I'm getting closer to finishing my new rover set-up and I am being presented with yet another quandary. As I'm sure you all know, I'm doing a "limited rover" station. I have a tower section that will
Hi Steve. Good question, one that we rovers ask a lot. 6m is different than the higher bands because is almost HF and because most 6m rover antennas are within a wavelength (or closer) to ground, thi
As usual, I get great information from this reflector. I still don't know what I'm going to do, but at least now I have more specific information on which to base a decision. What will likely do is t
Hi Steve & Folks: IMHO there are times when a smaller antenna raised higher is more effective than a lower high-gain antenna when terrian obstructions are present out a few hundred wavelengths. For e
If using a mast adds too much complexity, remember that there are other ways to get an additional 3-6dB (or more) of power at the horizon. Use a power amplifier (with a pre-amp). :) It has been my ex
I have one more follow up question to this. I'm not sure there is a simple answer, but I'll ask anyway. Where does an elevation measurement matter? This doesn't have to do with terrain issues, but wh
<snip> For instance, several of the places from which I transmitted in the last contest were close to drops. Look at a bridge. While the antenna may be 13' above the road on which the truck is parked
Ahh... I think I get it. So to make sure I have this, let me restate it. On level ground, a 5 degree angle of radiation would actually be measured about about 148 feet from the base of the antenna. h
In real life, at K1WHS, I seem to remember having problem working rovers with low antennas (7-10ft) on 6M, and they nearly always had a drop off in front of them.. I guess what I'm saying is, over a,
With antennas that low, I think the biggest influence is the vehicle and not the take off angle. It may be completely wrong, but I always pictured it as the vehicle in the near field coupling with th
Anecdotally, my dual W0KVA home-brew 6m square loops, one at 6' and one at 12' -- fed with a power divider -- have produced some of the best 6m contacts I've ever worked, even compared to many high t
I have used YT to model take off angles on six meters for rovers. If the ground is sloping gently, the signal at the horizon goes up about 1 db for each 5' of mast height. The effect begins to tail o
I've had a somewhat similar problem with the vehicle being in the field of the 6M ant. When I first started roving, I mounted the 6M beam at the bottom of my "stack". This put it at only 10 ft above
To know for sure you must create a path profile and use YT software to tell you the answer. In some cases the profile matters as much as a mile away. YT was written by N6BV and is distributed with th
Steve - This is a good question and one I have been struggling with as well. I am a new, 3 time rover, so we are in much the same boat. After some consideration, study, a little analysis, and convers
Hello Nate et al, RE the two loops at 6 and 12 ft, I think Bill K1DY was talking about dead band conditions. When there is Es or other like phenomena, all bets are off, and a low antenna can be quite
Dave is right, I WAS talking about dead band conditions. It doesn't make much sense designing a rover station based on the "band opening up". But that DOES remind me. I remember a few years ago rovin
Great comments on the 6m rover antennas Dave. I waver from wanting to spend the time and effort to be on the lunatic fringe, and wanting to install a Barcolounger at home and a giant tower, and let s
You guys are making me wish I'd spent the $700 (I didn't have) on that pneumatic bumper mount mast -- some guy had it up on eBay a few weeks ago. I think it went to 30'. Did anyone else see that and
I missed that auction. I did however, just order one of the Hy Gain ATM-65 masts. From the looks of it, I think it will be sturdy and rugged enough for roving use when nested inside my 5' tower secti