A highly portable 2m contest station

After many years of wanting to participate in the Practical Wireless 2m QRP contest I finally had the time to take part in 2003 contest.  In terms of the equipment used, I thought that it would be fun to have a go at the contest using a system that could be quickly and easily assembled, and be packed in to a rucksack.  As a result, I used my Arrow satellite antenna minus the 70cms elements (see below), which was mounted on a camera tripod. The radio used was a Yaesu FT817.  This small setup meant that the radio, logbook, and lunch could be packed in my small rucksack, with the tripod and antenna packing neatly into my tripod bag. 

The location I chose to operate from was Beeston Hill, which is situated along the coastal path at Sheringham, on the north Norfolk coast.  Although this site is fairly low it has good takeoff to the west, north and east, although not so good to the south.  No sooner had I set up than I’d caught the eye of an amateur with a G8 callsign who was walking the path (small world!).

This was my first contest and the first time that I had made any radio contacts in a number of years.  As a result, the first couple of contacts were a nightmare, but over a four hour period I managed to contact 16 stations in 10 locator squares including contacts in Scotland and Wales.  Stations heard but not worked included GI6ATZ/P, GW0PVO/P and numerous PA (Dutch) stations, ON (Belgian) and F (French) stations.  This really surprised me because of my relatively small antenna!  Next year I hope to take part but with an improved antenna (possibly a 9 element portable Tonna) and an improved power source for the radio. Another project that I’m working on is a portable ATV system that will use the same rucksack/tripod arrangement.