On Sun, 22 May 2011 20:56:52 -0500, John KD5YI
wrote:

You may be right, Jeff. But he may not have 120ft redwoods around and,
after all, this is a temporary fix until his yagi comes in.

Ummm... I don't think the yagi is on order.
http://www.k7jep.org/node/107

#Begin speculation();

His area has a variety of repeaters available:
http://www.k7jep.org/node/107
I would guess(tm) N7JCT 145.230 on Schweitzer Mtn. Idaho.
http://www.repeaterbook.com/beta/repeaters/details.php?ID=64&state_id=16
Plugging the coordinates 48.367500 -116.628326 into Google Earth gives
me a view of the area. It seems to be in the middle of a ski resort,
that has been cleared of most trees and is full of trails. Plenty of
trees both up and down the slope, but not around the probable location
of the repeater. I can't identify the trees from the photo, but my
guess(tm) is Lodgepole Pine at about 60ft. The location is not at the
top of the hill and also has hills shading the view for about 270
degrees. I don't think this is going to be a foliage penetration
issue.

KML file for Google Earth:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/kml/N7JCT possible location.kml
JPG for those without Google Earth:
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/kml/N7JCT possible location.jpg

Blundering forward, N6SXR is shown as getting his snail mail in
Sandpoint ID a distance of about 7 miles. However, there's quite a
bit of dirt in the way, which will be a problem.
http://802.11junk.com/jeffl/kml/N6SXR to N6JCT.jpg

At 7 miles, it should be possible on VHF, even with 450ft of dirt in
the way. My guess(tm) is that there's something wrong with the home
made J-pole, coax, radio, or all the aformentioned.

Again, this is a guess(tm) of both the repeater and it's location and
just might be totally wrong.

#End speculation();


--
Jeff Liebermann
150 Felker St #D http://www.LearnByDestroying.com
Santa Cruz CA 95060 http://802.11junk.com
Skype: JeffLiebermann AE6KS 831-336-2558