Portable Work on 1296MHz, Tuesday NAC.

 With a bit of preparation, we went to JO65FH on the Peninsula of Stevns to operate a bit in the 1296MHz Nordic Activity Contest.(NAC).

I had arranged with Jorgen, OZ7TA to go there with our equipment and test out the suitability of the site.

This is the site for an old cold war radar station with a magnificent view over parts of the Baltic, so we had antennas about 42-45m above sea level with good flat land for over distances up to 20km.

I had brought my IC-905 and Jorgen his Langstone project transceiver with a 1296MHz "front end" , i.e. TX power amplifier, RX preamplifier and filter. The Langstone is based on a Pluto SDR and Raspbeery Pi 4 with the appropriate software, and will work from 70MHz to 6GHz - with different "front ends"

I brought the 10GHz transverter for the '905 and a 22dBi horn antenna to make a test of the system. unfortunately the SMA connector broke after setting up the system, so the 10GHz testing was cancelled.

On 23cm we both had extremely strong radar signals. So strong that we suspected breakthrough from a nearby radar. Later we found that many other stations had the same problem, so this was very strong propagation.

We made a few contacts, mostly with very strong stations, the weaker signals were drowning in the radar signals.

One drawback that I had not expected was the connection with the ON4KST chat. Because we had a view over the water to Sweden, the 5G connection switched between OZ and SM, so the connection was broken, almost every time I checked it.

That is how it goes. Every time we go out in the field, there is something new to learn, so let's see if we can do better next time.