Upcoming 2m Activity - Wednesday 25th September

This Wednesday

Alex @GM5ALX
Chris @2M0RVZ
Fraser @MM0EFI

will be activating some of the Glenshee Munros on 2m FM and SSB. 1100 UTC

Summits will probably be GM/CS-030 and GM/CS-038. Those hills have a good take off south.

So, does anyone else fancy getting up a GM or northern G hill and giving it a try?

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Hi Fraser,

I fancy the idea, but I’m not sure it will work from a local summit here in south Cumbria. It’s ~300km and not line of sight, so it would probably rely on tropospheric scattering mode of propagation.
image
Courtesy https://www.scadacore.com/tools/rf-path/rf-line-of-sight/

Would you be using a (horizontally-polarized) Yagi? And what kind of RF power for SSB?

I rarely take my FT857 on portable ops but - for what I’ve read about T.S. mode SSB - it would probably need more power than my FT817’s 5W. Experts please comment.

Will need to check (with spouse) if I’m free Wednesday morning/lunchtime. My gear isn’t waterproof so the forecast mustn’t worsen from light rain. G/LD-050 is my likely summit.

Andy G8CPZ

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Cannot make that one, I will be in Waverly station meeting a friend GM3WUX.

David G0EVV

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Arghh, I will be up at the /A location in Northumberland, but with virtually zero chance (due to family restrictions, err… commitments) of getting out to work you, unless of course it is teeming it down. Even then I will probably be dragged to a suitable indoor retail ensemble to be bored absolutely rigid. Deep joy. :grimacing:

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Possibility of trying Blencathra G/LD-008, The LOS path looks quite possible!
Screenshot 2024-09-22 at 11.24.14
(…and probably just Feeble Mode…)

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It’s not LOS Paul. Shouldn’t be too impossible with SSB and a small Yagi and tiny bit of ERP. But it will be troposcatter though.

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Hi Andy, Alex and I will have 4 element beams. Mine can be polarised H or V. I can run 50w with the ft-857d.

There’s been a bit of tropo recently, so who knows.

Looks good Paul. I’ve previously worked G/LD and G/SB with a handheld from Glenshee hills.


Looks LOS @MM0FMF

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I have to be at work on Wednesday but will try to sneak out at lunchtime to chase.
Andy
MM7MOX

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Also 4 el beam H or V. 10W power from ic705 with external battery.

flat earther.

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Yes, I’m suspicious of these results for 250-300km. I wonder if some of these L-o-S models are not taking the Earth’s curvature into account (because they’re intended for relatively short distances between base station and mobile unit). For longer inter-station distances (100’s of km), one finds (using the proper equation) – even with no intervening hills, e.g. across the sea - that to maintain L-o-S one or both stations need to be on impossibly-high mountains.

The good news is, tropospheric scattering (troposcatter, for short) – not tropo-ducting - is a weather-independent 24/7 mode provided you can point your (H-pol) Yagi at a very low angle just above the horizon and your remote station does likewise [usually no problem for S2S QSOs]. Apparently, the amount of RF energy in the ‘shared volume’ is small hence the need (usually) for higher Tx power.

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It seems that Google didn’t know best. This looks a bit more realistic so not LOS unless I manage a 900m mast… Better hope for some tropo, but just expecting just rain scatter…

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Paul, That one makes the Earth look like it’s the same size as the Death Star.

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I suspect the web author follows a similar chart scaling as US news outlets:

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Sounds like a goer, I had ear marked Schiehallion GM/CS-005 for some point next week. Would be very happy to align with you fellas for some S2S’s.

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Jace, That is a most excellent choice :call_me_hand:

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Just put up an alert for Blencathra (G/LD-008) as the wx is looking good. As I don’t seem to be able to find my spare 900m mast fingers crossed for a lift to get a S2S on 2m. 73. Paul

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Excellent Paul. We have five stations putting on summits in Scotland at the moment.

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image

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Superb! At least you’ll have a QSO with Paul. :wink:

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Alan @MM0VPM just happens to be activating nearby Ben Avon GM/ES-006 tomorrow. A superb hill for 2m, despite its isolated position.

Looks like we have a mid-week summit party going!

Anyone else?

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