Not quite so bad down here in the south-east. In fact, as the day wore on I was feeling confident that the rain would not reach me until much later. However, just around dusk it started drizzling. A look at the rainfall radar indicated that a distinct band of showers had formed along the line of the North Downs. As that was my target area, with its view across London making 70cm/whip operation viable, I made the early decision to cancel the attempt.
Next week is the microwave contest. I have no equipment for that and so will not be out and about.
Here is also a folded 2 m dipole that fits under the rain cover of rucksack
SWR on 70 cm was quite high, but I do not recall the value now. I was testing the SWR with MiniVNA on 2 m at different mounting positions. I was using this antenna to send APRS packets during my ascend to F/JU-002 Le Reculet earlier this month.
The new Yagi from G3CWI is also already quite light weight though I have no practical experience on it.
Checked the SWR on 70 cm. When the antenna is horizontally mounted on a Leki pole it was 2 at 432 MHz and 2.5 in vertical direction using short coax feed. The theoretical gain on this band is about 6 - 7 dBi.
This eveningās RSGB contest is on 50 MHz. The weather forecast for the South-East is predicting showers of sleet or wet snow, coupled with a brisk northerly breeze.
I had been considering an evening visit to SE-005 (Botley Hill). However, Richard G3CWI has been there this morning to mop up demand on HF, so the combination of inclement weather, and an expected dearth of QSOs on six metres, has taken the āfunā out of a projected Tuesday Fun Evening activation.
Next week the cycle starts again with Tuesday 4th November being a two metre event.
In the back of my mind, I hadnāt ruled out the possibility of a wander up The Cloud for the 6m AC. However, it was gone 7pm by the time we arrived home from the Howgills, and a curry and a bottle of red wine laterā¦
Should be on either SP-004 or SP-015 for the 2m AC next week though.
Plus, it was bitterly cold during a bright sunny and calm day in North Yorkshire. Goodness knows what it would have been like at 10pm, after dark, on The Cloud. Thereās a hard frost down here this morning, so it was maybe best left.
I half considered building a 6m delta loop (a la GW7AAV) and trying it out last night from āThe Woodsā in the contest. However, driving home across the Chilterns yesterday evening in rain and sleet changed my mind.
In any case, listening to G3MEH (QTH on top of the Chilterns) indicated that it was a quiet contest anywayā¦ the weather I suppose.
-3c just outside Pickering last night Tom. Sorry I missed you on 2m CW yesterday - I was walking another stage of the Wolds Way so there was no SOTA logged here all day.
I had been considering an evening visit to SE-005 (Botley Hill).
However, Richard G3CWI has been there this morning to mop up demand on
HF, so the combination of inclement weather, and an expected dearth of
QSOs on six metres, has taken the āfunā out of a projected
Tuesday Fun Evening activation.
Les
Sorry to have spoiled the fun. I suspect there will still be plenty of demand for Botley. Only the Cloud is in everyoneās logā¦
Conditions were very comfortable for my āFun Eveningā last night. No more than a gentle breeze, dry conditions save for a spot of hillfog and a temperature of 10 degrees Celsius, initially at least. All rather mild for dark November night.
Richard G3CWI joined me for my SOTA activation and RSGB 2m SSB activity contest participation. His presence certainly upped the QSO rate, having an extra person to rotate the beam and pull in the more distant signals. There was some real DX knocking around, with PA and even OK both audible on 2m, not that I worked either.
I made 38 QSOs, after taking into account one dupe and two serial numbers I managed to skip out. 8 squares (multipliers), and the best DX was MM0GPZ/P in IO85, 273km. All good fun, but I suspect my report will read āCould do betterā.
The Hobgoblin Ale at the Ox-Fford pub in Macclesfield provided a welcome nightcap on the way home. Thanks to Richard for his company. (Your single log for the activation BTW was 2001z, G3RIR).
Have you now officially started winter fun evenings? I see you refer to it as such again in your last post.
I would be pleased to report any winter fun evenings activity in the news if you have started winter fun evenings on Tuesday evenings as this seems to be the only day that such evenings are referred to, or was last night really RSGB 2m contest night? Itās confusing.
Sounds like you had a fun evening any way Tom, whether officially a winter fun evening or otherwise.
The extraordinary thing to me was that in just over an hour we had four visitors; two men with head-torches out for a night-time stroll and a lad with a giggly girl (no torch - objective uncertain). Just shows that even at night you are seldom alone for long on the Cloud.
You see all sorts up there Richard. On a weekend summer evening in July, the place is positively heaving until around 11pm. But in the dark of a bitterly cold December evening, I have seen young families up there with their torches. I virtually always see at least one other person up there between 7 and 7.45am each morning as well.
Despite what we thought, last night was my best ever in the 2m AC, both in terms of points, and contacts. Looking for a PB in next weekās 70cm AC too. I hope the wx will be as kind. Thereās always the bothy bag if not.
Unfortunately, the BBC forecast on telly this morning suggested it was going to be wet and windy. I would hope to still go out and operate from the car from some location if the wx is bad. Fingers crossed that it cheers up a bit and I can activate a summit.
In addition VO-52 will be above horizon 20:29:25 - 20:41:54 UTC in IO83we today. You should start to hear it from South-East and if you follow it clock wise it will disappear in North. 435.2500 MHz USB up and 145.900 LSB down. Or was it LSB up and USB down? For SSB operation Doppler shift correction would need to be done and usually you should try to hear your own voice through the satellite, but in /P operation you could also try calling āblindlyā. The signal is strong on 2 m, so it should be easy to find. Since I know your location I could, in principle, calculate the Doppler shifts for me and you and try to control my TX/RX frequencies so that you need only use fixed frequencies. I can not promise automatic control for tonight however.
The evening of Tuesday 11th November 2008 had some good points and some bad points.
It was good that I had my bothy bag to myself, instead of having to share it with a moaning Jimmy. It was bad that I still couldnāt get comfortable in it. It was good when I realised that I was so hot in the bothy bag that I would be more comfortable out of it anyway. It was bad that I had wasted valuable contest QSO time trying to get comfortable in it. It was good that despite it being a bitterly cold night, once inside the bothy bag you soon need to remove your hat and coat.
It was bad that the SWR indication on the FT-817 was not good, despite using the SB270, set as a 6-el beam for 70cm. It was good that I still made twelve contacts. It was bad that I didnāt make more. It was good that there was a logical reason for the less-than-optimum SWR. It was bad that I had connected the feeder to the element in front of where I should have done, or so I discovered when packing away.
It was good that the Chain & Gate was still open (for a change) on the way home. It was bad that all the bitter was off and I had to endure a pint of Carling lager.
It was good that it didnāt rain. It was bad that it was so windy.
Such is life. Hereās hoping for another dry evening on the second Tuesday of December for (probably) my last contest outing of the year. Hereās hoping for more good than bad.
Hi, Tom, I listened out for you on your posted frequency but it was occupied by our local rock-crusher, G8OHM, who was so strong he wiped out half the band every time he called CQ! At least I worked himā¦
