[Icom] HTs and metal siding

[Gary Pearce KN4AQ]

Hi, John

As you've guessed, your metal-sided building is an effective shield that 
prevents RF energy from getting through.  What little is getting out (or 
in) is mostly coming through the roof and windows or any non-metallic gaps 
in the construction.

Your best bet is to put up an outside antenna, or an attic antenna if the 
attic doesn't have metal siding.  That won't help your desire to wander 
around with the HT, though.  You should find that just standing or sitting 
near a window helps.

You could cross band repeat.  Lots of considerations there, though, like 
killing your car battery (or causing it premature death), handling repeater 
hang-time, and picking a good frequency.  If you're not very familiar with 
cross band repeat, drop me a line and I'll e-mail you a copy of an article 
I wrote on the subject.

The shorter wavelength of UHF will get through the windows and gaps better 
than VHF does.  So you might find UHF repeaters more usable, but their 
coverage to you depends on lots of other things, like how far away they 
are, how high their antennas are, and how good the repeaters are.

73,
Gary KN4AQ

At 06:21 PM 7/6/2003 -0700, you wrote:
>I have lived in my present location for 2 years-a
>house with steel siding.  I am sure that others live
>in similar setups, with aluminum or steel siding, or
>in metal trailers.  I am wondering how bad the metal
>siding affects RF inside.  I wasn't too active on VHF
>FM for 10 years before moving here, but now have
>become much more active on the local repeater.  I seem
>to have more problems than anyone else does getting
>into the local repeaters with an HT.  There seems to
>be spots in the house where I can't get in with 5
>watts.  I have tried about every HT on the
>market-Kenwood, Yaesu, Icom, with varying results.
>Aftermarket antennas help to varying degrees also, but
>there are still problems.  I also notice a decent
>amount of fading at times on receiving the signals
>from the repeater.  I know that our local repeater
>isn't the greatest, but am wondering how much of the
>problem is due to my QTH.  And no, I won't move
>because I have an awesome house, and can't afford
>vinal siding at this time.
>
>Am I doomed to failure because of all of this steel?
>I notice some problems on receive also.  I am
>seriously considering going crossband repeat so I can
>use the outside antennas with my FT100D.  The HT is
>nice to be able to move around the house while QSOing,
>instead of being tied to one spot in the shack.
>
>I am interested in others' experiences in similar
>setups.  Would UHF work better or worse than 2 meters?
>  What else might help in such a situation?
>
>73s John NE0P
>
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Gary Pearce KN4AQ
Editor, Repeater Journal
SouthEastern Repeater Association
116 Waterfall Ct.
Cary, NC 27513
919-380-9944
kn4aq@sera.org
www.sera.org