In reply to M0CGH:
I was suprised calling on 433.500fm from cleeve hill at the weekend, 2 people called me straight away from the 1st cq. You dont get that up here in GM/NS. They bring up my total 70cms simplex qso’s to the grand total of 5! But i will take out a beam on the activity day and see what happens…
73
Adrian
MM0TAI (its good to be back home where its snowing again)
In reply to G4OIG:
The 70cms figures are surprising, no, eye-opening. I never realised just how few contacts there were until I started mapping the QSOs. Which is strange when you consider that the 70cms capable 817 is one of the most popular rigs used by activators. After that, many use dual band handhelds.
There are 13 QSOs listed for Snowdon and I found only 3 where I can find a location for the chaser. The other 10 are either S2S, /M or details witheld. I wouldn’t be too surprised to find that there are probably more 4m contacts in the database now than 70cms ones. Remarkable when probably most people have 70cms FM capability from a handheld and have had that for many years, whilst 4m’s surge is down the availability of the Wouxun 699 handy!
But if people don’t try then they won’t have contacts.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
I presume the main reason for lack of switch pushing to 433MHz is the choice of antenna and lack of activity.
We all know how versatile 2m is and equally we have plenty of commercial antennas as well as potential homebrew designs! Furthermore the lack of activity really is demoralising, having said that the easiest way (albeit demoralising) is to keep calling CQ on the frequency!
We have discovered this in South Shropshire with regards 4m, 3 of us have made a really big effort on 4 and now we have 12 regulars speaking to each other across Shropshire, Herefordshire and Worcestershire! Were working on 51MHz FM now!!
Activity breeds Activity!
I think the advent of this UHF day is only going to be good, I have recently converted my 11 ele 23cm beam to a dual band beam with a 3 ele on 2. I see no reason that I will not be able to add something fro 70! Having said that with 2m, 4m and 23cm I have plenty of antennas and kit so cant really justify any more! Maybe in 2012 I will drop one of these bands and adopt 70cms HI!!
See you on the air soon,
Matt 2E0XTL
In reply to 2E0XTL:
I presume the main reason for lack of switch pushing to 433MHz is the
choice of antenna and lack of activity.
I did try calling on 70cms on my one successful activation, but didn’t get any replies (or hear any activity, for that matter). 70cms does seem to have a more limited range than 2m, which probably doesn’t help.
In reply to M6LEP:
Yes, the loss is greater at 70cms but not as much as you think. This can be made up by the fact getting high antenna gains is mechanically easier. The big problem is lack of stations with suitable antennas. Station location matters much more than on 2m as well. But from my rubbish location when I lived in Merseyside, 22m ASL I could regularly work 3 way QSOs on 70cms with a single 21ele Yagi and 50WSSB to GD4XTT of the back of the beam and GU3??? (Stan?) on the front. Comfortable contacts too, no straining and not badly affected by QSB.
Region tropo records:
144MHZ - EB8BRZ - IL27HK to YT3I - JN05HP - SSB - 2009-06-08 - 3757 km
432MHz - G0FYD - IO83LS to EA8BPX - IL18SK - SSB - 2003-08-08 - 3019 km
Not much in it really.
Andy
MM0FMF
I suggest that activity levels rather than range cause the disadvantage on 70cm compared to 2m. In the Tuesday night contests (when activity levels are very good), I work into GI, GD, GM, GW and down to JO01 on 70cm SSB with 5 watts. Best DX, normally around 270km.
If one is not getting working over such distances on 70cm, it is more likely that no-one is listening, rather than that the signals are not getting there.
Have a go at the activity contest next Tuesday night. Anyone uninitiated may be surprised at the number of contacts and distance achieved on 70cm with a simple QRP station on a SOTA summit.
Tom M1EYP
In reply to M1EYP:
I’m not very active on 70 cms nowadays, but I cut my teeth on that band in the early/mid 60’s when it was the lowest band available to the G8’s. Frequently we would be experiencing a lift on 70 with flat condx on 2, and major openings on 70 when there was just a bit of a lift on 2m. I don’t think we will ever again see the activity levels that there were then, simply because there is more choice available now. However, a simple dipole on 70 cms on a SOTA pole will get plenty of contacts during a contest, so I add my urging to Tom’s, have a go next Tuesday!
73
Brian G8ADD
In reply to 2E0XTL:
Having said that with 2m, 4m and 23cm I have plenty of antennas and kit so cant really justify any more! Maybe in 2012 I will drop one of these bands and adopt 70cms HI!!
An interesting comment Matt. You don’t actually have to give up one band to start another. Just pick ‘n’ mix as you desire. Maybe a look at what bands others are running on the day you go out will give you the urge to take kit for a particular band to try for an S2S.
As for antennas, for SOTA use I have a multiband dipole for 60m/40m/30m, a monoband dipole for 30m, 6m delta loop, 4m slim jim, 2m 5el, 2m/70cms dual bander 5el and 8el respectively, 70cms 6el, 23cms quadruple quad and 23cms 15 over 15el. All I need now is to finish my 70cms 11el and I’ll be ready for the UHF Fun Day!
73, Gerald G4OIG
As for antennas, for SOTA use I have a multiband dipole for
60m/40m/30m, a monoband dipole for 30m, 6m delta loop, 4m slim jim, 2m
5el, 2m/70cms dual bander 5el and 8el respectively, 70cms 6el, 23cms
quadruple quad and 23cms 15 over 15el. All I need now is to finish my
70cms 11el and I’ll be ready for the UHF Fun Day!
Xmas Wish list should have included a Goat Gerald!!
That kits sounds good however I don’t think the HF kit will find its way into my bag! I agree with your comments regarding mix and match! I think that on certain summits the 23cm kit will be staying at home! I would imagine that on GW/SW-033 the attenuation from all the trees may cause some problems!
Will hopefully catch up with you on either 2m, 4m, 70cm or 23cm (SSB/FM) at some point this year!
Matt 2E0XTL
In reply to 2E0XTL:
Well, it’s all homemade kit bar the basis of the 2m/70cms dual bander which is an SB5 SOTAbeam with added prongs and the 23cms 15 over 15 which is a Jaybeam of many years vintage. Needless to say I don’t drag it all up the hills, but target the best antenna for what I want to do on a particular activation… and on a multi-summit day the kit gets swapped around quite a bit.
As to dear Wentwood SW-033, I only managed to work Frank G3RMD on 70cms with 20W and a 6 element from that summit, so 23cms from an average handheld would be a waste of a good battery charge and a strain on the vocal chords. Yes indeed, horses for courses.
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to MM0FMF:
70cms… There are 13 QSOs listed for Snowdon and I found only 3 where I can find a location for the chaser.
Ah, well I worked 5 of those 3 Andy: G0LGS, G4FUJ, GW4BVE, G3OHC, G7CDA. So which ones weren’t giving their details? 
If find it bizarre that there have been 20 QSOs logged on 23cms from Snowdon, yet just 13 on 70cms. At least I got my priorities right and worked more on the lower frequency when I was up there.
So how many 70cms QSOs have there been from UK summits?
73, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
It looks like the more recently someone was licenced, the more likely they will be details witheld. Probably because we are all more aware, day by day, about how our privacy is getting eroded. Especially when there’s people data mining several databases and producing maps like these who themselves are details witheld!
So how many 70cms QSOs have there been from UK summits?
Figures are approx as the data is a few days stale:
Total 70cms QSO 21835
UK 70cms QSO 4854
S5 70cms QSO 3867
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Activator QSOs for 23cms Globally on the SOTA-Data page says 515, interms of SSB/FM and U.K. QSOs that can most likely be found elsewhere, would be interesting to see though!
Matt 2E0XTL
In reply to 2E0XTL:
Based on my older database, about 85% of 23cms QSO are from the UK. So that’s 515*83% = about 438.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
Especially when there’s people data mining several databases
The “withold details” option’s a bit too much all-or-nothing, unfortunately. It’d be good to see some tiers in it, so that folks could allow something minimal (like callsign, first name, and four or six-character locator) to be published.
In reply to M6LEP:
Yes, I agree. Those are the details most of us reveal on air anyway.
Rod
In reply to M6LEP:
When I was 1st licensed 21 years back you could select full details, no details or partial details such as “station located in the Edinburgh area”. to appear in the call book. From what you say I assume they’ve dropped the partial details option.
Andy
MM0FMF
In reply to MM0FMF:
So how many 70cms QSOs have there been from UK summits?
Figures are approx as the data is a few days stale:
UK 70cms QSO 4854
S5 70cms QSO 3867
Hmmm, they’re catching up fast. Interesting to see that based on your stale database date, I have clocked up precisely 600 of those 4854 QSOs on 70cms. The breakdown is 460 SSB, 47 FM and 93 CW.
Not sure how I’m doing on 23cms - just 92 QSOs on FM to date. It wouldn’t be anywhere near that amount were it not for the enthusiasm of Mike G4BLH and the omni-presence of John MW1FGQ. Mike has turned out in all weathers to try to make contact from his local (and not-so-local) high spots.
73, Gerald G4OIG
Edit: just read the total for 23cms in an earlier post… seems we need a few more of those Alincos dusting off on the summits.
In reply to G4OIG:
Edit: just read the total for 23cms in an earlier post… seems we need a few more of those Alincos dusting off on the summits.
My Alinco is working very nicely at the mo! However I’m browsing Ebay most days for a 10 watt mobile FM transceiver. With those power levels my 5A hour Lipo should be able to do about 1 hours transmitting, plus I bet the weight to power ratio would not be that bad!
If anybody knows of any 10 watt FM 23cm rigs going second hand then please let me know!
73
Matt
In reply to 2E0XTL:
I suppose that we should make a UHF Fun Day page on the reflector a
bit closer to the date!
Yes please a reminder would be useful!
Once I’m back visiting south west Scotland frequently (March-October) I’ll be looking out for 23cm contacts into G, GW, GI, GD (and GM too!) from the Galloway hills, running 5W or so into a decent antenna (will vary - can’t wait to try out a portable 2m dish on a good day!).
Happy to use SSB or FM.
73
John GM8OTI