I have received my first POTA award of 2026!  

Calling all 2m radio operators, mark your diaries.
Here is an early opportunity to dust off your 2m portables and head outdoors for the first Parks on the Air (POTA) activity weekend of 2026.
The POTA Winter Support Weekend is happening Saturday & Sunday, January 17th to 18th 2026.
These seasonal POTA events are all about getting out into our beautiful parks, activating new locations, and most importantly having as much fun as possible on the air.
How to join in:
Activators: Register an account at the POTA website. Use the POTA Official Website to find a location near you and spot yourself so we can find you.
Chasers: Keep your ears peeled on the 2m calling frequencies and help those park stations clear their logs.
Share the adventure: Post your setup photos and signal reports right in the Parks on the Air United Kingdom Facebook group and 145 Alive

Quote from: Jonny5's on Dec 30, 2025, 11:14 PMHappy new year to you Ray.

Looking forward to chatting again in the new year, it's been a while since I got to say hi to you. Hope the boiler is back up and running as it's getting cold again.

73's

Happy New Year 🥳 to you Jonny 5

Be good to chat again when the nets get back from there holiday 🙂

The boiler is working and I don't see any other problems on the horizon 🤞

Happy new year to you Ray.

Looking forward to chatting again in the new year, it's been a while since I got to say hi to you. Hope the boiler is back up and running as it's getting cold again.

73's

Hello all

Here is my "Ray Reviews" of the socialising event held on Monday 29/12/2025 in Radio Corner, Ashdown Forest in the county of East Sussex.

With the South Coast PMR Net being on hiatus, I thought it would be good to still attend Radio Corner and take the time to chat and socialise with whoever turned up.
This time I had the pleasure of spending the night with Richard (CT 940), Pru (Dragon Slayer 1), Chris (Ratty 248), Vicky (Witchy Women), Toby (Tango 187), "Radar" Ray (CT 3466) and Nigel (Camper Van Man).
While chatting I did have 1 ear on the radio and heard the following.

Mark - London Calling
Martin H - FB 228
Matt in the Garage - CT 5464
Jonny 5 - CT 5480
Steve - RHP 285 aka Joker

Who chatted to those in Radio Corner and between themselves.

Thank you all who took the time and effort to make some noise on channel 14.
Sorry if I have left you off the log. I didn't take any notes and am working from memory.

As this is the last "Ray Reviews" of 2025, Happy New Year and catch you on air in 2026

Best 72 & 73

Ray 2290

Well hello there

with both the Monday Night PMR Net and the Thursday SSB taking a hiatus due to a unhappy grumpy operator, it was decided to run another 10m Test Net.

So picture this.

A cold, wet, drizzly night on the 18th of December 2025. 2 radio operators are in Radio Corner, Ashdown Forest in the county of East Sussex, and are setting up a Solarcon A-99 antenna and tuning it for 28.250 MHz ready in preparation for the 3rd 10M Test Net.

With the coax fed into the mobile radio shack and attached to a Yaesu FT 891, we were ready for when the clock hands come round and pointed to 20:30 UK & UTC time, the time the net will, should, maybe start.

Toby M0KXU checked if the frequency was in use and when there was no reply, the call went out to see who was about.
The first station to call in was Dave G0OMK, then Dean M7DRI/m followed by John M7RLP/m and Tony M9JVQ. Toby passed the 4 stations round and this gave Dave a chance to swap and test out different radios and power levels.
Once this was done the key was handed over to me (under supervision) and the pass rounds were done again with Jerry M7XRI and Ray M7HTZ both "breaking" in and joining in.
The last station to call in was Paul G4SPP who said how good it was to hear me on a amateur band.

The net finished about 23:00 when stations said goodnight and wished each other a Merry Christmas.

Thank you all who called in and enjoyed the net, sorry if I (under supervision) got your callsign wrong and mixed up the letters.

Keep an eye on things as I think there will be another 10M Test Net sometime in January 2026

Best 72 & 73

Ray 2290

PS What do you think? Should the odd emoji be used in these reports?

Hello again.

After the interest shown in the first 10M Test Net.
It was decide to give it another go, so on the 27/11/2025 a 2nd net was held on 28.350 MHz

The location of the chair was Radio Corner, Ashdown Forest in the county of East Sussex and equipment used was the Anytone AT-6666 and a Solarcon A-99 antenna.

Here is the list of operators who called in.

M7RLP - John
M7ROE - Mike
M9JVQ - Tony
M7ECL - Boris
M0KXU - Ray - Under supervision
M0KXU - Tony

Best 73

Ray 2290