Mull 2005 – Travel and Operating
Ready For The Off
Didn’t think we’d get it all in !! The 5 of us travelled in 2 cars with 4WD of 2E0MAX coming in very useful for carrying most of the equipment.
The Motley Crew
Waiting for the ferry at Oban after a 5 hour drive from Workington. From left to right, Me G0MTD, Paul M1PAF, Malc M0XAT & Norman M0CRM. Mark 2E0MAX is behind the camera.
Ship Ahoy
The Caledonian MacBrayne ferry coming into the dock. The crossing to Craignure on Mull is just 45 mins from Oban.
Half Way There
The Lighthouse is called Lismore, Major Automatic Built in 1833 Automated in 1965. It has a 19 Mile range flashing white every 10 Seconds at an height of 26 Metres. thanks to Steve G0SGB for the details.
Duart Castle
Just up the coast from Craignure on the East coast of Mull is Duart Castle. Didn’t have time to visit on this occasion but on the list for next time.
Antenna Farm
Left to right, 2 ele delta for 17, 40/80 inv vees with co-linear, 5 band cobwebb and 6 ele 2M quad. Except for the VHF/UHF co-linear all antennas are homebrew.
More Antennas
Our residence is in the background with the various antennas erected in the garden. This time the 2M quads gone but another homebrew 80M vertical has grown !!!
M1PAF Paul
Paul using the FT920 on 80M with his homebrew vertical. Later Paul was to work into VK which was an excellent contact given the poor propagation. He’s already planning a 4 square for next year !!!
Out Back
Behind the cottage was a small hill over which were these spectacular views of the south coast of Mull.
Private Beach
Again just behind the cottage there’s a number of little secluded beaches just like this. What more could you ask for……PROPAGATION !!!
Pub
Looking across the Ross Of Mull from the South to the North Shore. The village of Bunessan is about 3 miles away and contains the nearest pub.
The Farm
During our visit we stayed at Scoor which consists of a large house and a couple of cottages. This shows the approach road which is basically a dirt track after you’ve left the sigle track road at Bunessan.
Mark & Paul
On the left is Mark, 2E0MAX operating 40M whilst Paul has a go on 20.
Pride & Joy
Marks pride and joy his ATAS25 portable antenna. We took this to the beach at Uisken to prove the theory of how well the sea boosted the signal. Even with poor propagation it performed well.
Beach DX
Given the success with the ATAS we returned with a delta loop for 20M and rattled off about 400 contacts in quick succession until the battery died. For this we used Marks Yaesu FT857.
Sea Path
A great success and highly recommended to give you a good signal even when conditions are poor. Caused a bit of interest with the locals with one or two coming along to see what we were up to.
Dedication
What happens when the tide comes in and the seaweed get’s tangled on your guy ropes ? You send Paul into the water in his boxer shorts to sort it out !!!
