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| MC5A QSL printed by Gennady UX5UO | MC5A Operator Ian G3WVG on Flat Holm Island for the second time. |
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| MC5A QSL printed by Gennady UX5UO | MC5A Operator Ian G3WVG on Flat Holm Island for the second time. |
This was my second visit to Flat Holm. I enjoyed my last trip (see: MC5A 2023) so much that I decided to stay rather longer this time. It's a small island in the Bristol Channel just five miles south of Cardiff. The border between England and Wales runs down the middle of the channel and Flat Holm lies just on the Welsh side of the border. Rather than use the usual GW prefix, I used the Welsh club contest callsign MC5A for our Three As Contest Group.
Access to the island is by boat from Cardiff in South Wales, Once you've negotiated the immense lock system for the Cardiff Barrage, in a fast RIB it takes less round 20 minutes The Bristol Channel has one of the world's highest tidal ranges so going ashore onto the islands small jetty is only possible for short periods in 24hrs. The island is home to a huge Gull colony. They can be very aggressive especially during the breeding season and they cannot be disturbed. Fortunately by the time of the IOTA contest in July the chicks have all hatched, most have left and "relative" calm prevails.
Flat Holm has an electrical grid system with a new battery back-up. It performed faultlessly and my little Honda generator with its additional fuel tank was not needed. I entered the 100w section running both CW and SSB. (987 QSOs on CW and just 112 QSOs on SSB). giving a claimed score of 2.454m points. Given that I was using low power with simple nine metre high nested inverted vee dipole antennas, I was pleased with the results.
As well as the equipment, antennas, poles, coax, generators, fuel and food for the stay has to be taken on the boat, all together with enough spare food in case the trip has to be extended due to bad weather. There are some nice creature comforts though. The accommodation in Fog Horn cottage was excellent and the island welcomes day-trips in the summer so it has a tiny "pub" called the Gull and Leek where visitors can stop off and enjoy a beer during their guided tour of the island. The guides brief them on the islands rich history and its unique wildlife. Needless to say I was a regular at the pub after the visitors had left!
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| MC5A made 1,099 QSOs in the 2024 IOTA Contest | No time for sleep! Solid 24 hours operating in the 2024 IOTA Contest. |
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| Sunset on Flat Holm island (EU-124) in the Bristol Channel. | Ian G3WVG operating with a barefoot Yaesu 710 radio. |