I've done this and it works fine in the right situation.

Just take two resonant antennas on whatever frequency you want, aim
one towards the repeater and the other towards your house. Connect
them with good coax as short as possible but the length must be a
multiple of 1/4 wave at the desired frequency.

Not a fancy solution to a problem but it can make the difference
between being able to work the repeater and not even hear it.

Another solution I've used is to bounce the signal off of somehing - a
big billboard or piece of plywood is a good example.

Gerry
WA6E



On Fri, 25 Mar 2005 18:08:18 -0500, "Hal Rosser"
wrote:

There was a question posted to another group about connecting to a distant
antenna.
The post reminded me of another article (perhaps in QST) where someone who
lived behind a mountain used 2 rhombic antennas as a "passive repeater" on
uhf. He mounted both antennas at the summit of the mountain with one
pointed to the repeater and the other pointed into the valley where he
lived. As I recall, he was then able to communicate via the repeater.
This brings up other possibilities - like doing the same thing for
inside-outside of a metal bldg.

Jerry, WA6E wrote:
"Just take two resonant antennas on whatever frequency you want, aim one
towards the repeater and the other towards your house.

Connect them with good coax as short as possible but the length must be
a multiple of 1/4 wave at the desired frequency."

Yes./ Maybe an even-multiple of 1/4wave. Odd-multiples may be
particularly bad.

Suppose the two antennas are identical, mounted high and in the clear.
The radiation resistance of one antenna matches the other, so we have a
matched source and load in both directions. Maximum power can be
intercepted and re-radiated.

A 1/4-wavelength transmission line inverts the impedance presented. A
too low impedance at one end becomes a too high impedace at the opposite
end and vice versa.

A 1/2-wave length of transmission line reoeats the impedance presented
to it at its opposite end, no matter what the Zo of the line is. If the
terminations are matched, a repetition through the line is exactly what
you want.

Best regards, Richard Harrison, KB5WZI