On my activation of Walbury Hill, I did at some time give out the SOTA reference as G/SC-001. My apologies, this should read G/SE-001
I left Henley-on-Thames at 0830z driving the 40 miles in about 1hr 20m. As I was pulling into the car park, I received a phone call asking if I needed my FT-857 as I’d left it on my sisters coffee table. I bit my tongue put my head in my hands and returned to Henley. It was touch and go as to whether I went back to Walbury Hill or went home. I went back to Walbury Hill, now running well over 3 hours late, this coupled with a 120 mile drive, I was not a happy bunny
On reaching the AZ, I noticed Walt G3NYY/P, playing a little radio and we had a nice chat. As I was setting up my Station, Walt came over and joined me.
To start with, trade was quite a bit slower than IO83, however, things picked up as the afternoon wore on. There was some nice contacts on 2FM, including contacts into Essex, Luton, Coventry, Solent, 6 contacts onto the Isle of Wight along with Devon and Wiltshire and an unexpected S2S with M0TUB/P on G/WB-003 Stiperstones.
On the basis of being three and a half hours late starting and a midweek activation, I’ll settle for the 47 FM contacts, from a summit that AIUI, can be quite testing and sometimes difficult to even qualify on VHF FM
Equipment used…
FT-857 between 7 and 20 Watts, 20Ah SLAB and the magic wand that is the X-300 collinear.
Apologies for no SSB. A big thanks to all the chasers and to Walt for our very enjoyable chat today.
On the basis of being three and a half hours late starting and a
midweek activation, I’ll settle for the 47 FM contacts, from a summit
that AIUI, can be quite testing and sometimes difficult to even
qualify on VHF FM
Equipment used…
FT-857 between 7 and 20 Watts, 20Ah SLAB and the magic wand that is
the X-300 collinear.
Well done Mike - an excellent outcome on a fussy summit! Pity I missed you!
I saw Walt was up there earlier, but I didn’t get to work him, as I don’t have 6m in the car. I did ponder driving over (Walbury is only 20 miles or so from work) but then had to visit our other site in Sunbury…
I think I’m going to have to look into a portable X-300
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Nice to have a chat with you yesterday Mike, a cracking 59++ signal - that X300 is certainly working wonders. Well done on the QSO count too!
I think I’m going to have to look into a portable X-300
Just noted that Sharman do an X-300 antenna, which is cheaper (about £68) but appears to be the same spec. wise as the Diamond. I have a couple of Diamond SWR meters which also seem to be produced cheaper by Sharman (amongst others). Just wonder what the connection is between the companies?
In reply to M6ADB:
Thanks Andrew, I did wonder. I did read once that with the meters, the internal gubbins isn’t up to the same quality as the Diamond ones. They must just use the case with a different badge. Same as always I guess, you get what you pay for.
Just noted that Sharman do an X-300 antenna, which is cheaper
(about
£68) but appears to be the same spec.
Reading a lot of reviews, they generally alledges that Sharman produce
cheap knock-offs that are not worth the saving.
I’m using the Sharman copy, simply because the antenna tends to get knocked about during portable use and I didn’t really want to spend a lot of money on a Diamond that was going to have a hard life. I’ve had a couple of issues with my Sharman, because of the build quality however, they’re dead easy to fix.
Having said this, they’re not really designed to be dragged up and down hills. BTW, I’m sure I read somewhere, that Diamond antennas have always been much cheaper in Germany for some reason or other.
Performance wise, I suspect you would be hard pushed to tell the difference between the Sharman and Diamond.
BTW, many thanks for the very enjoyable QSO and great signal report from Walbury Hill, Jonathan.
It was very nice to meet you on Walbury Hill yesterday. Many congratulations on the 47 FM QSOs on 2m! A remarkable achievement on a weekday afternoon, when many people have struggled to qualify this summit on 2m. I was mightily impressed with your X-300 … it seems to perform magnificently, and is a much more manageable size and weight than I had imagined. Not very much more to carry than a SOTA pole and a SOTA-beam! Its only disadvantage is that it is not really suitable for SSB operations … you cannot just turn it through 90 degrees as you can with a SOTA-beam or MFD.
I gave up on 6m yesterday. The superb Es conditions of Tuesday evening had all gone, and just a few odd European signals popped up briefly, mainly by meteor reflections. And tropo on this band is just not productive without a beam. So I set up my inverted V dipole and did a 20m CW SOTA activation instead, which was good fun as the band opened up nicely to the Far East and I managed to work Thailand, Japan, several UA9/0 and even V85SS in Brunei!
Good luck on 2m FM if you make it to Skiddaw as planned, Mike!
73,
Walt (G3NYY)
P.S. It’s a well-worn track up to G/SE-001. I see Inkie is active from there as I speak!
In reply to 2E0YYY:
So I waited at your alerted time to give you a call.
And I waited.
And waited.
Then gave up.
Then saw you spotted later in the day and thought I’d give you a call.
Could’nt hear you on fm so waited for you to try ssb.
And waited.
And waited.
Then gave up.
When I’m back from illness…that will cost you a beer…and then I waited…and waited!!
