Very interesting extract from CQHQ website by GW7AAV.

"Recently I had two unsolicited emails from separate sources telling me they had seen a pre-production dual band multi-mode rig for 50 and 70MHz. That again seemed too good to be true. I had assumed they were referring to the rig we already heard of, but apparently I was wrong because a few days ago a message on the Four Meter Website forum from Rob Van Den Ent PE9PE announced; “I’ve seen the design of a new Dual Band All mode CW, FM and SSB Transceiver for 50 and 70MHz”. The Transceiver may be ready for release by August or September and it is not being made in China. The only other information Rob has imparted is that it does not have AM and its size is similar to that of the Icom IC-718 (which is 240x95x239mm) , so a compact base rig rather than a mobile."

Great Contact into Slovenia on 4m by 2 local Ham's.

On Thursday 26th May Thos EI2JD was listening on the local net on 4m, frequency 70.400 FM. He was surprised to hear somebody calling CQ on the frequency, even more surprised to hear the callsign S56KZ calling....

Thos called back and made the contact, a 5x5 both ways.

Thos is using an Ascom SE550 running 25 watts into an old commercial 2 way radio 4 element beam up 25 feet and fixed in the horizontal position.

S56KZ operator name Beno is located in Celje in Slovenia approx 1,740 KM from Thos's QTH in Clogherhead,County Louth.

Thos EI2JD in his Shack.

Ascom SE550.

Then 20 minutes later another local Ham Radio operator, Brian EI9GTB made a contact to S56KZ, again on 70.400 FM. Brian usually operates mobile and portable on 4m and can be heard from Fieldstown just north of Drogheda operating his portable station. For 4m Brian operates a Simoco PRM8020 running 25 watts into a 1/4 wave mag-mount on his car.

Brian EI9GTB.

Simoco PRM8020.

It just goes to show what can be done on very basic equipment at a low price, well done lads.

The Wouxun KG-699E. Handheld for 4m (70Mhz).

Recently I purchased a hand held for the 4m band.I decided to go for the Wouxun KG-669E.This is a small, lightweight low band (66-88MHz) transceiver giving maximum of 5 watts output.


I have only had a few contacts on it so far but hope to do more when time allows.

Basic Specifications

• TX/RX Frequency range: 66-88MHz
• Mode: FM
• Memory channels : 200
• Power supply requirement: 7.4v Wouxun Li-ion battery
• Antenna connector : SMA (male)
• Output power : High 5W, Low 1W

The rig comes supplied with a 7.4v 1300mAh Li-ion battery, a 'drop in' style battery charger, a 'rubber duck' aerial carry strap, a belt clip and handbook.

There is a wide range of optional extras that are available such as a spare Li-ion battery (which is 7.4v 1700mAh), leather case, speaker-microphone , AA dry battery pack, battery eliminator (a dummy battery case with curly lead fitted with a cigar plug), antenna adapter (SMA female to BNC female), programming lead, programming software, etc.


The squelch is adjusted in menu 4. With the squelch setting at 2 (the lowest setting is 0, but it will open on any slight noise on that setting, and the highest setting is 9).There is a squelch defeat button on the side of the rig.
An adapter of some sort will be needed to use the rig with an external aerial which I consider to be absolutely essential SMA to BNC adapters are available but take care to get the right one because this rig, unlike the Icom/Yaesu handhelds, has a male 'socket' and therefore requires a female 'plug'. 

The rig comes with a bewildering array of functions, memory channels (200), battery save mode, CTCSS, DCS, DTMF, transmit over timer, vox, voice encrypt (really, and it works), scanning, priority channel to name but a few. Personally, I am just interested in using it as a straight 4m rig, I won't be using the frills.

Pros and Cons

Pros
• The rig is small, lightweight and has a nice clear dual digital frequency display allowing you to monitor two frequencies and switch between them with one 'button push'.
• It has low and high power settings.
• It has a large volume and Channel/Frequency Change control on the top.
• It covers all of the 4m amateur band in 12.5kHz steps (other steps possible)
• It has more than enough memory channels which can be 'labeled' with alpha numeric characters.
• A separate battery eliminator is available to allow the set to be powered from 12v DC.
• Extra (or replacement) Li-ion batteries are available at very reasonable cost.

Cons
• You cannot directly power it from a 12v DC supply.
• The antenna connector is male SMA rather than the more normal female SMA common on recent Yaesu/Icom hand-held rigs.
• There is no separate squelch knob (although there is squelch defeat button).
• It is possible to transmit 'out of band'.


Footnote:
Because the Wouxun KG-699 for 4m is supplied with a wide band helical antenna its range performance can be greatly enhanced by the use of this special centre loaded design, tuned specifically for the 4m Amateur Band.
4m High Gain Centre Loaded Whip for Wouxun WO/KG-699E/4m.

A Slim Jim Antenna for 4m.

This antenna is made from a length of 300-ohm ribbon cable, which makes it easily portable, but you have to devise some method of suspending it!
The dimensions quoted in the diagram have been used successfully by some constructors, whilst others have found it to be off-frequency by a few megahertz. This may be due to a parasitic capacitance in the gap between the half-wave and quarter-wave sections, so be prepared to experiment a bit..