# Outdoor activities Now that the good weather is here I have been going out a bit more and considering what activities I would like to do this year. ## Walking Realizing I was not getting out of the house very much in the winter months and my general fitness was going down hill, I decided to start walking for an hour or so once a week. There are plenty of places locally to walk, due to being in a fairly rural location, and I had never really explored the local area very much before. Walking in different directions over time gives you a pretty intimate knowledge of your area, which can only be a good thing. Sometimes I will take along my hand held transceiver, other times I listen to my phone playing CW to practice my ability to copy while also enjoying the natural surroundings. Walking can be enjoyed in most weather, where as cycling is pretty miserable in the cold and rain. ## Cycling I commuted to my hospital appointment last Wednesday by bike. There were two reasons, the first was that the weather was glorious and I was conscious I hadn't been out on my bike for months. The second was that, I didn't really want to pay for parking... The ride there and back was very enjoyable in the fresh breeze and sunshine, even if it was only for a short commute. I felt encouraged to get back to a regular cycling schedule. Weather permitting, I plan to do a short 8 mile circuit tomorrow. ## Motorcycling The year before last myself and my brother had two or three day excursions into Wales. There is some beautiful scenery in the land of my forefathers and it was a real pleasure to view it from the seat of my bike with that elevated view above the hedgerows which you just can't experience from a car. Combined with some joyous twisty roads to keep the rider entertained it made for a very enjoyable day out, with brief stops at some more prominent locations and a few roadside cafes for refreshments. ## SOTA/POTA Last Saturday I organized and participated in my first SOTA[1] event. It was a good opportunity to enjoy the early good weather, get some exercise and to field test my portable radio setup. To challenge myself, and let others operate 2m and 70cm, I had decided to attempt the activation on 40m and 10m. Having recently purchased a JPC-12[2] vertical antenna for portable HF operating, I was looking forward to seeing how well it performed. I have deliberately tried to keep my equipment minimal and man portable. There are many operators I have seen with so much gear, yet they rarely operate. The hobby for them seems to be one of collecting equipment rather than operating the radio. I think this often happens with hobbyists of varying kinds. There is a danger that the intentions result in purchases rather than in the activity itself. We started at the advertised time but unusually for a Saturday morning I could barely hear any UK stations. I had been warned the previous Friday that conditions on the HF bands weren't good due to sun activity but having already put a SOTA activation alert on the website, I didn't want to bail out. The weather was also too good to miss the opportunity so we went ahead anyway. I managed the required 4 contacts to activate the summit on 40m using the club call-sign. Once the activation was achieved I switched band to try on 10m but I couldn't hear any other stations. After maybe 20 minutes of calling CQ without reply I went back to the 40m band to activate the summit with my own call-sign. There I managed a further 5 contacts to achieve my goal. All in I enjoyed the day but was a little disappointed with the lack of contacts, which I am putting down to poor band conditions. I am already anticipating trying again Saturday 19th (Easter weekend) and have bought myself a 7Ah LiFePO4[3] battery to lighten the load. Last Saturday I took a 10Ah lead acid motorcycle battery which I managed to drop on my leg that morning when a cable tie, that I'd made a makeshift handle from, broke. I'm just glad it didn't land on my foot as I was only wearing flip-flops at the time! ## Camping I only camped overnight once last year but enjoyed it, seeing as I didn't get too cold. The only thing that really makes me miserable when camping is being cold and not able to sleep. Last year I took a sleeping bag, duvet and thermal underwear. I slept pretty well and hope I can manage similar comfort this year, but maybe cut down the bulk by not having to take my duvet. My brother loaned me a small 2 man tent last year but apparently it has pretty much now fallen to pieces. I guess I will have to purchase one. The Vango banshee 200 looks like it could be my next tent and possibly a sleep system upgrade from the Coleman sleeping bag I have been using that has a comfort rating of +10C. ## Summary I will have to find some way of combining some or all of the above, maybe that will multiply the enjoyment but it seems like an awful lot of gear to carry! Having seen the ROOPHLOCH activity of writing an article while you are away at some place that you wouldn't ordinarily be and being offline, I considered it. But then I thought about having to take yet more gear to facilitate it and not really maximizing my enjoyment of being there due to writing about it. So, I have decided I will not participate in that. I will instead write about the memorable moments, that people would probably find more interesting, when I am back home. I just use a desktop computer these days, when I am seated at it I am connected. When I'm not, I am offline and reachable only by phone or SMS, occasionally on the amateur bands... ## References [1](gopher://gopherpedia.com/0/Summits%20On%20The%20Air) ![2](https://xiegu.eu/wp-content/uploads/sites/4/2022/07/IMG_3241.jpg) [3](https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/124067183749)