Papa Dog wrote:
2 stations are 130 miles away as the crow flies.

Using SSB on 6 meters - Is simplex communication possible with decent
antennas?

What would be the approximate wattage needed?

Using SSB on 2 meters - Is simplex communication possible with decent
antennas?

What would be the approximate wattage needed?

What about 2 meter FM?

Thanks

73

Chris

You should be able to communicate using 6 meters up to 100 miles or so
using SSB without any long range propagation conditions. A friend of
mine caught an opening where he was able to communicate with another ham
around 300 miles or so using SSB. It all depends on what you have for
antennas, elevation of your station versus surrounding ones.

I regularly can hit several 2 meter repeaters from 60 to 75 miles away.
However, that is factoring in relatively flat land versus where some
areas may have a lot of hills that impede communications. The friend I
was mentioning was using 2 meters one night a couple of weeks ago when
conditions allowed him a long distance contact especially for six meters.

The important thing here to consider is what type of antenna you would
be using. Obviously, a beam wound be the best situation but it all
depends on your home environment including wives, landlords, etc. I've
used SSB for quite a distance before so what you are proposing isn't out
of the question. In fact, if you check out the DX Cluster you will find
that many hams communicate with long distance stations even on 6 meters
or 2 meters as well.

I've been able to use 2 meter FM in a car and easily hit a repeater 50
miles away, not to mention another north of me approximately 70 miles.
So it is not out of the question, just depends on your operating
conditions. I've never used more than 100 watts on 6 meters and 160
watts on two meters at any time.

Anything more than those power ranges, in my opinion, is overkill
especially on the VHF amateur bands. Maybe at most 300 to 500 watts but
the higher up you go on amps and wattage, you will pay dearly on the amps.