Weather, work and other issues have severely curtailed my SOTAing. On the few occasions I’ve been out, it hasn’t gone too well overall:
11 Jan - The Wrekin G/WB-010
Five contacts on 2m FM handheld. Slipped on ice near end of descent (on track almost back at road) and hurt my back and head.
16 Jan - The Cloud G/SP-015
Only managed two QSOs on 2m FM handheld.
24 Jan - Wendover Woods G/CE-005
One contact on 2m FM was all I could raise. Traffic issues left me no time for HF.
25 Jan - Leith Hill G/SE-002
Six QSOs on 15m CW - not too bad, relatively!
2 Feb - Gun G/SP-013
Worst yet - couldn’t raise a single QSO on 2m FM. No time for HF. Suspect issue with helical antenna on FT70D.
No, it was already looking battered and bruised before then, and I got surprisingly low reports on that activation in fact. Maybe the fall made it worse, but I don’t think any impact was suffered. I do acknowledge that the data I presented above could lead one to that suggestion though!
Steal Jimmy’s VX-xxx antenna for a quick test. Ping some repeaters etc. on 2m and see how many you can open up and get reports* then repeat with his antenna. His will be 2m only.
When I lost my VX-170 antenna on Black Mount I looked about and there seemed to be limitless supply of naff antennas on eBay etc. In the end I rang Yaesu UK and a genuine Yaesu one for the VX-170 was only £7.95+vat and carriage. If you order from them before 3pm you will probably get it the next day due to Yaesu UK’s phenomanal customer service.
* It’s well known that getting a signal report off many repeater users can be challenging as you want a report of how strong you seem into the repeater input itself not that the repeater is 5 and 9 to them. A difference a fair number have a problem with.
I lived a mile or so away from G/CE-005 for 19 years. Despite the population catchment area, for some reason it was always a difficult 2m-only activation, even when I used a RH-770 or J-Pole.
We miss the lovely lush countryside in Buckinghamshire but not the traffic congestion. Over 19 years it went from alright to unpleasant / frustrating.