The purpose of this post is to share information with fellow radio amateurs, which demonstrates how you can achieve VHF-UHF Dx contacts with as little as 5 watts output on 144.200 MHz and 2.5 watts to 25 watts output on 1296.150 MHz.
Yes, you can also qualify a SOTA peak with a mono or dual band HT on 2m and 70cm. You can achieve greater distances with the use of an external antenna such as the 2m Oblong Loop antenna.
This month’s activations include:
- Boboyan Range VK1/AC-044
8 March 2021 – Boboyan Range VK1/AC-044 QF44ME 1489m ASL
Longest paths
- 2m 144.2 MHz SSB VK2DO 110 km
- 23cm 1296 MHz SSB VK2DO 110 km
| Time | Callsign | Band | Mode | Notes |
| 00:06 | VK1DSH | 23cm | SSB | QF44MS Dale s59 r59 |
| 00:07 | VK1KW | 23cm | SSB | QF44MT Rob s58 r59 |
| 00:08 | VK1MA | 23cm | SSB | QF44MT Matt s51 r51 |
| 00:10 | VK1RX | 23cm | SSB | QF44NN Al s51 r51 |
| 00:19 | VK2DO | 2m | SSB | QF54CH Chris s59 r59 110 km |
| 00:21 | VK2DO | 23cm | SSB | QF54CH Chris s58 r59 110 km |
| 00:27 | VK3ZPF/P | 80m | SSB | Peter s55 r51 S2S VK3/VN-030 |
| 00:29 | VK1DI/P | 2m | FM | Ian s59 r59 S2S VK1/AC-038 |
| 00:31 | VK1MA | 2m | FM | Matt s59 r59 |
| 00:34 | VK1FELF | 2m | FM | Elizabeth s59 r57 |
| 00:35 | VK1FDNK | 2m | FM | Tony s59 r57 |
| 00:35 | VK1LH | 2m | FM | Les s59 r57 |
| 00:36 | VK1DB | 2m | FM | Dermy s55 r59 |
Oblong Loop Antenna for 144 MHz
VK1 SOTA on 1.2 and 2.4 GHz 
Very interesting Andrew. I built an oblong loop for 2m last year.
It’s also called the Hentenna. Apparently that means strange antenna in Japanese, it’s country of origin.
Mine was quick and easy to make, relatively broadband,, easy to match and tune, light and easy to carry, and it is horizontally polarised and bidirectional with a small amount of gain broadside.. Much better for 2m SSB than a J-pole. An underrated antenna option!
73 Paul VK3HN.