December 2016 ATV activity weekend

[g8gtz]

Just over 2 weeks to go until our next ATV activity weekend!

Don't forget, this is not confined to the mad people who go and sit on hill tops in the freezing cold but is an excuse for everyone to "get on the air" - why not make it a "show and tell" weekend in your area and see how many people you can have access your local repeater over the weekend? We could even turn it in to a competition between the repeater groups!

Whatever you are going to do, please post details here on the forum so others will know.

Personally I will be out portable - if I can get the replacement Land Rover finished in time, currently no mast, bench or power! I've not decided where yet but maybe go further afield to Clee Hill, Dartmoor or Norfolk but will depend on other people's plans. I post an update when plans are confirmed.

73 Noel G8GTZ

[g8vpg]

I hope to go out portable, but it will be entirely dependent on the weather. I will post my plans nearer the time.
73 Shaun G8VPG.

[G4EWJ]

I hope to be out on the Saturday at Anchor, Shropshire.

Brian

[G8DKC]

After discussing the setup I use /P, thought I would share and post a picture.

Attached to an old work unit shelf, it sits just right across the back seats of a Freelander with safety belts on,
can charge / float charge overnight from the house before going off, with a pair of 125Ah AGM batteries in the footwells.

As no longer main family car this year (pump up in roof?) will fit split charging when engine running for 2017, the items could fit under bench etc, if a large permanent /P vehicle etc.

Three-stage charging, with temperature compensation on the Victron Centaur 12v / 50 Amp charger, with 3 isolated diode outputs, and up to 500Ah worth of batteries, if needed, and a Studer AJ 1000-12 Inverter, enough to run a decent linear, can be set to auto sleep on no load.

Fully fused with a kill switch.

Peter

P.S looking at the new prices of the two items was a shock! They were bought about 10 years ago, and have already paid for themselves, being used on various projects.

[M0DTS]

I hope to be out /P from one of the usual spots on the Saturday, weather permitting.

All bands available but mainly 146 Digital / 23cm Analogue.

I find 2x 250Ah of battery is just about enough for my ATV outings unless I'm running high power on 23cm for a while!
For a 2-day event like contest weekend this is not enough!

I use two 30A 24>13.8v Dc-Dc converters for voltage critical equipment which allow you to keep going once the bottom battery goes down below 12v.

So on a quiet day /p (like most!) Idle current about 6-7A used by laptop, 3G hotspot, one or two Rx's and 2m rig.

Rob
M0DTS

[g8gtz]

G8GTZ and G8GKQ are planning to go over to the Isle of Wight on Saturday and operate from IO90JO near to the original site for GB3IV on the hills above Ventnor - see the Google map for exact location https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... 223012&z=7

As well as coverage of most of the south of England there is a good path on 146 MHz to Bloringe in South Wales at 182Km and Clee Hill at 220Km - unfortunately the path to Anchor (G4EWJ) is not good due to local obstructions. I'm still struggling to find that elusive 250 Km path but note that coverage is also very good to the South and East

More details later but likely bands are 146 MHz, 437 MHz, 23cms and possibly 10 GHz.

On Sunday Dave and I will go out separately if other stations are active.

Don't forget, this is not confined to the mad people who go and sit on hill tops in the freezing cold but is an excuse for everyone to "get on the air" - why not make it a "show and tell" weekend in your area and see how many people you can have access your local repeater over the weekend? We could even turn it in to a competition between the repeater groups!

Whatever you are going to do, please post details here on the forum so others will know.

73

Noel - G8GTZ

[g8vpg]

Noel,
Would you give the exact co-ordinates for the two sites you are proposing? I will do some calculations on Radiomobile and see what might work! At present, the weather is looking milder but could be wet.
73 Shaun G8VPG.

[g8gtz]

Hi Shaun,

The locations are correct on the Google map https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid= ... 98988&z=14 Click on the red pin to reveal lat and Long.

I've done some plots and Bloringe looks good unless you fancy going up to Clee Hill @ 220 Kms.

Ventnor 1 (Custom).JPG (157.13 KiB) Viewed 7937 times

Hopefully a few people will be on to make it worthwhile as the ferry is apparently the most expensive per mile traveled in the world!

Noel

[g8vpg]

Noel,
Thanks for that information. Having run the calcs on Radiomobileonline, the path from Stenbury to the Blorenge looks good at 183km - one more than the record! The path from Ventnor is 185km, but doesn't work because the elevation of the co-ordinates you give is only 159m. I wonder is there a slight error somewhere, because On Google Earth, this area generally seems to be above 200m, which I think it needs to be to work.
I would like to try the Blorenge on Saturday, but it really does depend on the weather. When I last went in September, we were above the cloud base with a thick mist that quickly condensed on everything and seemed to suck all RF down to earth! Will keep you posted as the week develops.
73 Shaun G8VPG.

[g8gtz]

Something a bit strange between Google maps and Radiomobile - the correct lat and long is 50.60451, -1.19834with ASL of 239 metres. I've updated the Google map.

Understand about the weather but the forecast doesn't look too bad at the moment - just paid for the ferry so we are definitely going!

73
Noel