2
$\begingroup$

I live 7.8 kilometers birds eye view from my friends house. We are in Denver, so there may be a bit of terrain but should be relatively flat. There are a few trees, and houses and maybe a few buildings between us.

What is the best practical antenna system to simplex on the 2 meter from my house to his? Would something like a Yagi be good?

Is it even possible to get a signal through a few houses and trees? Currently, I use an ht with rubber duck to hit repeaters on the mountains west, but I wanted to see if we could get simplex. My friend has a 50w 2m rig and I'm probably getting one of those soon also

Improve this question
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ Signal quality is a function of much more than what antenna you use. You do not have not supplied with sufficient detail any information that would allow an objective calculation. "There are a few trees" doesn't mean much: we'd need to know your path loss, in decibels. Without that, this question boils down to "what 2m antenna do you like?", or "what's a good 2m antenna?", for some unspecified definition of "good". None of those are objective or a good fit for this Q&A format. $\endgroup$
    – Phil Frost - W8II
    Jan 31, 2014 at 1:00

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
3
$\begingroup$

You should have no problems doing 7 km with a (presumably 5W) HT even with the rubber duck antenna, outside. If you wanted to talk from inside, you will probably want an exterior antenna, but almost any common 2m antennas will do the job. A simple J pole is popular, you could even use a mobile antenna sited out a window.

Improve this answer
$\endgroup$
1
  • $\begingroup$ To expand a bit, HEIGHT will be your ally for a 2 Meter simplex contact. If your friend has a rooftop/treetop external antenna and a base radio, chances are you will be fine with a HT. But if you add height and an external antenna on your end as well, so much the better. The best I have done on 2M simplex rooftop vertical to rooftop vertical is about 50 miles (~80 km). $\endgroup$
    – Ron J. KD2EQS
    Jan 30, 2014 at 14:04

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .