An afternoon in the sun looked like an ideal opportunity to work some station on 70 MHz. Bedsford park is the highest point around at the dizzy height of 100m ASL. I decided to take the 12m roach pole and Icom 7100 and the slim jim. The portable trolly, battery and antenna. After setting up […]
DMR radio TYT MD-380 First impressions.
After reading a review on the @essexham website I decided to take a look at the world of DMR and the MD-380 seemed like a good place to start. The radio is available on eBay for around £100 including programming lead, software and delivery! If you want to purchase from the UK, with support then […]
Wire + Tree + Catapult = HF portable
Today I decided to put a wire in a tree and see if anyone could hear me. While portable for a couple of days I thought it would be fun to use one of the very tall trees at the back of the van here. I used a fishing weight and a catapult to fire […]
70 MHz portable from Cromer
Operating portable from the highest point in Norfolk (100m ASL) from Beacon Hill close to Cromer North Norfolk JO02OV. The set-up included the Icom 7100 and 50w into a Slim Jim supported on a 12m Spider beam roach pole. Beacon Hill is an old Roman Fort, and while its elevated you cant really see much […]
Data Modes for all Occasions
I recently completed a talk at LEFARS on data modes for all occasions, the aim of the talk was to explore alternative data modes. We have all received the very popular PSK, most likely on 14.070 but many other data modes exist some offering much greater reliability and alternative uses. The slides will hopefully get […]
Backpackers #5 VHF contest
Sunday 6th Sep was the 5th backpacker VHF contest on a very sunny Sunday afternoon. The contest has two main categories, 3w backpackers or 10w Hill toppers. The rules are available online. We elected to do the 10w section, using a 9e Tonna antenna and a push up mast with the assistance of John M0UKD. […]