Its been a busy start to the 2016 3cm /P season, with 2 trips out in under a week!
Last Tuesday May 24th was the May SHF UKAC - and my first chance to get out /P on 3cm. On hearing that Noel G8GTZ was going out to Hannington, I decided to head South to Basingstoke to see if I could work him. We tried last year but didn't make it from Knowl Hill. It was a lovely sunny evening and dry for a change, perfect for taking the gear out on the hills. Basingstoke is about a 45 minute drive and I set-up at 9pm local on a roadside verge just south of the M3. This was a new location for me in IO91KF, that is on the Farleigh Wallop road just as it goes over the motorway. At 9.07pm I had my first QSO on 3cm SSB with Noel G8GTZ/P at 11km to Hannington, which is due north and LOS. Noel was very loud and a super easy QSO. It was great to finally make contact and also to score some much needed 3cm points for the Drowned Rats Radio Group, our first on the band in 2016! This location is good for N, and NE but not great in other directions due to the density of trees nearby. I tried and failed with G4BAO (JO02), M0GHZ (IO81), G4LDR, G7JTT/P and G4RGK (IO91). I did hear CW from Dave G4RGK at 78km in Marlow but he could not hear me. I also took the new 6cm WBFM kit, but no one was QRV that was local enough to try it out.
The first UKuG 5GHZ and 10GHZ Cumulative took place on Sunday May 29th - another chance to get operational. I set-up from home first in the back garden at IO91NL but it was a waste of time, what with all the trees and high hedges around. So I went up to Knowl Hill IO91OM which is my local /P site about 15 minutes drive. I parked off a small road on the north side of the A4 and walked up a footpath into a field of Buttercups. This excellent little site is a small E-W ridge that has a useful take-off to the South. The GB3SEE beacon in Reigate IO91VG at 49Km was a solid 59 copy as usual with my 60cm Offset Dish. To start with I tried to work Mike G6TRM/P who was out portable in JO01LD near Ashford, Kent but we could not make the 128km path go, the second time we have tried. I still need to upgrade my system by adding the DB6NT LNA and the 1W Amp. Next via KST I tried with Rob G0PEB/P on the IOW (IO90) and then I swung round to Martyn G3ZME/P (G3UKV) who was out with the Telford uW Group on Brown Clee (IO82) but that path failed also. I did hear and work G3ZME/P on the 144.175MHz talk-back frequency but the Knowl Hill site is obstructed to the NW, and a 3cm QSO was not possible. Taking 2M (so using the same FT290R Mk1, and 2.5W into an HB9CV) proved valuable, as a CQ to the South produced Colin G4EML/P who was 73km away at Storrington on the South Downs, IO90SV near Worthing. We switched to 3cm and his signal was so much stronger, peaking 59. It was great to get a 10Ghz QSO in the log, and also to work a new locator square on that band. I had a few problems with the new dish mount as the pan/tilt head had wiggled loose, - I will have to fix that before the next outing. All part of the fun!
Last Tuesday May 24th was the May SHF UKAC - and my first chance to get out /P on 3cm. On hearing that Noel G8GTZ was going out to Hannington, I decided to head South to Basingstoke to see if I could work him. We tried last year but didn't make it from Knowl Hill. It was a lovely sunny evening and dry for a change, perfect for taking the gear out on the hills. Basingstoke is about a 45 minute drive and I set-up at 9pm local on a roadside verge just south of the M3. This was a new location for me in IO91KF, that is on the Farleigh Wallop road just as it goes over the motorway. At 9.07pm I had my first QSO on 3cm SSB with Noel G8GTZ/P at 11km to Hannington, which is due north and LOS. Noel was very loud and a super easy QSO. It was great to finally make contact and also to score some much needed 3cm points for the Drowned Rats Radio Group, our first on the band in 2016! This location is good for N, and NE but not great in other directions due to the density of trees nearby. I tried and failed with G4BAO (JO02), M0GHZ (IO81), G4LDR, G7JTT/P and G4RGK (IO91). I did hear CW from Dave G4RGK at 78km in Marlow but he could not hear me. I also took the new 6cm WBFM kit, but no one was QRV that was local enough to try it out.
The first UKuG 5GHZ and 10GHZ Cumulative took place on Sunday May 29th - another chance to get operational. I set-up from home first in the back garden at IO91NL but it was a waste of time, what with all the trees and high hedges around. So I went up to Knowl Hill IO91OM which is my local /P site about 15 minutes drive. I parked off a small road on the north side of the A4 and walked up a footpath into a field of Buttercups. This excellent little site is a small E-W ridge that has a useful take-off to the South. The GB3SEE beacon in Reigate IO91VG at 49Km was a solid 59 copy as usual with my 60cm Offset Dish. To start with I tried to work Mike G6TRM/P who was out portable in JO01LD near Ashford, Kent but we could not make the 128km path go, the second time we have tried. I still need to upgrade my system by adding the DB6NT LNA and the 1W Amp. Next via KST I tried with Rob G0PEB/P on the IOW (IO90) and then I swung round to Martyn G3ZME/P (G3UKV) who was out with the Telford uW Group on Brown Clee (IO82) but that path failed also. I did hear and work G3ZME/P on the 144.175MHz talk-back frequency but the Knowl Hill site is obstructed to the NW, and a 3cm QSO was not possible. Taking 2M (so using the same FT290R Mk1, and 2.5W into an HB9CV) proved valuable, as a CQ to the South produced Colin G4EML/P who was 73km away at Storrington on the South Downs, IO90SV near Worthing. We switched to 3cm and his signal was so much stronger, peaking 59. It was great to get a 10Ghz QSO in the log, and also to work a new locator square on that band. I had a few problems with the new dish mount as the pan/tilt head had wiggled loose, - I will have to fix that before the next outing. All part of the fun!
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| Upgraded Tripod Mount with 60cm Offset Dish |
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| G1DFL/P at Knowl Hill, IO91OM Looking South |