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Camb-Hams DX Blog

17m vertical dipole in the windWe’ve now been on Mull for nearly 24 hours, and the stations are starting to come together, with over 700 QSOs in the log so far, including 67 on VHF thanks to some Es last night.

Poor weather means antenna work is happening between heavy rain showers, and high winds mean that when we say we’re using a vertical, it’s more like an S-shape at times! We’ve currently got:

  • 17-ele on 2m
  • 7-ele on 4m
  • 6-ele on 6m
  • Vertical dipole on 17m
  • Vertical dipole on 20m
  • Vertical with elevated radial on 30m
  • Vertical on 40m

That still leaves quite a few to build – the Spiderbeam for 10/15/20m, the satellite antennas, and 80m vertical.

On 2m, we’ve decided to remove the elevation system as it added a lot of weight at the top of the mast, and instead mount the 17-ele Tonna for azimuth rotation only. Hopefully this will still allow some EME operation at moonrise and moonset, as well as tropo QSOs.

Casualties so far: one 10m fibreglass pole, and lots of dry clothing!