VHF/UHF radio and antenna questions

[K9KLC]

Got the rig in today. Took a while to get the basics figured out. I was using a Comet CA-2X4SR mobile antenna on a popcorn tin in my living room as my ground plane (SWR around 1.8 on VHF). I was able to make a contact on the closest repeater to me, about 16 miles away on 25 W. They said they could hear me really well, but their signal was pretty static-y. I tried different locations for the antenna, but it didn't really help. The contact eventually stopped transmitting.

Tried some other area repeaters but wasn't able to make any more contacts. Went back to the original contact frequency but no one would reply. Guess folks aren't real chatty on these repeaters. Not that I'm going to rag chew all night, but it'd be nice if there was some more traffic. Is that common on your repeaters, that is, not a lot of chit chat?

Also welcome to ham radio!! You will get it sorted out and you might be surprised when there is a 2 meter band opening just how far you might get!!

 

[KY_Ham_64]

Get a better antenna. One of the things that many don't like is trying to pull a station that's mostly static for a chit chat. We chit chat a lot but when a station is mostly static we politely tell them and then, they politely don't continue to try till they can make some changes. Just my .02. Good luck.

Edit: went back thru and saw you have a x200 to get up. I'd almost bet after you get that up, you'll get answers. Most hams worth their salt like when people make changes for the better to get in there and join them.

Thanks. From what I could tell, they had no problem hearing me, but I couldn't hear them as clearly. I tried moving the antenna around but it didn't help much in getting a clearer signal.

There's a net tomorrow night on a repeater about 30mi East of me. I'll try to see how I'll do then. I'll try to hook it up to the X200 then.

 

[KY_Ham_64]

Also welcome to ham radio!! You will get it sorted out and you might be surprised when there is a 2 meter band opening just how far you might get!!

Thanks, I've only had my license since November, passed the Tech and General then, then the Extra in January. This is my first higher powered rig of any sort. My first radio was a FT65R. Looked into some HF things, but don't want to rush into things too quickly, there's lots to learn.

 

[K9KLC]

Thanks, I've only had my license since November, passed the Tech and General then, then the Extra in January. This is my first higher powered rig of any sort. My first radio was a FT65R.

Great start. If you have 1/2 the fun I've had since 95 (when I finally got licensed but been on radio one way or the other since 1971) you'll have a blast. Once you start getting radios and antennas and ... the real learning begins! It's a BIG world out there and lots to do!! 73!

 

[alcahuete]

on a popcorn tin in my living room as my ground plane

Better be a pretty big popcorn tin. You ideally need something bigger than that for VHF.

 

[KY_Ham_64]

Better be a pretty big popcorn tin. You ideally need something bigger than that for VHF.

Yeah, I was just using what I could find to keep the SWR down. For the most part it was below 2.0. Since it's a mobile antenna I need to check it on my vehicles' roofs. Also need to find a way to hook it up to the car batteries.

When I put the radio in high power (50W), I noticed the UHF output was only about 35W, while the VHF was around 40-45W on the SWR meter.

It'll be interesting to see how it does through the X200. That antenna has the 3 ground radials at the bottom so I won't have to worry about the ground plane, obviously.

I'll need to get some more cable to be able to run it up my 19ft mast and down into the house. I just bought a 6ft cable initially, but I'm going to need about 25-35ft to run it from the pole.

 

[mmckenna]

When I put the radio in high power (50W), I noticed the UHF output was only about 35W, while the VHF was around 40-45W on the SWR meter.

Unless you are testing directly into a 50Ω dummy load, the power output readings are not accurate. The high SWR of the antenna will throw the reading off.