HI to all,
I guess that I do not have much to contribute on this thread
but to me it is very interesting reading. Gary has my sympathy, his
problem is duplicated here. Much of my repeater work relates to a low
power portable repeater on 141 MHz. We live near a medium sized mountain
range which has plenty of deer and wild pigs. Hunters go looking for
them and perhaps get lost, or fall and break a leg. Also, there are
recreational trampers who just get lost . Several times a year we have
to go find, and rescue them. The last time was two days ago at 6.30 am.
For once, it was not raining!
Our repeater runs 5 watts output, needs to run three or four days off a
gelcell, and most importantly has to fit into a backpack to be carried
to a convenient hilltop. Fortunately, the split is 3 MHz so that the
duplexer is of a reasonable size.
The problem is getting reasonable coverage. Sure the search areas are
fairly small but usually encompass several ridges and deep valleys. We
use vertical polarisation with a 5/8 whip on the repeater and the search
teams have flexible dipoles that fit into their backpacks. Sharp ridges
and steep slopes contribute to coverage problems. Would circular
polarization help?? I think not.
Gordon ZL1KL
Tauranga N.Z.
