Posted: 3/21/2008 12:03:59 AM EDT
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I'm looking for a resource that's commonly commercially available that I can use to educate myself on radio comms - HF, VHF and UHF. Signal propagation, antennas, etc. Links to Amazon or another source would be really helpful. I've got to make some requests to make it easier for my guys to get good comms, and I don't want to ask for what can't be done, and I want to know if someone is bullshitting me when they tell me something can't be done. Thanks. Edit: I have some comms background, but please keep things fairly basic for me. |
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I'm trying to get people to understand that, Warlocks or not, we could get decent comms with VHF radios if the comms people would just try. A higher mast, a repeater, etc. would make a lot of difference. Our base station and vehicle radios are putting out 50W, so there's no reason to think that we're limited to 5-8 miles. I came to this forum because it's the comm shop here at AR15.com, not because I'm looking for a ham solution to my problem. What I'd like is a good book that is not ham-specific that will help me with VHF primarily. |
I'm a contractor here, and not trying to work ham stuff at all. I did bring my Icom R5 receiver with me, but haven't had much chance to play with it yet. |
Nobody's saying you need to become a HAM... but the principles of EM wave propagation and so forth are the same in that band, whether you're on 144mhz or 160mhz. VHF is primarily line-of-sight, no matter how many watts you have. You get far more mileage out of increasing the height of your antenna (a repeater on a high mast should extend your range by quite a lot). |
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If your AO is hilly terrain, 5 to 8 miles could be all you get for mobile to mobile comms. Repeaters are great, but unless you have access to a manned site with continuous power available, it might be a stretch to maintain. Some help from the US military could go a long way. I don't need to mention that an unmanned/unmonitored site with solar panels comes to mind, but could be dangerous to maintain in a war zone. The bad guys could leave you a present. A vehicle mount mobile repeater could be used if you have the personnel to take it to a high area before you start your ops. Again, if a pattern is noticed by the BG's, it could quickly become a bad idea. The solutions are neither cheap nor easy especially if you require encryption. Sat phones or a mesh linked data system? RS |
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In all actuality, you are doing well to get 5-8 miles running some of the gear you are. It is not just about being on that specific frequency, but also that being close to high power transmitters will raise the noise floor and desenisitise you recievers to a certain extent. Depending on what antennas you are running you may be able to squeeze a bit more. For example, if you are using 1/4 wave antennas now switching to 5/8 wave will get you more gain and more of your signal will be sent out on the horizontal plane toward your vehicles instead of up in the air where you do not need it. For a good reference, I would suggest The ARRL Handbook for you. It is geared for Hams, but there is no equivelant reference out there in the radio world and most professional radio shops I have been in have a copy. The ARRL Antenna book is also a good choice. If you want to get more specific with what issues you will have running the equipment you are, hit me up via IM. I am not comfortable going into more detail in a public forum other than to say it is not your radios at fault, but rather how they interact with other equipment.... |
I can speak for the .mil side... we're told we can't bring any personally owned transceivers into the AO (more that they don't want us running around with FRS/GMRS type radios) so that covers ham also. I'll tell you though that I had my T-90A with me, and that I bought my VR-5000 while I was over there- I'd listen to HF on the ham bands, VHF that's unencrypted on the bases.... some unencrypted air etc etc..... That being said- I did look into operating over there as I had easy access to some very good satcom antennas and thought about trying that out- from what I understand you need to get in contact with the Iraqi Amateur Radio Society http://www.iraqi-ars.org/ and they'll give you your call.... That also being said- I was looking online and saw some DXpeditions going out of camp Taji... another base as well but I don't remember which one... I never went any further then looking into that I had to do though.... -Roth |
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As mentioned before, ARRL Handbook 2008. I'm looking around to see if I have an extra copy of one of the previous editions that I could send to you...I'll post if I find it. A google search for "VHF Propagation" might prove useful, too. |