Hello Steve:
A two meter beacon would be a great idea. There are propagation paths to
the Caribbean that are untapped because no one ever looks that way. If you
recall, the legendary VP5D, Bob Cooper, was very active on 2 meters from VP5 up
to the early 1990s when he moved to ZL. He did come up the coast and into the
states on several occasions on sporadic E and tropo. Herb KV4FZ used to be
very active on 2 meters from St Croix in the 1980s and 1990s, and there was a
lot of 2 meter activity on Puerto Rico, at least pre 2017 hurricanes.
In 1992 and 1993 I went to Turks and Caicos for 2 meter EME DXpeditions.
Grid was FL31. The set up was a pair of M2 5WLs in '92 and a pair of 19XXX in
'93, a TR-751A, Commander II amplifier, mast mounted preamp. I was able to
work into South and Central Florida every day at a distance of almost 600
miles. Rene, WB4MJE in Big Pine Key, Bruce, K2RTH, and others I can't recall
were no problem on SSB. In 1995 I went to Little Cayman with W7GJ for a EME
DXpedition. Grid was EK99; setup was similar to setup at VP5. Again, getting
over the mountains of Cuba and back to the Keys and South and north to Central
Florida on SSB and CW were no problem.
In 2006 and 2007 I took 2 meter equipment along with 6 meter equipment to
Haiti. Power was 170 watts and antenna was a 9 ele M2 in 2006 and a 13 ele
KB8RQ model in 2007. I did work several hundred miles over to Puerto Rico with
little difficulty. Didn't try the states because of the lack of reliable ac
power.
No doubt there were and are tropo and sporadic E openings from the
Caribbean islands way up the coast and into the southeastern US that go
undetected because of the lack of indicators and activity. The location in the
Bahamas would be a great indicator of potential openings down towards Turks and
Caicos, Puerto Rico, U. S. and British Virgin Islands, Dominican Republic,
Haiti, Eastern Cuba, and perhaps other desirable DX locations.
If I can be of help in getting a beacon set up email me directly.
73, Chris W3CMP
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