How is this relevant to VHF contesting?
On Sun, Jul 06, 2003 at 06:21:52PM -0700, John Geiger 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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Kenneth E. Harker "Vox Clamantis in Deserto" kharker@cs.utexas.edu
University of Texas at Austin Amateur Radio Callsign: WM5R
Department of the Computer Sciences Central Texas DX & Contest Club
Taylor Hall TAY 2.124 Maintainer of Linux on Laptops
Austin, TX 78712-1188 USA http://www.cs.utexas.edu/users/kharker/
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