AmateurRadio.com

Last evening was a momentous one for me on 70MHz! I popped into the shack after I’d got in from work and switched the rigs on, including the 70MHz FM rig. Andy, G6REG/M called CQ on 70.450MHz and I answered him.

Andy was about 12 miles away on the edge of Oxford and we had a great QSO as he drove down the A420 towards me. Then it struck me! By the time he got to the roundaboout just to the south of me, he was about a couple of miles away from me.

Quickly, I got the Wouxun 70MHz handheld out and called him! He heard me, despite the handheld being in the shack. We did a couple of overs on the handheld as Andy headed west, out to a distance of 2 or 3 miles. Signals were still S9. So that was great! I knew the Wouxun worked well, especially with the Garex Flexwhip, but I hadn’t actually had a contact with it. Thanks Andy! Hopefully now that the weather is improving, I will be able to make some QSOs with the Wouxun from various high spots.

And the other thing that came out of last evening’s 70MHz activity was that the Tring ‘parrot’, MB7FM is back on air. It vanished a few weeks ago as you may remember but it’s great to hear it back in service.