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Author Topic: Happy New Year - QRP / P in Scotland  (Read 1617 times)

Offline M0KCP

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Happy New Year - QRP / P in Scotland
« on: January 04, 2015, 20:05:26 UTC »
Hello and happy new year to everybody.

Over the holidays i did a bit of QRP / P while visiting my family in Scotland.
I usually operate on the coast, in Aberdour, Fife (IO86ib).  This year conditions were not great, but I worked Euro stations easily. As normal, I had my FT-817 and Palm Radio mini-paddle but I had three new bits in my /p kit.
1. Buddistick shock-cord mast. This made setup easier than normal. The standard clamp is a bit weak, and there has to be an object to clamp to (picnic table etc).  The the mast is rock-solid even in a strong breeze and you can strap/tie it to just about anything..  you can also use guy lines to erect and stabilise it. 
2. The new Buddistick short-coil.  It's a neat coil and if you are happy to operate at 14MHz and up, it saves weight and space. 
3. RG-174  For feeder, I used 3m of thin RG-174.  This was substantially lighter and easier to pack than normal RG-58.  Over the 3m run the loss is minimal and an acceptable compromise, I think.

See the attached image of my modified Buddistick.

Best 73 de Rob M0KCP