Reposted from https://m1hax.uk/2024/03/cnoc-an-daimh-mor-gmns142-sota-activation-report-2024/
Summits on the Air Activation Report
Activation Date: Sunday 31st March, 2024.
Activator(s): Richard M1HAX.
Summit: Cnoc an Daimh Mor, Northern Scotland, Scotland.
Summit ID: SOTA reference GM/NS-142 (1 point).
Summit Height: 357m elevation, 162m prominence.
Summit Location: Lat./Long. 58.34834, -4.50805. Maidenhead Grid IO78ri.
Also Activated: GM/NS-130.
Distance: 17.5km travelled with 580m of ascent.
Difficulty: SAC Grade T2.(?)
Elapsed Time: 6h 25m (incl. operating and other summit(s) on the same hike).
Weather: 10°C, light breeze, sunny.
Radio Equipment: Elecraft KX2, EFHW.
Callsign Used: MM1HAX/P.
Contacts: 11 (40m SSB).
Trip Notes
Cnoc an Daimh Mor, meaning “big hill of the stag” in Gaelic, stands at 357 metres in the remote heartland of Sutherland. This featureless moorland summit qualifies as a Marilyn with its 162 metres of prominence. Its extreme northern location and modest single-point status meant it had remained unactivated for SOTA since the programme began in 2002, until this expedition.
This activation held particular significance as one of the last remaining unactivated Marilyn summits in the UK for Summits on the Air. I researched and planned the route in advance, primarily using historical walking reports on the WalkHighlands forum. Based near Inverness for a few days, this day trip involved approximately five hours of driving in total.
A long single-track road led to the starting point where a disused gravel pit provided parking space for two or three vehicles. My walking companions and I would encounter nobody else throughout the entire day. Ben Hope (GM/NS-020) was visible on the distant northern horizon as we set off.
As is often the case with remote Scottish mountains, the terrain here is pathless and wild. I had prepared a GPS route on my Garmin watch based on satellite imagery and Ordnance Survey maps, although this needed almost immediate revision once underway as we picked our way across boggy grassland. We tracked towards Cnoc an Daimh Beag (295m) before progressing in a roughly linear direction towards the main summit, turning north as we approached the true high point. Anyone repeating this route should expect to adapt constantly to conditions underfoot, crossing several small streams along the way.
Arriving at the featureless summit, I set up my Elecraft KX2 and operated on 40 metres using my EFHW antenna. I was pleased to work a number of keen SOTA regulars, though the pile-up for this new summit was smaller than anticipated, perhaps because of moderate band conditions or the relatively obscure nature of a single-point hill. The highlight was a summit-to-summit contact with Andy MM7MOX/P on Black Hill (GM/SS-253), adding an extra dimension to the activation.
With a long day planned, I packed away the station and continued towards Meadie Ridge (GM/NS-130), descending towards a beautifully untouched sandy beach at the head of Loch Meadie. This was my first ever unique activation, and quite a significant undertaking for just one SOTA point. Nevertheless, it was a meaningful rite of passage to have my radio callsign permanently attached to one of the UK’s SOTA summits.
Photos
Below are some photographs taken during my activation of Cnoc an Daimh Mor on Sunday 31st March, 2024.
Station Log
I logged the following 11 amateur radio contacts operating as MM1HAX/P from GM/NS-142 Cnoc an Daimh Mor on Sunday 31st March, 2024 (all times shown are UTC):
Time Callsign Band Mode Notes
11:53 GW4VPX 40m SSB Allan, 3/3
11:55 G5OLD 40m SSB Tim, 4/4
11:55 GM0GAV 40m SSB Gavin, 5/8
11:56 G0FEX 40m SSB Ken, 5/7
11:58 MM7MOX/P 40m SSB Andy, 4/1, S2S GM/SS-253
11:59 2E0FEH 40m SSB Karl, 4/4
12:00 M0RWX 40m SSB Robert, 3/3
12:01 2W0ILQ 40m SSB John, 5/6
12:01 GI0AZA 40m SSB Esther, 4/4
12:02 M0MDA 40m SSB Mick, 5/7
12:05 M0KCB 40m SSB Dariusz, 5/5