[VHFcontesting] HTs and metal siding

[Kenneth E. Harker]

    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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-- 
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Kenneth E. Harker      "Vox Clamantis in Deserto"      kharker at 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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