On Wed, 13 Apr 2005 18:24:41 GMT, Tony VE6MVP
wrote:

Or would a 8' omni directional vertical antenna on the end of the peak
of the house also give me decent coverage for the 30 miles?

Hi Tony,

If it doesn't, you have to consider that your choice for a beam (make
sure you align it vertical as most repeaters will be vertical) with
wide beamwidth and dual band capacity would probably describe a simple
log periodic. One thing to consider, if this "big" city is 30 miles
away, and spans 45 degrees, that is indeed a very "big" city.

Part of this depends of course if the village is on the back side of
some hills which is quite possible.

Do a survey in the neighborhood with a handheld and see how hard that
is. Then repeat the survey with a small ground plane connected to the
handheld and hike the antenna 5' up on a broom stick.

The real challenge is how high are the repeater antennas? I can hit
my buddy's repeater here in the basement with a half watt (I'm not
readable but I can trigger the courtesy tone), and I'm behind the brow
of a nearby hill.

73's
Richard Clark, KB7QHC