UK Vintage Radio Repair and Restoration Discussion Forum - View Single Post - Tropo lift weekend of 19-20th Sep (2020)

SiriusHardware · 29th Sep 2020, 7:16 pm

I guess the only way to prove whether tropo was involved is to try to catch him again. The Hepburn Tropo forecast (linked to in the first post of this thread) had the tropo conditions over the UK on Sunday not actually at zero, but quite subdued. Maybe even that was enough.

I know he was using 25W (FM), his aerial / feeder type I did not hear mentioned but was probably a vertical omni and on a high mast, 50ft I thought I heard him say.

At my end, 20W to a typical dual-band mobile aerial appx. 5ft long magmounted on the car roof. Signal reports exchanged were about 5-1, 5-3. He was suffering local interference, possibly just other amateurs on the same frequency or possibly due to the presence of the nearby masts if indeed he was on Slieve Croob. I also had low level traffic (audible, no signal strength) at my end and I was dreading the arrival of strong local stations on the frequency before I got a chance to work him. Fortunately that didn't happen.

29th Sep 2020, 7:16 pm	#31
SiriusHardware Dekatron Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: Newcastle, Tyne and Wear, UK. Posts: 11,567	Re: Tropo lift weekend of 19-20th Sep (2020) I guess the only way to prove whether tropo was involved is to try to catch him again. The Hepburn Tropo forecast (linked to in the first post of this thread) had the tropo conditions over the UK on Sunday not actually at zero, but quite subdued. Maybe even that was enough. I know he was using 25W (FM), his aerial / feeder type I did not hear mentioned but was probably a vertical omni and on a high mast, 50ft I thought I heard him say. At my end, 20W to a typical dual-band mobile aerial appx. 5ft long magmounted on the car roof. Signal reports exchanged were about 5-1, 5-3. He was suffering local interference, possibly just other amateurs on the same frequency or possibly due to the presence of the nearby masts if indeed he was on Slieve Croob. I also had low level traffic (audible, no signal strength) at my end and I was dreading the arrival of strong local stations on the frequency before I got a chance to work him. Fortunately that didn't happen.