A big thanks to the Essex Ham members who turned out in support of the Thurrock Acorns Essex 2m Activity Day in March 2017.
We all know we could do with a little more activity on 2m, and the idea of getting the county to get on air for events like this, is excellent. Essex Ham’s fully supportive of this initiative, which is why we’ve supported each event since they started in 2015. (See: Essex 2m Activity Reports). For the March 2017 event, the team set up a 2m station at a fairly blustery Shoebury East Beach.
The focus of activity was 2m FM, with the station in use for simplex QSOs, plus a one hour net on GB3DA to allow us to cover the county. As with many gatherings like this, the empahsis is on simplicity – a low-cost station was used (the Yaesu FT-7900), powered from a cheap battery (a SLAB obtained from a local rally), a fishing pole and a home-made Slim Jim antenna.
As it wasn’t practical to have multiple stations on 2m, Peter G0DZB and Charlie M0PZT set up stations to warm up HF too with CW and SSB stations (although the very busy contest weekend make life slightly more tricky!)
Event Photos
A collection of photos from the Shoebury Beach March 2017 Activation:
Ed M0MNG, in Kent
Keen Essex Ham member Ed M0MNG, made the trip from East Sussex to Detling Hill, a high point in North Kent, to take part in the event. Despite a heavy cold, he worked FM, SSB and SSTV, and has released the following video of his afternoon:
Well done to Thurrock Acorns for championing the Essex 2m Activity Days. Perhaps a little disappointing that other local clubs didn’t back the event?
Well done to everyone who ran a station or called in to support getting more activity on 2m.
The next Essex 2m Activity Day is set for November 2017!
