On air on vacation - Greetings from Crete

Greetings from sunny Crete

This summer, me and my family spend a lovely week on the Greek island Crete. Vacation time is the perfect time to be on air. So as usual I brought my small setup, from that I can work primary 6m, as well as HF/2M and 70cm.

The Setup I chose for this trip consist of a Yeasu FT817, with Microham USB III interface for FT8. Antenna was a 6m mobile whip. All The gear I bought at WiMo of course ;)

As the ES season is at its height, I knew I could only be active on 6m. We had a nice apartment in Platanias KM15XM, this is where I worked most my contacts. 74 QSO in the log. There was a good run, especially as KM15 is not that active on 6m.

The best way to explore an Island and be flexible is by car. So we rented a car, and drove to Iraklio, Elafonissi Beach, and Matala Beach. From Elafonissi Beach KM15SG I made 40 QSOs, from the mobile setup. Activation of the rare KM24 grid.

I had hoped for good ES during our trip to Matala Beach. It was a long drive on small curvy mountain roads to activate KM24. But the ES was lagging. However, I still managed to do 30 QSOs from KM24JX.

It was a very successful trip with a lot of new impressions and nice views. Thank you to all 144 stations that worked, and I hope some of you got a new # or two.

All completed QSOs are now uploaded to LOTW.

73 from Brian SV9/OZ1SKY

If you want the same experience as Brian, we have something for you.

Unfortunately the FT-817 is no longer available, but the direct successor is the FT-818ND.

A similar product to the microHAM USB-III is the DXP 24-bit soundcard interface.

And the best antenna for such a small setup would be the Diamond HF-nnFX HF mobile antenna.