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Willmar HHS site coverage conclusions
The previous map with a roughly 30 mile radius circle from Willmar gives a pretty good representation of a modest station's expectation of Winlink service.
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My test rig is a Toyota Corolla with a Yaesu FTM-200 radio to a mag mount dual band antenna on the trunk with about 3 dBi gain.
I used a laptop computer with a Digirig interface.
I ran 25 watts of power and always faced the back of my car towards Willmar.
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I tried to think like a good Ham when choosing my parking spot.
Publicly accessible and out in the open if possible.
Avoid nearby buildings between you and the other end.
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In an emergency situation not all of this may be possible. Then you do the best you can.
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Home stations with a reasonable outdoor 2m antenna can probably add 10 - 20 miles to the circle, depending on terrain.
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In conclusion, the coverage of this system is all I had dared hope for and more. :)
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73
Mike N0QBH |
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Re: Results from today's distance test using N0QBH-10 at the HHS site.
I took a drive southwest down hwy #23 today to test Winlink email sent via VARA FM from my car on 145.070 today.
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Stop number one was outside of Raymond at Bonnema Excavating.? Good signals.? (15.2 miles)
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Next was the truck stop south of Clara City at the intersection of hwys 23 and 7.? It took three tries due to local interference.? (22.3 miles)
Else signals were strong. The indicators for VARA are handy.
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Next was the old high school in Maynard. I still had good signals.? (27.4 miles)
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Last was the Heritage Hill threshing grounds east of Montevideo.? I still had good copy.? (33.2 miles)
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73
Mike N0QBH |
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Re: Digital Repeaters - and the radios that love them.
I second the FT-70! Robust little radio and it allows for front panel programming as well as assigning alpha tags for channel names.
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Re: Digital Repeaters - and the radios that love them.
Ft 70s seem to be a favorite portable for fusion. On Mon, Aug 5, 2024, 09:15 N0QBH Mike Berg via <mikeberg=[email protected]> wrote:
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Digital Repeaters - and the radios that love them.
The Frugal Ham here.
Yaesu seems to be leading the charge in digital FM radio these days and they are making it possible for cheapskates like me to participate. Almost a year ago I bought a Yaesu FTM-200 mobile and paid a little under $400. Liked it so much I bought another for $380 new.
It's the low end unit that does it all. Digital audio, APRS and Winlink.
Now I see they are selling for $300 bucks.
Ouch!?
73
Mike N0QBH |
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The Kandiyohi County Emergency Management (KCEM) department is asking for our assistance during the Kandiyohi County Fair, Aug. 7-10, 2024.? Ace needs our assistance to man the KCEM booth during the Fair.? We can use this opportunity as a way to make our organization more well known in our area.? The booth will be in the SW corner of the Hall of Commerce & Industry.? It will be next to the Kandiyohi County Sheriff's Office booth.
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There will be literature about KCEM available at the booth to hand out.? We can also hang a club banner and collect names of persons interested in Amateur radio.? I am asking for that you let me know if you can help by spending some time in the booth.? It would be great to more than one person at a time there.? I will share more information as it becomes available.? ?Thanks. |
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Re: Results from today's distance test using N0QBH-10 at the HHS site.
A drive to my daughters presented a chance to try sending Winlink email from a bit further to the north and northwest of the HHS site.
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The first stop was in Brooten for a burger. The email went from my car to the HHS site with good signals.? ?(24.7 miles)
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The second stop was the small town of Terrace and again, I had strong signals.? ?(29.3 miles)
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It appears our original guesstimate of a 30 mile mobile range are pretty close.?
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73
Mike N0QBH |
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Re: Results from today's distance test using N0QBH-10 at the HHS site.
Skip ahead a few days - I tested sending email from my car via Winlink using VARA FM further east and northeast from the Willmar gateway site.
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The first stop was next to the Starlite Drive In just outside of Litchfield. Successful on the second try.? ? (23.1 miles)
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Second was a great little history town, Forrest City.? I parked on the threshing fest grounds and sent another email.? ?(27.1 miles)
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Last email sent was north of Forrest City and south of Watkins on County #17 (not 24 like I said in the email :) )? ?(31.8 miles)
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Yup, in radio tall is good.
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73
Mike N0QBH
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Re: Kandiyohi County Fair
Once we work out a schedule, I will cover any PM shifts on any or all of the four days. |
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Kandiyohi County Fair
We have an opportunity to assist Kandiyohi Emergency Management (KCEM) during the upcoming Kandiyohi County Fair, August 7-10, 2024.? KCEM needs assistance with manning their booth.? I will meet with KCEM deputy director, Ace Bonnema, on Friday to learn more about their needs.
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I think this is a great opportunity for the Willmar Area Emergency Amateur Radio Club have a presence at the Kandi County Fair.? We have wanted to do this previously but have been prevented from doing it due to the expense and insurance requirements.? This will not be our own booth but it is a way to get our club, and amateur radio, some positive exposure in our community.
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You'll hear more as soon as we know more.? Thanks.
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Re: Comms trailer work day 8/10/2024
Dan- I'll bring some tools but I'm usually not sure what all to bring until I get there and realize I didn't bring what I needed, which may then require a trip to Harbor Freight. |
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#APRSThursday Net
#APRSThursday
For anyone interested-
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WHAT: net WHEN: 25-JULY-2024 00:00 - 23:59 UTC WHERE: APRS HOW: Destination Station = ANSRVR HOW: Message body = CQ [space] HOTG [space] your text check-in message of choice. *APRS operators in Alaska needed* When checking into the net, please disable any automated responses your APRS client may be configured to send after receiving a message. Excessive and unnecessary network traffic can result from Auto Answer APRS messages. On the PinPoint application, the function can be turned off by going to Tools/Options/Misc and unchecking "Auto Answer APRS Messages." To check in: 1) There are two (see A and B) ways to check in as an "in and out" that will limit unnecessary traffic after your check-in. A) Station: ANSRVR. Message body: CQ HOTG followed by your check-in message of choice. Once you receive your ACK from ANSRVR send the following follow-up message to ANSRVR: U HOTG. This will "Unjoin'' your station and prevent additional traffic from being routed to you and eliminate unnecessary traffic on the system. B) Station: APRSPH. Message body: HOTG followed by your check-in message of choice. Note the absence of the CQ. This will log your check-in on the APRSPH system only. Your check-in will be counted and included in the summary but will not be broadcast by ANSRVR. 2) For stations wishing to monitor the check-in traffic from other stations, continue to check in as you always have. Station: ANSRVR. Message body: CQ HOTG followed by your message of choice. WE ASK HOWEVER when you are done monitoring, PLEASE send the following command to ANSRVR. U HOTG. 73 Mike KC8OWL |
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Re: Comms trailer work day 8/10/2024
Might be able to make it, will bring my testers. Anything else may need? But there is a ham fest in Brewster that morning as well..... On Wed, Jul 24, 2024, 20:02 W0AYE Ben Wussow via <=[email protected]> wrote:
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Re: Results from today's distance test using N0QBH-10 at the HHS site.
On Friday I took a drive northeast to Paynesville to do VARA FM range testing.
I sent emails from the city airport (20.5 mi) then drove east on hwy #55 and went south on MN #4.?
About 4 miles south of hwy #55 I sent and email from the snow plow storage yard. (18.3 mi)
Next I went to Grove City's cemetery and sent another email from there. (16.2 mi). Next week I plan to go further east and south. ?
One thing I've learned doing VARA FM from the car - when in less than S9 signal range, narrow mode works best.
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73
Mike N0QBH
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Comms trailer work day 8/10/2024
On Saturday, August 10th from 9 am to 11:30 am, I'd like to get a few people to help with testing antennas(SWR) and hooking up a few dual band radios. If you feel like lending a hand for a couple hours, it would be greatly appreciated. |
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Re: Results from today's distance test using N0QBH-10 at the HHS site.
On Tuesday I traveled to Elrosa (30 mi north) and sent an Winlink VARA FM email to Ben & Tony via N0QBH-10 in Willmar from my car in the church parking lot.
Prior to that I sent one from the Crow display in Belgrade (about 20 mi north).
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Then I attended a very productive Ham Radio club meeting!
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73
Mike N0QBH |
N0QBH Mike Berg
W0AYE Ben Wussow
KC0CAP Dan Gelle
WD0HXV Tony LaPatka