More on GM3OXX

Sunset at Luce Bay Scotland, 3cm GM3DXJ, GM3OXX and GM8HEY dishes being set up. Photo GM8HEY (GM4JJJ). 322 km QSO to Wales. 10mW GUNNS WBFM.

Bill,

Thanks again.

I recall when George met up with the team from Wales in a car park in the Scottish highlands , they had also built 3cm gear and he found by direct comparison that their 3cm gear was more sensitive than his. He went straight home and redesigned and rebuilt his receiver. That gear then went on to break the World distance record on 3cm on a superrefraction path from Portpatrick to Cornwall with 10 mW WBFM. Smashing a record that the USA had held for 16 years from mountop to mountain top.

George was ambitious, he wanted that UK, EU and World distance record, he wanted to show the RSGB that Scottish hams could get the 3 countries and 20 counties award on 3cm. We  (G8BKE, GM3DXJ, myself and George) did it by travelling round Scotland in my Mini Clubman Estate with dishes and tripods and 3 hams packed in to one car, at the same time fitting in the EU distance record from Luce Bay in Wigtownshire to St David's Head in SW Wales at 322 km just to show them how.

No VHF Talkback, only a phone call from a telephone box earlier in the day to our Welsh counterparts to say we would be there about 6pm and to tune the 3cm band for us. Frequency uncertainty was in the 10's of MHz.  We arrived at the beach, set up 3 dishes, put on our transmitter test tones and then went back to receive, George asked us to make sure we had our test tones -off-  as his receiver was overloaded, it was the Barry Radio Guys he was hearing, they were so strong. Didn't matter where we pointed the dishes, we were in the sea level duct. Open waveguide still full quieting.

George's words audible on the remote tape recording made in Wales, " You can pack up your gear now lads, that's the European Record!"

Happy Days!

-- David GM4JJJ