TAKE FOUR - Top band Tuesday - feel free to join in

I would wager not much difference if the ends are kept the same amount off the ground as last weeks higher version.

73 Phil

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That’s what I was hoping @G4OBK Phil - if it works well, the 7m pole will lighten the load :slight_smile: Last week both legs were just over 1m off the ground and everything seemed to work good. Fingers crossed - might catch you later on CW and SSB. 73, Ben

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I had high local noise, and there was a lot of QSB, but I was lucky to work Adrian G4AZS/P (CW), Kevin MW0KXN/P (SSB) and Ben GW4BML/P (SSB+CW).
Good job guys !
73
Luc ON7DQ

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Was great to make contact with you on 160m from both modes Luc :slight_smile: look forward to the next QSO!

73, GW4BML. Ben

Thanks Luc, you were first in the log. I replied to your call on SSB later, but my sigs just weren’t strong enough at the time.

Thanks to team Ben @GW4BML and Kevin @MW0KXN for the S2S, and for setting it up, it was good fun. Good timing as well, I got back to the car at 10:30, just as it was starting to rain.

Thanks also to the 17 stations who called me spread between CW and SSB.

My dipole was 3m high at the centre, and 1m at each end. I decided to use an aluminium telescopic pole which has positive locking sections, to avoid the risk of pole collapse. The wire weighs 700g, and getting enough tension to prevent it sagging to ground had to be done by feel in the dark, as my head torch is not bright enough to illuminate the span, or the pole 40m away! Red coloured wire probably doesn’t help, yellow or white might be better.

FT817 5W, Elecraft T1 Tuner.

The shack:

73,
Adrian

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It was fantastic to work you as a S2S on 160m from both modes @G4AZS Adrian - you were a good signal to us, even though the antenna had toppled over! Kevin will be uploading our report soon, so I won’t say too much more :slight_smile: certainly look forward to the next if you plan to join in again!

73, GW4BML. Ben

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Hi Andrew,
We didn’t manage to get an measurement with the antenna standing but when it had collapsed on the ground the impedance at the end of 10m of RG174 looked like the photograph below. The weather didn’t encourage to many experiments. Lying on the ground will has reduced the resonant frequency.


The rain on the screen was from inside the shelter.

Kevin @MW0KXN and I @GW4BML will be out again tomorrow evening (Wednesday 22nd February) setting up the 80m of wire in the sky to operate on top band (160m). Last week we had a nice pile-up and managed a S2S contact with @G4AZS Adrian :ok_hand: is there anymore stations out there who would like to join in the fun. If so, we’ll be on ‘Great Rhos’ GW/MW-002 tomorrow at approximately 18:45 UTC - would be great to work as many stations as possible and S2S’s :+1:

73 all

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Hi Kevin,

Thanks for going to the trouble of measuring it, but I was more interested in the impedance it showed while at the elevation you were able to achieve. The impedance of antennas varies greatly with height above (effective) ground, so at 6 or 7m agl, the radiation resistance would be predictably quite low, then you’d have to add ground losses which would be considerable. Hence my prediction of a relatively high impedance….

If you have time and the analyser with you, it would be interesting to see what the impedance is when it’s up in the air.

Good luck and dx. It’s so interesting to see you getting such good results from a horizontal low dipole, which the purists don’t think works at all on that band.

73 Andrew VK1DA/VK2DA

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I’m keeping an eye on the weather forecast, I’ll put up an alert at some point tomorrow if it looks reasonable for another local summit!

GL,
73
Adrian

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I will definitely be listening.

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Thanks Adrian. Fingers crossed, the wx will be better than last Wednesday night - would be great to make another S2S :+1:

Thanks Brian - we will be listening out for you!

Hi Andrew,
I have packed the antenna analyser. We will do our best to get some measurements for you this week.

73, Kevin

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I’ve alerted for Stiperstones G/WB-003, I’m going to try just laying the dipole along the rocks / heather. I might take some supports as well, in case that is a dismal failure! Please bear with me if you can’t hear me at first, I’ll self spot for info.

73
Adrian

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Very good guys! Speaking as a Chaser I should be a fair bit stronger this week having repaired a broken wire at the top of my inverted L. Aerial now nicely resonant on 1830 KHz at 1.15:1 and usable up to 1872 KHz with a 2:1 SWR there. I’ll probably put the ATU into circuit if you are operating on SSB that high up the band. It will be interesting to see if I can hear Adrian on the DOG! (Dipole on Ground).

73 Phil

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Maybe I should post under the “dogs on summits” thread :rofl:

Well, I worked Phil, and several other stations with quite good reports, but rapid and deep QSB.

Stiperstones is a ridge covered in loose rocks, with a patchy covering of heather. I ran out the 80m long dipole lying on top of the heather and protruding rocks, such that the average height above “ground” was about 20 Cm.
It matched reasonably well with the Elecraft T1 tuner, and I used the FT817 at 5W.
Receive noise was lower than last week, with none of the static crashes.
With 7 distinct callsigns in the log, the summit was qualified, and of course the hoped for S2S with Ben @GW4BML/P and Kevin @MW0KXN/P were completed - thanks guys!

QSB was very deep, taking signals from S9 to below the noise at times. Intriguingly, Karl @2E0FEH and Mike @2M0WNA called me together, from opposite ends of the country, and both (strong signals) were affected by QSB in sync eg they both came up and went down at the same time. Presumably the ionosphere above us was changing - D layer depleting after sunset…?
I wonder if I might have managed more contacts if I had stayed for longer into the night, but unfortunately the cloud settled down over the summit, and it started raining.
The terrain is rough, and a combination of cloud, rain, spectacles and head torch is not great! I know the summit quite well, though, and made it back to the car slowly but without difficulty.
Back at the car, the clouds parted for a few minutes, and I was reminded how magnificent Orion is at this time of year - it is visible from home in the town, but nothing like that!

So, on this summit at least, using a DOG seems to be at least adequate to qualify, and is much simpler than getting it in the air with enough tension to keep it clear of the ground…

Thanks to all who worked me, and listened for me, sorry if we didn’t make it.

Wound up and ready to move off:

73
Adrian

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Fine February effort, Adrian. You were clearly workable from Aberdeenshire despite the heavy QSB - and your eventual heavy rain. There’s definitely life in the old DOG ….:joy: 73 Mike

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Fantastic Adrian - you guys have really started something here! It was a very interesting antenna experiment that worked surprising well. I imagine your ODX was probably Esther @GI0AZA or more likely Mike @2M0WNA Glad that you were able to work the two Welsh Top Band SOTA wizards @GW4BML AND @MW0KXN before it got too wet to continue.

73 Phil

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Hi Phil. You were booming in here 5/9+ as was Esther @GI0AZA, so great work by One Man and his DOG on Stiperstones. It’s 328 miles from my QTH. He was well workable on CW, too, And I worked the Welsh double-act on Top Band despite the tricky conditions so a fascinating evening all round. Well done all. 73 Mike

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