COFFEE CAKE AND MORE!

Another great turn out at our monthly Coffee and Cake Morning at the Roundabout Cafe South Frankston.

During the catch up, a handful of us decided to play some radio and test out Daryl's vk3hbp new 2M Beam.

So around midday after much coffee and cake, a few went that way and a few went the other way.. So myself, Craig vk3ncr, Stanley vk3bot, Daryl vk3hbp and Greg vk3qsl headed back to my qth in Somerville for some more coffee and to some testing in my backyard with Daryl's 2M Beam.

And with the help from Colin vk3cr, via the repeater we found that the beam was a great success.

After some testing and chatting, and more cofee... We all decided to head to the Devil Bend Reservoir Park.

Again we setup using one of the carpark bollards using Daryl's amazing and very well built 5Mtr alloy mast, with the beam above.. same setup as at my home.

And with the help of Colin and Ken vk3mjf, we were very pleased with the outcome, finding far superior than a simple vertical or mobile whip.

Devil Bend Reservoir Park

Devil Bend Reservoir Park.

A few snacks for the boys..

Greg and Daryl deploying the antenna.

Daryl vk3hbp

Another great asset to the club is the AllStar Node, we could also use an iPhone App to chat via the clubs Repeater vk3ruv, which makes the whole system very versatile.

I also had my own Home Node running and after retuning the IC705 to my home simplex frequency, we could also contact the club repeater using the 705 via my home FT7800 on 2Mtrs..

After confirming that the beam worked a treat, I then instructed my home AllStar node to switch the Allstar UKHub network..

Using the 705 via the beam, into my home node, we then spoke to a chap mobile on his way to work from the Isle of Man.

The Isle of Man, although part of the British Islands, is not part of the United Kingdom. The Island is a territory for whose international relations the United Kingdom is responsible in international law.

Other contacts made via Craig's Mobile 20Mtrs setup, Cairns and New Zealand, as well as 40Mtrs using Stanley's Mobile setup.

All in all a very very pleasant and fun day had by the members at FAMPARC.

Both at the Coffee and Cake Morning followed some radio play.

The Devil Bend Reservoir is an excellent place to test and play radio.. As you can see by the videos there are plenty of tree's tables as well a toilet and parking.

However... I would not suggest doing it over a weekend.. You just cant move there.

Thanks for all invlolved today... We all had a great time... And it's great for one's mental health.

Cheers.

Craig

vk3ncr