Its been a while since I ventured out to an amateur radio rally, having been to a few at Pickets Lock Enfield and Canvey over the years, today saw a trip to the National Hamfest at Newark Showground. The highlight for me was the launch of Pinky, a high altitude balloon The SSDV payload callsign […]
Second 70 MHz contest
We had some great September weather today for the RSGB 2nd 70MHz contest. We setup a station at the Kelvedon Hatch ‘Secret Nuclear Bunker’ as seen above, using John M0UKD 70MHz amplifier and his 4 element DK7ZB 12.5Ω Yagi. The mast was my 12m Racal PU12 a push up 12m mast, and the location was […]
70 MHz from Bedsford Park
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 […]