K8CW was 57 on to Mynydd Mawr at the foot of the Lleyn Peninsula and I received a 57 from Alan.

Equipment used was an Icon IC-706MKIIG transceiver, LDG Z-100 automatic antenna tuner and Snowdonia Radio Company (SRC) HF 8010 vertical antenna mounted on the car. The new 75Ah leisure battery and MFJ power distribution board also proved to be very useful.

The station was rounded off with a Watson Walkabout antenna mounted on a 5′ aluminium pole and a 1/4 wave wire counterpoise for 40m. However this, combined with the abysmal location in urban Coventry and low power, probably conspired to limit the number of contacts to just one – IZ3JJD in Padova on 20m.

Powering the station is a 24Ah lead acid battery which should be enough to provide power for at least 8-10 hours of continuous use if my calculations are correct. Whilst the weight of the battery would cause problems carrying the station to the top of a summit, it would not pose a problem for future camping trips. We have on hand a solar charger to trickle charge the battery during daylight hours.

Despite the single contact the exercise did highlight a number of things:

• A small low cost netbook can comfortably run a PSK-31 station without any performance issues on the part of the netbook.
• Using a smaller and lighter 7Ah battery, we could probably operate PSK-31 from a summit for around two hours.
• Walkabout antennas do work, but better in open spaces that urban environments.

Our next experiment will involve using the Snowdonia Radio Company’s HF vertical antenna as we will be able to use this on our summer holidays at the camp site we frequent (though every year the antenna has got bigger and bigger – this is probably our limit).

I do have a decent piece of HF kit mind, the Yaesu FT-1000MP – a massive hit in its day and still a worthy transceiver today despite its lack of IF DSP (digital filtering to you and me). So I thought it was time to start using it, or sell it to realise some much needed cash (could still work HF on the trusty IC-706 Mk II G but it wouldn’t be the same). Anyway, I wondered how to utilise my prize possession and still be able to have a meaningful conversation  with someone thousands of miles away amongst all the pops and bangs the DX bands suffer.

PSK-31 – that’s it – the wonder mode. Several QSOs going on in one tiny segment of the band only a couple of thousand hertz wide. I can read better than I can hear so I thought it might be worth a punt. Out came the Buxcomm Rascal sound card interface that I bought many years ago for SSTV (slow scan television) on VHF (though I had been forward thinking enough to buy a cable for the FT-1000MP as well as the ’706). I downloaded the latest copy of HRD (Ham Radio Deluxe) which I had been using for a couple of years now for my log (but it had seen little use due to the megre number of contacts I had made) for the DM780 digital comms software (it does PSK, SSTV, Morse, RTTY etc.) and off we went.

No jest, I had my first contact with SP4TXI (Marek) in Podlesna (Poland) within about 15 minutes of setting up. In a little under a week I have worked ten new countries located approximately 1400 – 1600 miles from here. Not bad given my limited time operating. My only problem with PSK is that the contacts seem to all follow the same pattern using contact macros built in to the software – there’s no real QSO taking place and I do miss a bit of a chat with the stations I work.

However, that aside, I am impressed with the mode and will continue to use it for the next few weeks to see if the novelty wears off. I’m hoping to be able to get the mast wound up in the next few days (the wind’s been a bit too high this last week) in the hope that moving it away from the house will reduce the interference and allow some of the more distant contacts to be made. As the solar conditions improve on the next couple of years I am sure that this mode will enable me to make contacts that I thought would be impossible for me – I’ll keep you posted.

Vintage Racal RA17 Receiver

I trained as a Radio Officer with Cable & Wireless in the early eighties and worked on the venerable, and much loved, Racal RA17 HF receiver. It’s a big beast, extremely well made, stable and very easy to use – ask anyone who’s had one, they’re great.

I obtained my RA17 back in the early 90s from Fleetwood Nautical College. It was lovingly restored and maintained and is a great example of this class receiver. Since then it has sat in my shack and performed sterling service tuning in to HF broadcast services from around the world. With an amplified indoor HF receiving antenna from Sony fantastic results were obtained.

It is with reluctance that I had to let my beloved RA17 go, but needs must I’m afraid. The shack has been converted in to an office for my business and the space allocated to Amateur Radio gear is much reduced.

It went for the lowly price of £120 which was an absolute bargain for the buyer given that it was in such good condition, but I did want to free up the space rather quickly. Maybe one day – another one will apear in my shack, who knows.

Relevant links: Using an RA17,  Keith’s Vintage Racal Site, eHam reviews