[VHFcontesting] FM antennas

[Sean Waite]

Hi Mark,

That's basically how we operate (or are planning to, depending). FM mobiles
on 2/1.25/70 with whips. We haven't been too good about leaving them on
listening for contacts, but are going to try more in the future. Every once
in a while we'll toss out a call seeing if anyone is listening. It's
productive enough to warrant it. I guess I'm just trying to figure out if
while stopped it'd be more productive to have more gain/directivity on FM.
We actually got a whole pile of FM contacts in September, but we had
stopped by Boxboro for the ARRL convention and cleaned up a bunch there.

There's a few things with FM contacts. They are out there, and might even
be that mult you're looking for, or at least a 70cm contact worth a couple
points. However, most will be using mobile whips or HTs so their range is
limited, and they are sparsely spread out. More gain will help you reach
out and grab them, but it may also mean when they pop up they'll be off the
side of the beam and you'll miss them, where a vertical would hear them (if
they were close enough). I'm a little confused as to whether FM beams will
be a benefit or a loss...

Sean WA1TE

On Wed, Nov 29, 2017 at 2:57 PM Mark Spencer <mark at alignedsolutions.com>
wrote:

> My $.02 worth...
>
> I focus most of my contesting on modes other than FM.   That being said I
> try to have a reasonable FM setup for 2M and 1.25M running all the time.
>  I usually just run mag mount whips on top of the cab of my pickup truck
> while roving.
>
> 6M, 70 cm, 33 cm and 23cm FM is possible for me but only by prior
> arrangement.   I don't recall ever making a 6M contest qso.
>
> I believe I have made enough random FM qso's on 2M and 1.25M to make the
> effort worthwhile.
>
>  Last contest I made a conscious effort to cut down on clutter in the
> truck and left the 1.25M whip at home, I ended up picking it up at the tail
> end of the contest to gain a final multiplier and had to enter as an
> unlimited rover as a result.   I won't make that mistake again.
>
> 73
>
> Mark S
> VE7AFZ
>
> mark at alignedsolutions.com
> 604 762 4099 <(604)%20762-4099>
>
> > On Nov 29, 2017, at 10:49 AM, Sean Waite <waisean at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Since we're always thinking of the next station improvement, I've been
> > thinking about the best way to implement FM in the rover.
> >
> > We've found that it's worth carrying the gear. We don't get many
> contacts,
> > but they are out there and having the ability to make them on demand does
> > get us points. Right now, I have a 2/70 vertical that is used for FM,
> just
> > a mobile whip. In January for our run 'n gun I'll probably move to a
> > triband whip.
> >
> > For the stop and shoots, though, we'll be better set up to run beams. We
> > have a couple of the small Arrow yagis available that wouldn't be too
> > difficult to strap onto a mast and have a v-pol beam available for the FM
> > radios. Small LPDAs like the Elk satellite antenna are also another
> option.
> >
> > This would give us positive gain on FM...but i'm not sure it's worth it.
> FM
> > contacts are mostly opportunistic, either a periodic call on 146.52 or
> just
> > hearing someone and grabbing the mic real quick. The directivity a yagi
> > would give us might blind us to some of the nearby stations calling
> (though
> > the arrows aren't particularly narrow) if they are off the side of the
> > beam. The other drawback is that it'll take a little longer to set up if
> > we've got another beam or three to attach to the mast and cable up.
> >
> > What do other people do? Maybe better to have some always-connected, more
> > efficient verticals on the roof the car and sacrifice a bit of gain?
> >
> > Looking forward to your thoughts.
> >
> > 73,
> > Sean WA1TE
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>