[NLRS] 432 beacon

[Paul Husby]

Hi Art!

It would be nice to have another beacon on.  However, I think the 9wl is 
way too sharp.  Many people who would listen for it will be out of the 
path.  That antenna has a very sharp pattern - take a map and consider 
what you cover with 20 degrees;  beyond that your signal will be way 
down.  Yes, there may be a lot of aircraft in that pattern, but unless 
you want to do a study of aircraft scatter, the main purpose of a beacon 
is to indicate band openings.  For that, a much wider pattern is highly 
preferable. Sure there are not as many stations to the north and west, 
but people like VE4MA, K0AWU and NT0V will watch for your beacon 
religiously.

   I would suggest asking around for one or preferably two horizontally 
polarized omnidirectional antennas.  I think there is a good chance that 
you will find someone willing to donate an antenna or two.  A stacked 
pair will give you some gain.  These antennas are not hard to build, and 
you will likely see some being tested on the antenna range at Aurora 
'18.  Others here on the reflector can suggest which design is best to 
build.

We have 20 people registered so far for Aurora '18...  please register 
now at:  www.tinyurl.com/Aurora18

73
Paul W0UC


On 3/27/2018 1:44 PM, Art Howard wrote:
>
> Hello All,
>   I am toying with the idea of putting a 432 Beacon on the air from EN35DW.
>   Right now I have a single M2 9wl at about 20 feet horizontal and
> capability to run up to 100 Watts.
>   I do have a second 9wl but need a nonmetallic cross boom to stack them. If
> anybody has something like that let me know.
>    I have done some research and My thought is to head the antenna Southeast
> generally in the direction of Milwaukee, Madison,and Chicago (140°). That
> would intersect the main approach path to Minneapolis-Saint Paul Airport as
> well as departing traffic to the Northwest as they circle around to head
> for destinations anywheres from the Northeast to the southeast.  Probably
> would get quite a bit of aircraft scatter during peak times.
>   Any thoughts on this would be much appreciated as well as maybe suggested
> Beacon frequency.
>
> *73 Art  *KØKUK
> ______________________________________________________________
> NLRS mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/nlrs
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:NLRS at mailman.qth.net
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html