Its probably not news to many people but whilst I was thinking about a suitable site for the UKAC 144Mhz contest next Tuesday (4th December) I remembered about a coverage prediction programme called Radio Mobile.
Now seeing as things on the internet are steadily replacing things on the desktop I had a go with comparing sites with the model outputs. As a contest novice I am entering in ‘in the spirit of’ contesting. Any site needed to be quite close to home and easily accessed / operated from.
Radio mobile confirmed what you’d expect, the site closest to home that I can get to with the car isn’t the best but its a whole load better that operating from the house. So armed with the knowledge that I’ll get some contacts at least I’ll take the plunge and aim not to be at the bottom of the pile.
The key kit will be
1. A warm coat (its 20.00UTC – 22.00 UTC) – So it’ll be chilly
2. FT817 and extra power supply – Seeing as it runs out of puff within a few minutes
3. Sotabeams 3 element yagi and fishing pole
4. A flask of tea and chocolate hobnobs
The output from a 4w Tx at the Sandwith site is below. More than enough to get a couple of contacts I hope.
We’ll have to see how I get on next week, but if you’re in earshot listen out for the weedy signal from Cumbria (rather than the stronger on from G4VFL, who has nabbed the Corney Fell site – perhaps I should tramp up Scafell Pike to out do him on height!)
