On Wednesday I acquired a new (well, secondhand actually) Watson W300 dual band antenna for 2 metres and 70 cm and it was installed by Tony EI4DIB on my chimney. What a difference it has made over my W30 and my discone!
I called on 145.500 and got GI0VKP coming back to the call and we QSYd to 145.475. I wondered if he was maybe around Newry but he told me he was in Comber in County Down. I looked on Google Earth and was surprised and delighted to find he was 64 miles away with the Mourne Mountains between us!
He could pick me up perfect audio 5 and signal 5 with just 5 watts from me. He was on 10 watts through a W30 and was 5/5 with me also. It was a great contact proving the antenna is working great.
I am looking forward to the IRTS 2 metres counties contest this Sunday.
