Richard and I had a wander up NW-007 and NW-015 yesterday. Weather was cool and breezy with light rain showers. Not at all like August. We were in the clag on the tops most of the time so views were not great.
I would like to thank you all for your support on 70cm. I had 12 contacts on Aran Fawddwy and 8 on Glasgwm. Very pleasing, even for a weekend. Best dx was G0BPU, Michael in Suffolk.
GW4BVE and G0TRB used their 2m beams on 70cm, with surprisingly good results. Most 2m beams seem to present a reasonable match on 70cm, so if you do not have a 70cm antenna, give it a try next time you hear a 432mhz station on a hilltop. Check the vswr before transmitting, of course.
Thank you again for the contacts,
Equipment:FT-857, 20W to 9ele beam
73;
Frank G3RMD
In reply to G3RMD:
It was very nice to work you on 70cm yesterday Frank, I was also using a 144MHz Sotabeam SB5 on 70cms when I worked you 
73, Mark G0VOF
In reply to G3RMD:
… and I’ve just added a photo to Flickr to show what it was like for the very short period when you could see more than a few feet. http://www.flickr.com/photos/91098242@N00/3871546329/in/pool-sota_pics
Boy, was it wet underfoot on the walk between the two summits. My boots are still drying out 24 hours later. Hard work.
Thanks for the company, Frank and thanks to everyone for the QSOs.
73, Richard
In reply to G3RMD:
ost 2m beams seem to present a reasonable match on 70cm, so
if you do not have a 70cm antenna, give it a try next time you hear a
432mhz station on a hilltop.
Frank
A tip is that while the match may be good, the radiation pattern will not be. Sometimes it has a null in line with the boom of the aerial so it sometimes pays to rotate the aerial away from the direct bearing to see if there is a more favourable sidelobe.
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
In reply to G3RMD:
ost 2m beams seem to present a reasonable match on 70cm, so
if you do not have a 70cm antenna, give it a try next time you
hear a
432mhz station on a hilltop.Frank
A tip is that while the match may be good, the radiation pattern will
not be. Sometimes it has a null in line with the boom of the aerial so
it sometimes pays to rotate the aerial away from the direct bearing to
see if there is a more favourable sidelobe.73
Richard
G3CWI
Thank you Richard for your observation, a point which I should have made in my post. There is no substitute for a well designed antenna for the band in use.
I have noted that there is severe squint on the 3ele Sota beam when it is miss-used on 70cm, which is hardly surprising.
I suppose, the bottom line is, that I worked 3 stations using 2m antennas on 70cm, at the weekend, whom I would otherwise have missed, and very pleased to do so.
Using 2m antenna on 70cm is a fairly unsanitary activity, but if it reduces the amount of white noise an activator has to listen to on an inhospitable hill top, it has to be good news.
73,
Frank
G3RMD
In reply to G3RMD:
I suppose, the bottom line is, that I worked 3 stations using 2m
antennas on 70cm, at the weekend, whom I would otherwise have missed,
and very pleased to do so.
Succinctly put Frank. Something is generally better than nothing. I think the main issue with 70cms is the bandswitch… While many of the popular multiband rigs include the band, quite a few people that have them seem reluctant to flick over to the 70cms position, probably because they haven’t got an antenna specifically designed for the band. It is a psychological thing. Well, your excellent results at the weekend show what can be done and I hope more will be willing to give the band a go as a result.
Sorry that I couldn’t get out portable to work you - the home QTH is worse than useless in that direction and even using CW wouldn’t have produced a QSO.
73, Gerald
In reply to G3RMD:
Hi Frank, nice to work you 70cm on the vertical. FB sigs here in sunny Runcorn. Sorry to have missed yourself and Richard for a s2s from Raw Head; we were late as usual as it was a struggle trying to kick my son out of bed! We did take the 70cm Vargarda but had no joy ourselves.
73, Chris
In reply to M1DTJ:
Sorry we missed you from Raw Head Chris, but thank you for working us earlier on your vertical.
Attempting mission impossible on Tuesday and Wednesday next week. A group of us are activating hills on the Lleyn Peninsula, including Bardsey Island, and I am using 70cm as my primary qualifying band. Given the height of the summits, and the rather large hills to the east, it will require lots of dedication, and optimism! from 70cm chasers, to stand any chance of success. The path to Ireland should be good, but there are not many 70cm chasers there. It should be fun trying, but I suspect that the white noise syndrome will prevail.
Look forward to ‘possibly’ working you from the Lleyn summits on the 8/9th.
73,
Frank
In reply to G3RMD:
I am using 70cm as my primary qualifying band.
Given the height of the summits, and the rather large hills to the
east, it will require lots of dedication, and optimism!
Frank
It may not be as bad as you think. I have easily worked into the Lleyn Peninsula from round here on 3cm SSB. It seems to be just far enough from Snowdonia to allow the signals to diffract easily over the tops.
73
Richard
G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
to allow the signals to diffract easily over the tops.
I can remember reading a very interesting article in RadCom a long time ago (25+ years) how one of the distant Welsh repeaters (GB3AR?) could be accessed using a hand held and rubber duck very easily from a section of the promenade at West Kirby, Wirral. Walking a few hundred metres either way and the signal disappeared. In this case analysis showed it to be knife edge diffraction over Snowdonia. With that in mind further analysis of the maps suggested another location where such a feat would be possible which was later confirmed in practice. It was a fascinating article and worth investing further. Sadly all those old RadComs were thrown away when I moved house or I’d give a more accurate reference.
Andy
MA0FMF