For the final 2 SHF UKAC's I ventured out to make my last GHz QSO's of the year. Both evenings were a bit drizzly, windy, cold and very dark!
In October I returned to Chilton and the Bury Lane car park (IO91IN22QU, 183m) high up on The Ridgeway. Arriving late due to I was met with incredibly strong gusty winds and some drizzle. The drive on plate, rotator and mast were deployed which enabled me to sit in comfort inside the car for a change which was quite novel, and warm! On 13cm with the FT817ND, DB6NT G2 Transverter and just 0.8W to the 1m Grid Dish I completed a record 22 QSO's with G8DMU/P in IO94CB ad my ODX at 281km. I was well pleased to get 8th out of 26th in the SAR section with 2,441km QSO points. On 6cm with the Pluto SDR, 5W and 60cm Grid Dish I worked G4BRK & G4CLA for my ODX of 103km. I ran out of time with GODA and could not hear M0GHZ. My 5m of W103 coax was a bit lossy at 5.7GHz!
For the last GHz contest at the end of November I went to my local site at Britwell Hill (IO91LO98FL, 229m) again with 13cm and 6cm SSB. I also took my rebuilt 6cm WBFM system which uses FPV drone modules. 13cm was a non-starter as the FT-817ND would not power up, I'm not sure what's wrong with that so everything was hastily packed away. On 6cm WBFM I tried with Matt 2E0MDJ/P who was at Birdlip Hill (IO81WU80CM) but no signals were heard over the 80km path. On 6cm I managed a QSO with Neil g4BRK in Abingdon and M0GHZ in IO81VK who was my ODX at 107km. Not a great evening but at least it wasn't a total disaster.
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| 13cm and 6cm at Chilton on the drive-on plate |
In October I returned to Chilton and the Bury Lane car park (IO91IN22QU, 183m) high up on The Ridgeway. Arriving late due to I was met with incredibly strong gusty winds and some drizzle. The drive on plate, rotator and mast were deployed which enabled me to sit in comfort inside the car for a change which was quite novel, and warm! On 13cm with the FT817ND, DB6NT G2 Transverter and just 0.8W to the 1m Grid Dish I completed a record 22 QSO's with G8DMU/P in IO94CB ad my ODX at 281km. I was well pleased to get 8th out of 26th in the SAR section with 2,441km QSO points. On 6cm with the Pluto SDR, 5W and 60cm Grid Dish I worked G4BRK & G4CLA for my ODX of 103km. I ran out of time with GODA and could not hear M0GHZ. My 5m of W103 coax was a bit lossy at 5.7GHz!
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| 6cm at Britwell Hill pointing West |
For the last GHz contest at the end of November I went to my local site at Britwell Hill (IO91LO98FL, 229m) again with 13cm and 6cm SSB. I also took my rebuilt 6cm WBFM system which uses FPV drone modules. 13cm was a non-starter as the FT-817ND would not power up, I'm not sure what's wrong with that so everything was hastily packed away. On 6cm WBFM I tried with Matt 2E0MDJ/P who was at Birdlip Hill (IO81WU80CM) but no signals were heard over the 80km path. On 6cm I managed a QSO with Neil g4BRK in Abingdon and M0GHZ in IO81VK who was my ODX at 107km. Not a great evening but at least it wasn't a total disaster.
Overall I'm pleased with my GHz efforts in 2021. Despite some really terrible weather conditions I had fun visiting new sites, making new QSO's, and trying new bands.