XPost: rec.radio.amateur.moderated, rec.radio.amateur.dx, uk.radio.amateur XPost: free.uk.amateur-radio

M0IAX

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Portable 2M FM and SSB operation with my IC705

Posted: 31 May 2021 09:31 AM PDT https://m0iax.com/2021/05/31/portable-2m-fm-and-ssb-operation-with-my-ic705/



Today saw me out on Winsford Hill a couple of miles from home with my icom IC-705 and HB9CV portable antenna. This is quite a popular spot for
walkers, picnickers and park the car and look at the view types of folk.
It’s also a pretty good location for 2M portable radio operation, the top
of the hill is about 430m ASL but surrounding hills mean not quite a clear
view all round. We found somewhere not quite at the top to park and I set
up not too far from the car as I had only planned to be here a couple of
hours.








Conditions were nothing special and the band very quiet so maybe not so
many operators on 2M as yesterday so I didn’t get the 10 contacts for a
POTA activation.








I did make a few contacts using both FM at 145.500 and SSB at 144.300 using
the HB9CV horizontally and vertically polorized.








Today I decided I would run the IC-705 using its own battery mainly because
I didn’t recharge my Powerfilm Solar Lightsaver Max after yesterday so I
left that in the sun to recharge itself while I used the IC-705 set to it’s maximum power of 5W with internal battery.




The combination of the all mode IC-705 and HB9CV antenna seems to be a very good one, with excellent signal reports from all of my contacts. Most
notably one I made with a station in St Ives just over 100 miles away, he
was using 5w from his FT817 and a homemade moxon antenna I think, my notes were brief and I have never been too good at deciphering my handwriting








Very happy with my IC-705 I was able to have a good conversation with
everyone I had a QSO with today, I switched to the Icom VS3 Bluetooth
headset for the last QSO and that proved to work great meaning that I could
get up and stretch my legs while still being able to control PTT and hear
the radio




I will try again next weekend, but will set up for HF and see how that goes.




Thanks for reading, I hope to talk to some of you on the air soon!




73




Mark




M0IAX


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Parks on the Air IC-705

Posted: 30 May 2021 11:22 AM PDT https://m0iax.com/2021/05/30/parks-on-the-air-ic-705/



For the past couple of days we have been exploring Exmoor National Park
around our new home. Being right in the middle of it we don‘t have to go
far but Exmoor covers almost 700 square kilometres or 300 square miles, for England thats quite a big area. Not all of it is accessible by road but a decent amount of it is.



A view on Exmoor National Park




While we were doing that I thought why not try a POTA (Parks On The Air) activation? And for a change I decided to use voice modes instead of my
usual digital mode JS8Call. We set off just before 11am and headed south
to see some of the views we had not yet experienced, picture above, nice isn’t it? The photo doesn’t do it justice I can assure you.




The view was from a hill on the south of the park, so after taking Cosmo
for a walk I tried a few CQ calls using my FT3D with no response but I did
get spotted on APRS.fi from the APRS packets the radio automatically sent.












We decided to move a bit further north to a spot we had already been to and once there set up my IC-705 and a new portable 2m antenna I purchased a few weeks ago a collapsible HB9CV antenna.








To support the antenna I had a 2m tall painters pole with an attachment
that had a clamp of a paintbrush that proved to be the perfect size for the HB9CV one my arrow yagi antenna. The HB9CV is quicker and easier to
assemble which is why I picked it today.
















The site we picked wasn’t the best for FM with hills on 3 sides (the other parking spots at the top of the hill were all taken) but with a clear view
to the north and north east. My first QSO was to Dan who was a SOTA station
on Pen Y Fan in Wales to the North, we had a decent chat before I returned
to the calling channel to call CQ a couple of times and QSY to 145.475
where I had a further 6 QSOs before trying SSB on 144.300 with both
vertical and horizontal polarisation horizontal working best as thats the configuration the far station was using.




The last two QSOs were with 2 stations in Wales. By this time it was about
4pm so time to pack up and find something to eat.




I got great signal reports from all contacts using the IC705 with 10W into
the HB9CV antenna so it proved to be a good combination for a 2m rapid
deploy station, I’m going to have to find something a bit more lightweight
to mount the antenna on if I’m going to use this setup on a hill or long
walk in the countryside, but for a short walk from the car its not too
heavy at all, and the 3 guy lines I used held it up fine in a few gusts of
wind we had.




All in all a great day out with perfect weather and choosing to do the POTA activation gave me a sense of purpose which meant I didn’t give up and do something else instead.




I enjoyed it so much that I’m going to do it again tomorrow from a
different spot. But tomorrow I’m taking sandwiches and brew kit




73




Mark

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