I'm hoping someone here has some experience with this type of setup and can provide some experienced comments. I've searched the 'net for days and cannot find anything related to what I want to do. There is tons of other stuff from amateur radio forums etc but not much help to me.
Here is my situation. The county in which our business is situated is a geographically unique area. We are surrounded by the Great Lakes on three sides. Consequently our radio communications needs are east and west only. Since we communicate in basically a straight line from NE to SW I wanted to use a bi-directional antenna setup.I am considering two options.
Option one is to use two vertical omnidirectional antennas with 6db gain co-phased for a figure eight radiating pattern. I like this setup because it appears, in theory, to give wide coverage over the areas we serve with greater range than a single omni antenna.
Option two is to use to yagi antennas mounted in a back to back co-phased array. This would give us considerable reach in each direction but would have a much narrower radiating pattern.
As always, radio communications are usually a series of trade offs. I personally am thinking option one is probably the best solution based on the figure eight radiating pattern. Before I go spending money on this setup I was hoping for input from other professionals who may have similar situations. We operate at 460 Mhz with 35 watts of power and antenna at 80 feet communicating with mobiles. Our terrain is table flat for the biggest part and in a rural setting. There is one hill of about 400 feet height and ten miles distant but not in a direction that causes us difficulty.
Any and all input positive or negative is appreciated. Invariably someone will mention a repeater but this would be a last resort solution.
Thanks,
TP
Here is my situation. The county in which our business is situated is a geographically unique area. We are surrounded by the Great Lakes on three sides. Consequently our radio communications needs are east and west only. Since we communicate in basically a straight line from NE to SW I wanted to use a bi-directional antenna setup.I am considering two options.
Option one is to use two vertical omnidirectional antennas with 6db gain co-phased for a figure eight radiating pattern. I like this setup because it appears, in theory, to give wide coverage over the areas we serve with greater range than a single omni antenna.
Option two is to use to yagi antennas mounted in a back to back co-phased array. This would give us considerable reach in each direction but would have a much narrower radiating pattern.
As always, radio communications are usually a series of trade offs. I personally am thinking option one is probably the best solution based on the figure eight radiating pattern. Before I go spending money on this setup I was hoping for input from other professionals who may have similar situations. We operate at 460 Mhz with 35 watts of power and antenna at 80 feet communicating with mobiles. Our terrain is table flat for the biggest part and in a rural setting. There is one hill of about 400 feet height and ten miles distant but not in a direction that causes us difficulty.
Any and all input positive or negative is appreciated. Invariably someone will mention a repeater but this would be a last resort solution.
Thanks,
TP
