So I have recently put up a 60ft tower and currently have a cheap whip antenna and 100ft of coax attached. I realize that is not ideal but I was kinda surprised that I only get about 5-8 km the radio hooked to the tower it a 5w and I am using a mobile 25w with mag antenna to do range tests. I realize that I should have a much better antenna but just haven’t gotten there yet any other ideas to improve range. The other issue is that I live in an area with a lot of hills however I tested from about 10 km away with basically line of site and still got nothing
2m range issues
- Thread starter Gavin7
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GlobalNorth
Active Member
A decent 2 meter antenna and some best quality coax helps a lot in regions with few to no repeaters.
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
100 feet of what feedline? RG-8? RG-58 string?
"Cheap whip antenna"
Two things can make a radio great or suck: antenna and feedline.
A quality high gain vertical like a Diamond X-510 and LMR400/600 minimum at that length, and of course height above average terrain.
"Cheap whip antenna"
Two things can make a radio great or suck: antenna and feedline.
A quality high gain vertical like a Diamond X-510 and LMR400/600 minimum at that length, and of course height above average terrain.
RFI-EMI-GUY
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Is it a reception problem at the base? What kind of radio hooked to that tower?
RFI-EMI-GUY
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Three things. A cheap radio at the base that cannot handle a decent base antenna with NOAA and paging signals desensing it.
That’s something I’m working towards. I did some calculations and realized I was losing a large amount of my power due to the poor antenna and the poor coax. I didn’t expect huge results as it was just a test setup as the tower was just put up but I guess I didn’t realize just how much I was loosing.
The other thing is that I’m in a region where I believe the nearest repeater is 40 minutes away
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
All the more reason to get a QUALITY subscriber radio with a REAL DUAL CONVERSION/FILTERED FRONT END (read: no chinese feces pieces, a real Japanese Icom/Yaesu/Kenwood radio: even older radios do well if they're in good condition. An Icom IC-2300H has an excellent front end, belts out 65 clean watts, and doesn't sound like a bag of smashed horses rear ends audio wise), REAL antenna, and REAL feedline will buy you on balanced transmit/receive on simplex.
The only way up from there would be getting you into Yagis, pre-amps and towers.
The only way up from there would be getting you into Yagis, pre-amps and towers.
Lol I know better than to use RG-58. I was using some RG-8 I had around. Definitely planning to switch to LMR. Thanks for the antenna suggestion that’s exactly the feedback I’m looking for.
I was actually looking at an icom or Yaesu although I’m currently using cheap junk 🙄
I found an IC-23ooH used for $100 and it's been a good rig in the shack. My favorite has been the FT-7800R for a rock solid mobile rig...and in the shack sometimes!!!
MTS2000des
5B2_BEE00 Czar
At 145.0MHz, you're losing 1.8db of your signal with RG-8.
LMR400 will drop to around 1.5, LMR600 just over 1db.
LMR900 gets you around 1/2 a db.
This is per 100 foot.
Not counting insertion loss from connectors, surge suppressors, coax switches or anything else you may have inline.
So I am considering the yeasu especially since it supports wires which I think could be a good way to link repeaters down the road. My area has some potential for some good hill top repeaters. I actually hiked up to one site that has line of site for probably 30-50 kms and is line of site to another possible hill top site. I’ll see if I can attach photos of the site I hiked to another possibility although it would be a huge endeavour is a 1000 ft tower around 5000 ft from my house I believe the fire department has a repeater on it that has been heard from about three hours drive away. Anyway kind of off-topic but I think my area needs development when it comes to ham radio.
WIRES or WIRES-X? WIRES is dead. It was an idea Yaesu had for linking repeaters that never really took off. WIRES-X is Yaesu's current repeater linking protocol using System Fusion.
Oh, it's spelled Y-a-e-s-u. One of my little annoyances is hams who can't spell Yaesu properly.
Wires x.WIRES or WIRES-X? WIRES is dead. It was an idea Yaesu had for linking repeaters that never really took off. WIRES-X is Yaesu's current repeater linking protocol using System Fusion.
Oh, it's spelled Y-a-e-s-u. One of my little annoyances is hams who can't spell Yaesu properly.
I’m still new to the hobby so you’ll have to excuse that spelling mistake lol
vagrant
ker-muhj-uhn
Spelling…what about the correct pronunciation? Ya ehh sue -and not- Yeah sue
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Hey Gavin !
Welcome to the hobby
So you are new to all this, huh ?.....no big deal- every ham was once in your shoes. Sit back and take a deep breath, and lets explore what's happening.
Before starting, here is one pearl of advice I will throw out: Don't immediately think something major has gone wrong when things aren't working. It's all too natural to trip-off, imagining the worst, and start pulling your equipment apart looking for demons. Start with the simple things and work inward from there.
In your case, for instance, you say you can't be heard from your home station ~5-7 miles away. even with a 'cheap' antenna. There is something definitely wrong here.... even nasty old WW2 surplus coax cable should work to talk that short distance. Its not the quality of your coax, your 'feedline losses' or that you have a "cheap" radio. Something else is going on.
You didn't say if you could hear anything on either your base or mobile. Can you receive an NOAA weather station, or any 2 metre repeater ? - mobile or base ?
My guess is "no".... especially with your base station. I'll stick to that radio.
Start simple--- what is the condition of your coax feed to your tower antenna ?
Have you a volt-ohm meter and can you do a continuity check of this cable ? Is the line patent ? that is, is it close to zero Ohms connector to connector, the shielding too... and not shorted out ?
I'll bet right there you will find your problem. **
Are the connectors soldered properly ? Do they mate zero-Ohms to the radio, to the antenna ? That VOM is worth its weight in gold. ..... Repeat these tests with your mobile....
For your base radio, you might try a different antenna-- your "cheap" one may be breaking your heart-- so don't be afraid to shuck it. Try a simple quarter wave vertical -- one can be thrown together in minutes...
In my lab I used to have a tired old bromide posted on the wall:
"KISS....keep it simple and scientific" (not the usual KISS .....)
I'd love to hear how this is working out for you....
........ remember-- there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers.
Lauri
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
**
I had this very issue a year ago when our 450 MHz radio went sour. Signals that were full quieting suddenly went 'scratchy' -- it turned out to be the connector at the base of the antenna was pulled loose by a curious burro (the teeth marks were the give-away)--- The tasty feed line has since been moved
.
!Welcome to the hobby
So you are new to all this, huh ?.....no big deal- every ham was once in your shoes. Sit back and take a deep breath, and lets explore what's happening.
Before starting, here is one pearl of advice I will throw out: Don't immediately think something major has gone wrong when things aren't working. It's all too natural to trip-off, imagining the worst, and start pulling your equipment apart looking for demons. Start with the simple things and work inward from there.
In your case, for instance, you say you can't be heard from your home station ~5-7 miles away. even with a 'cheap' antenna. There is something definitely wrong here.... even nasty old WW2 surplus coax cable should work to talk that short distance. Its not the quality of your coax, your 'feedline losses' or that you have a "cheap" radio. Something else is going on.
You didn't say if you could hear anything on either your base or mobile. Can you receive an NOAA weather station, or any 2 metre repeater ? - mobile or base ?
My guess is "no".... especially with your base station. I'll stick to that radio.
Start simple--- what is the condition of your coax feed to your tower antenna ?
Have you a volt-ohm meter and can you do a continuity check of this cable ? Is the line patent ? that is, is it close to zero Ohms connector to connector, the shielding too... and not shorted out ?
I'll bet right there you will find your problem. **
Are the connectors soldered properly ? Do they mate zero-Ohms to the radio, to the antenna ? That VOM is worth its weight in gold. ..... Repeat these tests with your mobile....
For your base radio, you might try a different antenna-- your "cheap" one may be breaking your heart-- so don't be afraid to shuck it. Try a simple quarter wave vertical -- one can be thrown together in minutes...
In my lab I used to have a tired old bromide posted on the wall:
"KISS....keep it simple and scientific" (not the usual KISS .....
)I'd love to hear how this is working out for you....
........ remember-- there are no stupid questions, just stupid answers.
Lauri
_____________________________________________________________________________________________________
**
I had this very issue a year ago when our 450 MHz radio went sour. Signals that were full quieting suddenly went 'scratchy' -- it turned out to be the connector at the base of the antenna was pulled loose by a curious burro (the teeth marks were the give-away)--- The tasty feed line has since been moved
.
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I know how to pronounce it lol just didn’t spell it right
Lauri .... KUDDOS... A TRUE ham.. Willing to HELP a new ham get started...
Its nice to own multi hundred dollar MOTO JUNK.. but most hams start with hand me down or as the elite say " chinese feces pieces ".. Gavin7, Keep going, Experiment, Build your antennas, Build circuits, Enjoy the freedom you earned.. I own "chinese feces pieces" and Moto junk as well.. Both work GREAT on the ham bands for HAM operation.. Been doing ham for over 40 years.. Welcome aboard
Its nice to own multi hundred dollar MOTO JUNK.. but most hams start with hand me down or as the elite say " chinese feces pieces ".. Gavin7, Keep going, Experiment, Build your antennas, Build circuits, Enjoy the freedom you earned.. I own "chinese feces pieces" and Moto junk as well.. Both work GREAT on the ham bands for HAM operation.. Been doing ham for over 40 years.. Welcome aboard
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