Hi,
I've been an active ham since 1988 but have limited experience on 6-meters. What bit of 6-meters I have done in the past was point to point SSB, horizontal. 20+ some years ago I did successfully get a repeater running with a BP/BR duplexer and single antenna with good success, as I remember, but can't exactly remember how good that success was.
Recent acquisition of some commercial low-band equipment that converted easily to 6-FM has inspired me to get something up and running again as a remote base or duplex repeater since I have access to the duplexer and the antenna and radio hardware is available.
I have a DB-201 folded monopole (basically a ground plane) up at 400 feet, top mounted and cut for 52.5 MHz. It matches perfectly and is unobstructed and out in the clear. There's about 480 feet of 1/2 inch cable feeding it with about 2.2 dB of loss. The terrain where I am is flat, no hills whatsoever. The base transceiver at the site is a Motorola CDM1250 at 60 watts with noise blanker enabled. The noise floor at the site is okay, not great but not as bad as being in town. The site is located in a remote area.
The mobile radio is another CDM1250 with a 48" NMO whip, properly series loaded for good match. TX power is also 60 watts.
The base radio is "cross connected" to a local UHF repeater in which I can communicate from the mobile through the 6-meter cross band over to UHF for test purposes. With the tests I have been running for the past few days, I am perhaps a little disappointed with the coverage. The 2-meter machine at the same site, granted is running about 8 dB more ERP, out-covers 6-meters by 10 miles or a little more. The 2-meter machine covers around 40 miles in every direction. I can get 30 miles with the 6-meter at the same height.
I understand that atmospheric noise is an issue with 6-meters. The commercial world has obviously fled low-band due to this and other things. I also know that a 1/4 wave folded ground plane doesn't focus the RF toward the horizon like one would want, but it was the most robust thing I had to mount out the top of the tower.
What I am looking for is other peoples' opinions on how 6-meter FM performs in other areas. Does it cover better or worse than 2M, or 220 MHz at the same location as far as pure reliable distance from tower to mobile? Are 6-meter repeaters practical? I am looking toward migrating to a repeater to perhaps stir some activity in my area. What is your experience with 6-meter repeaters?
Any feedback is welcome.
73, N4DBM