[MRCA] September 23 Long Range Reconnaissance Communication Ops atMRCA Meet

[Radio Station KW1I]

For the Long Rang Reconnaissance Comm Ops I am planning to erect a low dipole for 75 meters and request signal reports with and without a counterpoise.  The counterpoise will be four 60 ft wires and two 33 ft wires symmetrically oriented in a radial pattern centered on the middle of the dipole.  The counterpoise will be laid out on the lawn at least a half wave from the antenna for baseline tests.  Three team members will then pull the counterpoise by three of the wires under the antenna, space them radially, and then cross over to the other three wires and space them radially.  With some initial practice this should take less than 30 seconds.  The experiment will be repeated to offset short term propagation variations.  If reports clearly indicate improvement I will try the experiment with only two 60 ft wires laid under the antenna.  

Can't wait!

Dale 
KW1I


From: "Radio Station KW1I" <kw1i at earthlink.net>
To: <mrca at mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Saturday, September 03, 2011 10:33 PM
Subject: [MRCA] September 23 Long Range Reconnaissance Communication Ops atMRCA Meet


Over the years our long range reconnaissance comm event has changed. In the early years it was a group visit to Big Pocono State Park ( 17 road miles, 10 air miles) to exercise various AM field sets and various antennas principally to get a signal report from the MRCA base station at the West End Fairgrounds. In the last few years we have divided our growing group into comm teams and added Beltzville State Park (17 road miles, 12 air miles), Jacobsburg State Park (17 road miles, 11 air miles) and most recently Minzi Lake Park (22 road miles, 12 air miles). We still have the opportunity to try our AM, SSB, CW and FM rigs on HF and VHF back to base, and, in addition, to the other team locations with various distances and terrain in between. In recent years we have attempted some “scientific inquiry” with signal comparisons with vertical and horizontal antennas and the use of Near Vertical Incidence Skywave propagation. Let's continue this experimental trend this year. 

Some possible areas for a comm team experiment: 

. Comparison of a stock AS-2259 antenna to one modified to amateur frequency wire lengths 

. Comparison of a stock AS-2259 antenna to a home brew AS-2259 configuration, or a simple low dipole, or another commercial antenna. 

. Repeat of an NVIS experiment from a couple years ago where signals were compared using a dipole whose height could be rapidly changed.

. Comparison of various mobile antennas, e.g. screwdriver, bug-catcher, auto-tuned whip. etc.

. Comparison of a whip antenna in vertical position to the same one tilted at various angles 

. Compare operation of similarly configured half wave antennas, one end fed and the other center fed. 

. Comparison of a low dipole with and without a counterpoise

I know there are MRCA Meet attendees interested in some of these experimental areas. Make your interest known by posting on the MRCA reflector. You may get some comments, ideas and volunteers. You may have all the gear necessary for an experiment. If not, other interested comm team members may be able to bring an extra antenna, supports, coax, tuners and switches to assemble an experiment and configure it for rapid signal report comparisons. 

The MRCA base station at the West End Fairgrounds will be equipped with a Stoddardt Field Strength Meter this year so that signal strength differences can be measured fairly accurately in db.