In reply to G8ADD:
Brian,
Thank you; I will investigate when I get back from Mid Wales.
73,
Rod
In reply to G8ADD:
Have you ever tried to get a reply from the council Tamworth only have a answer machine due to cut backs, but they are quick to come out when someone like me refurbs the cobweb so they can say that the cable tie is a different colour to the original one from 20 years ago and the letter is somewhere in the house with the complaint still it keeps the idle in a job.
G0TRB
In reply to G8ADD:
Strange that the professional engineers at Yaesu never thought of making those simple changes to the menu settings Brian. I wonder why…
73 Richard G3CWI
In reply to G3CWI:
I would guess at two possible reasons, Richard. Firstly they set each rig for what they saw as an optimum between gain and strong signal handling but this was for what I am told is very crowded V/UHF conditions in Japan, whereas I reckon on our sparsely occupied bands we can get away with more gain except just possibly on contest days (I’ve not found any increase in problems) which is why I recommend saving the original value. However, the gain can be turned down from the front panel if the squelch/RF gain selection is set to RF gain. Secondly it may be something to do with their 2 metre band being bigger so their optimum has to hold over a greater range of frequencies. Just guessing, there, but I wouldn’t pass the info on if I had experienced any problems.
73
Brian GV8ADD
In reply to G3CWI:
In reply to G8ADD:
Strange that the professional engineers at Yaesu never thought of
making those simple changes to the menu settings Brian. I wonder
why…
The short answer is, Amateur Radio is all about experimenting, Richard.
73 Mike
2E0YYY
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Can I have the long answer please?
In reply to G3CWI:
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Can I have the long answer please?
The long answer is, Amateur Radio is all about experimenting, Richard.
73 Mike
2E0YYY
In reply to G0TRB:
It was a nice change to hear you on 2m SSB recently but as we said even with a spot on for the band and mode there were very few chasers who bothered to give you a call…
I don’t think it is an issue of people not being bothered to call Roger, just that there are very few 2m SSB chasers nowadays in comparison to a few years ago. Even so, from GM/SS with the help of the dedicated regulars, I usually manage around 10 on the band / mode. Then I can go and play radio on HF as the mood takes me to bump the log up to around the 30 contacts that I like to achieve.
As for waffling, I rarely mind. Better to encourage people to call and take an interest in SOTA on 2m SSB than discourage them. You never know, they might become one of the committed 2m SSB chaser brigade.
With regards to photos, the vast majority of summits get the camera phone treatment so I have a visual reminder when I am no longer able to get up the hills. I’ve given up carrying a camera specifically for the job - the Galaxy S2 is good enough. Even so, I don’t often take photos of Paul at the summit and he rarely takes photos of me. We are activators not photographers! It’s tough if my photo on Flickr looks like the one on Geograph! 
In reply to 2E0YYY:
Activators who are prepared to turn a beam for hours on end have my full respect.
Activators who activate summits away from the centres of population need their beams Mike. 
In reply to G8ADD:
I turned the V/UHF RF gain up a little on my 857 and 817 to improve the performance when running barefoot. As I usually have a preamp onboard when running the 2m / 70cm linears, the gain is a little too much, but even so I find that the RF gain control overcomes this issue.
73 all, Gerald G4OIG
In reply to G4OIG:
I’ve given up carrying a camera specifically for
the job - the Galaxy S2 is good enough. Even so, I don’t often take
photos of Paul at the summit and he rarely takes photos of me.
I’ve had a number of camera phones in the past and found the photo quality utter rubbish.
However, I now have a Galaxy S3 and quite frankly the image quality is superb. The pictures I took of the English Electric Lightning at the Dambusters Rally, Thorpe Park, earlier this year, are excellent.
73 Mike
2E0YYY
In reply to G4OIG:
…In my case for “house” also read factories, offices, car dealerships, retail stores, warehouses, burger bars, etc - and most are some miles away
I have a friend who sails on a very special boat out of the Clyde. Give me the coordinates and we can find if the horrendously expensive toys on board the boat actually work :o))
This is a one shot only service available courtesy of the RN!
73
Barry GM4TOE
In reply to GM4TOE:
Best not, Barry! It was a Cold War joke that WWIII would never happen because when the buttons were pushed nothing would work!
On a more serious note, I went hunting for the sources of my local funny noises using the FT817 and an improvised DF antenna. It turned out that two out of every three houses locally were noise sources during the weekend dropping to one in five during weekday working hours. Long odds!
73
Brian GV8ADD