Deep Thought
Active Member
My friend came over Saturday and we played with VHF digital a bit more.
We were able to reliably transmit 3.8 miles to each other. He has a 5 watt Baofeng, and I have a 75 watt Yaesu FT-2900.
When he went to the next highest hill away, about 6 miles, he could get enough signal from me to break squelch and pick up some text but mostly gibberish. I could not get any signal from him to break squelch.
I don't know if we are using the wrong digital mode or if this just isn't possible. It seems to me that if I am blasting 75 watts he should be able to hear me at 6 miles away.
No. I have an Ed Fong antenna mounted on my roof, so it's about 20 feet off the ground. I'm also on the north side of a hill.
My friend was using an antenna external to his car for this experiment. I don't know the particular model but it's at least outside the vehicle.
At this point I wonder if we are trying to do the impossible.
What's it called again where you blast 6M into the sky in order to reach a small local area?
Ed Fong makes a mighty fine antenna, but a Yaesu FT-2900 does not do VHF digital modes (or even SSB) at least natively. What TNC or mode were you trying out? 75 watts at even 6 miles should be easily doable on 2M (absent terrain obstructions).