I’ll be QRV in the MGMAC this evening, from The Cloud G/SP-015 between 8pm and 10pm UK time (1900-2100z). Should be a straightforward opportunity to bag a DX SOTA chase on VHF from most of the UK and possibly into EU.
There should be plenty of other activity too, although perhaps not as much as there could have been due to the inexplicable concurrent running of the RSGB 2m FT8 MGMAC and the RSGB FT4 80m-40m-20m Contest!
Last night was hard work - 3.5 hours at “feels like” (Met Office) -9 degrees! Tonight’s 2 hours at -5 degrees should be a stroll in the park by comparison!
Not a bad activation. 39 QSOs, all 2m FT8, including two into PA (Netherlands) and one into ON (Belgium). Usual “length and breadth” of G worked (IO95 to JO01, IO70 to JO02), plus GW and GI. Didn’t manage GM or EI though, despite several attempts. Not as cold as the previous night, but still very happy to be in my car after the descent, with the heater on full!
The previous night, also on The Cloud G/SP-015, netted 129 QSOs on 2m: 32 on FM and 97 on SSB. Good fun!
Thanks for sending out the reminder about the 2m FT8 / MGM RSGB session, probably a year since I took part in one - I got 29 QSOs having started slightly late and not trying hard. More importantly I worked you on The Cloud! Well done on your 39 QSOs with low power.
I didn’t work EI either but bagged a few into GM, GI and GW. I saw and was called by ON and PA stations but did not complete. It’s fairly easy to work them from here over the North Sea on 2m FT8. GU6HFN I could not reach but saw his signals on and off throughout the contest period. Best DX for me was G7RAU locator IN79 on The Lizard, Cornwall. If I’m not in Wales I’ll have another bash next month and do the full 2 hours.
Nice one Phil! It wasn’t perhaps the optimal thing to do in terms of being competitive, but I couldn’t resist taking one extra transmission to send the SOTA reference on FT8 at the conclusion of our QSO, and those with others I recognised as SOTA chasers! The previous night, in the main SSB UKAC, I was actually asked for the SOTA reference a couple of times from people I didn’t recognise as SOTA chasers!
Rig: Yaesu FT-817
Power: 5 watts
Antenna: SOTAbeams SB5 - 5-el Yagi @ 4m AGL
Computer: Fusion5 Windows tablet running WSJT-Z (the cloned version of WSJT-X that adds fully automated operation)
Interface: ZLP MiniProSC
I have just had a friend repair this interface as the chip that drives the relay failed. For the previous activation I used the SignaLink USB interface from my home shack - which also worked well for providing the soundcard bit between the 817 and the tablet. I don’t need a soundcard interface in the shack any more as the new FT-991A rig has a soundcard built in.
Just a bump as it’s the first Wednesday of the month - so it’s 2m FT8 activity night tonight. I’ll be activating G/SP-015 - but not self-spotting. Should be easy to find around 144.174 though!