Playing at radio again!
Saturday turned out nice so new radio 'chum' Mike MJ3SZI and myself (with Mikes good lady Vani in tow) headed up to the north coast high ground at Le Platon to try out some radios. All in all a successful afternoon Mike notching up 18 or so 20 metre contacts to all parts (it seemed) east, with lots of Russian and eastern Europeans contesting. The only trouble with both of us working off magmounts limiting activity to 20m it kind of rules out both operating at the same time. So yours truly fiddled about on 10 metres for a while which was a bit flat (5/9 into Croatia though on Es!) and then gave the FT290r its first proper airing on 2 metres with the homemade beam. Worked well too, good SSB contact to bottom end of Cornwall but he was amplified with more power and after bigger fish in Eastern Europe being geared up for it, but once polarised vertically 2.5 watts and beaming north opened up the Dorchester and Torbay repeaters a treat!! Best contact of the day though had to be me old mate Jules M1AGY who was tuned to GB3TR, stopped in a layby at the top of the Plympton bypass and less than 3 miles from where I used to live in Plymouth! Direct distance of about 120 miles I reckon..., on 2.5 watts with failing batteries. Thats not bad for a first try and was even starting to get a repeater pile up at one stage (if thats possible ;-) It was then that I turned around and realised I'd managed to get an audience too you see I'd lashed the beam to the side of a bench and was sat with the rig next to me enjoying the sun! Ah well heres to the next sporadic E lift and sunny day.
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