Hills + radio = fun!

[SaraR]

Earlier in the week I went up to Hafod Ithel, a small hill in Ceredigion, to try out a SOTA* (Summits On The Air) activation for the first time ever.


I carried my stuff up the very short walk from the car park and set up the telescopic pole and my newly made antenna (first time soldering since secondary school!).

Despite the strong wind, everything worked out well and a good time was had, before heading back to the van for sandwiches and tea.

There's a big monument to four Welsh poets and lovely views over the heather.


*SOTA is an activity for radio amateurs where you set up your radio on top of a hill or mountain and try to make contact with others for points. The chasers also get points for the contact and there are awards to work towards.

 

[Van-Wild]

This sounds kinda interesting. What's the weight of all your kit? Is it an expensive hobby?

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

 

[SaraR]

This sounds kinda interesting. What's the weight of all your kit? Is it an expensive hobby?

Sent from my SM-G970F using Tapatalk

The stuff I took up with me weighed 1.6 kg for the setup I used and 1.7 kg if you include all the backups (brought smaller whip antennas, a spare radio, extra notepad & pens etc).

Radios can be as expensive as you want! I've only got a tiny cheap (£35--40) Chinese VHF/UHF radio for now, but will need a better one (£100-170).

You can also go down the HF route, with radios weighing 0.4--2+ kg, with prices probably starting at £700 and going up into 4 figures. But then you also need batteries, which add weight and cost.

Plenty of people buy 2nd hand as most radios last a long time.

To get started you would need an Amateur Radio Foundation Licence (£27.50), which requires you to pass an online exam from home and some studying. The handbook is £6ish or you take a free online course (3-4 weeks, a few hours a week).

 

[Broch]

The stuff I took up with me weighed 1.6 kg for the setup I used and 1.7 kg if you include all the backups (brought smaller whip antennas, a spare radio, extra notepad & pens etc).

Radios can be as expensive as you want! I've only got a tiny cheap (£35--40) Chinese VHF/UHF radio for now, but will need a better one (£100-170).

You can also go down the HF route, with radios weighing 0.4--2+ kg, with prices probably starting at £700 and going up into 3 figures. But then you also need batteries, which add weight and cost.

Plenty of people buy 2nd hand as most radios last a long time.

To get started you would need an Amateur Radio Foundation Licence (£27.50), which requires you to pass an online exam from home and some studying. The handbook is £6ish or you take a free online course (3-4 weeks, a few hours a week).

Is the exam on line now? I had to go to a hall to sit it; I was the only candidate! On the plus side I got a free flight in a Cessna (the hall was on a local airfield)
I'm embarrassed to say I rarely use my gear

 

[SaraR]

Is the exam on line now? I had to go to a hall to sit it; I was the only candidate! On the plus side I got a free flight in a Cessna (the hall was on a local airfield)
I'm embarrassed to say I rarely use my gear

Yeah, with lockdown they scrapped the practical assessment and moved the exam online. They've just done the same for Intermediate and I think Full will go online too eventually.

 

[SaraR]

I'm embarrassed to say I rarely use my gear

When I heard of SOTA I thought it would be an excellent way to do radio and keep the skill alive, as I don't see myself having a big shack or anything. Portable rig can be used in the garden works too...

 

[Bishop]

You can also go down the HF route

40M / 7.023Mhz Pixie transceivers start at about £6 in kit form and for those that don't solder £12-15 assembled, tested & delivered, all you have to do is string your own dipole up. As the name suggests they are small, weigh almost nowt and can run on 9v battery

Plus if like me you are hopeless with morse remember the requirement was dropped from the liscence some time ago so you can use a cellphone app to handle the paddle and decoding text.

 

[SaraR]

40M / 7.023Mhz Pixie transceivers start at about £6 in kit form and for those that don't solder £12-15 assembled, tested & delivered, all you have to do is string your own dipole up. As the name suggests they are small, weigh almost nowt and can run on 9v battery

Plus if like me you are hopeless with morse remember the requirement was dropped from the liscence some time ago so you can use a cellphone app to handle the paddle and decoding text.

Yeah, there are plenty of tiny options out there, but I didn't mention them as many are CW (Morse) only and they are perhaps not that easy for newbies (although I could be wrong there).

Another consideration is that, in the UK, Foundation licence holders are not allowed to build their own transceivers, unless it's a commercially available kit that is certified to a particular standard.

 

[santaman2000]

Regarding the cost of the hobby, it’s much like knives, fishing, etc. you can start off cheaply but it’s addicting and it’ll soon consume your time and budget.

 

[Robson Valley]

Good to see that ham radio is still vigorously active. My Yaesu FT 901 sits on the floor behind me.
I have a good 1kw 4-band trap vertical that must be rotten beyond redemption by now.

I got up to 20 wpm Morse and have a Bencher paddle ( keyer in the Yaesu). My only ever second language and I'm still proud of that, despite the rust.

QRP is appealing but I don't play with all the other tools and toys that I have, either.
73
VE7APC

 

[SaraR]

Good to see that ham radio is still vigorously active. My Yaesu FT 901 sits on the floor behind me.
I have a good 1kw 4-band trap vertical that must be rotten beyond redemption by now.

I got up to 20 wpm Morse and have a Bencher paddle ( keyer in the Yaesu). My only ever second language and I'm still proud of that, despite the rust.

QRP is appealing but I don't play with all the other tools and toys that I have, either.
73
VE7APC

The number of new licencees during lockdown is phenomenal! Add to that a lot of lapsed hams that have got their licences reinstated and it's really impressive.

Foundationers, like myself, are limited to 10W anyway, but I think a lot of others limit their power so not to have to lug too much uphill. In addition to the dedicated QRPers I mean.

 

[Robson Valley]

You can talk to the entire world with 10 watts.
Just need some good skip conditions.
1 watt, QRP into a 15m dipole CW was global.

If I read that the sun spot cycle has picked up, might blow the dust off everything.

 

[SCOMAN]

Now you have me intereste. I’ve thought for a while of getting my licence but never got round to it. I’ll have a look at the online course now. I have to ask is the chat on air only about equip or setups? I’m an ex-RN radio operator I enjoyed my infrequent bouts with HF getting voice into London from south of Australia or from the far end of the Baltic.

 

[TeeDee]

The number of new licencees during lockdown is phenomenal! Add to that a lot of lapsed hams that have got their licences reinstated and it's really impressive.

Foundationers, like myself, are limited to 10W anyway, but I think a lot of others limit their power so not to have to lug too much uphill. In addition to the dedicated QRPers I mean.

Mind me asking which rig you have Sara? Thank You.

 

[Robson Valley]

Watch the sunspot prediction and the solar cycle. If conditions are calm,
HF is really frustrating as you can't hardly get out of town, or so it seems.
I took a 2M rig to Australia for a visit and had quite some nice QSO.

On line chatter? About anything. I had a schedule with a ham in the UK, we even talked about poaching and what he called the "cross-bow brigade."
The Japanese hams never sleep. They are always on air. That's how they learn to speak english.

CW is one of those things that if you don't use it, you lose it. I had 2 CW schedules that I kept for a few years.
My Dad was just 2 provinces over in VE5 but skip from BC (VE7) jumped the prairies.

 

[SCOMAN]

My audio morse was poor at best, I was a visual signaller so I know it but can only understand it when ‘spoken’ slowly

 

[santaman2000]

@ SCOMAN It’s actually a very interesting world on the air. You can contact polar stations in Antarctica; or if you follow the flyover schedule you can contact the International Space Station:

You can also get involved providing communications as a community service or as humanitarian aid after natural disasters.

 

[Robson Valley]

The ISS! I remember that! The city club would rope off a chunk of the biggest shopping center parking lot and out would come the 2 meter beams. We had about 10 minutes before the ISS came up over the American horizon. Then thousands were suddenly on frequency.

Remember: The ISS isn't much more than 100 miles away.

 

[SaraR]

Mind me asking which rig you have Sara? Thank You.

At the moment, a Baofeng UV-5R, a 2 m slim jim ladder-line antenna w 5 m RG58 coax and the sotabeams tactical mini 6m pole. Also have a RHD771 1/4 wl whip. The baofeng isn't really up for the job, so I'm looking at various options for a handheld (2m or dual-band) but it's a jungle! I only got my licence in mid-August, so lots of things to get my head around. Later on I'll get a portable HF rig too, but I'm not sure what I want yet. I might save that as a carrot to learn Morse code to a usable level. CW on HF seems more appealing for some reason (why make it easy for yourself?!)

 

[SaraR]

@ SCOMAN It’s actually a very interesting world on the air. You can contact polar stations in Antarctica; or if you follow the flyover schedule you can contact the International Space Station:

You can also get involved providing communications as a community service or as humanitarian aid after natural disasters.

The potential for being able to send from some of the polar places I go for work is a strong motivator for me to contemplate progressing to Full. Don't really care about the Watts, but between SOTA and polar stations, being allowed to transmit abroad seems much more interesting.