Usually the only activity I can listen too (still while waiting on my fcc call letters) is this group here at 8:35 am, the Kingston 8pm group at night... and if some of you remain on after the morning call.
Today, I have been listening to hams on the programmed repeaters which i entered into my Yaesu 70d for the area: Activity from Woodstock, Esopus, West Milford, CT. And the Warwick repeater, which according to Google, is 69 miles away (even PA.) I thought highpoint mountain would cause limited ability to receive. A few hams mentioned they were on home units. Of course I don't know if they'd be able to hear me, because I can't transmit yet.
I wonder if I put up one of those hundred dollar diamond antennas and attached it to my chimney, how much further I'd be able to receive repeaters. I'm just worried about the powerful, house quaking lightning storms up here and I don't know much about grounding .. YET !.
Any thoughts?
Thanks for contributing to our ‘pandemic pop-up’ website John and I hope your call signs come soon. Do you have an attic? When you hear me I’m using one of two Diamond antennas...an x50 (most of the time) and a V2000A. Joe AD2AH put me on to the 2000A and he can tell you what repeaters he can hit. Looking forward to hearing you transmit soon.
Yes Paul .. My house is small (it's technically a cottage), but I do have an attic (pretty good sized) .... about 25 feet from front to back (not counting the attached, closed in porch in front - see pic) ..... Right in the center, at it's highest point (in the middle) it's about 6' high .... I can walk directly through it from front to back (if I walk in a straight line) without knocking myself out ... Is your X50 antenna mounted directly on the attic floor? I went to a website to find my elevation and it came up with 627 ft. I have that chimney on this side of the house (in pic)... it's no longer used .. Years ago they used to have a wood stove in the basement. I don't know how sturdy it is (house was built in 1920) .. and it gets mighty windy up here. The farmer who owns the property behind me and on the side, took down a lot of trees this year (just in time or they would have probably come through my roof).
@John Petrocelli Hi John, Yes...my both my attic Diamond antennas sit on inexpensive shop tripods that are often used to mount portable lighting. Given your elevation and the height available in your attic, I'd definitely start out with an indoor installation to begin with. That will allow you to gain gather information and gain an understanding of your transmitting and receiving capabilities.
Also may simplify running the coax to your radio. Enjoy!
@Paul AC2UQ Great! I'm going to try it. I have NO SHORTAGE of OLD Tripods! They say a picture is worth a thousand words, any chance you can take a pic of your antenna with your cellphone so I can get an idea of what accessories I need besides just the basic tripod? Thanks again.
John, I should have added that both my antennas are inside the house in an attic above our 2 story home. Local elevation and line of site does count and my elevation is about 430 feet ASL. Joe’s Diamond V2000 is outside his home on the roof. You can check the elevation of the home location (QTH) of licensed hams by looking up their call signs on QRZ.com and perusing all the info posted when you click the tabs.
Thanks Paul ... and thank you to all the guys on 835onthe805 this morning for your inviting welcome as I clumsily fumbled to find the transmit button on my Yaesu 70dr for the first time. I found the excel file on this site above. This afternoon I'll program the repeaters in that excel sheet into my phone to see what I am able to pick up. Is there any photos of the local repeaters up on the net? I'd be interested to see where and what they look like. Look forward to our conversation later about antennas. Thanks again. From the Rural farmlands of Olivebridge NY ... (9177020744) - Call letters KD2UUI
Yes Paul. I been watching a few youtube videos with guys who have strung wire antennas in their attics .. but when I listened to their specs, their houses could swallow my tiny cottage .... size-wise. As far as line of sight ... this is my backyard .. well, it's my view ... It's the one of Farmer John Ingram's grass fields ... In the distance is Highpoint mountain. I don't have the biggest house, or an expensive one ... but these million dollar houses up here in the mountains certainly can't compete with my view. As a kid, we went to petting zoos and the Catskill Game farm. This is like living in a petting zoo. Dozens of deer roam behind my house at dusk, wild turkey, mallards, the occasional bear, foxes, coyotes, skunks and way too many squirrels, chipmunks and chickens that escaped the farmer's shed hanging out picking up seeds that fell from my bird feeders. Sitting outside on my tiny deck today with my Yaesu 70dr .. for the first time besides listening to the 835 group, there was action coming from repeaters in 4 states (NY, NJ, PA, and CT) .... Checking with google .. I was able to pick up clearly guys speaking on repeaters from up to 69 miles away (I have no clue if I could transmit that far without a bigger antenna).
Priceless!
Hi,
Im on Ohayo Mountain at 1,000ft, my X50 is on two pieces of swedeged top rail on the chimney which I think is about 8ft above the top of the chimney, so far not hit by lightning, though I know that doesn't mean it won't. I unplug my radio in a storm.
Noticed my general upgrade (from same VE session I think) showed up in FCC ULS today, might want to go do another search for yourself John! Maybe you have a call sign ...
Hooray...Dan you are correct - Welcome KD2UUI....Kilo Delta 2 Uniform Uniform India!
John we look forward to hearing you on the air soon.
Several of us monitor the OMARC 805 throughout the day.
Wow... I kept checking the ARRL page link to the FCC database (not the official fcc page) which doesn't show me ... thanks guys. I'm legit now. I can find out if my transmit button works before the Yaesu warranty expires :)
This is exciting. Btw: before I was picking up the 835 group on the Kingston repeater coordinates ... today the group came up on the Woodstock repeater very clearly with a distorted, staticky bleed to the Kingston. Is the group using both repeaters? How does that work? Oh yea, one repeater in the area says DmR ready or enabled ... does that mean it is DMR or like vaporware in the past, they are selling you a future possibility?