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[N9RF]

Hey Folks,

I posted this on the Antenna forum, but maybe this forum is more appropriate...

 I live in East Tennessee in the Ridge and Valley system. I live on a knob, about 1,500' up with the Holston Valley to the south, and a reasonably clear shot to the east and west. But I am not quite at the top of the knob and thus my reason for writing.

I want to put a 2-Meter horizontal array at 70' At that height, I will probably peek over the ground, but there will be trees to the north.

What is the experience of those who lived on a hill and how did that hill affect working 2 Meters in that direction? I guess 432 is out of the question to the north, huh?

Thanks,
John

[WA8NVW]

It's gonna depend on how far down into the valley your QSO partner is located and which band you are using.  Communications engineers use computer programs that can calculate the mean delivered signal strength at a given location, then go out to the target and measure signals within a few dB of the expected value.  Even for hams, it's three decades beyond being just a black art.  In fact many hams were (and still are) involved in the ongoing propagation research and software development.
Put the antenna up and get a signal on the air, it's the o nly way to make a contact! 

[RFRY]

...
 I live in East Tennessee in the Ridge and Valley system. I live on a knob, about 1,500' up with the Holston Valley to the south, and a reasonably clear shot to the east and west. But I am not quite at the top of the knob and thus my reason for writing. (etc) ...

If you'll post the GPS coordinates of the two endpoints of the path of interest, and the heights AGL of the antennas at those endpoints, I'll post a Longley-Rice analysis showing what the path losses will be for the specific terrain profile along that path — including the effects of terrain obstructions on the received signal.

[N9RF]

Thanks Folks for the replies.

My interest is not point to point (the antenna is a 2 meter horizontal; 3 dipole, omnidirectional critter), but the affect of very nearby trees at the same height as the the antenna on the far field.

I think NVW is right; put it up and se how it plays.

Thanks again,
John