[WSWSS] New beacon update and some thoughts about beacons

[w6omf]

First things first... WE LIKE YOUR BEACON!!!!!! Would like to know the Pros
and Cons presented to you.... that post didn't make it to us... the users of
your beacon... It really allows us to see the path and conditions down the
San Joaquin Valley... and I love that it is close to Gregs... We have
another 6 meter beacon up here in Sac. and comments are interesting about
it's use... I like it! hi hi  anyway fill us in... make us smart about any
feedback... again remember I LIKE IT!

73 Larry, W6OMF
----- Original Message -----
From: "Wayne Overbeck" <woverbeck@yahoo.com>
To: <wswss@mailman.qth.net>
Sent: Wednesday, July 09, 2003 1:49 PM
Subject: [WSWSS] New beacon update and some thoughts about beacons


> N6NB/b is down for the moment to solve a power problem
> (when you're not "on the grid," that can be a challenge).
>
> Chip makes a good point about the pros and cons of
> beacons.  My own reaction is that I put the beacon up,
> beaming north up the central valley, because I have found
> KJ6KO/b to be very useful as I traveled around and checked
> out various locations.  But I often can't hear it well in the
> L.A. area with a mobile antenna (stacked loops).  My
> beacon runs S1-2 in most of Orange County on the loops.
> Up in the hills I've seen it hit S5.
>
> Even in the densely populated northeast, I have found the
> beacons to be extremely helpful as I checked out sites there
> (there are numerous good beacons in the northeast,
> including a set run by the Mt. Airy Packrats in Philadelphia).
> Often in the east, as here, there is no one on the air, so a
> beacon can be an excellent signal source for both
> propagation monitoring and assessing the quality
> of various radio locations.  I caught a nice two-meter Es
> opening last October in West Virginia (FM08) that was
> first detected by alert beacon-listeners.  One wouldn't
> ordinarly expect Es at 144 MHz in early October!
>
> I think a beacon needs to be readable with a modest antenna
> to be useful.  I don't think one watt, vertically polarized, would
> be adequate for my needs as a user of beacons.  In
> choosing to use a directional antenna and point it north from
> my property (which is 100 miles north of L.A. to begin with),
> I was trying to minimize the concerns Chip mentioned about
> beacons, while still having a usable signal.  The beacon
> antenna is a design by K6MYC, by the way.  I doubt if I
> could find another small Yagi with a better pattern.
>
> Incidentally, I heard from KJ6KO, who says he can hear my
> beacon in Placerville at S2 with a directional antenna, even
> though his own beacon is much louder there and on
> an adjacent channel.
>
> 73,
>
> Wayne, N6NB
>
>
>
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