February 2026 - The information on this page is old, and is waiting for an update. This should happen soon.
At CARC we have a very active interest in VHF/UHF. As well as going portable in RSGB contests we are lucky enough to have a well equipped VHF/UHF system in the Club shack. On 6m we make good use of the 3 element HF SteppIR which has an additional fixed director making a 4 ele beam on 6m. We plan to upgrade that next year using the upgrade kit from UK company Aerial Parts. As well as an extra director this kit adds a fixed reflector closer to the driven element for improved performance. http://aerial-parts.co.uk/6m-kit-for-the-SteppIR-3-ele-beam
We’re not yet QRV on 4m but we do have a transverter which we plan to drive from the K3 adding an small antenna on the main tower when we service the aerial system in the spring.
On 2m we have a very nice 17 element (5WL) M2 beam with a masthead LNA. This is driven by the club TS2000 via a Linear Amps UK GS35 PA which for many years was our mainstay contest PA. Largely for the sake of size and weight this has now been replaced by an SSPA for portable use. The trusty valve amp is far superior for full duty cycle data modes such as FSK441 and JT65B which we use on 2m for meteor scatter and EME QSOs. The amplifier will happily deliver a full 400W at the antenna with a beautifully clean signal and for the full duration of the 50s JT65B cycle with no temperature issues at all. Ideal!
On 2m we’ve worked 35 DXCC and as of Feb ’17 137 locator squares. Not bad for a station that is mainly only QRV on Wednesday evenings and Sunday mornings.
We’re sometimes QRV in the UKACs as G6RC on Tuesday and Thursday evenings though work commitments mean that many good opportunities are missed normally when conditions are up and there is DX to be worked.
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