[VHFcontesting] Microwave Liaising in the Rover

[Sean Waite]

Hi Mark,

At the moment I've got 2W and 25el on 1296, I'm hoping to eventually get
some more power.

Depending on setup we've either got a loop or a 7el yagi on 2m, with 100W.
I was thinking of maybe a 50W FM mobile for liaison with a small beam, 3 or
4 el.  If it's not useful I'll have to figure something else out.

On Mon, Aug 27, 2018 at 11:33 AM Mark Spencer <mark at alignedsolutions.com>
wrote:

> Hi Sean.   In my (quite limited) experience I have typically used 144 MHz
> SSB to coordinate contacts on 1296 MHz.   During my last attempt at long
> haul 1296 contacts I found a 50 watt 144 MHz radio and a 4 element beam was
> more than adequate for coordinating a contact at 1296 with 10 watt radios
> and 55 element antennas at each end.
>
> I worked a number  of stations on the 144 MHz liaison frequency that I
> wasn't able work on 1296.
>
> Your mileage may vary (:
>
> 73
>
> Mark S
> VE7AFZ
>
> mark at alignedsolutions.com
> 604 762 4099 <(604)%20762-4099>
>
> > On Aug 27, 2018, at 7:57 AM, Sean Waite <waisean at gmail.com> wrote:
> >
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I'm planning out the next phase of our rover, and we're going to be
> > mounting 6' (ish) uW beams and going to try and spend more time operating
> > these bands.
> >
> > A lot of people suggest ON4KST for coordination, which is an option.
> We've
> > used 2m FM for coordination as well. What do people suggest using? We'll
> > have a dedicated microwave op (me), so we'll be able to just spend the
> time
> > working those bands.
> >
> > I don't know if a 2m liasion radio would count against the 1 signal per
> > band rule. I suspect it does, though we wouldn't be making contest
> contacts
> > there. The major problem is the QRM of our 2m station, we'd probably be
> > clobbering each other. The microwave beams will be on a dedicated
> rotator,
> > so it wouldn't be too unreasonable to slap a small 2m vertical beam on
> > there and have it, with a dedicated mobile with the microwave gear.
> >
> > I can also use cell phones.
> >
> > What do people do? How do I manage these contacts? Some will be passed up
> > from the other op (or ops) in the rover, which is fine, though
> coordination
> > through the lower band op can really suck up his time and you have to
> play
> > a lot of pass-it-down-the-lane until you sync up on a uW band. On weaker
> > signal contacts this becomes unreasonable as it ties up both ops. Being
> > able to coordinate via another method, especially on passes, can keep the
> > waiting passed ops in tune with what's going on and free up the 6-70 op
> to
> > work other stations.
> >
> > I'm really new to the microwaves, just a handful of contacts from a few
> > grids in the January and June contests this year with little teeny 2
> > element PCB beams. Not really any weak signal, and my beamwidth was
> > basically "is it in front of me roughly?" It's going to be a whole new
> > animal with a minimum of 18 elements. Any tips would be super helpful.
> > It'll be a little while before we're up and running again for a big rove,
> > but I figure I can get everything built up between now and then and be
> > ready to go.
> >
> > Thanks for any help!
> >
> > 73,
> > Sean Waite, WA1TE
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>