WB2WIK
Member
Posts: 19941
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« Reply #1 on: October 02, 2002, 07:13:16 PM » |
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First, what's your new callsign??
Next, "communicating with different states" on 2m/70cm FM may be possible if you live where the states are small (like in New England) and totally out of the question if you live in the middle of Montana. Where are you?
A 5' tall omnidirectional antenna won't have any gain on two meters, but if it's a dual-bander, it could have a bit of gain on 440 MHz. Usually not enough to "contact different states" on VHF-UHF FM unless the states are small, or you live on the border of two or three states.
From here in Los Angeles where I live, contacting even one other state (besides California) on 2m FM is nearly impossible, with any sort of power or antenna from a home station. The next nearest state, Nevada, is 250 miles away, and over two large mountain ranges. Arizona is even a tad farther, and the next nearest state, Oregon, is nearly 1000 miles away. However, I can contact Mexico, which is only 125 miles away but in a clear direction, any old time.
For a well-performing VHF-UHF dual-band omnidirectional, I'd recommend the Diamond X200A. It's in the $100 price range, and has a little bit of gain (about 3 dB) on two meters, and more gain (about 9 dB) on 440 MHz. It's a good antenna, highly functional, excellent performance, and weathers well. Install it up as high as possible above ground (preferably higher than your house, any of your neighbors' homes, and all trees, utility poles and utility wiring in the neighborhood -- once you're over those things, going higher doesn't help much), and connect it with some low-loss coaxial cable like 9913, LMR400, etc. With such a system, you'll be doing as well as anybody in your neighborhood, unless someone else has a tall tower and a better antenna!
WB2WIK/6
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