GW/NW-064 Mynydd Rhiw SOTA Activation

Jump to GW/NW-064 Mynydd Rhiw Details of Activation and Logbook.

Mynydd Rhiw

GW/NW-064 Mynydd Rhiw dominates the southern end of the Llyn Peninsula and is very much a place, worthy of the term ‘ancient and modern’. At 304M (997’) it falls just short (by 3’) of what global geologists call a mountain. However, from the summit you get amazing views up the Llyn Peninsula towards Caen Fadryn (GW/NW-058), Carneddol (GW/NW-068) and Yr Eiffel (GW/NW-075). Further round are the mountains of Snowdonia National Park, and then down the coast towards mid-Wales. I have been up here late in the evening before now and seen the Wicklow Mountains in Ireland. So the views are spectacular – oh, and so are the sunsets.

The path from the National Trust car park to the summit are very wide and easy to follow. They pass through large swathes of heather which, at this time of the year are flowering a deep rich purple. Fortunately, the Llyn Peninsula’s moors have not succumbed to the fires that other areas of Wales have during the third heatwave of 2026. That’s great news for the numerous ground nesting birds I saw on this activation, alongside the large number of butterflies and bees encountered.

As you walk up the main path to the summit you pass by a Neolithic axe factory over 4,000 years old. Mynydd Rhiw is littered with quarries that were used to dig out stone for the tools and there is much evidence of early dwellings too.

As you get to the summit, the first ‘modern’ use of the hill is encountered – a radio relay station and tall mast. It is shared by the Ministry of defence and commercial interests.

Walking over to the summit, which is just a few yards further on, you will find the trig point. From here you get great views down the rest of the Llyn Peninsula towards Bardsey Island and Aberdaron. You can also see Mynydd Anelog (GW/NW-077) down there. In the same direction, down off the summit, you can’t miss the Ministry of Defence (MoD) Radar Station. It was originally built to track drone and missile launches from Llanbedr into the Aberporth military ranges located off the coast of West Wales.

Details of GW/NW-064 activation

Callsign used
GW7LFC

Activation Date
18th July, 2026

Weather conditions
Sunny, 24 degrees C, gentle breeze.

Equipment used
Yaesu FT5D handheld transceiver, DX Commander telescopic mast, SMA/BNC adaptor, SOTA Beams 2m/70cm Yagi antenna, Heil HTH-Y headset, KitBrix KitMat, and Fjallraven Singi Hip Pack 10.

Software used
SOTA Goat app and HAMRS Pro logbook on my iPad, but also available for Android.

Bands, modes and power used
2m using 5w of FM.

Station setup
The station was set up just south of the summit, away from the folk enjoying the views at the trig-point. The KitMat is great and protects your rear end from all the spikes vegetation. The operating position was right at the bottom of the mast, which enabled the antenna to be rotated really easily.

How did the activation go?
I parked the car at the NT car park near the cattle grid and walked up the broad path to the summit. It’s a very easy path to follow and the gradient is such that I wasn’t out of breath on the way up. I did take a detour to a couple of cairns on the way up. As I got up to the trig-point there were a few people admiring the views so I decided to activate a bit further along on the summit’s plateau. The ground is very rocky up there with the soil covering being very shallow – it took a while to find somewhere I could put the tent pegs to secure the mast.

Sadly, the SOTA Beams 2M/70cm yagi antenna is no longer manufactured, but it is a wonderfully compact antenna to carry up to a summit as the elements fit inside the boom. This is the second version and the elements screw into the boom, so it’s very quick to assemble. The short length of RG58 cable is terminated with a couple of crocodile clips and these are used to attach the feeder to the driven elements. I have attached red and green heat shrink tubing to each end of my elements to guide them into the holes on the boom when it’s cold, but also to identify which element is which and where it goes on the boom – red/red directional element, red/black driven element and black/black reflector element.

The new Fjallraven hip pack proved to be a great access on this short walk to the summit. It accommodates everything; radio, headset, guying kit, iPad, compact fleece for the top, the mat to sit on and a 1L double-skinned water bottle.

Once established, I managed to work four stations, three located down the coast of West Wales and one in Trevor, between Yr Eiffel and Caernarfon. There wasn’t too many people of the band and, despite my station being spotted on the SOTA Reflector, the four contacts I made were all that was to be had.

These small summits on the Llyn Peninsula may not have the prestigious height and points allocation that the serious SOTA activators crave, but they do afford those that attempt them great views and a very pleasant afternoon out – especially in this great weather we’ve been enjoying recently.

Notable contacts
When you only make four contacts on a SOTA summit, each one is notable – thanks to all who worked me, it’s much appreciated.

Pros and Cons
This is a great summit to attempt if you can’t walk too far, or can’t walk up steep hills. You’ve still walked to the summit, so the sense of achievement is still there. It’s also a good summit to attempt during the winter – you can’t really go wrong, but it’s a good test of your clothing, boots and equipment in extreme weather – it still gets very cold and it’s high enough to snow. There aren’t really any cons with this summit.

Observations and lessons learned
A very pleasant short walk and amazing views all around. This is also a great place to operate in a contest from as the amount of actual land in this square makes it quite rare.

GW/NW-064 Logbook