AmateurRadio.com

Last nights exploits on the UKAC on 70cms was a bit of a surprise for me. I trotted up to Sandwith water pumping station, noted for two things, a bit of height and a bit of noise (presumably from all the gubbins inside the station and from the mast nearby.

Needless to say I wasn’t expecting much and as the wind was getting all autumnal on me I took my trusty 5m decorators pole, 7 ele Sotabeam yagi and FT817 and these are the results. G4ODA took some doing but generally I was able to work pretty much all I could hear, a few got away but not too many and the GM stations were loud as anything and gave me equally good signal reports.

I don’t think I’ll ever win any prizes but I can’t fault the Sotabeam since swapping over from the 5 ele LFA on 2m, I see to get just as far, its light weight, robust and simple. As its also good for 70cm it makes the ideal companion to my simple set up.

I’ve also yet to find a simple rig to rival the FT817. It has a number of ‘diosyncrasies and a few faults but as an all rounder you can’t fault it.