Barr Beacon - G0RIF/p
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Barr Beacon is the highest point in the West Midlands and lies close to the suburbs of Walsall and Aldridge, with Great Barr and Pheasey to the south, and Streetly to the east. Barr Beacon rises to a height of 227 metres and is an important regional landmark offering excellent views over the surrounding area. It also has a great take-off in all directions for radio signals. It was for these reasons that we chose Barr Beacon for some portable amateur radio operations. The benefits of operating portable from hilltops are the refreshing low-noise HF radio environment of more remote locations and a receiver powered by batteries. It really has to be experienced to be believed! Here, the portable HF operator enjoys a huge receive advantage over fixed stations and, if conditions are poor, it can make all the difference when it comes to completing the QSO. |
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G0RIF/P on 6m |
This kind of portable operation can also allow the erection of larger and more exotic antennas than might be possible at home. It can also serve as a bit of a social gathering to meet some friends and enjoy getting on the air together. So it was that I (callsign G0RIF), Richard (M0SNR), Luke (M3VVB) and Bob (G6LPB) met up to try out some new antenna ideas atop Barr Beacon today.
Richard took along his recently built Moxon for the 6m band, together with his portable 2m SOTA beam. I took my recently built 6m half-square antenna and a 17m end fed dipole built in the USA by Par Electronics - this was used held vertically by a 10m fibreglass pole. Everything worked really well and contacts were had on all bands. It was a great day out and we will be doing it again in the future, no doubt to try a few more new antenna ideas.
You can view the pictures of this outing to Barr Beacon on the Portable Amateur Radio gallery page.