SOTA Activation Ditchling Beacon G/SE-006

On Saturday 26 July I activated SOTA summit Ditchling Beacon (G/SE-006). Although there is a bus from Brighton to Ditchling, I enjoy walking so I took an early train to Lewis followed by a 10km walk along the South Downs Way.  My plans went slightly awry when the Southern train broke down at Haywards Heath, but after a 30-minute delay we arrived at Lewis.  This section of the South Downs Way is well signposted and so I did not get lost this time. My pack was a little heavier than usual. It was a very hot day so I carried extra water, not knowing that there would be an Ice Cream van, also selling water (but two quid a small bottle!), at the Ditchling car park. The walk took around 2 ½ hours, including a short sandwich stop.

M0BGR/P at Ditchling Beacon, G/SE-006. July 2014

 

I have never suffered a catastrophic failure on one of these expeditions but today was the exception. I use a small plug box (in the foreground of the photo) so I can quickly connect several items to my  lead-acid 7.2Ah battery. I wired up the FT-817 and switched it on while I set up the Super Stick HF antenna. After about 5 minutes there was a bang from the vicinity of the plug box and the 817 reverted to internal batteries. I quickly disconnected the lead-acid battery and began to investigate, thinking something had shorted. All the external wiring seemed OK so the problem had to be in the plug box.

I carry a small tool kit but I had omitted to include a small Posidrive screwdriver, required to open the plug box, and a multi-meter which would have been helpful when fault finding. I could have carried on by either using the FT-817 internal batteries, which would have lasted about an hour, or directly connecting the 817 to the battery – a little inconvenient as I could only power one item at a time. I decided to investigate and was able to open the plug box, carefully, with the tip of my pen knife blade.  The inside was a complete mess! It used to have an electrolytic capacitor but this had blown itself apart. As this was not required for battery operation I surgically removed it, cleaned out the wreckage, put the box back together again and re-connected everything (carefully!).

The 817 was still not receiving power but checking fuses without a multi-meter is difficult and none had obviously blown. I am a bit fanatical about fusing everything and there were three fuses in the 817 circuit. Fortunately I carry spares, taped to their respective leads so I opted to replace them all even though only one should have blown. I had been some time since this plug box had been used. I powered it up before leaving home, but only for a few seconds, so I guess this was not enough to reveal a weak electrolytic capacitor even though this was adequately rated for the job (100 uF, 25V).

 Next time – check tool kit, test everything properly, before leaving home, and carry a multi-meter!

Finally, I was on the air and firing on all cylinders. This was the day of the IOTA contest so I spent most of my time on the WARC bands, with occasional calls on 2m and 4m FM. This was the first real outing for my new Wouxun KG-UV6D – it performed well.  Band conditions were not great but I quickly worked the four stations I needed for a valid activation, thanks to Mike, G6TUH, who I worked on several bands and also spotted me on the clusters. I was on the air for three hours and worked 14 stations, including 5B4KH in Cyprus (Asia-004 in the IOTA contest). During the afternoon lots of people stopped to ask what I was doing. Although this interrupts operating time, I always take the opportunity to explain amateur radio and why it is relevant today.

I packed up in time to catch the last bus to Brighton, but it was such a lovely afternoon I decided to walk back to Lewis, after pausing for an Ice Cream! The walk back was uneventful, apart from getting a painful blister on my right foot with about a mile to go which I had to stop and sort out (I always carry a basic First Aid kit). On the walk back I was passed by lots of Ghurkha soldiers who were doing a 100km run along the South Downs Way that very hot day, which rather puts my 10km walk into perspective, but they weren’t carrying an amateur radio station!  

Wouxun KG-699E Accessories

As promised, here is a post on the accessories for the Wouxun KG-699E. If you want to read the review of the radio itself, then check earlier postings (click 'Older Posts' at the bottom of this page). Don't forget, your comments or questions will be welcomed, so please add some thoughts of your own.

Like all hand-helds, I needed to buy accessories to get the best out of the radio. These almost doubled the purchase price, but the cost still fell well short of buying the equivalent from one of the established amateur radio manufacturers.

Battery – the supplied battery is Lithium Ion type and has an excellent life, but fails quickly when exhausted. The radio does not have an external power socket so a spare battery is essential.

Antenna – The supplied rubber duck is only 1/20th wavelength long, so not very efficient as it's like trying to work 20m with 1 metre of wire!. I bought a longer antenna – the Garex Flexiwhip (http://www.garex.co.uk/), which is a centre loaded antenna about 500mm (so about 1/8 wavelength) long and fitted with the correct connector for the Wouxun radio. This is not as convenient as the supplied rubber duck for portable operation (see photos in the main review below), but in signal tests, with a local station, it gave about 6dB (one S point) improvement in signal strength.

External Mic & Speaker – As I often work portable and occasionally do Raynet activities I bought this accessory. Like the radio, it is robust and well made. Uniquely, I believe, Wouxun have made this product with a cable long enough to use the radio easily when it is clipped to my belt. The microphone unit has a clip and a socket for an external earpiece or headphones.

Software and Cable – The radio is a bit fiddly to programme, even though 4m does not have repeaters, so I invested in the programming cable and software. Having criticized the radio’s handbook, the software does not have any instructions at all, so it was a case of run the ‘set-up’ programme and hope for the best. Fortunately it installed without difficulty, but even then there are no help files so it was a case of plugging the radio into the USB port and figuring it out for myself. This was not too difficult and I soon had the channels I needed programmed.

I was pleased with all the accessories. Documentation was an issue with the software, but I worked around this. The Garex antenna is well worth the money and the handheld microphone/speaker's long lead makes it easy to use. The spare battery is essential.

Enjoy your Wouxun!

Dave

This is me reading the Wouxun handbook:

and out and about with the supplied (short) antenna

and the optional 'long' centre loaded antenna supplied by Garex (www.garex.co.uk).

Wouxun KG-699E 4m Hand-Held Radio

I recently invested in a new Wouxun KG-699E 4m hand-held. The first thing to say is that this is a really good little radio and outstanding value at around £90. The radio has many functions which we seldom need for amateur radio use, though some may be helpful for activities such as Raynet etc. As 4m does not have repeaters, even fewer of the Wouxun facilities are needed on this band.

The radio is small, light but rugged construction. It has a nicely rounded profile the makes it comfortable to hold even for long periods. It Controls are nicely positioned and easy to use. The display letters are large enough to read easily with or without the backlight on. Additionally voice prompts are available in English or Chinese (handy for those of you brushing up your Mandarin). Changing the voice prompt language does not affect the display language, which is fortunate otherwise you would have to learn Chinese script to change it back.

The marketing material is not clear on what bands this radio covers, so let me clear that up. It transmits on 66 to 88 MHz, so, as it is possible to transmit outside the amateur band care is needed. It also receives on the FM broadcast band, which I find a useful feature. As far as I can tell, it does not receive on other bands, but please correct me if I am wrong.

As with most hand-held radios, the Wouxun is a bit fiddly to programme, but optional software and a cable is available and programming it with a computer makes life much easier.

The Wouxun comes with:

A small rubber-duck antenna
One battery
Battery charger
Handbook
And of course the radio itself.


The rubber duck antenna has been criticized in the press, but to be fair, it is only 1/20 wavelength long so, with that length, it’s never going to be efficient (like trying to work on 20m with a 1m long antenna). However, I have had some good local contacts with just that and its size makes it very convenient when out portable with the radio.

The antenna connector is unusual as it is a male SMA, but I had no difficulty finding adaptors to BNC, N etc. on eBay.

The standard battery charger will either accept just a battery or the radio with the battery in place. The charger can be powered from the mains or from 12V dc, which is useful for portable or Raynet operations. The battery is Lithium-ion 1300 mAh which gives a good operating time and recharges in about 4 hours. The radio does not have an external power socket and as this type of battery ‘falls off the cliff’ when it is exhausted, a spare battery is essential. Batteries are easy to change, but held securely in place with two catches, one on either side of the radio.

The handbook really does need improvement. I suspect it was badly written in Chinese and then translated into English by a non-specialist. Fortunately, however the radio is quite intuitive so the handbook shortcomings are not a serious matter.

On the air, I have had excellent reports. I usually use it with a vertical dipole that I built in my loft from some scrap copper. Unfortunately I bought the radio after the ‘E’ season finished, so I have not worked any real DX, but stations up to 50km are easily workable. The audio reports are good, but on narrow FM I have been told my audio is a bit quiet and there is no adjustment that I can find for this. The receive audio is also excellent quality for a radio of this size.

All round, the Wouxun KG-699E is a great little radio and although it does have a few shortcomings, I really enjoy using it and I believe it will give the other amateur radio suppliers something to think about. The lack of an external power socket has not caused me any problems so far as the battery life is good and they re-charge in a few hours. Their documentation needs to be greatly improved. I have used lots of handheld radios so this was not a problem for me, but could be discouraging for someone who is new to amateur radio.

I really hope Wouxun are successful in this market and bring out a larger range of amateur radio equipment in the future.

Wouxun KG-699E 4m Hand Held

I had my first 4m QSO this evening, on the Wouxun KG-699E, with Guy G0UKN, who lives about 6km from me. With the supplied antenna I was 5-8 to him, but with the longer Garex centre-loaded whip (www.garex.co.uk ) Guy gave me 5-9+, so at least a 6dB improvement.

Guy said the audio was a bit thin, but this improved when I switched to 'wide' mode. Unfortunately there is no mic gain menu on the 699E (or if there is, I haven't found it).
I will write a longer review of the Wouxun, when I know it a bit better, but for now:


"六九九" 是 很 好 !

Dave

Wouxun KG-699E 4m (70 MHz) Hand-Held Radio

Not only am I back in amateur radio, but I am spending my money as well; I bought a Wouxun KG-699E today. First impressions are good.

Reviews say the antenna supplied with the KG-699E is rubbish so I bought a high-gain whip (£20) as well.

Further posts will follow, but comments on this radio ( and its 2m/70cm cousin the KG-UVPD1P) are welcome here.