Hamming It Up

Ham (amateur) radio that is. After working on HF frequencies for the past couple of years I decided to return to using the VHF amateur bands. Specifically 2m (144MHz). Last week I tried using digital modes on my white stick (vertical) aerial which was reasonable for contacting other stations in England but was useless for contacting any stations on the continent. On Monday I decided to rescue one of 2m yagi aerials from the garage, wound the mast over, changed the stub mast and wired the yagi beam in place.

It can be seen at the top of the mast. I left the 6m halo (square) aerial in place.
The white vertical aerial can be seen in the background at the bottom of the photograph.



I also had to re-connect all the wiring for the rotator as the beam aerial needs to point in the direction I want to make contacts.

My simple set up



The rotator controller on the left. Above the radio is a power meter so I can see how much RF power the transmitter is sending to the aerial.

When I am using digital modes of transmission I use an internet program to see which amateur radio stations are receiving my transmissions. The transmitter is connected to the laptop via a control box.



Sunspot minimum is not the best of times for long distance contacts but I have made contacts in Germany, France, Holland, Belgium and the Isle of Mann.