (using DOS) and three 350s which will program with Windows. I was tempted for a few seconds.

Anyway. I had better luck hitting the repeaters in France but mostly used the Yaesu handheld for finding random local (pirate) musicradio stations.

---

GEAR

I used this little 13W 5V solar panel to charge, my phone, my watch, my AirPods, my FT5D, my node and my flashlight. Obviously not at the same time. And when I wasn’t charging them it was charging a power bank. I have two of them now. Very lightweight. Just make sure you permanently waterproof a USB lead in should you be leaving it out in all weather. AMZN link

Spotted this Meshtastic LILYGO T-Watch watch in the wild. Looks like fun.

---

I was just about to click buy-it-now on a new external temperature sensor when I pondered if my in shack Meshtastic node might be blocking the signal to an external sensor.

It was only when looking at getting a wired external sensor to simplify things that I thought to test it again. The only signal that appeared to be blocked by 868 was the handshake between the external sensor and the internal one. So keep this in mind if you have similar issues with weather stations. Particularly in Europe. Once the sensors were connected I could use my node as normal.

---

ONAIR

In regards to radio on the beach I tried and failed to make a contact calling CQ on 2M, and 7cm. On reflection, in regards to my own kind of user error, I had left a wireless charger plugged in that sits on the dashboard. so I’m going to blame that. After turning it off I then have managed to have a chat with Les 2E0LRV and James M7MRY via Hubnet, via the Pwllheli repeater MB7ILP about 8 miles across the bay.

I also had a go at calling CQ on 4M. No joy. But that band is always hit and miss. It is wonderful should you strike it lucky though, and always worth having a go.

In regards to the little Meshtastic node I have in the car, I picked up 61 nodes on the drive into Wales. In amongst the weird, wonderful and default names, there were a few obvious Hams. Greetings to G0TAI, G7OMN and M6NVD to name a few.

---

ELSEWHERE

• I’ve never been to DEFCON but it’s been on my radar for ever. One day perhaps.

• There has been some really interesting (re bad) conditions on HF recently. I’d be interested to know where you go to see what current conditions are. DX View is a pretty one. And if you are new to checking propagation, this site might help.

• Great review of the CFT-1 QRP Transceiver. I still have ‘Learn Morse’ on my to-do list. Or Ideally I need a BIGRAT.

• This is my other more regular, slightly more eclectic email.

• If you are a UK Ham, have you updated and revalidated your licence?

---

FINALS

Thanks for reading and I hope subscribing.

Feel free to leave a comment to let me (and others) know what you have been up to or any new tools/toys you have found.

I’ll be in Italy in the not too distant future and plan to take a HF radio just in case I get some on-air time.

Please share this wherever you think it might resonate. At time of writing there are 599 subscribers to this email. You are some of the more curious people in radio ;-) And I thank you.

Over

73 de Christian G5DOC

_._