I’ve recently returned to amateur radio. My main interest in the hobby currently is CW. I’m planning on doing some casual SOTA activations, but only on CW.
I’m under the impression that VHF and UHF activations are few and far between in the UK, with VHF/UHF CW activations even more rare.
With that in mind, would I be better off using my 20-80m QMX for HF and buy and mod a cheap Quansheng for VHF and UHF, or would I be better served by getting an FT-817ND?
73,
Annas M0GQA
Welcome aboard! 270 CW will remain a rarity so long as people shy away from it.
Pick up a Quannie, modify it with CFW and/or mod the inside so you don’t need a custom cable. Get a key. Pound out some 270 CW goodness until people cave in and answer your CQ.
At that point, if you are still keen, maybe look at an 817 at that point, or an older all mode VHF/UHF radio though expect them to be more susceptible to needing repairs.
A Quannie is a good start. Super cheap. Hackable. Does 270 CW. The gateway drug to 270 CW and lots more beyond.
I think too many people like the quick HF fix and possibly dismiss VHF and UHF as solely for repeater use and miserable local chats about ailments and gout.
Outside of that? Tumbleweed.
VHF and UHF offer so much more. If we all continue to think its full of gout and squabbling about the installation cost of a stairlift (It isn’t. Go to an 80m net for that) then it’ll die a death and everyone will give out when the bands get taken away for lack of use (perhaps).
I’m on a mission to get people interested and active on 270 CW in EI. An uphill battle but I won’t quit. I’ve enough failed 270 CW attempts under my belt now to stop caring.
Just keep hammering brass and eventually, once you build it, they will come. I have 4 QSO’s on 270. Two on each and counting. 
73 DE EI3LH 
There are a number of UK operators who only use VHF/UHF fm for activations. Some time reading their reports on this forum will give you further information.
However I think contemplating a CW-only vhf activation is optimistic because of the dominance of FM in terms of popularity and hence usage rates.
As for the quansheng mod, time will tell whether this very recent phenomenon will work in the long run. What works on a bench in your shack can be hopeless on a hill with local qrm sources. Those direct conversion SDRs are today’s version of a crystal set in terms of front end resilience and qrm rejection.
A FT817 gives you a capable multi mode multi band radio that can do everything you want.
73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA
100% this. I started on the Quansheng after trying the CFW and hardware mods. I wanted to take it further though and sunk some money in to a 290R for full dedication!
The Quansheng is a nice ‘amuse bouche’ to see if 270 CW tickles your pickles. Minimal outlay and a very fun radio to pootle about with so if 270 CW doesn’t ‘give you the fizz’ then you’ve lost very little.
I do hope with the Quansheng that it brings more folks to CW. Never give up!
@EI4JY got his MG recently. Solely on VHF! This is the way! Glad to say I was able to chase him on some activations.
Being a 100% CW SOTA chaser on 10 through 80 meters as well as 2 meters (CW). I would thrilled to chase you should you come down to the HF bands (10 through 40).
de W6LEN / JESS
There’s magic in every beginning. Isn’t that the essence of amateur radio, to make the seemingly impossible possible?
Like the shortwave pioneers in the early 1920s, who were initially ridiculed by the commercial world.
73 Chris
I’d just do this for now.
Not so good for CW unless it has the narrow filter. I added an external audio filter which did work but meant there were extra leads which is just extra faff on a hilltop. It does RX/TX switchover with a relay which makes full break-in very noisy. Having tried a QCX I have given up with the FT817 for CW and homebrewed my own rigs instead. Now the 817 is only used for the very rare SSB activation.
Not quite true. Many of us do 2m FM as part of most activations, not always successfully. Some parts of the country have more activity than others. There seems to be more activity here in the north of England than in the south, although it is very hit and miss. If there’s a lift on it can be great with decent distances worked, even with a handheld.
Even in Scotland 2m FM can work well, although I think the secret is making sure people know you are out (not just a SOTA alert but facebook and whatsapp groups too). I’m not sure where you are - I looked at your QRZ page but I didn’t know London was in Scotland!
100% agree. On the recent 433 Alive day I was able to chase @EI4JY on 2m (yes it’s not 70cm) who was up on the summits over in Mourne, around 65-70km away. I also got QSO’s in excess of 235km away from EI to UK on 70cm using nothing more than 5w on my FT-65 and Diamond RH770 antenna.
@M0GQA I hope you choose to pick up the VHF/UHF mantle. There is so much more to discover than repeaters and FM. It could also be a stepping stone to the financially crippling and mysterious world of microwaves. Phone the bank, get those loan application forms filled in in advance and buy a lottery ticket or two! (I jest). 
Regardless. Great to see another enthusiast rolling their sleeves up and getting stuck in to a bit of 270. Enjoy!
Thanks for this.
QRZ is a funny beast. I contacted them to change my callsign to M0GQA, as I am now, for my sins, living in London.
They changed the call, and all other info is up to date, but they kept the Saltire, which although confusing, pleases me greatly.
73,
Annas M0GQA (formerly MM0GQA, 2M0BWM, and MM3YIA)
You can get your callsign changed on here too to save confusion.
Oddly, despite being near many towns, I don’t think there are many 2m chasers in the south. Not many SOTA summits either!
It was on 70cm Ian 
| 13:37 | EI3LH | 433MHz | FM |
|---|
That’s correct. I was just testing to see if my keyboard was working. 
Welcome on board annas…
I’ve done all my activations bar one using the FT817. It’s a great radio and does all I could ask. I’ve recently returned to using CW for SOTA (not exclusively…) and having much fum with it so tha radio gets my vote.
I use a 40/30/20/17m link dipole on a 5m pole (It used to be 7m but the top section snapped ages ago…) and generally strap a 450 Ohm feeder Slim Jim on for 2m.
Have fun, whatever you do…
73,
Graham. G4EUK
I would go for a QMX and the Quansheng with the IJV moded firmware. It’s less weight to carry, little batteries, more last with the batteries.
73 de Salva EA4HZK!
QMX is excelent choice if you want to hike light. Small, light, low current consuption. Small efhw and little rope is everything you need.
This is not my transformer, it is made by 9a7am. Mine is 5 times bigger.
Sometimes, I feel I am a pretty strange. I can receive cw on ft817 without cw filter. But, I focus on positive side and see only pretty not strange
I think the Kinetic Theory of VHF/UHF radio applies here. You want to maximise the number of collisions [radio contacts] between molecules [activators and chasers] by :-
The problem [outside of a VHF/UHF contest and special event] is that the Mean Free Path between particles is too long. So, a particle [activator’s TX] doesn’t collide with another [chaser’s rx] or only rarely,
On a more serious note: w.r.t. polarization:
Here endeth the rant (or the dream).
I’m a billion percent with you on this. I’m currently thinking up ideas for a 145/433 Alive-style day for EI but specifically for 270 CW.
There is already an SSB day I think, but there appears to be absolutely nothing for 270 CW.
I want to change that and try to change perspectives on the usual replies whenever someone dares to mention 2 meters and 70 cm.
“It’s dead”
“Nobody uses 2 meters or 70cm”
“I only use it for repeaters”
“HF DX is all I care about. Everything else is not HAM radio”
Open your eyes! Smell the coffee! If we all keep thinking this way and don’t pick up our handhelds, take our VHF/UHF radios out mobile or portable, fire up VHF/UHF in the shack and so on, then it will remain dead and it will die and be assigned to a bleedin’ Starlink mesh or some other load of corporate cobblers!
So. Fire up the aul VHF/UHF. Try out some CW or FT8 or SSB or even SSTV or packet radio. Explore the 2 meter and 70cm bands plans for where you live and see what you can do.
MAKE 270 GREAT AGAIN!!! 
I’ve just ordered a Quansheng and Slim-G, I’ll hopefully get it and mod it next week or the week after.
I’ll have a play with it at home to begin with - FISTS have a 2m CW thing every Tuesday, so I’ll have a go at that before driving off into the sunset. They also have a 70cm thing every Friday, but I’ll need to see if the Slim G works well with 70cm.
I think I might try and get them to try and chase 270 CW activations. Who knows, it might even work!
I understand that it takes place from 18:00 UTC (7pm BST) which probably makes sense for working folk and on warm summer evenings. But many activators will be reluctant regularly to walk up/down summits and operate in the dark this time of year and in winter.
Ah, fair enough. I wasn’t aware of the timings. That’s a shame.
