[600MRG] Em Con with 630m

[Edward R Cole]

Mike,

That is interesting to know.  The front range is very high reaching 
14K peaks so would not expect good signal levels the other side.  The 
Kenai Peninsula is rolling hills and lakes similar to parts of 
Minnesota with about 15mi over water to Anchorage then a basin in the 
mountains so not too much obstruction on the path we tested.  About 
12mi beyond Wasilla are the Talkeetna Mountains which are in the 4-6K 
range.  The Eastern half of the Kenai Peninsula is covered with 4K 
mountains which block VHF path to Seward where one hospital is 
located.  Homer hospital is on the south side of a 1.1K ridge so 
similarly has no VHF path though a 2m repeater is located on the 
ridge which is in range of me at 90mi.  South of Homer is a bay and 
then high mountains.  The Soldotna Hospital and KPB 911 call center 
are 22mi south of me, so closer to the other two sites.

I would expect fair coverage for 600m to Homer but wonder how it 
would reach to Seward about 120mi thru mountains and 
valleys.  Occasionally we hear the Seward 2m repeater, but this is 
VHF prop which would be totally different.

Normally I get night-time 80m coverage out 400 to 800 mi. which 
covers a lot of Alaska.  SE AK is hardest to reach at 800+ miles, 
though very easy on 6m meteor scatter.

For emcomm the officials want comms on the Peninsula and then links 
to Anchorage 80mi north of the 911call center (which is co-location 
of the Kenai Bureau Emergency Response Center).  Our local ham club 
holds meetings and its annual hamfest in that building.  It would 
take a world-class earthquake to affect all of Alaska 
infrastructure.  But the communications industry now have mobile 
earth stations to support long-distance phone/internet.  250 villages 
in AK are provided routine phone/internet/TV via satellite link using 
local earth stations.  That makes the AK communications system much 
more endurable to what mother nature dishes out.  I believe two 
undersea phone lines connect us to lower-48 plus satellite 
links.  Those lines were disrupted in the 1964 event.  The AK RR 
tracks out of Anchorage to Seward were destroyed and took months to 
restore train traffic.  Seward was nearly destroyed as a town since 
it was hit by Tsunami.  it is the southern RR terminus and ice-free 
port of much shipping.  Tracks go thru Anchorage which was created by 
the RR in 1915 to serve Fairbanks 750mi further north.  This is the 
only RR in state with no connection out of state.  Most freight is 
brought by barge from Seattle.

Major volcanic eruption, extreme wind storms, and wildfire are other 
potential disasters.  I have seen three eruptions since living up 
here 35 years and many earthquakes.  Fortunately no nearby fires as 
we are in the forest.  Have seen lots of wind over 65mph.  Anchorage 
hillside is subject to 50-100 mph winds several times per year.  So 
emcomm prepareness is important up here.

OK enough of this, thanks for reading.

73, Ed - KL7UW

At 04:39 AM 1/6/2014, Michael Mussler wrote:
>My son and I did some 600m tests a few years ago running about 1 w 
>ERP using PSK31 and a mobile 600m receiver. We found that in very 
>rugged terrain (i.e. steep, narrow valleys and canyons here in the 
>Front Range foothills of Colorado) we got solid copy out to 10 miles 
>from the transmitter site. The receive set up consisted of a ferrite 
>rod loop antenna with preamp driving the 630m receiver and laptop 
>computer. We even copied the PSK31 signals with the loop antenna 
>resting on the dashboard inside the vehicle.
>
>Consider the utility of a one way communication system during an 
>emergency such as a forest fire or other natural disasters: 
>transmissions of low data rate information (localized WX info, road 
>closures, situation status) could be made to field teams that would 
>not be possible with VHF/UHF repeaters and cell sites that were down.
>
>Due to the improved S/N with the WSPR modes, even better coverage 
>should be possible for this application.
>
>-Mike Mussler
>WD2XSH/12
>AI8Z
>
>
>

73, Ed - KL7UW
http://www.kl7uw.com
     "Kits made by KL7UW"
Dubus Mag business:
     dubususa at gmail.com