Month: April 2025

Ham Radio Social – Old Winchester Hill

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Another Ham Radio Social this time the QTH was Old Winchester Hill Carpark but this wasn’t the original intended location for this portable operation. The intention was to setup at our usual haunt “Teaglease Down” but upon arrival we were greeted with a strong cold northerly wind so the decision was made to move further along the ridge to Old Winchester Hill Carpark. We normally stay away from this location as it can get very crowded on a Sunday but for this session it did afford some good shelter from the wind.

2E0LKA Sri had purchased two new antennas to try out on the Sunday morning 4 Metre Net, these were a Sirio CX 4-68 4m and a Sirio SY68-3 3 Element Yagi. We tuned the vertical with a RigExpert AA-230 Zoom achieving a VSWR of 1.2 across the band which was then connected to a Motorola GM350 25W 4 Metre radio. Sri had pre-tuned the Yagi prior to coming out and Steve 2E0OWI connected this to his Anytone 4 Metre Handie.

Sri and Steve participated in the net whilst I played around with different tech and various ways of taking photos and video. The idea of the Ham Radio Socials are to get out, play radio, experiment and chat with like minded people (good company) with the obligatory breakfast tsunami of Sausages and Bacon.
If you fancy joining us drop me a message on the contact page.

Radio Social Combe Gibbet

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So another Sunday Ham Radio social, the QTH this time was Coombe Gibbet located on Gallows Down sitting on the border of Hampshire and Berkshire. In attendance were Myself, Steve 2E0OWI, James 2E0HHP, Sri 2E0LKA and Tiago not yet licenced but watch this space.

Today the guys were QRV on 4m, 2m and HF with a good selection of antennas for experimentation. There was even a little smattering of LoRa Meshtastic in the guise of a LILYGO T-ECHO placed on the back of the truck. Although the sun was out it was still pretty chilly on top of the hill . The clear sky enabled good views of the 3 counties consisting of Hampshire, Berkshire and Wiltshire. We of course had the obligatory bacon and sausage wraps and plenty of coffee to keep us going.

There was plenty of wildlife spotted for the day including Hares, Red Kites, kestrels and skylarks who’s song you could constantly hear on the breeze. Either side of the ridge consisted of the Inkpen and Walbury Hills SSSI with the wildlife clearly thriving here. Across the top of the ridge is a byway which in places was quite rough but as were were all in 4×4 capable vehicles this added a bit more fun to the day. During these /P outings where there are members of the public around we generally always get someone asking us what we are doing which then gives us the chance to be an ambassador to and promote this great hobby and today was no exception

A friend joined us today, Tiago who moved to the UK from Brazil. He is very interested in getting his Ham Radio Licence as he has friends back in Brazil who are licenced operators. During this session we took the opportunity to introduce him to HF where he had a chat with a station on 40m and later on with a station in Kentucky on 17m.

All in all another pleasant Sunday Ham Radio Social.