Hello all !
Had a great day out with the radio on Friday , which took in Stony cove Pike in the morning and Red Screes in the Afternoon . The weather was great and so were the views from the tops.
Had plenty of contacts on the day too , thanks as always to the regular contacts who called and nice to get a few new ones as well .
All the best .
M7MGO/P…Richard…
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Great to hear about your successful day. Im back in Lakes next week anfd look forward to chasing you from my Carvan in Old Park Wood. Clive M7OCB
That’s in the South Lakes I believe? Here’s to some nice weather Clive !
Richard.
Thanks for the contacts Richard,
I only have 6w on 2m here, so I was pleased to get through to you once the pileup cleared away ha ha!
Best 73,
Simon
Yes, Great to get you in the log book on both summits Simon .
I just use a 5w Yaesu FT65 myself, which I had connected to a plant pot antenna that I’d made the day before and tried out on Stony cove, (it’s now on a pole on the side of the house) and I just had a home made 3 element beam on Red Screes.
Hope to catch you again soon !
73
Richard.
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Hi, folks. Just piggy-backing on this discussion. Richard notes a handheld rig and home-made antennas. Good point. I’m not sure the radio community at large realises that WOTA (or SOTA) can provide 95% of the fun for 5% of the cost. Although one can do all singing, all dancing multi-band and multi-mode activations, any serviceable 5W 2m FM rig from recent decades combined with simple antennas is enough to have a great day out (so long as the battery is ok!). This comment is triggered by my observation that amateur rigs and accessories are very expensive (OK, I know they were never exactly cheap). Perhaps we don’t do enough to emphasise the simplicity and potentially low cost of having enough gear to enjoy WOTA. Less than a pair of boots or a piece of good waterproof clothing (check out the price of waterproof trousers for goodness sake). But at the same time perhaps not mentioning to aspiring activators today’s cost of travel, parking, eating, staying in the Lake District… Sigh. 73, Phil
Phil .
I bought that little Yaesu and a £10 Nagoya antenna to replace the duck that came with it just to get me started on the air last Autumn . I also found I enjoyed making the antennas and the satisfaction I got from seeing them actually work , so I’ve not bought one yet , an SWR meter is the only other expenditure I have had really .
I quite fancy doing HF at some point (probably a rig suitable for portable use) but have really been enjoying VHF/UHF especially since being encouraged into wota/sota from the start by Reg (2E0LDF) during one of my first few QSOs when he was on one of the fells himself .
73
Richard