Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Please post here if you are planning any significant ATV Activity such as DXpeditions or Contest participation
G8GKQ
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Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by G8GKQ » Fri Mar 11, 2022 4:15 pm

I will be out portable at IO91EE26 (Thruxton Hill, 16 km NE of Salisbury) on Saturday afternoon (ready at 1pm?) with 23 cms and 9 cms. Tallkback 144.75 or Zello ATV South.

Hoping to contact G4XAT/P at Butser Hill (IO90MX24) and G8GTZ/P at Hannington (IO91JH) with similar equipment.

G4LDR may also be active on 9 cms from IO91EC.

Dave, G8GKQ

g0mjw
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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by g0mjw » Fri Mar 11, 2022 10:41 pm

I can come on from home on 23cm if it helps.

Mike

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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by g0mjw » Sat Mar 12, 2022 1:23 pm

Nobody on 144.750, nobody on Zello.... can't work people who don't appear on the talkback..

EDIT Tried a few more calls on 144.750 and on Zello. Nobody else is logged in to ATV South and there has been no activity nor responses on 144.750 so I have decided to go QRT for the weekend. Feeling sorry for Dave, Gareth and Noel who have gone out specially this afternoon. Hopefully they will only be able to work each other. If they are on 2m they are out of range for me, despite travelling to good, usually workable sites.

I think probably that's me done for DATV activity afternoons from now on. I have so many other projects on the go and there just isn't sufficient activity within range of here to continue investing in these events.

Mike

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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by G3GJA » Sat Mar 12, 2022 2:39 pm

Very quiet in the North too. I suspect fuel prices are putting people off going out portable. Not surprising with one Shell outlet near Hull selling diesel at £1.809 a litre.

Clive

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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by radiogareth » Sat Mar 12, 2022 6:22 pm

Well a 'Grand Day out' for springtime. Got to Butser Hill carpark about 11am, all set up by about 12.15 with talkback on 144.750, DATV on 3.4GHz and 23cms.
Two way contacts with Dave G8GKQ and Neil G4LDR (for a first), proved my Bi-quad fed BSB Mini-dish worked pretty much as well as the 16 element flat-plate I'd salvaged and I tested the Toshiba 40W+ amp. That all worked very well, as did feeding the rx signal from either the dish or flat-plate into a probe in the 3.4GHz LNB throat. 14.4 A/Hr consumed from my leisure battery!!

Onward to 23cms where I was testing a home made yagi and my new double-bi-quad, which knocked spots off the yagi. Up the chain to my recently completed G4BAO higher power amp and a +10dB increase in signal report received.

Two ways with Dave achieved on this band too, with huge margins. A bit windy and cold at times, but eventually packed away under a clear blue sky.
1.5 hours drive each way, roads nice and quiet (maybe fuel costs are beginning to bite), 35mpg average and about 140 miles round trip, plus £6 for the car parking!
What's frustrating is driving past several better sites (farmers fields) all with their gates padlocked shut. I will try writing to what appears to be the local farmer, offering cash incentive for occasional field access, but I am not too hopeful of a response, positive or otherwise.
Finding or facilitating other stations is tricky, my home being in a bit of a RF hole. The pump-up mast helped a lot and being portable it is 'planning free' so one less bit of grief.
There are a lot of 'known good' VHF/UHF/uWave sites on various websites, but knowing which ones work with which others and have reasonable vehicle access is potentially time consuming. Mikes excellent program for path profile etc needs combining with Google maps street view so you can see what the access is like and if there are any trees in the way etc etc etc....
Happy to travel up your way Mike, its those pesky Chilterns that are in the way until I get North of them. Its about 1.75 hours to Burton Dasset which I can combine with a visit to son Josh in Warwick. Maybe access Welsh stations and a few more up north on 70cms?
BTW I did not use Zello SE as Dave, Noel and Neild were all 5/9+40 on 144.750 and apologies I was so wrapped up with my own experiments I completely forgot....

Gareth
Last edited by radiogareth on Sun Mar 13, 2022 9:09 am, edited 2 times in total.

G8GKQ
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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by G8GKQ » Sat Mar 12, 2022 8:52 pm

First of all, my apologies to Mike. I got wrapped up with all the activity on 144.75 and forgot to turn Zello on. However, we'd have heard you from the Ridgeway on 144.75 - and probably managed an ATV contact.

A really good session with Gareth who was 50 km away. MER 25+ pictures both ways on 3407 MHz, and even better on 1255. The received picture below is Gareth's BSB mini-dish on 3407 MHz, and the second is his 1255 MHz signal. One of the strongest and cleanest that I have seen since we started to use bandviewer!

Great to exchange pictures with Neil G4LDR on both bands as well. Only 10 km, but an obstructed path.

Dave, G8GKQ
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M0DTS
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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by M0DTS » Sun Mar 13, 2022 11:25 am

Looks like you had fun to the south.
Would be nice to have had a play on 3.4G...

Sorry i couldnt get on but working weekends means we cant do them all!
Ill certainly be out for next month.

Rob

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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by radiogareth » Sun Mar 13, 2022 12:47 pm

Rob, now my 3.4GHz gear has been field tested I can easily take it to the Burton Dasset hills, should there be a path between us from there. It is at IO92GE90EG with, from memory, ground falling away to the north, at least to start with. Based on the success of feeding of the little BSB dish with a Bi quad, I'll make a mount for my 65cm Offset dish too, double the dish area should help. I've also ordered some 4.5mm2 DC feed cable as the 2.5 was dropping a fair amount at 15A.
Gareth

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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by g8gtz » Sun Mar 13, 2022 3:43 pm

I did go out but had a complete disaster!

First, I left 2 vital bolts to secure the roof bar to the car so couldn't raise the mast. I did bodge a short mast to the side of car using cable ties on the door handle and put the 3.4GHz flat plate on it.

But then I couldn't receive anything- no even the noise out of the transverters on the Langstone so I packed up and went home!

Turns out the MiniCircuits splitter feeding the MiniTiouner and Pluto had gone o/c - no reason why could be seen, just a disaster waiting to happen.

Mike:
I think probably that's me done for DATV activity afternoons from now on. I have so many other projects on the go and there just isn't sufficient activity within range of here to continue investing in these events.
These ATV activity days only work when folk coordinate activity ahead of time - it's not like 80mts where you can just call CQ and magic happens! As you don't go out portable, you need to encourage the portable stations to come up your way or liaise with Arthur and Steve to have some QSOs on the day...

Gareth has offered to go up to Dassett Hills and I'm happy to go North to work him and you - particularly if you pay the fuel - joke :-)

73's and on to next month!

Noel

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Re: Activity Weekend 12/13 March 2022

Post by G4NZV » Sun Mar 13, 2022 3:47 pm

Gareth, only one hill in the way between my QTH IO82wa and Burton Dasset Hills. Regularly work a station N.E. of Warwick on 3.4GHz SSB 59 so hopeful of DATV exchange on 9cm or any other band 2m to 3cm.
Please post when you plan your /P trip as I would like to give it a go.
73 Steve G4NZV

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