I recently spotted a new park that had yet to be activated and figured I could get there and grab the “First Activation” relatively easily. So after a quick look on the local Council website and a quick check of Google Maps to see who hard it would be to activate it. The POTA.app page …
Read more “POTA Activation: GB-5364 Pheasant Woodland Reserve”
My hiking partner and I figured we’d tick Pendle Hill off the list of Southern Pennines we’re yet to activate. On paper it looked like an easy activation, simply park up at SD 7719 3855 and walk up the gentle slop of Pendle Hill. Although just as we were parking I heard a SOTA station …
I had an hour to kill and was near a POTA park, so figured I’d do a quick activation. Fleetwood Marsh is an odd Park, being located behind a “recycling center” and landfill that can give off quite a smell if the weather is warm. However, once you’ve driven past that and made it to …
I recently picked up a SOTABeams BandHopper II and a Tactical Mini. My plan is to use these for some SOTA activations, however I didn’t want the first time I put the mast up to be on top of a mountain. Therefore, we set out to activate a park that doesn’t get a lot of …
I’ve been carrying the ICOM ID-50 for a couple of weeks now, including completing a SOTA activation with just this handheld: Longridge Fell, G/SP-014. So far, I’m very happy with this little handheld. I’ve seen a number of people online saying that the ID-50 is a waste of time, given that the ID-52 and ID-52 Plus …
I’ve had the Yaesu FT-857D for just over 12 months now and so I figured it’s time to share what I like and dislike about this radio. Ultimately, it doesn’t fit into my rotation and so you won’t see it on the DisasterCommsNet Instagram very often, but that doesn’t mean I don’t like it. In fact, it …
I’ve had Jubilee Tower on my list to activate for a little while; It’s a great spot for a little radio work – in fact I’ve had a couple of contacts us there already, before I knew it was a POTA location. So this Saturday after we finished our errands in town we decided to …
I picked up an MC-750 one year ago and it quickly became a primary antenna for me. For those not immediately familiar with it, it’s an SO-239 base which connects to a 5.6m telescopic whip and offers 40m to 6m out of the box, and with the addition of another coil you can add 80m …
We planned a hike today around Gisburn Forest, which is within the Forest of Bowland and therefore a POTA park. We set off dressed lightly, and for a change I wasn’t carrying a radio. We did a loop of about 6km and discussed heading back to the car and grabbing radios and then doing the …
I’ve had the ICOM IC-705 for about 12 months now, so I think that’s enough time to give a good review of the radio, what I like and dislike – and why I keep using it when I have other radios that will, on paper, out perform it. It shouldn’t surprise anyone that I like …