Hills + radio = fun!
- Thread starter SaraR
- Start date
Haven't been on BCUK for some time and just noticed this. Took my foundation in summer and my intermediate in autumn. Will do full in spring. Would love to try SOTA but I live in the fens! I have experimented with a portable 25w UHF VHF rig running on old laptop battery cells. With the right antenna it's very good indeed.
Congratulations x2!
I was looking at the Intermediate but it’s a bit too much electronics for me for now anyway. (I have the handbook for when I change my mind.)You can still do SOTA! Start out as a Chaser perhaps (you can do that from home or while portable) and then do hills if you’re out travelling. If you get properly bitten by the bug, you’ll happily travel to the hills to activate, but otherwise there’s no rush and a lot of people seem to take it quite slow.
Finally got my act together and put the antenna up in the garden at lunchtime for a bit of SOTA Chasing. Had my first QSO using my new 5.5W handheld (a Kenwood TH-K20E) talking to an Activator on Snowdon. Packed up just in time before the thunder drew in.
I've also joined the Long Island CW club in an attempt to get good enough at Morse code to use it on the air. CW on HF seems like more fun and would be very useful for SOTA. I got to the point where learning on my own wasn't enough. So far, so good and they seem a friendly bunch.
73
I've also joined the Long Island CW club in an attempt to get good enough at Morse code to use it on the air. CW on HF seems like more fun and would be very useful for SOTA. I got to the point where learning on my own wasn't enough. So far, so good and they seem a friendly bunch.
73
I ended up getting a FT-70D and a FT-818. Spend most weekends on a hill now !
Nice!
I haven't been out much (with the radio), but was hoping to do a bit more chasing to get used to it all, since you only need to make one contact and you usually have a fairly good idea of which callsign, summit reference etc and the activator makes all the qsy decisions.
I passed the foundation a couple of weeks ago.
looking forward to seeing if i can pick up the repeater at Bridgend from the moot site.
looking forward to seeing if i can pick up the repeater at Bridgend from the moot site.
Congratulations! I'm sure you'll be able to. Just remember that if you have poor signal on VHF (e.g you can hear them but they can't hear you), try gaining elevation. Even a small increase can make a huge difference, so going up any little hill or up some steps can really help. Enjoy!
Made the most of the nice weather yesterday and got the antenna up on its 6 m pole in the garden again yesterday. Managed to chase five SOTA summits in total during the morning. At first I sat outside and skimmed around the 2 m band and later on I dashed out as soon as a spot came in on the sotawatch page. I’m really liking my Kenwood handheld, even if I haven’t got the local repeaters programmed in yet (need to just sit down and do it!). It’s so easy to use and the sound is really good.
I don’t know why I hadn’t realised this earlier, but there is nothing between us and the Wicklow Mountains, so I’m in prime position for chasing them! Got two yesterday, but have set up my sota app to include EI/IE spots too now.
No hope of hearing the activators on low hills in N.E. Wales though, but when I checked the elevation profiles, there were plenty of high hills in the way. It certainly adds to the challenge though, when you can’t get everything you want!
I don’t know why I hadn’t realised this earlier, but there is nothing between us and the Wicklow Mountains, so I’m in prime position for chasing them! Got two yesterday, but have set up my sota app to include EI/IE spots too now.
No hope of hearing the activators on low hills in N.E. Wales though, but when I checked the elevation profiles, there were plenty of high hills in the way. It certainly adds to the challenge though, when you can’t get everything you want!
Good Morning All,
Just wanted to get an idea about some radios I'm getting hold of. I've managed to get hole of a couple of Entel HT446 UHF radios, I remember using them in my last factory as part of the emergency response and they worked well internally through buildings but I'm thinking about using these for scouts so the leaders can keep in contact whilst roving about.
While I get that ranges change massively depending on where you are and the local geography what would be an expected range for these radios in a rural environment with low hills?
Just wanted to get an idea about some radios I'm getting hold of. I've managed to get hole of a couple of Entel HT446 UHF radios, I remember using them in my last factory as part of the emergency response and they worked well internally through buildings but I'm thinking about using these for scouts so the leaders can keep in contact whilst roving about.
While I get that ranges change massively depending on where you are and the local geography what would be an expected range for these radios in a rural environment with low hills?
We use UHF radios on 446 for scouting events in wooded rolling hills. Most of our radios these days are 4/5w TX and cope just fine over approx a 2km area. In the old days using mainly 0.5w TX 446 radios, we tended to find that useful range was restricted to approx 1km in the same terrain/site. As per the link above, lots more affects the range than just the transmit power. In my experience, one of the biggest issues with a radio net using non experienced users is people holding handhelds sideways on whilst transmitting - that makes a huge difference!
Just keep in mind that use of PMR radio is subject to certain limitations, eg max 0.5 W and the radio has to have a non-removeable antenna (those are the ones I remember!). So many of the commonly found baofengs can't legally be used for PMR radio.
ETA: For group use, a business licence might be the best option. It's been covered in one of the radio threads on the forum.
ETA: For group use, a business licence might be the best option. It's been covered in one of the radio threads on the forum.
I know that power isn't everything as has been said above but, IIRC, those radios are only 500mW. They are really only any use at all when there are few if any obstructions - and that includes woods, buildings, and hills. I have a few 446 sets and they're OK for camp use and for the kids to play with but I would not rely on them.
The 'Business Use' ones I have are 5W and do have a far greater range. They will communicate over slight 'hilliness' but if you drop both sides of a few hundred metres hill you will lose reception. I have the Mintex ones (below) and over open terrain or from up in the hills I can get many km of connection - there are probably better ones out there though.
Having said all that, if you've got them, try them in the area you need to use them, but don't expect great distances!
Thanks all for the responses, it looks like I'll have to give them a shot around the local area to try them out, if nothing they will be good for training RP. We may have to stick with network nokia as our emergency comms for now.
I still haven't dusted my gear down but, re-reading through this thread has given me an urge to do so.
I have an FT-8800 so I'm planning on putting a mobile installation in the back of my Series III 88" and turn it into a civvy FFR truck There are plenty of green lanes around here that go quite high up in the hills (even the top of my wood is at 263m with clear views in all directions!).
I have an FT-8800 so I'm planning on putting a mobile installation in the back of my Series III 88" and turn it into a civvy FFR truck
There are plenty of green lanes around here that go quite high up in the hills (even the top of my wood is at 263m with clear views in all directions!).
You will probably be surprised just how effective the radios are - we run a large scout event each year over an area of forest about 2km x 2km - and 15/20 yrs ago when we first started running it we maintained an effective radio net just with the 0.5w PMR446 handhelds (with 20 to 30 adults using them). Comms weren't always clear (but whenever are they), but we were always able to get messages relayed through to whoever we were trying to reach. Indeed, now we are all using 5w handhelds, we do still need to get intermediate leaders to relay through messages.
Note that the Scout Assn has a Business radio licence that you can use (details https://www.scouts.org.uk/volunteer...ication-activities/pmr-private-mobile-radios/ ) - so you could make use of some very cheap 5w baofengs etc, and programme those to the scout assn licenced frequencies. I havent looked recently but i suspect you could probably buy a slack handful of brand new 5w radios with flexible antennas which provide a decent gain for £100 or so.
I did something similar with the 88" Lightweight - with a clansman antenna arm bolted onto the side at the rear (in a removeable manner) and a large black fibreglass antenna poking through a slightly modified clansman rubber antenna base. Mobile radio mounted down in the passenger footwell, with the fist mic on the dash.I still haven't dusted my gear down but, re-reading through this thread has given me an urge to do so.
I have an FT-8800 so I'm planning on putting a mobile installation in the back of my Series III 88" and turn it into a civvy FFR truck
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