Saturday and Sunday this week was out using the radios instead of stuck in the shack.
Saturday:- Went up to Reigate hill. Martin M1MRB, Denis MØNDJ, James MØBOV, Tim M3TKB (soon to be 2E??), and myself operating. Worked various bands with various radios and antennas. Some photos (taken with camera phone as I left my digital camera at home) are here. One antenna was even the infamous Slinky Antenna.
Sunday:- Went up to Warlingham Ridge with James MØBOV. I setup my SandPiper antenna. It’s based on a 9M fibreglass pole and there are 2 coils (I had to wind). A coil for 10/12/15/17/20/40M and 1 for 10/12/15/17/20/80M. It closes down to approx 1.1M & can handle up to 300 Watts SSB. I used the 40M coil today.
I didn’t make many contacts but worked some stations on the Polish contest and also heard a Brazilian station almost 5/9, but alas I virtually ran my battery flat trying to work him. Antenna though worked as expected.
Note:- Make sure battery is fully charged and don’t spend too much time trying to work one station.