Thanks Andrew. I got a refund on the new hands after my current ones thawed out on the way home!
I didn’t try SSB as I wasn’t 100% sure what to do (sounds odd I know but I panicked a little and started wondering about polarity again so just left it), and do regret it now particularly after bagging the MW QSO. That is the second one I have bagged in Snowdonia from IE-0136. Last was a SOTA chase in November with my FT65 and RH770 in the car park about to leave and I scanned the band to hear CQ SOTA from the same guy I made a QSO with earlier in the day who was half way up!
I forgot HI power mode on the 290 is actually 2.5w, I thought I was running 5w so it made that QSO even better! I had the MML 40w linear with me but forgot a cable so couldn’t use it. I thought all the way home what 40w might have got me!
Last night I asked AI what an FT-290R Mk III might look like… a lot like an FT-450 apparently!
Don’t get too worried about polarisation. The difference between being vertical or horizontally polarised is nowhere near as bad as people say, and in most cases have never tried it. 45 degrees off horizontal or vertical only reduces the signal level by 3db. Think on that. See other comments from Gerald #G4OIG on that topic.
And really, if you were 89 degrees off the other station’s polarisation, it is almost never an infinite cancellation. To get to a null you’d have to control the angle of the antenna within a fraction of a degree. And did you know that the polarisation of a signal on 144 twists whenever it scrapes over a hill or is reflected/refracted? So even matching polarisation at each end can result in imperfect polarisation depending on weather, wind, tide and tropo conditions. It’s the source of QSB on VHF.
After sorting through the muddle of messages about centre of activity and calling frequency just decide on a frequency to call on and a frequency to switch to, put them in memories. Self spot accordingly. Call CQ on the calling frequency (allow time for someone to tune you in, turn their antenna etc) and announce you will QSY to the other frequency. Brief calls are death on VHF SSB. Call CQ on the memory for calling, switch to the other memory and have your contacts there. USB only. Ideally test this out without climbing up a hill and freezing your hands to death. Don’t expect exact frequency matches, you’ll nearly always have to use the clarifier to tune the other signal in for best copy.
Didn’t know that. Interesting! 2026 I am definitely going to up my VHF/UHF knowledge.
Yep. That’s why I am testing in POTA and WWFF areas. SOTA activations are a rarity for me, I usually chase.
I don’t do it for FM, but on CW I always press the CLAR button on my 290R. There is an NB switch on the back of the radio but I am unsure when that switch is needed as the 290 doesn’t have any CW filters (I wish it did) far as I know, so what is the NB for?
Congratulations on the resurrection of your 290R. She is a fine piece of craftsmanship. May she haul in all of the QSO’s imaginable for many more years to come!
I have the leatherette case too. Straight from the Yaesu catwalk at Paris Fashion Week 1982!
I would like to get the official case for my FT-202R too but can’t find one alas.
Side note: There is a mega build article in the latest Practical Wireless to make a VHF beacon for under £20. I’m going to build it. Might be useful for the 2026 SOTA Challenge too.
Such a fine looking beast, from the era of the vinyl roof! Fantastic Im actually lucky in that mine is complete, it has the internal battery tray, and the original MIC too… it all did work when i got it, infact i have made some QSOs on it, but then the sound went funky… one of the club surgeons has had a look at it and there is a poer regulation issue on the board somewhere… Still, hopefully be sorted soon and good to go again!
Strap it to the roof rack of a Granada V6 Ghia or a B reg Austin Montego and you’re well away!
Envy of the parish!
My 290 is complete bar the shoulder strap. My FL-2010 is complete. Only accessory missing is the mobile rack that links the two units, which I think was sold separately (and is fairly rare these days too).
My 202R has a leather hand loop, but can also accommodate a shoulder strap. Mine isnt boxed and is missing the microphone and BNC dust caps, hence I made my own 3D printed version.
I have two MML linear amps (because one alone would be a disservice to the 290!). I have the MML 144/25 and the MML 144/40.
There is a 144/30 and even 144/100 and 144/200 versions. The 144/100 i saw recently. The other two I just came across in old issues of Practical Wireless.
I use them with my HT’s too, so the FT-202R should be getting a kick up the backside soon from it’s 1w as standard!
Im actually lucky in that mine is complete, it has the internal battery tray, and the original MIC too… it all did work when i got it, infact i have made some QSOs on it, but then the sound went funky… one of the club surgeons has had a look at it and there is a poer regulation issue on the board somewhere… Still, hopefully be sorted soon and good to go again!