[CALV-AUXCOMM] Thanks for Helping with Coverage Test

[Shawn Donley]

All,


Thanks to all those that participated in the coverage test from the hospital today.  The quick summary is that 2M was pretty good but 440 was not as good.   I'll be putting together a more detailed report in the next few days.


The record distance was with KC8MTV who was mobile on Carters Mountain near Charlottesville, VA, 109 miles away. https://goo.gl/maps/rsgnanWV9B48VbP86  There was troposphere ducting going on this morning so that may have contributed to the path.  Another DX contact was Dennis, N4DEN, located in Montpelier, VA.


At the hospital we were using Jim's FT-2900 on 2M with an output of 75 watts.  On 440 we used a FT-8800 driving a Mirage amplifier at 100 watts out.  The antenna was a Diamond X300NA dual band mounted so that the bottom of the antenna was several feet above the penthouse roof of the hospital, the same "bump" on the roof where the wind sock for the helo pad is located.  Cable was 50 ft of new RG-8 with a measured attenuation of 0.8 db at 150 MHz.   While SWR isn't a complete measure of an antenna's performance, the Diamond was nearly 1:1 on 2M and 1.1 to 1 on 440. 


Dave, W3PQS, did all the antenna work and took lots of pictures and videos. 


A special thanks to Mike, K3MSP, who through his contacts with the hospital was able to get the OK to run the test and put a repeater up there too if we choose.


Shawn

N3AE