HT for 145 Alive, SOTA, POTA, BOTA etc?

Equipment Radios & Power
21

Wise words, keep it simple!

Thanks for the snap of the rads there. Mine is the ‘wacky recessed’ yoke. I’m 100% sorted as my Tids are the same as the Feng and my Diamond RH770 with the SMA to BNC adapter works perfectly.

Sure I made an entire ONE 2m QSO on it yesterday during my POTA activation!

Thanks to this thread I’m going to go and order an FT65E in a bit. Who needs “What’s up guys!? Don’t forget to like and subscribe and smash that bell icon!” influencers when you’ve got yer HAM radio mates!!!

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22

Good luck with your activations Ian! There is a saying - the best TRX amplifier is an antenna, so pay all attention to that. To get EI stations in a VHF log is a matter of incredible luck really :slight_smile: Of those 35 VHF QSOs I’ve made yesterday off 850m ASL Slieve Donard, NONE were in EI :slight_smile: Browse through my SOTA DB, that gives you an idea what you can expect activating with 40W and 3 el beam, and adjust accordingly for an HT and a telescopic aerial.

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23

Thanks a mil. I hear you on that one, it’s a miracle I got an EI QSO yesterday but delighted I managed it.

I wish there was more interest in 2m and 70cm, particularly in EI. YouTube videos, maybe not trying to be misleading (let me state that very clearly, they’re not all schmucks), can paint a very different picture to the reality of actually operating VHF/UHF for real.

That’s another key factor why I don’t want to dump loads on an HT when no sod uses 2m and 70cm!

Just about to chuck an order in with Wimo. I’m entirely /M /P, no radio play at all at my QTH aside from a bit of SWL on a Tecsun PL330 and a bit of long wire on a crocodile clip.

Putting in an order for:

1 x FT65E
1 x SCU 59 cable
1 x 10m HD fiberglass mast
1 x Light drive on mast holder

The 10m mast is for my Chameleon 8010 LEFS. I was on a different POTA site yesterday and made an absolute BALLS of rigging it up after getting it in a tree!

I found some excellent ratchet straps for €2.99 each in Lidl yesterday so bought two. Going to strap the mast to a fence or picnic table, drop the top two extensions and put the 8010 LEFS on it. I emailed Wimo support recently who said this would work. Also it would work for an HB9CV if I wanted to do that in future.

I spent a heap on the 8010 LEFS so want to use it. Yesterday was a disaster though! HI!

The light car mast holder thing is for my 7m poles. I can throw my homemade speaker wire antenna on that or my forthcoming Slim G, especially if it’s raining on 145 Alive day I can sit in the car with a flask of tae!

Looking forward to the FT65E now and seeing how it compares to my Tidradio H8 and H3. Does the FT65E have FM and AM radio e.g RTE 2, Newstalk etc? Not fussed about airband as I have a Uniden 125 and a Moonraker Skyscanner Mk3 (handy for listening to bus drivers too! Hi!).

Thanks a mil everyone for all the great advice and input and not being judgemental ‘sad hams’ when a newcomer asks a question.

73!

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24

Broadcast FM, yes
AM, no

Rick

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25

Ah, not a deal breaker. Bit late now anyway as I’ve just put the order in!

@EI4JY on your QSO’s, I had a look there through your logs, some impressive stuff. Does the 40w make a giant leap in difference compared to 5w off of an HT?

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26

I guess the answer should be yes and no :slight_smile:
The most influential factor for VHF would be a summit’s ASL, then your TRX combined gain, an antenna gain plus output power. Don’t forget a propagation condx. In my situation, in most cases 3 el beam and 10W off my Kenwood is more than sufficient. However, I am normally running full 40W on my CQs, as frequently having situations where a distant station or a station with a lower gain antenna hears me just about, and that bit of extra power allows to have those so needed chasers in the log. A bit of a helper to cover some free space loss too.

A 5W HT with a good vertical or a directional beam should be fine for most situations if you are not specifically looking to get far beyond a radio horizon.

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27

“Do the math” as our left-pondian friends would say.

40W compared to 5W is about 1.5S points louder.

5W = 7dBW
A homebrew 3 ele 2m Yagi allowing for tolerances and stuff has at least a gain of 8dBd

So the ERP with the 2 is 15dBW or 32W and that is so close to 40W you would not really tell the difference. i.e. the handy + Yagi is as strong as the FM mobile is into a zero gain antenna.

40W is 16dBW + 8dBd for the yagi is 24dBW or 250W

The relative difference is the same between 32W and 250W, about 1.5S points. 250W ERP is going to be more noticeable though. Of course the radio is heavier and you will burn through the battery much quicker but you can see the relative differences.

What probably has more penetrating power than RF strength is making a noise on local chat forums that you will be up a certain hill playing SOTA/POTA etc. It’s what the boys up in NE Scotland do to ensure there are people listening for them. Make a noise in advance so people know you will be on as well as alerts on SOTAwatch…

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28

Hi Ian @EI6JHB, sorry I’m a little late replying to Richard’s tag @G4TGJ. If you’re not intending to use APRS or C4FM, I’d suggest the Yaesu FT-65 any day of the week. It out performs any Yaesu hand-held for battery life, and gives excellent audio transmit and receive reports. If you purchase the larger 2400mah battery, the hand held will last all day calling on full power, 5w.

They are not advertised as waterproof, but mine has seen some serious soakings and is still functioning. Don’t even look at the FT-70d, no comparison at all, unless you want to use C4FM, the battery is shocking!

Good luck :+1:

73, Ben
GW4BML

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29

As a follow on to my previous comment, I usually use the SSM-17B speaker mike when using the Ft65 with a Slim Jim on a pole if I’m doing a long-ish activation. Audio is good & is lighter than the rig. For quick activations, say if I’m with friends or on a crowded summit like Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon, I use the RH770.
Happy SOTA with whatever you use! 73 John.

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30

Confirms what I thought about the FT70D. Featured packed for the price but being broken by (battery use) design is a non-starter for me.

I used Peanut for the last few days and the ‘rooms’ on C4FM and DMR seem to be mostly dead in my limited experience with it.

I do want APRS, it’s a big one for me but not a €100 and appalling battery consumption premium decider. I’ll stick with APRSDroid for now.

Might get a larger FT65E battery at a later date as the Wimo order is in now and it’ll be another €20 shipping on top if I make another order.

Good to see folks championing the FT65E, looking forward to receiving mine now, hopefully this week along with the Slim G and I’ll do a test run ahead of 145 Alive.

73

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31

Free space? I’d be highly interested in the design of this yagi.

Ahoi
Pom

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32

A rubber band and a bit of foam to cover the mic - eliminates noise on windy days !

Rick

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33

I didn’t know it had been jailed!

Sorry should be 5ele not 3.

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34

Apologies, just thinking about APRS here. Are there some alternatives aside from APRSDroid and Mobilink that I could take on an activation?

Something small and cheap, not a PicoAPRS for example. Something that can also use APRS for SMS - I still can’t work out how to do that in EI by the way… any pointers?

Extreme OT bonus question to save making a new thread:

Does anyone have any ‘KOTA’ (for want of a better ‘OTA’!) experience and/or any experience with a LEFS sloper antenna?

I’ve bought one of these kits and want to run one line up for the kite, and a second line up for the antenna. I have a Chameleon 8010 LEFS antenna but wondered can I rig it so it’s a ‘true’ EFHW e.g. have the feed point on the ground, maybe bungee corded to a dog leash stake thingamajig, and run the wire up the antenna - with a little slack of course. Then used an ESD lead and clip it to the dog leash thingamajig to bleed off static?

The kit looks whopper and was a bargain I thought at 50% off. I emailed Chameleon who said nobody has ever used the LEFS for ‘KOTA’ (as I have seemingly now labeled it) but they were keen to see how I got on. I want to give it the slipper and run it in it’s full fat, full beans extreme setup, 80m extension and all the trimmings.

I’m keen and all. Keen to not snap a €200 quid wire antenna!

Any thoughts folks? Here’s the bird:

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35

Richard G3CWI posted this some time ago it might help Kites FAQ

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36

That’s a super useful article to keep in my back pocket. Thanks for that - and to @G3CWI for writing it.

Little aside, I did a little digging there on the FT-65E and specifically the input jacks. It looks like they are Motorola M1 spec? Has anyone had success with an M1 or official (looks WAY overpriced) Yaesu headset with Vox or PTT? Or would you just go with a Yaesu hand mic?

I had a thought there as well about wind noise on any 'OTA or outdoor work you may be on. You could get one of those fluffy mic socks usually used for stuff like a Zoom H2 et al? Here’s a link to what I mean:

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37

Uncool, but works like a charm :laughing: :laughing:

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38

Now, hold on to your trousers for just a sec. Firstly, that’s ace, I love it! Second, is the mic only at that side of the radio? Does the foam not need to cover the whole grille?

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39

I think that the grille is the speaker and there is a small hole for the microphone. That is how it is on the VX7.
Rod

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40

Absolutely ! The mic is a hole about 1mm across

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