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How I set my GM up for mobile static (YT Video)
- Thread starter RadioDaze
- Start date
Some nice suggestions in there. I reckon more and more people will be forced to do "static mobile" as interference from neighbours gets worse as more and more things like smart meters come online.
Great video RadioDaze. Like stated some good info. Keep it up!! And please don't even mention the noise M0GVZ.
Damn noise I have has plagued me for almost a year now. Makes me cringe every time I go to AM! At least I got the new antenna up for now and VSWR isn't bad. Picking up analyzer today for a proper tuning at feedpoint or close to it as possible. Anyway, keep at it RadioDaze. Seems as though you have your things in order or shall I say, All Your Ducks In a Row!!
Damn noise I have has plagued me for almost a year now. Makes me cringe every time I go to AM! At least I got the new antenna up for now and VSWR isn't bad. Picking up analyzer today for a proper tuning at feedpoint or close to it as possible. Anyway, keep at it RadioDaze. Seems as though you have your things in order or shall I say, All Your Ducks In a Row!!
Thanks, yes it really is very easy. Many people said it would be a major hassle and break and I could understand that initially. I wanted to get what was anecdotally reported as the best vertical.
Over the months I adjusted how I set it up trying different things and now this antenna can be put together to put on a mast in 5 mins or less. (plus time building the mast and guying it which is the same for any antenna)
When I compare to the IMAX2000 which I also use it is much lighter which means in general I can put it higher which as we know is good for a variety of reasons. (on 5 poles with a 1:1 isolator up near feed point it all gets a little heavy and the poles bend in an unmanageable/dangerous way so restricts IMAX use to only 4 poles)
Rather difficult to tell but IMAX and GM seem to be roughly on par to me though a few locals tell me the IMAX puts a stronger signal out but I suspect RX noise is a smidgen higher than the GM. There is not much between the 2.
I still encounter some noise at some QTH's. I think having a large vertical omni antenna on a hill is a bit of a "RF soup magnet" for anything and everything that is going around, domestic, industrial, vehicles, burner bleed, OLGA ! (Illegal Russian Taxi's, we often get +9's of that here bleeding over from FM, when I switch to FM on the QRM'd frequency 30+ is typical) Luckily most QTH's are pretty quiet.
I am thinking of trying to stay on the westerly slopes away from the peaks/East to try and attenuate Olga a bit more. Right now if anything I think I need to get out with the mag mount and try and locate some new quiet spots. Height is definitely not everything for DX. Though I think I will miss those 100-200 miles line of sight contacts into other counties if I go lower. When you are nice and high you get some nice long distance contacts in the UK if the skip is very weak as a nice bonus.
Over the months I adjusted how I set it up trying different things and now this antenna can be put together to put on a mast in 5 mins or less. (plus time building the mast and guying it which is the same for any antenna)
When I compare to the IMAX2000 which I also use it is much lighter which means in general I can put it higher which as we know is good for a variety of reasons. (on 5 poles with a 1:1 isolator up near feed point it all gets a little heavy and the poles bend in an unmanageable/dangerous way so restricts IMAX use to only 4 poles)
Rather difficult to tell but IMAX and GM seem to be roughly on par to me though a few locals tell me the IMAX puts a stronger signal out but I suspect RX noise is a smidgen higher than the GM. There is not much between the 2.
I still encounter some noise at some QTH's. I think having a large vertical omni antenna on a hill is a bit of a "RF soup magnet" for anything and everything that is going around, domestic, industrial, vehicles, burner bleed, OLGA ! (Illegal Russian Taxi's, we often get +9's of that here bleeding over from FM, when I switch to FM on the QRM'd frequency 30+ is typical) Luckily most QTH's are pretty quiet.
I am thinking of trying to stay on the westerly slopes away from the peaks/East to try and attenuate Olga a bit more. Right now if anything I think I need to get out with the mag mount and try and locate some new quiet spots. Height is definitely not everything for DX. Though I think I will miss those 100-200 miles line of sight contacts into other counties if I go lower. When you are nice and high you get some nice long distance contacts in the UK if the skip is very weak as a nice bonus.
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Yeah If you can talk 100 miles here consistently I would be amazed. 60 miles seems to be about the cutoff limit for good local contact here. There is always some conditions that provide for longer connects but for the most part 40-60 miles is about what I used to get. Will have to call up one of my further locals and see what I can do with new antenna. At any rate keep up the good work and don't let anyone tell you it can't be done!! Where there is a will, there is always a way!!
I think my long line of sight contacts, as might be imagined come down to station height. When someone is at a similar height AGL (ASL) 100 miles seems to be no problem. I can speak to someone 30 miles away on 0.25 Watts and he is at sea level (with either the GM or MAX2000).
The only thing is this guy (John/26CT331 Maritime station) is the exception to the rule. I reckon his RX sensitivity due to being on salt water is about 4-7dB better than mine despite being up a hill. Salt water is like radio turbo juice. (It starts to bring a vertical antennas performance in to line with the perfect earth plots which you can see in the ARRL Antenna handbook.) The pseudo Brewster angle never exceeds 1 degree meaning all reflections from sea water are in phase with the original signal on both TX and RX., (that is a fantastic place to be) He always saying to me.... X Y and Z division is on, can you not hear them? And I am like... all I hear is hiss !
I must try and get on the radio again soon, lot of work on at the moment.
The only thing is this guy (John/26CT331 Maritime station) is the exception to the rule. I reckon his RX sensitivity due to being on salt water is about 4-7dB better than mine despite being up a hill. Salt water is like radio turbo juice. (It starts to bring a vertical antennas performance in to line with the perfect earth plots which you can see in the ARRL Antenna handbook.) The pseudo Brewster angle never exceeds 1 degree meaning all reflections from sea water are in phase with the original signal on both TX and RX., (that is a fantastic place to be) He always saying to me.... X Y and Z division is on, can you not hear them? And I am like... all I hear is hiss !
I must try and get on the radio again soon, lot of work on at the moment.
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Read up on the "Radio Horizon". Its all about height above sea level and the curvature of the earth which is the one thing that gets in the way you cannot do anything about. Here in the UK with typical heights above sea level you're looking around 60 miles at the most unless you get right up on the hills as you've found out.
It gets a lot more interesting at VHF when you no longer suffer from the QRM and QRN that you get on HF so can hear even weaker signals clearer.
Yep. Seems to be exactly what I experience when I go to the water (Atlantic Ocean), it's only about 2-3 miles east of me if that. I go to the Intercoastal waterway that runs from Miami, FL, to NY and have a direct connect to pretty well anywhere when dx is good. Like you said, signal levels rise a lot when I get down by the water. Nice to use a stock radio mobile and make contacts half way across the world. Done it a couple times. From FL to Australia. Man salt water is Morher Natures ground plane for sure. Never have setup an antenna on the beach but I bet it would get out well. Dig down to water and stick pipe in. Don't have to be very high either I wouldn't think. Be a neat thing. But anyway. Just a dream LOL. Have a great day!
It would be nice to set up as a coastal station, you definitely want a good F2 layer charge though otherwise you will be talking to seaside locals all day and that would be it ! I might have a look for a nice spot round the coast and have a windy grim winters day out freezing my gooleys off.
I imagine it is best to be facing in the direction you want to send to ?
I imagine it is best to be facing in the direction you want to send to ?