5 Watts is enough! - Use your hand held effectively on 2m for "DX"
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 7 ก.พ. 2025
- Climbing Meall nan Tarmachan in the central highlands of Scotland, 50 miles from any city - can I activate it on 2m?
Yes I can, with the following kit:
Yaesu FT-3d
Spectrum Communications Slim-G antenna
Spiderbeams 7m mast
The 7m mast was overkill, but it was the only mast I had with me on holiday.
Any questions, just ask in the comments and I will get back to you.
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Well done Mo 👏👏👏 and no a bad effort from you Fraser 😉 love the views! 73 Gm4zji Chris
Thanks Chris. Mo did well. She always amazes me! It was nice to have a few days away. We did two Corbetts and two Munros that week. Only saw one midge too, which was a result!
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Good video Fraser and well done Mo!!! The weather was pretty good for you and nice views too. Top tip from Ben regarding the antenna but I'm not too keen to try it.
I've just bought the Yaesu FT3D and looking forward to trying it out soon. Keep up the good work.
73 Chris M0RSF
It's a great radio Chris. I'm sure you'll have fun trying to work out all of the many features and functions.
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Well done Mo and a handy feature on SOTLAS as well
Thanks John. I ❤ sotl.as 🤣
Well done, nice trek..and the kiss was essential 👌
Thanks Robbie! Yeah, so was the bottle of wine later that evening!
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Fantastic work Fraser great activation and great work by Mo.
Hope to catch you on the air.
Motters M7TRS 73 👍🏻
Cheers! It was nice to get back on the higher mountains again.
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Fraser good to see the station master recovering well, send her our best. Not a lot to activate from around my patch on 2 meters - Welsh borders are my best chance. Nearest decent high spot does not qualify for SOTA, so I just operate regardless. New bike on order and that will form the basis of my mini adventures around where I live - don’t have such splendid views as you have access to. But I still have fun. Take care to you both. 73 de M0AZE MIke
Mike, I do like to try and pull off a 2m activation when I can - it's more of a challenge. Glad to hear you're getting out and about and have a bike coming!
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Great video. 2M SOTA is one of my favorite things to do. Last outing to Big Hill (W6/NS-290) I had a 134 mile S2S with a station on San Bruno Mtn (W6/CC-072) on 2M FM.
Well done! When you have a DX 2m S2S on a handheld, there's nothing better!
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Excellent!
Well, thank you 😊 I had fun making it.
Cheers, Fraser MM0EFI
Job well done Fraser. 8 points for you and 1000 honorary SOTA points for Mo. 👍
Ha! Mo deserves a thousand points for putting up with me! She'd rather have wine though. 🍷
73, Fraser MM0EFI
OK im officially going to steal that idea for the antenna!
That day I had a 7m pole, probably extended to 5 m with no issues. I use it with a 4m pole now most of the time. Also works with a carbon pole if you take special precautions!!
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Hi Fraser hope your both well. Great video, I could look at that scenery all day long, yourself and MO are not so bad either hi. Amazing how that wee ant works .
To be honest I get a bit fed up of other outdoor op,s who moan about the wx all the time your the man, I raise a dram to you my friend.
73 zl3xdj
Brian, you have to take the rough with the smooth with the wx in Scotland. As long as it's not getting dangerous, I'll keep ploughing on.
I'm still trying to find some time so we can try for that long path QSO. Hopefully soon!
Cheers,
Fraser MM0EFI
Excellent job Fraser! Another interesting video. 73 M1DDD
Thank you! I like to show different aspects of portable ops. It's amazing how a decent antenna can turn a hand held into something much more effective.
Cheers, Fraser MM0EFI
Great effort from Mo, we'll done. That's a great little antenna for the pack. I wonder how it would stack up against the roll up slim jim, or similar? Cheers, Gary
Hi Gary, I think it is pretty much the same as a slim jim. The matching unit at the bottom just keeps rf out of the coax. I've never been able to get home made ones to resonate at the correct frequency, so I gave up and just bought this! It works a treat.
Cheers, Fraser MM0EFI
Been checking TH-cam all weekend since I I see you’re story pop up on Friday. What’s the link for sotlass please many thanks Ian
Hi Ian, Thanks for watching. 🙂 The link is sotl.as It's worth messing around with all of the menus. There's is so much useful stuff in there.
Cheers, Fraser MM0EFI
Hang on a minute, did you just activate a Scottish hill thats pronouced as its written? How are us southern softies ever going to get the hang of this? 🤣 Well done Fraser & especially Mo!
73 Jonathan G4IVV
Cheers! Yeah, that wasn't a difficult one to pronounce, was it? I'm dreading when I head over to the islands later on this year. I need to brush up on my Gaelic.
73, Fraser MM0EFI
Howdy… just popped up! First or second!
Well done! There are no prizes this time! 😁🤣