I think we need to look at the original context posted:
/Distance users that could get in with 5 watts or less with a 5-9 signal
can't key up the Rpt with 50 watts in a 30 mile radius. We Have SWR of
1.8 across the 2meter band. Was 1.3 when checked in years past. Local
users ( less than 5 miles line of sight) have noticed RX signal changes.
/They have users at less than 5 miles out - line-of-sight. This is
hardly going to encompass users that are "just above the noise level".
I think we can all agree that his problem is not the added loss of
changing out of the feed line. Now, if the connectors were not
installed correctly or the replacement cable is bad (adding more like 10
dB of difference to the equation), than that's a different story....
Someone needs to do a tower climb, and do some testing. The other thing
that can be done is temporarily install another antenna on a short
(10-20 foot) mast do testing. Connecting a hand held or mobile rig to
the repeater antenna and measuring the success of communicating with
others through distant repeaters or simplex communications to regular
users of this repeater will be a big step in determining what exactly is
wrong.
Kevin Custer
Dave,
The output power of a repeater has relatively little effect on its coverage;
it's how well it receives that is important. A 3dB reduction in the
repeater's received signal strength can be significant, especially if most
of the users are just above the noise level when the antenna system is
normal.
73, Eric Lemmon WB6FLY
At 06:51 11/15/2008, G Shaw wrote:
Assuming about 80 feet of run at VHF you have added
well over 3 db of loss, which of course means your system is going to be
deaf on rcv and way down on xmt
Glenn, I am confused. Us DX folks think 3db is about a factor of
two in ERP, so that would be like turning a mobile down from 50w to
25w, hardly a world-shaking change. At least DXing, a few db can
matter when you are on the borderline of making a contact, but for
daily use? I would think there would be only a small change in
coverage area. And folks who had solid signals before would still
be clear and workable. What am I missing here?
