Thanks for the calls today to the multi operator activation of GM/SS-028 - The Merrick.
my 3rd ever SOTA, with it being the hardest by far and gives me serious food for thought on 2 things:-
I need a new rucksack
Poss need a new radio
The bag I have is great for small walking activations, but for SOTA climbs and certainly for climbs like the Merrick, it’s in no way the correct backpack. And as said, secondly, the radio of todays choice, the Yaesu 857D with big 22ah golf cart battery is a big lump to carry.
Making me re-think that possibly have to acquire a smaller radio that covers HF/VHF/UHF (Something like 705 / FT1X or the likes) Either that, a decent handheld linked up to the slim jim antenna which seem to perform very well today. All food for thought.
Started off sharpish around 7.45am with the climb up taking around 2h15. Not too bad for an overweight truck driver.. ;-).. The initial setup, taking no more that 5 mins saw myself & George on air raqcking up 36 QSOs on VHF along picking up S2S with G1JKS/P. My partner in crime today was George, GM0UEJ from Girvan, whose been licenced for 30+ years, yet has hardly ever lifted a mic to make any QSO’s, apparently he’s more of a CW man..
Once VHF had went a tad quiet, we QSY’d to HF and I think the “CAR CRASH” noise of a pile up was enough for George to say “Nah, that’ll do me”… SOmething about VHF that is slow and relaxed, where as HF, certainly activating, can be somewhat daunting and very contest style. ANyways, I managed to rack up a further 66 QSO’s on 20m alone before we called it a day. Near 4 hours playing radio on top of The Merrick and was near time to call the back of 2pm. 10 mins had antenna pulled down, few pictures taken and worked out way back down. Completely different type of difficulty coming down, certainly far from easy.
Anyways, now did 3x SOTAS, this being my 1st Reflector Post.
Welcome aboard. Merrick is a nice hill but I remember it as being quite steep and tiring but I was just starting out and very unfit.
Radios, everyone has an opinion!
Don’t dismiss the FT-817/818 because they’re old and out of production and only 5W. I worked many QSOs with mine. If you want to do CW you will need to find a filter and they are now rare and/or expensive.
IC-705 is an excellent radio. I have one that was bought to replace an FT-817 so the 2m/70cm multimode options was essential as the main aim for the radio is to drive transverters. However, it’s good on HF. The ATU-10 auto tuner is available for around £80-100 that works well with it.
And there’s the Elecraft KX2 which is painfully expensive but really good and much lighter than the 817 or 705 but no 6m/2m/70cm.
I have no experience with the FT1X.
Be careful with handhelds… many cannot work near other commercial RF transmitters or with an external antenna. Overload problems abound. Some handies are brilliant but to my knowledge all the best are now discontinued. I’m not sure just which current ones are good but some of the very cheap Chinese ones are dire with an external antenna.
FT 857 is a good radio but it’s just very heavy and thirsty when run at higher powers.
Great report and happy to get you both in the log today.
You should see what I end up taking!! I’ve only ever activated on 2m and I’m sure others on here will recommend the FT-60 for 2m. (you have me looking for a spare battery for mine now)
Yes, tbh, it’s looking very much like the 705 takes the lead. I’ve the little G90 for HF, great radio, but no VHF. Again, the 6100/6200, great radios, but no VHF etc… You’d think a manufacturer would make one to suit all needs? And what I mean by that, with ATU included/built in. Hey Ho. All in the love for the hobby.
Yes, Merrick is a decent climb, off the scale to the other 2 that I have done, infact, no comparison, so fair play to operators climbing anything 850m+. Must seriously look at the fitness side of things as well as a new rucksack and possibly radio. ;-).
Congratulations Julien @MM7JNT and George @GM0UEJ on your very successful activation of the Mighty Merrick !
A great activation report too ! It was great to get you both in the log today.
BTW …
Rig(s) I use : Icom ID-52 / Icom IC-705 ( retirement presents to myself !)
Rucksack : Usually my 40+ year old Karrimor Hot Ice 45 ltr
but I now see I am missing a key item of equipment … a Spiderman blanket !
Am looking forward to many more SOTA QSOs with you both.
As Douglas says the FT-60 is an excellent SOTA handheld as it is rugged, loud and its RF performance is excellent. Also you get 70cms as a bonus. Out of production for 10 years or so now but you see them come on eBay every few weeks. Sadly the price is rising now as their qualities get more appreciated.
You can still get batteries and antennas from Yaesu. If you do buy one and it needs a battery, don’t buy some trash from eBay, go to Yaesu and buy a genuine one. The same battery is usedin my Yaesu VX-170 (another brilliant SOTA radio but 2m only) and lasted well over 10 years. Not cheap from Yaesu but they work and keep working.
The FT-65 is a pretty good handheld and not a price to make you cry if something happens to it. Works good with a slim jim, I do get occasional overload with it on summits with transmitters on top. It’s still in production.
Pretty much most of my activations have been using the FT-857 along with 2 x 4000mah zippy batteries.
I started off with a Slapa camera rucksack which was nice, but heavy.
Now I am on a 35litre rucksack from Go Outdoors.
Also have a FT3d hand held for 2m and 70cms which I carry as well.
The Merrick’s a really nice hill, the views are pretty magic on a clear enough day. I had no bother getting plenty of contacts from there into the Lakes, Isle of Man, Northern Ireland, and even down into the Republic with one contact in the Wicklow Mountains south of Dublin, all on a 2m 5W handy with a Slim G. I also made the daft mistake of going “ah, Kirriereoch Hill’s just over there, how hard can it be just to nip across for a few more points”.
The Yaesu FT-65/FT-4X are really nice cheap, light and robust enough radios that are still in production and easy to pick up and will do 2m and 70cm. They use nice modern Lithium batteries, so they’ll last all day without any trouble in my experience. The main downside of these is that they can be a wee bit prone to external interference if you’re near mobile masts/pager sites/broadcast stations etc.
For something a wee bit more robust, some of the older Yaesu superhet based handies seem to be very popular - others on here have mentioned the FT-60 and VX-170, I’ve been having a lot of joy with the FT-270 (from what I can tell, a slightly cosmetically updated VX-170). It’s 2m only, it’s heavy, it’s tough enough to probably knock pegs into the ground with (although I probably wouldn’t test that), and it’ll just work in places where the FT-65 sometimes won’t.
Main downside is that it (as well as the FT-60 & VX-170) uses an older NiMH battery pack, which tends not to last quite as long as the more modern lithium batteries. I did buy mine second hand, and the battery packs needed a few deep charge/discharge cycles to bring them back to life, which maybe suggested the previous owner wasn’t especially disciplined with their charging routines. I just ended up buying an FBA-25 AA adapter and using it with Eneloop/Fujitsu/Ikea 2450mAh rechargeables which I already had plenty of kicking about the house.
I am currently using an Osprey backpack that is ~30L (Hikelite 32), I think Decathlon has some really good options for less money: I like having a wire frame, as it keeps a sweat gap when you are warm, and 30L seems to be the minimum needed to take radios, antenna systems, food and water AND still have space for extra clothing.
Radio-wise (I am an SSB operator) I have an FT-817, QMX, FX-4CR and G90. I rarely take the G90 now, since it is a bit heavier. The other three need a resonant-ish antenna, or a transmatch. 20w is nice when you can, but honestly I mostly go with 5w. For HTs, waterproofing is a “thing” in the UK, and worth considering. I also like 1/2 wave antennas like the Signalstick, and I even have made a dipole out of two of them as a lightweight solution, essentially a copy of the Packtenna dipole. I’ve not had any issues near high RF environments with HTs made in the past 20 years from decent brands, my Yaesu and Anytone and Icom are all robust. I found that lesser radios like a Baofeng, or a 90s Alinco I have did not work well near repeater towers, even with an external bandpass filter.
It was great to work you both on your activation while I was activating a HEMA and Trig on Cronk my Arrey Laa on the Isle of Man. I have an IC-705 and an FX-4CR. The IC-705 is a superb radio and I highly recommend it, if you’re OK with the roughly 1.75 Kg base weight. The FX-4CR is great for just over 500g although HF only.
I did start off with the AH-705 Icom antenna matcher and it is excellent although not small and a tad weighty. I tried an ATU-10 but it needs a 9:1 UnUn much of the time and protests at over 10W. Antenna matching wise I built my own L-match and it copes easily with 20W and probably would handle 50 watts plus. I need to test the upper end one day but it manages 20W just fine.
Ruck sack wise I use a 65L Osprey Rook65 pack although only part laden for day hikes and it is very comfortable so it is my go to pack.
What you take up the hill depends on the day, the distance and if it’s a single or multi-day among other factors. It is very easy to take far too much kit so I’m working on curing myself of that!
Yes, great to get you Richard. I was only missing Wales from VHF on the day. Managed to get all other corners which was quite good. (G / GM / GD / GI / EI)
As for the back, a few people on and away from the radio, advised on the Osprey brand, so low and behold, 1 ended up in the basket and bought. .
Next up is poss a radio too join the ever growing fleet that wee have. Ive currently got a Quansheng China special, so may try it, and although a Yaesu man, the Icom 705 is looking favourable.
It doesn’t look like much, it’s only about 2km from The Merrick to Kirriereoch, but there’s about 200m of height drop between the two in quite a short distance without a clear path, so it’s a lot of extra work in the legs, especially on the pull back up to the Merrick.
I’d add a +1 vote for Ospreys as well, I’ve got two hillwalking packs (Talon 33 & 44), a running pack (Duro 6) and a mountain bike bumbag (Seral 7), and they’re all really good!
I’ve only ever activated on 2m and I’m sure others on here will recommend the FT-60 for 2m. (you have me looking for a spare battery for mine now) 
.