Uhf

In reply to G3NYY:

I wonder who was the first M3. :slight_smile:

Dunno Walt, However, there were plenty of the old class A and B licences who refused to work them. That is unless they wanted their WAB square or they were the fourth contact needed to qualify a summit :wink:

73 Mike
2O0YYY

In reply to G8ADD:

I have been out on Ditchling Beacon G/SE-006 for 70cm UKAC this year so it is now rather unique in that it has more QSOs on 70cm than any other band. When there I will be beaming your way, there is nothing much it the other direction !

So work and house move permitting I will be there in August.

73

Andrew
G4VFL

In reply to 2E0YYY:

In reply to G3NYY:

I wonder who was the first M3. :slight_smile:

Dunno Walt, However, there were plenty of the old class A and B
licences who refused to work them. That is unless they wanted their
WAB square or they were the fourth contact needed to qualify a summit
:wink:

73 Mike
2O0YYY

Oddly enough, there were class A stations that refused to work class B stations at first. Daft!

73

Brian GO8ADD

In reply to G8ADD:

In a fit of activity I have rebuilt my 70cms SOTA beam. The 1st version was a proof of concept version that worked but looked awful. The problem being trying ensure all the elements are in the same plane when you drill through the boom which is a piece of PVC pipe. If you haven’t got a bench drill and V-blocks it’s very difficult, not impossible, but hard work. My attempt used a piece of oval conduit. The idea was as it would lay flat it should be possible to drill more accurate holes with a hand drill. The results were better than my attempts with tube. Today’s version uses 16mm x 16mm square conduit, the type where the top unclips. It’s really quite easy to get the elements looking blob on rather than as straight as a donkey’s hind leg.

In between the showers, a quick test shows it is as directional as a 6ele beam should be, with an SWR of 1.5 at 432.200 and 1.4 at 433.400. The direction was correct for me to GB3ANG on 432.980. The planes taking off from Edinburgh Airport fly in sort of the same direction and I was able to do some “poor man’s radar” with GB3ANG. The signal would go nice and multipath as I was able to receive the direct signal and reflected signal from an aircraft. Shortly after the multipath died away the plane went past. That Robert Watson-Watt might be on to something here!

Now to get the RF switch working. I have the PA salvaged from a MM TV TX that runs a nice 20W. It’s in its SOTA box with relays and sockets and everything apart from an RF switch that works. This switch circuit I have is rubbish so that is the next job. Well actually the next job is to finish making a steak pie for tea but I’m just waiting for the pastry (home made by these fair fingers) to chill down in the fridge.

This means the FMF SOTA 70cms station will be about 23dBW erp(6ele Yagi 9-10dBd, 20W PA) which should possibly be audible down in G from up here. :slight_smile:

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to G8ADD:

Oddly enough, there were class A stations that refused to work class B
stations at first. Daft!

…not if they were calling on Topband.

73

Richad
G3CWI

In reply to G3CWI:
Oddly enough, there were class A stations that refused to work class B stations at first. Daft!

It was this kind of snobbery that turned me off radio for almost 20 years.

Glad to see that in the main, this type of thing is now in the past…

In reply to G3CWI:

“…not if they were calling on Topband.”

Presumably to tell them to scarper? :slight_smile:

73

Brian GO8ADD

In reply to G1STQ:

It was this kind of snobbery that turned me off radio

The obvious fix in that scenario would have been to pass the CW test yet continue using VHF and voice/computer modes only. That would neatly demolish all known arguments that the snobs could muster. vis. you can pass a CW test and you genuinely have no interest in CW or HF. Seems simple enough to me.

:slight_smile:

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

“The obvious fix in that scenario would have been to pass the CW test yet continue using VHF and voice/computer modes only.”

Hence why I am now G8XYJ! My father held the call for 2 years, passed the morse test and then threw the key thing away!! Passed purely as an exercise for getting on HF!! Hence the G8 was kicking about!

Glad to see that you are making progress on the antenna Andy! I will take my Sandpiper 5 ele and 817! Worked well last year so hopefully it will be OK this year!

73

Matt G8XYJ

In reply to MM0FMF:

The obvious fix in that scenario would have been to pass the CW test
yet continue using VHF and voice/computer modes only. That would
neatly demolish all known arguments that the snobs could muster. vis.
you can pass a CW test and you genuinely have no interest in CW or HF.
Seems simple enough to me.

:slight_smile:

Andy
MM0FMF

Which is exactly what I did back in the day. I passed the morse test to enable me to inherit my current callsign - a tenuous but precious link to a father I never got to properly know during his lifetime.

I shall be forever grateful to the system that allowed me to do this, and live in the hope that one day one of my daughters or grandchildren will benefit likewise.

73 de Paul G4MD (since 1984) Sorry about mixing the threads… those darned kids again…

In reply to 2E0YYY:
Hi Mike.

You never know :slight_smile:

A couple of weeks ago we picked up an activator on Helvellyn on 70cms on a small antenna mounted on Colins rucksack in the back bedroom (colinear currently taken down), and then, this weekend worked an activator on Snowdon on 70cms who I believe was just on a hand held !

Yet, could not hear you on Shining Tor :frowning:

Just goes to show that if conditions and set up each end is right some interesting results can occur.

73

Liz

In reply to M6EPW:
Hi Liz
I think that I was the person that you contacted on NW001 - Snowdon, on Friday. Just for the record I was using 5 watts from a Quansheng HH to a PA0FBK 2m/70cm design antenna made from RG58 co-ax. taped to a light fishing rod at about 6ft agl. There were quite a few chasers for 70cm. (Perhaps it was the lure of 10 points!).
73
John

In reply to M6EPW:

Hi Liz,

Conditions were not too good on the 2m band, Saturday. The temperature dropped quite quickly in the morning and it must be the first time ever, I’ve worn gloves in July!

However, I’m keeping one eye on the Hepburn charts looking for the elusive lift.

73
Mike

In reply to GW3GUX:
Hi John.

Just checked the log and yes it was you on Snowdon. Once again, Colin and I picked you up on the rucksack antenna in the back bedroom before connecting up to the three element yagi to work you.

This is proving to be a very interesting home made antenna considering we live in a sandstone built house.

Thanks for the info about your antenna. That sounds intersting and might be an alternative to the j-pole for activations.

73

Liz

In reply to GW3GUX:

Hi John,

Thanks for coming back to my CQ from Snowdon on 145.500. After our QSO, I though I’d leave you with the frequency and scapa as I knew what was coming :wink:

BTW, I was very impressed with the audio from your Quansheng HH.

73
Mike 2O0YYY

In reply to GW3GUX:

You can stack that antenna for double the gain* if you want. So a 2.5m long version would have similar gain to a 3ele Yagi on 2m.

Andy
MM0FMF

  • In theory the gain doubles for each doubling of elements. In practice it’s a bit less. A 5m long version should add another 3db but it’s becoming less bijou at these sizes.

In reply to MM0FMF:

SOTA UHF Funday/Funweekend. to take place over the weekend of
September 8th/9th 2012. Aim to activate/chase summits using
70cms/23cms and higher. (Of course other bands welcome but let’s try
to be active on UHF!

We expect to be in GM land on 9th: probably on one or more of the Fife hills. Possibly on one of the Borders hills on 8th. Will have 70cms but nothing higher. We always have a 70cm whip with us, but will try to remember the beam if it looks like there might be others about.

Caroline
M3ZCB

In reply to M3ZCB:

You’ve time to make one of these from an old bit of coax: Error 404 - Page Cannot Be Found

Andy
MM0FMF

In reply to MM0FMF:

I used the neater version of the PA0FBK design on:http://www.dl8kdl.net/articles/projects/antennas/2m-70cm-coaxial-dualband-antenna
I also added an extra A and B section to give a bit more gain on 70cm. The match on 2m is still good. Well worth having, especially in very windy conditions but of course only vertical polarisation.

73

John.

In reply to MM0FMF:

I’m taking delivery of a 70cm ssb radio tomorrow Andy, so I’m up for the fun day… let’s see if we can fill the band!

Rob