Radio kit for activating

John, shall we start a breakaway group for Motorsport Recovery Operators who do SOTA?

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Good idea Fraser. Shall we call it MOTA - Motorsport On The Air ?

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Is there a Motorsport Recovery Operators Recovery Operator to go and rescue all the Landrovers that breakdown on recovery jobs ? :laughing: :

Sorry couldn’t resist but it’s a bit rich really as my HiLux is having some well advanced tin worm fixed at present.

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That’s why I have four Landies. Then at least one of them should be working at least…

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Wish I could get another Landcruiser troopie - nothing stopped that thing! Far, far, far too expensive in Europe if you can even find one. In Australia, they’re everywhere! Great car (truck). I had a non-turbocharged 4.2 litre Diesel model as an off-road camper van with proper chunky tyres on it and the kangaroo bars on the front.

73 Ed.
image

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This can also be mitigated by using a superhet radio instead of a SDR. My FT270 has an incredible front end compared to popular SDR HTs like the Yaesu FT2/3 and Kenwood D74. I was on a SOTA summit with a 40kW TV transmitter as well as a NOAA weather radio station. The FT270 had no issues, where pretty much every other “modern” radio had trouble copying or was completely deaf.

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We’re getting WAY off topic now, but they are bombproof and the Overlanders vehicle of choice.
However, I have crossed the Sahara (Libya) in a 1971 Range Rover and again (Algeria) in a tdi Discovery automatic. My friend accompanied me in his 4.2 80 series 'cruiser. It was built like a tank compared to the Land Rovers, but liked to sink in sand. Everywhere.
I’ve got lots of pictures of us pushing/digging it!

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Only if Brian complains do we have to reduce the digression!

Anyway, the tin worm has been eradicated and all I have to do is go and hand over many pictures of Mary Sommerville et al. and can have my less rusty pickup back.

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I feel that an Off Topic thread headed, “Show us your 4x4”, is inevitable.
Obviously, we’d want to see what radio(s) were installed too!

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I’ll get in then before we’re officially off-topic and say hello, rally marshal here, lapsed due to the pandemic, but when it’s all okay again I want to at least be a radio marshal. Usually carry my HT to a circuit and we sometimes have a natter on 2M during breaks.

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There is a very large overlap between amateur radio and motorsport marshaling. I got my foundation license not long after I joined a car club.

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There are a fair few AR users in motorsport.
I did my foundation in 2010 after a chat with my recovery assistant while on an event.

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Purchased a 6m pole from Decathlon and then set about attaching/mounting the 450ohm ladder line 2m antenna to the pole.
Before I decided to try SOTA I had made the antenna and attached a plastic dog bone to the top of the antenna.
To mount to the 6m pole, I drilled a hole half way through and then the top of the pole sits into this and then lower section of the antenna is velcro’d to the pole.

Just need to work on a way of attaching to the ground and make a couple of mounts for para cord to be attached.

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Would a battery pack like this do the job?
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353525234273?hash=item524fbefa61:g:GBcAAOSwq4Bgls~m

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What radio is it for John? If it’s for one that likes 13.8 volts, then I’d go for a LiFePo4 from Hobbyking. They’re brilliant, lightweight and will run at 13.2 volts all day.

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A choice of FT-7100m or FT-857

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Then get the LiFePo4. Also invest in a balanced charger from the same company. They’re not that expensive and can run off a PSU at home, or your vehicle battery if you’re away.
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You should easily get three or four summits, running 30w on the ft857d in between charges.

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ETA: Mid July 2021 :frowning: for the battery pack.
Was just looking at that charger!

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Honestly, it’s worth the wait. Set up notifications on hobbyking and pounce as soon as you see them! Of course others may come in and offer alternatives, but there aren’t many companies selling these batteries in that size.

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or a pair of

Wired to give 2x2100

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