PORTABLE 1OGHz

This photo shows my setup on the top of Alport Height, in Derbyshire (IO93FB).

1035 feet above sea level


Good sites like these are in abundance in the North of England. This one is easily accessible as it is a large carpark and look-out. Unfortunately it also has lots of commercial radio transmitting masts on its top and becomes very crowded with sightseers on a sunny afternoon!

The 8 element yagi for 144MHz allows a VHF talkback link to be set up so that the microwave contacts can be arranged....especially regarding dish headings and transmit/receive protocol, etc. I use about 80 watts p.e.p output of ssb on 2metres  (an old, modified TS700A transceiver feeding a solid-state linear amplifier). In the UK, we use  ssb on 144.175MHz as a nominal calling frequency for microwave work. Continental Europeans tend to use 432MHz instead although French stations will use 144.175MHz when they join our contests.

To make sure the VW starts up after a long contest I use separate, heavy-duty batteries for both the 144MHz stations and the 10GHz equipment.

Future improvements to this arrangement seen here will be the addition of a 4 foot (1.2metre) dish antenna and maybe a pole through the roof of the VW Camper to carry both dish and 2 metre beam.

   


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