Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Please post here if you are planning any significant ATV Activity such as DXpeditions or Contest participation
radiogareth
Posts: 1215
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:46 am

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by radiogareth » Sat Apr 09, 2022 4:46 pm

Another interesting afternoon with my new 70cms amp being given a good work-out/test...which it survived....
Out tomorrow morning at Burton Dasset Hills (approx IO92GD99) around 9:30 (realistically 10am) depending how fast I set up with 70, 23,(13, 9) and my experimental (but works) 6cm lash-up. Also hope to test out 10GHz/P receive with a couple of different dishes.
Gareth

g8gtz
Posts: 1733
Joined: Wed Apr 07, 2010 6:26 pm

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by g8gtz » Sat Apr 09, 2022 5:48 pm

Another fun session on 70cms - the band that never disappoints!

I stayed at home but still managed to rxr G4XAT and G4CPE via Aircraft scatter.

No joy with Rob up on the moors but managed a 2 way on DVB-S2 and DVB-T with Dave G8GKQ/p out at Lane End near Winchester.
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GKQ Lane End.jpg
GKQ Lane End.jpg (119.96 KiB) Viewed 9592 times
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As mentioned in CQ-TV, BATC is running an activity ladder on 70cms for 2022 - don't forget to put an entry in for any contacts on 70cms: https://batc.org.uk/contests/70cm-ladder/

73
Noel - G8GTZ

G4KLB
Posts: 244
Joined: Wed May 28, 2008 10:46 am

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by G4KLB » Sat Apr 09, 2022 10:33 pm

Took a quick snap from GB3SQs local monitor of Dave's signal into the repeater.

GKQ1.jpg
GKQ1.jpg (861.88 KiB) Viewed 9568 times

G8DGR
Posts: 38
Joined: Tue Oct 01, 2013 3:06 pm

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by G8DGR » Sun Apr 10, 2022 5:06 am

Could you say what frequency and modulation are in use?
Set up gear at home.
Put 144.750 on. Heard nothing on either day.
Looks like you need to be portable or have a high QTH.
Oh well it may be better next time.
Put TV equipment back in loft.
Last edited by G8DGR on Tue Apr 12, 2022 9:16 am, edited 1 time in total.

g0mjw
Posts: 2329
Joined: Sat Sep 20, 2014 9:15 am

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by g0mjw » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:24 am

It's right there in the image. 437 MHz, 333ks, DVB-S2 QPSK FEC 2/3
Mike

G8GKQ
Site Admin
Posts: 2798
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Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by G8GKQ » Sun Apr 10, 2022 1:40 pm

A really enjoyable Saturday afternoon out gaining more experience with DVB-T and also accessing GB3SQ (with DVB-S2) on 437 MHz at 57 km.

Some interesting multipath effects seen on BandViewer when Noel was transmitting DVB-S2 and beaming away from me.

Dave, G8GKQ
Attachments
snap66.jpg
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M0YDH
Posts: 264
Joined: Sat Dec 31, 2016 5:59 pm

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by M0YDH » Sun Apr 10, 2022 1:42 pm

I only managed to repair my 70cm PA yesterday so missed the chance of going to Clee Hill, Shropshire.

Today's best DX was 500 mm! :D
Here's new build Portsdown 2020 transmitting on 437 MHz 333KS DVB-S and being received by my Portsdown 4. Filter modulator and associated boards are ex-G8GTZ bought at CAT21 and doing the transmitting.
The new unit is for Wolverhampton ARS G8TA in its centenary year. The club is a BATC member. It's part of my cunning plan to have another working station somewhat nearer than 100 miles away! Apart from G8VZT I don't know of on air DATV kit in the West Midlands.

I think Rob's mast looks so heavy that he's taking up body building. I hope you have a good time out and about.
73
David M0YDH
Attachments
G8TA/P is received across the bench
G8TA/P is received across the bench
PhotoPictureResizer_20220410_134457_copy_1008x567.jpg (192.92 KiB) Viewed 9484 times

G4FRE
Posts: 197
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:57 am

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by G4FRE » Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:27 pm

Gareth's 70cm signal from IO92GD 60 km away. In IO82UC the antenna was a Loft mounted Dual band antenna (5 ele on 2m 9 + ele on 70cm) fixed east+HA8ET preamp. I ran 3w and had a 333kS MER of 4dB

snap79_70.jpg
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Dave
G4FRE
Last edited by G4FRE on Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:52 pm, edited 1 time in total.

radiogareth
Posts: 1215
Joined: Wed Jan 06, 2016 9:46 am

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by radiogareth » Sun Apr 10, 2022 6:44 pm

Thanks to Dave (above) I/we enjoyed a protracted but largely very successful day out. My summary below while I can still remember it all!

What a day.....70cms, 13cms QRP, 3.4GHz experiments 5.7GHz DATV and FM TV , plus a visit from the MOD Police!
As planned I set up at Burton Dassett Hills just south of Gaydon on the M40, the site of my successful amplifier tests on 3.4GHz a couple of weeks ago. Although I had successfully run-up my new big PA for 70cms yesterday, as it needed up to 750Watts of DC input I left it and the necessary generator at home and opted for lighter loads. Despite this the days activity consumed 42A/Hr from my leisure battery and another 6A/Hr from one of my Li-ion laptop packs (10.8V 98W/Hr) the latter being good enough to run my Portsdown4 for around 5+hours and which allows for moving it around between tripods/parcel shelf etc.
So to 70cms, easy contacts both ways with Dave G4FRE but despite protracted trying nothing was seen from Arthur or Steve further south. This was a bit surprising given their power and the relative distance, but it was no-go. Upward to 3.4GHz where the previously tested new Toshiba amp was fired up to confirm signals. Interesting that they were not quite as high as previous, but having set the bar, I moved on to testing my Stealth (Purple heat-sink) amp and establishing suitable drive levels for that. Tests complete on the amps, I moved on to try firstly a BSB mini-dish fed with a bi-quad, this was reported as about -10dB on my 16-patch flat-plate. A similar test with a double bi-quad yielded similar signals but a lot less windage. Useful for the future, I can leave something at home.
As it was also a u-wave contest day Dave and I used our Langstones to exchange 5/9/001 on very strong SSB signals. Upwards to 5.6GHz and my 'somewhat hopeful but worked really well' solution to receiving worked too, again Dave provided feedback on the strength and shape of my DATV signal. Two-way DATV and one-way (my TX to Dave) worked on NB too. As the gear was on the tripods we both connected up our 5.665 drone FM tx/rx and we exchanged nice quiet 'P5' FM pictures. At this point I lowered my 70cms beam and swapped it for the 13cm 46ele loop-yagi. This thing goes like a rocket and copy was nearly achieved with what turned out to be a few mW leaking through my U/S 13cm mini-pa. Well it worked last time I used it..... So we tried JUST using the pre-driver, one of the eBay 50MHz-6GHz do-it-all amps. And it worked – 50km with a MER of 14 from 50mW. That's another one to add to my G-QRP club tallies :-)
But what about the MOD Police visit? Someone early on in the day reported me as looking like I was undertaking 'suspicious activity' so he was duty bound to investigate. Evidence of who I was (drivers license and car reg) was duly logged, investigated and given the all-clear. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MoD_Kineton) Several interested people asked what I was up to and nobody suggested that I used my mobile phone instead ;-)
Despite the sunshine, which was very pleasant, there was a chilly breeze most of the day, necessitating TWO woolly hats, a sweatshirt, armless fleece and an anorak over the top of it all. I still wished I'd packed a scarf.
Kit tested, hardened, faults found, kitlists needed and those blasted RP SMA used on the FM 5.6GHz gear need changing, although a rummage through the multiple connectors boxes produced one workable solution.
Gareth

G4FRE
Posts: 197
Joined: Fri May 26, 2017 6:57 am

Re: Activity Weekend 9/10 April 2022

Post by G4FRE » Sun Apr 10, 2022 7:51 pm

After the 70cm success on to the higher bands

First 9cm, where similar results to the previous monday nigh9cm signals

(I ran 7W to a 15dBi horn)
9cm DATV
9cm DATV
snap1_9cm.jpg (78.14 KiB) Viewed 9392 times
next 6cm DATV (I ran 4W to a panel antenna)
6cm DATV
6cm DATV
snap9_6cm_DATV.jpg (85.65 KiB) Viewed 9392 times
After working on 6cm DATV we moved on to 6cm FMTV (I ran 8W to a panel Antenna)

6cm FMTV
6cm FMTV
6cm_FMTV.jpg (850.54 KiB) Viewed 9392 times
Next we moved onto 13cm where initial signals from Gareth were a MER of 1.5dB, So he switched to his Chinese preamp and signals suddenly got loud!
(I ran 5W to a panel antenna)
Gareth demonstrates his 13cm 50mW PA
Gareth demonstrates his 13cm 50mW PA
snap21_13cm_pa.jpg (100.51 KiB) Viewed 9392 times
I had 2 way SSB qsos on 13cm and 9cm with Gareth (one way on 6cm as his RX didnt work)

I also worked Walbury hill IO91GI on SSB on 9cm and 13cm which opens up some DATV possibilities! (never works from the Combe IO91GI site)

Dave
G4FRE

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