[UK-CONTEST] 4m Contesting
Adrian Rees
rees.a at btconnect.com
Wed Apr 22 08:41:57 PDT 2009
Hi Ron
Nice site, and I can see my QTH in the background as well!
73
Adrian MW1LCR
________________________________
From: uk-contest-bounces at contesting.com on behalf of Ron Price
Sent: Wed 22/04/2009 16:03
To: uk-contest at contesting.com
Subject: [UK-CONTEST] 4m Contesting
As far as I know I am the only 4m contester who operates portable both as a vehicle based station and also as a backpacker, so I thought it may be of interest to some of you wanting to give it a go to outline my equipment.
I use a Spectrum transverter with a 28MHz IF at 30W driven by a Yaesu FT-817 at 2.5W, both powered from a 12Ah sealed lead acid battery.
Antenna is a Sandpiper 3 element Yagi supported on a 15ft mast (made up of 1in. diam ali tubing, 2 x 6ft and 1 at 3ft).
This makes for quite a heavy backpack but it helps to keep me fit lugging it up the hills!
I live in NE Wales very close to the Clwydian Range so there is no shortage of suitable sites to operate from!
A favorite neighbouring summit is Moel-y-Gamelin, which at 578m gives a very good take-off on the VHF bands.
It's a steady slog of about 50 minutes to reach the summit but well worth the effort.
Here is a photo of the equipment in use there during one of last year's contests.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22272696@N03/3387558311/
In the backgroung can be seen Cyrn-y-Brain, a very popular VHF contesting site, and accessible by car if you have a key to the gate!
Another favorite summit, a bit closer to home is Foel Fenlli in the Clwydian range. This one at 511m asl is not quite as good a site but involves a shorter but steeper walk up.
Here is a photo of the same set up from that location.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/22272696@N03/2262546421/
I use the same set up when vehicle based but sometimes add a 80W PA, 6 element Yagi and a bigger battery!
73
Ron, GW4EVX
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