2m Contact - A bit of excitement on my Handheld

Hi all,

Just had a 2m contact that I was stoked with and had to share. (Exciting for me anyway! )

I have a little Intek KT-980HP, essentially a Baofeng UV5R, that sits at the moment listening out on the GB3PI repeater. Nothing fancy and connected to a home-brew dipole, (bits of garden cane with suitably cut wire, taped together on top of a bookshelf!) It gets me into the repeater reliably and I get to chat to my old friend M0GRV Gary whenever he is mobile whilst driving around between work jobs.

Up to now I've been pleased with VHF and my diminutive setup has enabled even direct simplex contacts of over 30 miles across various terrain and directions. The garden cane & wire does well considering, reaching my mate with his mag-mount on the van. This little setup even managed to get me caught back up with an old friend and colleague from the semiconductor industry with whom I haven't spoken to in years.
(Quite impressive considering I live in a topographic hole that is Bedford!)



Today on a typical QSO through the repeater we had a station call in. Took us by surprise....

G7RXY, Paul from Liverpool, working direct to the repeater - no digital links, internet or other such, just direct RF on a few watts with his X-200 collinear antenna.

Quite impressed with his effort and how amazing the GB3PI repeater really is. (There may have been a bit of a 'lift', more than likely Tropospheric that helped.)


Now, this isn't all down to my setup as mentioned, but it did all enable me to be part of that fun.

It does go to show that with very little, you can get a lot of exciting radio.
You don't need to have a top of the range rig, expensive aerials and coax with more than enough Watts to revive Dr. Frankenstein's monster! (Although that all obviously helps with inter-continental contacts )


But, for a little bit of study and less than £30 I got my Foundation licence, the radio is a loaner, (thanks Gary), but would cost £20-£30 if purchased, some garden cane and bits of wire for an antenna and I experienced some awesome radio.

That hopefully goes to show that you don't need mega-money and a mega-setup to achieve some radio fun.
(Cheaper than your average CB antenna let alone rig!)


Now, what's next?....

....time to get a longer piece of garden cane and wire to see if I can build myself a collinear antenna. I may even have a go at building a little 10 watt, (my licence limit), VHF linear to boost the little handheld or my Kenwood's 2.5 watts.


Wouldn't cost much to buy it all either, but I love the fun of building.

Then perhaps I can be that operator calling into a QSO on the other side of the country on VHF!



Remember, this isn't all about me....it's my attempt at showing you what can be achieved with what is after all very little.

Have fun.

All the best,
Victor

Nice one Victor.
I was made up when i got my first contact on the 2m band with my 2 lengths of copper brake pipe screwed to a bit of roof batten but the contact was on Anglesey like me.

Nice going Victor and Alan 

I am fairly sure a few days ago there was a bit lift on (2m) and I was hearing a good few different call signs from much further afield 

Also my APRS was going bonkers with loads of new call signs 

Cheers 

Craig

Hi Alan,

I remember you saying about your brake pipe antenna, always good to enjoy a homemade antenna mate. I've been enjoying VHF but this contact was one that made you buzz with excitement.
Everyone so far has been really welcoming and friendly 'up here' and gives you the incentive to enjoy it and carry on.
You can do a lot with a little!



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Hi Craig,

Yeah, a lot of activity on these higher frequencies, much more than I expected!
I'm looking forward to working it more and even looking at SSB opportunities now that I know what can be expected.

Thought it would be good to share a story of how even a humble setup can achieve exciting radio.



Cheers guys. All the best.
Victor

I had a 19" brake pipe antenna on my old Cherokee. Slid a piece of coat hanger inside, wrapped it with yellow electrical tape, and put a small plastic cap on top. Worked for years on 2 and 70.

Now if you are going to build a 2m antenna that is small, and has some decent gain. Do what I have done. 4 ele. cubical quad. easy to build, and nice n small. Then when you realize how good it is, add 4 more elements. You will really love it. See above picture.
Unfortunately 2m ssb and FM simplex, is not as big here as it was back in the day in the UK. I had a pair of phased 11 element crossed yagis, worked all of Europe with those on 10w. Till the wind took it down! Ouch!

Hiya Jeff,

Nice antenna there mate
It's amazing how far you can take it all and what can be achieved. If I can regularly chat to my mate on the airwaves I'll be more than happy enough with that. We live in a small village with an active parish council and with my disability my antenna options are somewhat limited. Doesn't have to stop us from having fun with it all though.
It's good to hear VHF activity here as I believe it became a little lacklustre over the years but hope it picks back up over your side of the pond as well.

All the best,
Victor

I used to use PI when I lived in Royston. Actually I used it when I lived in N. London and Enfield as well.

Good contact, Victor.

Jeff,

Yes mate, good old PI.
She has a good coverage area, our first repeater and unbelievably been in operation since 1972!
Always nice to see that old 145.750 on the dial.

Hi John,

It was a nice surprise and such a gentleman that he even apologised for interrupting our QSO - I thought it was a very worthy interruption!

For very little outlay we can have some great and often unexpected radio fun.