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

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.

"Papa Dog" wrote in message
...
2 stations are 130 miles away as the crow flies.

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


Yes.

What would be the approximate wattage needed?


Depends but I've done it on 50 watts. If conditions are good, it could take
less.

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


Yes.

What would be the approximate wattage needed?


Again, I've done it on 50 watts.

What about 2 meter FM?


Same answers.

Thanks

73

Chris


Dee, N8UZE

Hi Chris

From my own experience;

I use to have a regular contact Sydney to Canberra 280-300km on 2M SSB.
The station antennas were maybe 13dBi at each each and good low noise
preamps were used. I used 3 watts at the Sydney end.

It was about 70% copy at the Canberra end on average. Didnt take much of
a lift to make it a lot better than that.

You are no doubt aware you can model this kind of thing using GPL path
prediction software? You can enter your actual topography/path etc. if
you want more info on this pls ask. I have left some output from these
pgms on http://members.cox.net/vk2yqa but they dont exactly explain all
the parameters.

Cheers Bob W5/VK2YQA

Papa Dog wrote:

2 stations are 130 miles away as the crow flies.

In article ,
says...
Hi Chris



You are no doubt aware you can model this kind of thing using GPL path
prediction software?


I am not aware of this software. Outputs are impressive. Looks like
you can determine best antenna pattern. Any info you can give me on the
software would be appreciated. I am new to Ham and studying for my
license now. Will take test in 2 weeks.

Thanks

Chris

You can enter your actual topography/path etc. if
you want more info on this pls ask. I have left some output from these
pgms on http://members.cox.net/vk2yqa but they dont exactly explain all
the parameters.

Cheers Bob W5/VK2YQA

Papa Dog wrote:

2 stations are 130 miles away as the crow flies.

Thanks everyone for the great info! I have an old friend who is also
studying for his license and we are considering what equipment we will
need to communicate. Thanks for the help.

Chris

Hi Chris

Well there are a few. I use to use UKWtools for quite a while. It is
very simple and straight forward.

http://www.qslnet.de/member/g4klx/ - go to software and scroll down.

You will need at a minimum STRM3 data for your area. I modified the
Linux version of the s/w to use SRTM1. (SRTM = shuttle radar topography
mission - mapped the earths surface to get spot heights - data is freely
available) You will also need to know your lat/lon..

Radio Mobile Deluxe is a much nicer output/more professional tool. It
does take some major thinking to understand and get going. There is also
a Yahoo newsgroup at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Radio_Mobile_Deluxe

The download site for the pgm is;

http://www.cplus.org/rmw/english1.html

Once again you will need topo data but the pgm can be configureed to
download what you need.

If you email me direct with your lat/lon or town etc I'll do a quick
output on (say) 2m if you like.

Cheers Bob

Papa Dog wrote:

I am not aware of this software. Outputs are impressive. Looks like
you can determine best antenna pattern. Any info you can give me on the
software would be appreciated. I am new to Ham and studying for my
license now. Will take test in 2 weeks.