kent%husc6.harvard.edu.uucp@BBN.COM> (01/11/90)
In article <1990Jan9.004032.14390@Neon.Stanford.EDU> andy@Neon.Stanford.EDU (Andy Freeman) writes: >In article <3014@infmx.UUCP> marc@infmx.UUCP (Marc Kenig) writes: >>Quite right, the antenna must be outside the car, and the lead must be >>shielded. I don't care how many ignition noise gizmos you use, it just >>wont hack it. > >This is news to a friend of mine who seems to think that his "base >station" sitting on the rear seat with the antenna on top (of the >station, inside the car) actually works. The local repeaters >seem to be confused too. I don't think you are talking about the same thing. Your friend who is talking to a local repeater is probably using one of the bands that commonly have repeaters, like the VHF 2M ham band. (around 144 MHz) Marc Kenig is talking about HF, or shortwave (about 2 to 30 MHz). These are very different beasts. Shorter, VHF frequencies will do a much better job of squeezing through the windows of a car than will longer, HF frequencies. For a demo, listen to a portable, battery powered, AM radio (which is around 1 MHz) on the back seat of a car. Compare that to a battery powered FM radio (about 100 MHz). You will get very different results. (For those with fiberglass automobiles: This doesn't really apply to you--unless maybe they used a lot of carbon fibers in the brew.) No matter what your car, different frequencies propogate *very* differently. (That's one of the reasons why they have so many repeaters on 2M and *so* few on 80M.) -- Kent Borg lloyd!kent@husc6.harvard.edu or ...!husc6!lloyd!kent MacNet: kentborg H:(617) 776-6899 W:(617)426-3577 "The wall has been opened. One of the most insurmountable borders in Europe has become a German dance floor." -Christoph Hein, NYT Magazine, 17 Dec 1989