"fogus" wrote in message
oups.com...
Hello all,
I am just starting to get myself into Ham Radio. I am finding
studying Morse very hard, but I really want the general license, so
I'm sticking to it.

My questions to you guys today regard antennas. I would like to have
some antennas mounted on my house roof. I live in North Vancouver,
BC, Canada, if that helps any in giving suggestions. I am curious
about what antenna is used for which frequency. I would like to be
able to transmit on the HF and VHF bands. Apparently there is
something about a 10-meter band, a 15-meter band, etc. Why are they
called meter bands? Is that like an electric "meter" or something, or
is that like the "metre" unit of distance measurement? If it is the
metre of distance, do the numbers represent how high the antenna has
to be, or how long, or what? There is no way I can have a 60 metre
antenna on my roof! Perhaps they could be coiled up or something?
Can one antenna transmit on a broad range of frequencies? How much
should I expect to pay?

Second question, with hand held 2-way radios, in North Vancouver, the
range is limited because of the hilliness. I literally live on a
mountain, and there are forests and valleys everywhere. My house is
on a bit of a hill, and standing on my balcony I can receive and
transmit very well over a good range (2-3 miles). On ground level in
the same home I can get 1 mile at most. In the basement I can get 0.5
miles. What I want to do is to stick my antenna (from the BPR-40, Mag
One by Motorola) up high on my house, and then transfer the signal,
via wire, down to my room or even the basement. The threading seems
pretty standard on the radio, but is doing this possible? Would it
screw up the "meter" of the antenna? How could I transfer the signal
without messing up the "meter"? I would like to transfer the signal a
minimum of 50 feet.

Thanks,

fogus


METERS
The term "wavelength" is left over from the early days of radio. Back then,
frequencies were measured in terms of the distance between the peaks of two
consecutive cycles of a radio wave instead of the number of cycles per
second. Even though radio waves are invisible, there is a measurable
distance between the cycles of electromagnetic fields making up a radio
wave. The distance between the peaks of two consecutive cycles is measured
in meters. The relationship between a radio signal's frequency and its
wavelength in meters can be found by the following formula:

wavelength = 300 / frequency in MHz

Certain segments of the shortwave bands are referred to in terms of "meter
bands" as a convenient form of shorthand. For example, the term "10-meter
band" is used to refer to the ham radio band that extends from 28000 to
29700 kHz.



Muliband antennas are common. For example, the Cushcraft R8 overs
6,10,12,15,17,20,30,40 meters

The GAP Titan DX antenna covers 10m 12m 15m 17m 20m 30m 40m and 100 KHz on
80m Using a tuner and a long wire -- just about all the bands can be
covered.

SGC makes a tuner that will cover 1.0 to 60 MHz with antenna lengths of
Minimum lengths: 8 feet(3.3 to 60 MHz)
23 feet(1.0 to 60 MHz)

For your VHF antenna use low loss coax (50 Ohm) rated low loss at the
frequency you are operating at.

P.S. A long transmission line "does not mess up the meter" as you wrote.



I have run 100 feet of coax in an installation without a problem

Hope this helps

Good Luck

Lamont