Looking for Simplex contacts near Forldland MO (30 miles East of Springfield

[tittiger]

The times have dictated - to me at least - the need a being able to contact other HAMS with out repeater - with as much distance as possible using Simplex and 2 and 10 meter. (for now)

I am set up for 2 meter but would appreciate suggestions for antennas for my Yaesu FT-857D - operating on 10 meter USB that will enhance it's propagation...

I am under the impression that only a Yagi with the elements horizontal do this well for 10 meter USB.

Thanks in advance

 

[AB5ID]

If you're talking point to point without skip, it's best to use the same antenna polarization as the station you are talking to.

 

[popnokick]

The times have dictated - to me at least - the need a being able to contact other HAMS with out repeater - with as much distance as possible using Simplex and 2 and 10 meter. (for now)

I am set up for 2 meter but would appreciate suggestions for antennas for my Yaesu FT-857D - operating on 10 meter USB that will enhance it's propagation...

I am under the impression that only a Yagi with the elements horizontal do this well for 10 meter USB.

Thanks in advance

Standard practice antenna polarization for 10 meter USB is horizontal. So indeed, a Yagi beam and rotor as high in the air as you can get it will serve you best for 10M range... even for "ground wave" distances when the 10M band is not "open" for DX / skip.

 

[tittiger]

Standard practice antenna polarization for 10 meter USB is horizontal. So indeed, a Yagi beam and rotor as high in the air as you can get it will serve you best for 10M range... even for "ground wave" distances when the 10M band is not "open" for DX / skip.

Thanks that was the confirmation that I was hoping to hear.
You mention ground wave which my research and my discernment says a lot is being hidden about.
Alex Jones once alluded to the fact that "ground wave" radio transmission research was highly classified by the Feds.
I can see why, because it would it hard for them to spy on us, and make regional comms more likely in rugged territory.
It was in the Technician study guide that I used that I first became suspicious that we are not being told the entire story on ground wave. Something they said about ground wave just did not add up.
When I use the term ground wave I literally mean the RF currents in the earth when you ground your antenna system.

Am I correct in my understanding of ground waves? Or is there another definition of ground waves? TIA

 

[popnokick]

I was using "ground wave" in reference to radio propagation where the signal is not (mostly not) reflected off the ionosphere or other medium that causes it to be received at distances far beyond "line of sight" for a given frequency and RF power. More commonly known as "skip" or referred to as "the band is open". Groundwave propagation on 10 meters (and 11) is typically 50-75 miles or less. Groundwave propagation also can occur on any band that seems "dead". It's just that your transmitted signal is making it out to much less distance... and therefore fewer stations... than when it is reflected off the ionosphere. As you know, 10M is often dead or "closed" but when it's open signals easily travel thousands of miles. VHF / UHF can be thought of as ground wave only since signals at those frequencies are usually not subject to atmospheric, ionospheric, or other reflection phenomena. At frequencies of 30 mHz and lower, ionospheric layer reflection / refraction is quite common. Once you get close to 30 mHz and above (e.g. 6M), "skip" or "band open" conditions are much less frequent.
I was not making reference in any way to signal propagation where the transmitter is designed to send RF literally through the earth and its waters... much as navies due to communicate with submerged submarines. That is a different topic entirely.