Amateur Radio

[EMC]

HAM gurus, I am a lowly GMRS user interested in permanent roof installation of a base station antenna. I briefly went down the rabbit hole of lightning mitigation information for roof mounted antennas and found the topic to be controversial regarding the methods of mitigation (grounding or not grounding, arrest equipment, etc) and the theories behind them.

Alternatively, I could accept signal reduction by attic mounting or merely accept that GMRS UHF is meant for mobile use and just deploy my meager mobile antenna on a per use basis.

I would be utilizing a 50 watt mobile (max allowed power on this service) and potentially this antenna:

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/cma-ca-712efc


Any experience based wisdom you can offer would be beneficial.

[andre3k]

HAM gurus, I am a lowly GMRS user interested in permanent roof installation of a base station antenna. I briefly went down the rabbit hole of lightning mitigation information for roof mounted antennas and found the topic to be controversial regarding the methods of mitigation (grounding or not grounding, arrest equipment, etc) and the theories behind them.

Alternatively, I could accept signal reduction by attic mounting or merely accept that GMRS UHF is meant for mobile use and just deploy my meager mobile antenna on a per use basis.

I would be utilizing a 50 watt mobile (max allowed power on this service) and potentially this antenna:

https://www.dxengineering.com/parts/cma-ca-712efc


Any experience based wisdom you can offer would be beneficial.

That antenna on top of your roof or on a 20ft mast will do most of what you would want it to do. Mounting inside the attic will attenuate the signal some, but it's still an option. If you have radiant barrier in your attic, mounting indoors won't be an option.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

[EMC]

That antenna on top of your roof or on a 20ft mast will do most of what you would want it to do. Mounting inside the attic will attenuate the signal some, but it's still an option. If you have radiant barrier in your attic, mounting indoors won't be an option.

Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

Thank you. Fortunately my roof has no radiant barrier, the TV antenna is attic mounted as well. However now that I think about it I wouldn't have enough clearance for the particular antenna I was looking at (as it is 10ft in height). I will investigate smaller form factor options for this option.

[EMC]

The local radio club gentleman expounded on grounding principles on a gmrs net last night and helped me understand what is involved. The principles are easy to understand but it is more equipment intensive than I had originally anticipated. I'll have to gradually acquire the necessary gear. Grounding rod, heavy gauge copper wire, ground bus bar, polyphaser for coax, etc.

[2xAGM114]

QTH earlier this week at W6/CC-075. Only a 1-pointer, probably the coolest SOTA summit I’ve activated. If you’re in the SF Bay Area and get the chance, recommended.

[mtnbkr]

QTH earlier this week at W6/CC-075. Only a 1-pointer, probably the coolest SOTA summit I’ve activated. If you’re in the SF Bay Area and get the chance, recommended.

Nice, that is a lovely view.

Our 1-pointers here all suck. I won't even bother if it's more than a few minutes' hike.

Chris

[mtnbkr]

If anyone is interested, I'm selling a couple LNR MTR4B (one is a V2) for my buddy is not on social media or forums. He's selling because he prefers his new QMX rig (enough that he has ordered the high-band version).

https://pistol-forum.com/showthread....73#post1560973

Chris

[HeavyDuty]

I suppose this means I need to relearn CW?



I have the new tabletop antenna adapter coming, and I’ll probably use an external key much of the time.

[wrmettler]

k6ark has a new youtube on the KH1.

[HeavyDuty]

k6ark has a new youtube on the KH1.

I saw one a few weeks back, I’m hoping his plug in KH1 capacitive touch paddles become available at some point.

I’m trying to decide what I want for a larger but still very compact key. The plug in one will make a good backup, but I’d like something I can place for easier access on the tabletop - I won’t be doing pedestrian mobile.

Any suggestions for small decent paddles?