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Brian Whatcott December 15th 03 06:29 PM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:05:02 GMT, (Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:06:35 GMT,
(Bob) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:31:13 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:29:19 -0500, Jean Dufour
wrote:

VHF waves work "line of sight". They may be slightly curved around the horizon but
they won't be much. So, whatever the power of the transmiter is, they won't reach
more than 25 miles before getting lost in space.

Well, not really. It all depends on antenna height. From the Jersey
shore, not only can I talk to the Cape May CG station, but also to
Baltimore and Chincoteague, Virginia. I have fairly reliable
communications with CG stations up to over 100 miles.


ducting...dangerous to rely on for reliable communications...


It must be a pretty reliable duct because I hear the Baltimore CG
station almost all the time from the Jersey Shore. It's faint of
course, but perfectly readable.

Steve


This sounds like the region of increased attenuation beyond the line
of sight between two stations. If you can pick out signal beneath
noise this extends range aways.

Brian W


Bob December 16th 03 02:45 AM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:05:02 GMT, (Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:06:35 GMT,
(Bob) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:31:13 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:29:19 -0500, Jean Dufour
wrote:

VHF waves work "line of sight". They may be slightly curved around the horizon but
they won't be much. So, whatever the power of the transmiter is, they won't reach
more than 25 miles before getting lost in space.

Well, not really. It all depends on antenna height. From the Jersey
shore, not only can I talk to the Cape May CG station, but also to
Baltimore and Chincoteague, Virginia. I have fairly reliable
communications with CG stations up to over 100 miles.


ducting...dangerous to rely on for reliable communications...


It must be a pretty reliable duct because I hear the Baltimore CG
station almost all the time from the Jersey Shore. It's faint of
course, but perfectly readable.


there are 2 considerations here.

1 is that hearing is not necessarily communications. that you can hear
them doesn't mean you can reliably communicate

the 2nd is that the ducting responsible for this can disappear,
literally, in a second.

---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Bob December 16th 03 02:45 AM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:05:02 GMT, (Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:06:35 GMT,
(Bob) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:31:13 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:29:19 -0500, Jean Dufour
wrote:

VHF waves work "line of sight". They may be slightly curved around the horizon but
they won't be much. So, whatever the power of the transmiter is, they won't reach
more than 25 miles before getting lost in space.

Well, not really. It all depends on antenna height. From the Jersey
shore, not only can I talk to the Cape May CG station, but also to
Baltimore and Chincoteague, Virginia. I have fairly reliable
communications with CG stations up to over 100 miles.


ducting...dangerous to rely on for reliable communications...


It must be a pretty reliable duct because I hear the Baltimore CG
station almost all the time from the Jersey Shore. It's faint of
course, but perfectly readable.


there are 2 considerations here.

1 is that hearing is not necessarily communications. that you can hear
them doesn't mean you can reliably communicate

the 2nd is that the ducting responsible for this can disappear,
literally, in a second.

---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Bob December 16th 03 02:53 AM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 08:56:49 -0500, "Jeff Morris"
wrote:

Group Boston has their primary on the Hancock tower in Boston, plus repeaters in
Plum Island north, and Marshfield south.

Baltimore has a repeater at the C&D Canal (as well as south); and Chincoteague
has one in Ocean City and one to the south. Both are within about 60 miles of
the Jersey coast.

These are all on high towers, and broadcast at much higher than 25 watts. If
there is any ducting to be had, these signals will find it. In Boston I often
hear Portland and Woods Hole, where the repeaters are 50+ miles away. Sometimes
I get Bar Harbor.


generally coast guard repeaters are not for public access. they are
for public safety and CG use only. repeaters operate in 'duplex' mode
(cf channels 20 and 24). for example, there are no CG repeaters
accessible to the public in the NY city/n. NJ area.

it's certainly possible to hear, from hundreds of miles away, CG
stations that have 'high site' antennas (that's what they're called).
but these are not repeaters.

---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Bob December 16th 03 02:53 AM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 08:56:49 -0500, "Jeff Morris"
wrote:

Group Boston has their primary on the Hancock tower in Boston, plus repeaters in
Plum Island north, and Marshfield south.

Baltimore has a repeater at the C&D Canal (as well as south); and Chincoteague
has one in Ocean City and one to the south. Both are within about 60 miles of
the Jersey coast.

These are all on high towers, and broadcast at much higher than 25 watts. If
there is any ducting to be had, these signals will find it. In Boston I often
hear Portland and Woods Hole, where the repeaters are 50+ miles away. Sometimes
I get Bar Harbor.


generally coast guard repeaters are not for public access. they are
for public safety and CG use only. repeaters operate in 'duplex' mode
(cf channels 20 and 24). for example, there are no CG repeaters
accessible to the public in the NY city/n. NJ area.

it's certainly possible to hear, from hundreds of miles away, CG
stations that have 'high site' antennas (that's what they're called).
but these are not repeaters.

---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Bob December 16th 03 02:55 AM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 16:53:00 GMT, Gary Schafer
wrote:

The proper term is "remote base station". A Coast guard station may
have several radio stations that they operate from one point. Those
remote stations are tied to the operation point by phone line. Your
signal does not get "repeated" over their system.


that's correct. there are also 'high site' locations where an antenna
is located on a high hill or tower, as opposed to the station's own
tower and antenna. it's used as a last resort since it can be heard
for quite a distance.

the CG does have a repeater system (as does the auxiliary), but these
are not for public use.

They may transmit on more than one of those remote stations at the
same time. They also listen to all of them at the same time.

A repeater requires two frequencies ot operate. One to receive and one
to transmit on. Channel 16 is only a single frequency.


yep. also correct.

---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Bob December 16th 03 02:55 AM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 16:53:00 GMT, Gary Schafer
wrote:

The proper term is "remote base station". A Coast guard station may
have several radio stations that they operate from one point. Those
remote stations are tied to the operation point by phone line. Your
signal does not get "repeated" over their system.


that's correct. there are also 'high site' locations where an antenna
is located on a high hill or tower, as opposed to the station's own
tower and antenna. it's used as a last resort since it can be heard
for quite a distance.

the CG does have a repeater system (as does the auxiliary), but these
are not for public use.

They may transmit on more than one of those remote stations at the
same time. They also listen to all of them at the same time.

A repeater requires two frequencies ot operate. One to receive and one
to transmit on. Channel 16 is only a single frequency.


yep. also correct.

---------------------------
to see who "wf3h" is, go to "qrz.com"
and enter 'wf3h' in the field

check my blog at:
http://www.bobview.blogspot.com/

Steven Shelikoff December 16th 03 12:41 PM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:45:14 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:05:02 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:06:35 GMT,
(Bob) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:31:13 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:29:19 -0500, Jean Dufour
wrote:

VHF waves work "line of sight". They may be slightly curved around the horizon but
they won't be much. So, whatever the power of the transmiter is, they won't reach
more than 25 miles before getting lost in space.

Well, not really. It all depends on antenna height. From the Jersey
shore, not only can I talk to the Cape May CG station, but also to
Baltimore and Chincoteague, Virginia. I have fairly reliable
communications with CG stations up to over 100 miles.

ducting...dangerous to rely on for reliable communications...


It must be a pretty reliable duct because I hear the Baltimore CG
station almost all the time from the Jersey Shore. It's faint of
course, but perfectly readable.


there are 2 considerations here.

1 is that hearing is not necessarily communications. that you can hear
them doesn't mean you can reliably communicate


I hear them almost all the time. The only times I've talked to the
baltimore station, they heard me.

the 2nd is that the ducting responsible for this can disappear,
literally, in a second.


I talked to the baltimore station a couple of times over the course of a
few hours. They heard me.

The point is that VHF signals *always* can go further than the
calculated straight line of sight horizon, and frequently can go much
further.

Steve

Steven Shelikoff December 16th 03 12:41 PM

BASIC Radio Question
 
On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:45:14 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:05:02 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:06:35 GMT,
(Bob) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:31:13 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:29:19 -0500, Jean Dufour
wrote:

VHF waves work "line of sight". They may be slightly curved around the horizon but
they won't be much. So, whatever the power of the transmiter is, they won't reach
more than 25 miles before getting lost in space.

Well, not really. It all depends on antenna height. From the Jersey
shore, not only can I talk to the Cape May CG station, but also to
Baltimore and Chincoteague, Virginia. I have fairly reliable
communications with CG stations up to over 100 miles.

ducting...dangerous to rely on for reliable communications...


It must be a pretty reliable duct because I hear the Baltimore CG
station almost all the time from the Jersey Shore. It's faint of
course, but perfectly readable.


there are 2 considerations here.

1 is that hearing is not necessarily communications. that you can hear
them doesn't mean you can reliably communicate


I hear them almost all the time. The only times I've talked to the
baltimore station, they heard me.

the 2nd is that the ducting responsible for this can disappear,
literally, in a second.


I talked to the baltimore station a couple of times over the course of a
few hours. They heard me.

The point is that VHF signals *always* can go further than the
calculated straight line of sight horizon, and frequently can go much
further.

Steve

Doug Dotson December 16th 03 03:49 PM

BASIC Radio Question
 
I can hit quite a few repeaters some of them 20+ miles
away on 2m just using a handheld with a rubber duckie
antenna. Clearly line-of-sight is not quite the case.
Repeater antennas are generally mounted high on towers
or buildings but my antenna is only 6' or so.

Doug, k3qt
s/v Callista

"Steven Shelikoff" wrote in message
...
On Tue, 16 Dec 2003 02:45:14 GMT, (Bob) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 07:05:02 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Mon, 15 Dec 2003 05:06:35 GMT,
(Bob) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 17:31:13 GMT,
(Steven
Shelikoff) wrote:

On Sun, 14 Dec 2003 11:29:19 -0500, Jean Dufour
wrote:

VHF waves work "line of sight". They may be slightly curved around

the horizon but
they won't be much. So, whatever the power of the transmiter is, they

won't reach
more than 25 miles before getting lost in space.

Well, not really. It all depends on antenna height. From the Jersey
shore, not only can I talk to the Cape May CG station, but also to
Baltimore and Chincoteague, Virginia. I have fairly reliable
communications with CG stations up to over 100 miles.

ducting...dangerous to rely on for reliable communications...

It must be a pretty reliable duct because I hear the Baltimore CG
station almost all the time from the Jersey Shore. It's faint of
course, but perfectly readable.


there are 2 considerations here.

1 is that hearing is not necessarily communications. that you can hear
them doesn't mean you can reliably communicate


I hear them almost all the time. The only times I've talked to the
baltimore station, they heard me.

the 2nd is that the ducting responsible for this can disappear,
literally, in a second.


I talked to the baltimore station a couple of times over the course of a
few hours. They heard me.

The point is that VHF signals *always* can go further than the
calculated straight line of sight horizon, and frequently can go much
further.

Steve





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