Halkyn To Birkrigg - 5.8GHz

[M7OMW]

CQ All,

I hope this is the right place to put this post, if not, can admins let me know where to put it, thanks.

A couple of members of Wirral peninsula ARC, Of which I am club secretary, Went up to Halkyn in North-Wales to test some ATV equipment that the members had been making from scratch using drone/FPV kits, raspberry pi's and car reversing camera's.

Long story short, they had a QSO with a chap called Chris (M0KPW), who confirmed an S5 signal at 103KMs up to Birkrigg in Cumbria.

Our members were:

Dave Rimmer - 2E0DHQ (WPARC Chair)
John Carr - 2E0JOO - (WPARC Treasurer)
Kieran Gracey - M0KGR (WPARC Special Events Co-ordinator)

Along with members of our friends at NWARG (North Wales Amateur Radio Group) From Mochdre just outside of Halkyin.

We are going to be doing more ATV testing on 5.6GHz from West Kirkby this coming Wednesday night, while some members are at the Club QTH manning the radios and watching for sporadic E, Weather fluctuations and confirming the QSO from base.

Hopefully, Wirral Peninsula ARC (Callsign - MX0KHU) will be participating under it's own BATC account in coming months, once our shack has had some more work done to it, and our newer members being shown the ropes.

[g8gtz]

Hi John,

Excellent - and great to hear there's activity on 5.6GHz.

BATC runs a ladder contest for 5.6GHz throughout the year and it would be great if a few of you put in some entries - you don't have to be BATC members (but it is only £8 a year) and there's a trophy for first place and certificates for runners up - you could turn it into a club competition!

Details and current entries here - https://batc.org.uk/contests/6cm-ladder/

And I presume you've found the BATC wiki page on 5.6GHz FM... https://wiki.batc.org.uk/5.6_GHz

Keep us updated on the fun - you could try the longest line of sight path we know about (EDIT - with drive-on sites south of Scotland) from Esclusham in North Wales to Kirkstone pass in the Lake District at 153 km

73 Noel - G8GTZ

PS - it probably should be posted in the Contests and activity topic - perhaps forum admin can move it.
EDIT - PPS There is a 153km LoS path from IO85HL79 to IO84UK34 which someone might want to try....

[M7OMW]

HI Noel,

Cheers for the reply.

I will definitely take the information you have given, and pass it onto the club, especially the ladder contest and the 153km LOS Path as that sound like something our club could possibly work on as a team.

73's,

Owen - M7OMW
(WPARC Secretary)