Fw: [FADCA] Antenna recommendations for the SNCP, BARTOW, 200 foot tower

Wed, 10 Mar 2004 13:58:34 -0500

Dear Mr. Holycross,
 Here are some other comments I have received about the antennas and the =
station.

Evans

Bud, FADCA, notes entered between lines....

----- Original Message -----=20
From: "bud thompson" <[email protected]>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, March 10, 2004 06:23
Subject: Re: [FADCA] Antenna recommendations for the SNCP, BARTOW, 200 =
foot tower

> Evans - That is a great recommendation but might be looked upon as =
quite
> ambitious - I hope you can pull it off.
>=20

EFM: I am trying to do my best to help out as well.....

> Here are some general comments.. (Not going to anyone except FADCA =
group)
>=20
> I trust that single tower is well-fortified (has been standing for 20 =
years,
> etc) as there are a lot of eggs in that one basket.  My personal =
feeling is
> that if a site has been through the past 20 years of events in Central
> Florida it is probably pretty hardened from weather.  Not that a brand =
new
> tower properly engineered might not be - but no history! Of course, =
that
> begs the question: How long does a tower have to stand before it can =
be
> trusted? Har.
>=20

EFM: to my knowledge, it is well built and not that old at all (5 to 7 =
year bracket)
The building was CD cetified to my knowledge, and is still considered as =
an EOC building.
Complete with emergency power, health facilities, and personnal hygine =
facilites. Again
this is all part of the remodeling phase of the building. Lots going on =
whish you were here
to see it happen.

> Item numbers for reference:
>=20
> 1.  Are any of these for ARES use?

EFM: YES AND YES TO COUNTY USE AS WELL. MULTIPLE USEAGE ANTENNA SYSTEM =
AT THE TOP.
800MHz COUNTY USE IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE ALUMA-TOWER
AND OR ANY EDICS / MUTAL AID TRAILER WITH 800 / VHF / UHF EQUIPMENT AS =
NEEDED.

> 2.  Is the ILRP antenna anticipated to be a dedicated one or can that
> antenna be used for other VHF purposes when needed?

EFM: DEDICATED YES / EMCOMM NO, SIMPLEX USE ON ANY FREQ., AND
AS A HAILING / GUARD CHANNEL ON 146.520 ANTENNA.

> 3.  Depending on how critical the UHF paths are to Tampa and Clermont,
> consider putting the UHF backbone beams up at the highest level you =
are
> allowed - the LAN antenna - if at 130-150 ft should cover much of the =
county
> with 60w.  If the backbones can work at 136 ft then no problem putting =
the
> LAN antenna up higher for more coverage.  There is a point at which a =
site
> can have too much coverage on the 2M LAN (i.e. interfere with another =
LAN
> beyond an 80 mile radio horizon.)- then it's time to reduce power.
>=20

EFM: THIS IS ONLY A RECOMMENDATION TO BEN FOR STUDY AND REVEIW
REF: FADCA EMAILS FROM MARCH 5TH TITLES "BBS/SWITCH POLK COUNTY / =
BARTOW"
ASLO, TRYING NOT TO TOP LOAD THE TOWER AS WELL.

> 4.  The primary purpose for HF voice at a County EOC would be to cover =
much
> of the state of Florida - basically using 75, 60, and 40 meters.  In =
my
> promotional work around the state, I'm also pressing for each EOC to =
have HF
> PacTOR capability on 40M.  We have a dedicated 40M frequency that =
would be a
> great back-up throughout the state for digital messaging.
>=20

EFM: THIS INFORMATION IS IMPORTANT TO OUR BUILD OUT, THANKS, THIS WILL =
BE
SENT TO BEN FOR FURTHER INVESTIGATION AND REVIEWS.

> In so far as ARES/RACES support is concerned -  HF below 80m and above =
20
> (or maybe 15m) is not all that important these days.  With the =
Internet
> transport layer becoming more applicablable (on voice -Echolink/ILRP- =
and
> Ham Radio e-mail messaging - WL2K) the need for any ham community to =
reach
> out for help, or reach out to help much beyond 500 miles is likely out =
of
> date. Most HF voice operation in support of in-state incidences will =
likely
> be on 40, 60, and 75 meters, and lesser antennas than those required =
for DX
> are much indicated.  To support Digital Messages, 30 meters is very
> important, and a great HF digital band for e-mail messaging. 30M is =
digital
> only, no 1.5KW phone stations splattering, and is not =
harmonically-related
> to the other HF bands.  A five-band multiband inverted vee for =
80,60,40, 30,
> and 20m would be a good compromise between complexity and use.  (My
> 80,40,30, 20m coax-feed V with the apex at 68 ft works great and also =
does a
> nominal job on 15m.)
>=20

EFM: READ AS NOTED, THANKS

> On a related issue - we will soon learn that more and more EMCOMMs =
will be
> carried on using vhf and HF digital messaging, and less and less HF =
voice.
> It is a matter of Ham Radio EMCOMMs catching up with the 21st century.
>=20
> 5. I don't believe a sloper would be a very versatile antenna for HF =
ARES
> work. Slopers are generally quite low Q, covering only one band. often =
not
> much of that.   I've not had personal experiences with slopers but =
there is
> likely a more appropriate antenna for ARES work.
>=20

EFM: THIS WAS A SUGGESTION FROM ONE OF MY MEMBERS AND WILL PASS
THIS ON AT THE NEXT ARES MEETING IN BARTOW ON APRIL 12TH AT 7::30 PM.

> ALL THAT SAID - If your group plans on having a general Ham Radio Club
> station at the site, then go for as many bands as the club wants to =
sponsor.
> Also, if it is possible for a WL2K PMBO to be running there 24/7, then =
a
> resonant antenna covering 80,40,30,20 and perhaps 17, and 15M would be
> great!

EFM: RIGHT NOW, THE COUNTY OWNS TWO HF RIGS. NO DIGITAL HF EQUIPMENT
HAS BEEN PURCHASED AT THIS TIME. HOWEVER, AS TIME PERMITS, THIS TOO WILL
BE BROUGHT TO THE ATTENTION OF MR. HOLYCROSS AND ADDRESSED AS NEEDED.
RIGHT NOW THE PACKET STATION FOR POLK AND THE BACKBONE TO SERVE FADCA
ARE IN THE "WORKS" STAGE AND WILL BE LOOKED INTO CAREFULLY. I AM SURE
MR. HOLYCROSS WILL MAKE NOTES TO THIS AS WELL, IN WHICH I WILL TRY TO =
REPORT
BACK ANY FINDINGS HE MAY POINT OUT. HF PACTOR STATION? MAYBE BY NEXT =
YEAR
WC4PEM WILL HAVE ONE, RIGHT NOW, NOT AT THIS TIME.

The main objective of the HAM EOC in Polk is to get ALL Polk HAMS =
involved with it as much as possible.
There are no dues, no President, VP, CEO, COO, yahda yahda to deal with, =
there is, however, one Director
to recking with and make happy, that would be Mr. Holycross, he is the =
sponsor and we are the users. Without
Polk HAMS using the station, equipment, gear, what ever, then there will =
be an all out closure to the PCCP
and we go right back to block one step one, WHAT DO I DO NOW? Local =
members are being asked to
step up and step inside and make this happen. That is the prime =
objective in his, Ben Holycross's, mind at this time.

>=20
> 73,
> bud N0IA
>=20
>=20
> Then there is the issue of how much HF activity can be on-going at the =
same
> time with antennas on the same tower? Is there a need for more than =
two HF
> radios to be running at the same time - if not, then not much need for =
more
> than one antenna to be available for each, providing needed bands are
> covered.
>=20

Thanks for your comments, they will not go unheard!

Evans F. Mitchell
KD4EFM / AFA2TH
Polk County EC
Polk ARES Group
Polk County Florida
Nextel: 161-174484-2

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