Fan Brynchieniog is a mountain in the heart of the Brecon Beacons, coming up just short of Pen Y Fan at 802 meters (2631 feet) it is an impressive summit which forms a series with several others in the region. Probably due to it not being quite as tall as Pen Y Fan it doesn’t seem to be as popular, which adds to its appeal in my mind. Handily, because of it’s height it is still worth 8 points under SOTA. Win.
My long suffering girlfriend and partner in crime when it comes to outdoor adventures, Claire, had chosen this hike specifically for the spectacular views and number of radio points available.
Pouring over various online guides and maps the night before the hike we had settled on what was arguably the most challenging but also the most rewarding route. A route that would run to just over 13miles (21km) and have a significant amount of climbing in the first part of the walk.
Fuelled up with porridge and coffee we took the short drive from our accommodation to the decided upon start. With post walk rehydration and refuelling at the forefront of our minds we parked opposite a pub, grabbed our packs and started tabbing.
The route did not disappoint. The promised ascent began seemingly within a few paces of the start of the walk and continued, unrelenting for several miles. When after more than an hour of grinding our way slowly up hill we made it panting and sweating to Fan Hir we had the majority of the climbing in the bag and things were looking up radio wise. No sooner had we gained some elevation than my trusty FT3 handy came alive with a GW station calling CQ on 145.500. Once I had regained my breath I went back to his CQ and we had a brief QSO. Keen to cover distance I was reluctant to stop and was struggling to keep a conversation going and walk uphill at the same time. Still it was looking promising, first QSO and only using the standard rubber duck.
The ground levelled off somewhat and we began to make some more forward progress, rather than going straight up! Soon the radio was alive again, this time with and m6 station calling CQ for SOTA. Keen to work them I followed her onto the given frequency but it became apparent their were a few stations chasing, not wanting to pause to set the antenna up I decided to take my chances and see I could work them later. No way I was going to be heard with only the rubber duck. Sure enough a little while later I heard the call again . Going back this time I was able to complete the QSO with 5/1 each way. I had heard Viki(M6BWA) saying she wanted more contacts on 70cms for the activation so suggested that we QSY and see if we could make it.
Surprisingly, we were able to make the QSO with slightly better signal reports. She then passed the mic to her XYM, Rod (M0JLA), so he could get it in the log too. I should mention they were also very helpful in helping pronounce the name of the mountain we were climbing, I had been thoroughly butchering it until that point. We finished up the QSO with me giving them an ETA for our summit and them promising to listen out for me even if they were heading back to the car.
The final push to the summit was short and sharp. I left Claire behind to make a start on setting up. She was still recovering from a cold and was struggling a little with amount of climbing. Opting for slow and steady.
I setup my slim jim at just above ground level, using my backpack as a support and took a few moments to tune around and see what was happening. There was not a lot of activity so I found a clear frequency and set about self spotting. Just as I was grabbing a snack, I heard Adrian (GW1BXX) calling on 500 for any SOTA station. I went back to him and QSY’d for an extended QSO before he signed off. I held the frequency and pretty soon had a number of stations calling in. Fairly rapidly I had 9 stations in the log, 3 into north Devon and one summit to summit with Rick (M5RJC) who was on SW15 Myndd LLagorse. I had heard another summit to summit calling but struggled to get back to them.
Just as I was finishing up what I felt was a pretty good run, I heard the summit to summit call again. Viki and Rod were back. They had been trying to get through but couldn’t quite make the trip so had gone back to the car to retrieve another antenna. Another summit to summit completed, this time with G/WB-011 Bradnor Hill.
The rest of the hike passed relatively uneventfully, if a little painfully towards the end. Perhaps a 13 mile mountainous hike is not the best way to break in a new pair of boots? However, when we retuned to the car, disaster struck.
Our carefully chosen parking place, due to its location to a pub left us standing, mortified at the bar as the landlord informed us, contrary to the large sign outside, that they were in fact not serving food. We beat a hasty retreat and without out the modern safety blanket of 4G were left with just our wits to forage for our post walk feast. Luckily, we very soon located a pub that was serving food, by driving to the other end of the village.
The Gwyn Arms is a family run establishment which occasionally features 3 generations of the same family behind the bar. The dining experience was somewhere between the Queen Vic and Fawlty Towers. However, the beer was cold and the portions were substantial, exactly what was needed.
For anyone interested the equipment used on this activity were:
Antenna: Home-made Slim Jim in a pvc support pipe. Then antenna I have some to think of as my back pack special.
Radio: Anytone 778UV powered by a 3s LIPo at the summit and Yeasu ft3D whilst walking and for APRS
Logging: Write in the Rain brand waterproof notebook
I also used a pair of no brand in ear headphones to help keep noise pollution down at the summit.
Thanks for reading.
74s
Pete
2E0PNW
