Tis the season….for 70MHz FM!
Not much from me during the last few weeks. A busy time at work, with three new websites going live in the space of two weeks – so most brain cycles going towards that during the lunchtimes that I normally use for a bit of blogging!
Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve been turning the 70MHz FM rig on a bit more often. I realise that 70MHz FM is a winter band/mode for me. During the summer, the antenna is usually connected up to the CW/SSB rig in case of a bit of Sporadic E. With the chances of that significantly lower now, I’ve been enjoying some more local contacts.
Good to work Geoff, G3NPI near Buckingham last weekend and to hear how active the band is on FM now. Clearly the combination of PMR kit and imports from the Chinese market has been a popular one. Keen to work a few people using the new Wouxun Dual Band handhelds when it’s warm enough to go out portable again.
This morning I had a nice QSO with Ted G3XUX/P near Winchester. I worked Ted through the MB7FM parrot, but we were also able to exchange signals directly, which is nice over the 40-45 mile or so path between us. Listening to MB7FM whilst I was doing a few jobs showed several other stations active, so if you have 70MHz FM, it’s well worth switching the gear on and making some calls as you can.
I hope that we may get 70 mhz here! One more band never hurts!
We would probably have to loose 70 cm to get it!