The problem we have in SW PA on 2mtrs, is rain and snow static. Electricly Charged rain drops and snow flakes. They discharge on the antenna or tower and desence the repeater receiver. We also get the ion cloud that precedes the thunder storms. Some un-expected lightning strikes come from that cloud with no rain.
Our other source of noise is sunny dry windy days. The wind blowing past the antenna and tower is like dragging your feet on a rug to make electricity that discharges causing desense. I must add that our best repeater coverage is when it is wet with cloud cover and no wind. Usually after the sun has set. This is very noticeable on 2mtrs around Pittsburgh. Our 440 repeaters show almost no affect from snow, rain or wind static. However the 440 repeaters signals seem to be affected by the wind. You can watch the signal levels going up and down on your s-meter. 73 N3FLR - Frank [EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: > Hi All! > > My Weather Spotters are mad at me! Help! > > Are there any technical papers out there that describe repeater/radio > performance as a function of heavy rain / thunderstorms / severe > weather? Where the weather is an attenuation of RF? > > Let me describe the scenario..... > > As we all know its tornado season and as the weather turns bad, all the > spotters and spotter want to be's show up for the weather nets. When the > weather hits the area and the storms are moving through the coverage > area of the repeater, it's range drops off. Some of my spotters claim > the coverage area drops up to 50%! > > We have talked about the silly stuff: > > 1. Ht's don't work well inside your car, when you are trying to stay out > of the rain. > 2. Ht's that are marginal when the weather is good don't work better in > bad weather. > 3. Bases don't work well inside your house, when you disconnect the base > antenna for an indoor antenna. > 4. Mobiles don't work well from inside your garage or when you are under > a highway overpass! > > As for the repeater, it is on our wish list to upgrade the current 10 > year old 4-pole antenna with new. I have joking suggested if someone > would like to go and check the VSWR during a storm they have my > permission! Suprisingly, no takers! The repeater is a 40 watt Micor. > > Assuming the antenna is OK and the silly stuff is not going on, here are > my questions: > > 1. How does severe weather affect short term range? > 2. Is it the rain alone, or the moisture on everything? > 3. Does lightning effect the noise floor enough to drown out weak signals? > > I remember reading a paper back in college that describe broadcast > signal RF attenuation in deep woods and forests as an effect of the leaf > canopy, and the moisture of the rain/dew on the leaves and its effects > during the summer vs. winter months (winter has no leaves to effect RF) > > Any Help and ideas would be great! > Sorry for the long post! > Respectfully, > Brian, WD9HSY > > > > > > > > ------------------------------------------------------------------------ > *Yahoo! Groups Links* > > * To visit your group on the web, go to: > http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ > > * To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > <mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > * Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of > Service <http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/>. > > Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Repeater-Builder/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
