Foundations Of Amateur Radio

Foundations of Amateur Radio The other day I had the fortune of using a club station with an Advanced License whilst mobile using more than my usual 5 Watts. I was driving in convoy away from the main local 2m repeater and was interested in finding out what the coverage might look like and how high power might make a difference. When I say high power, that's 50 Watts FM on 2m. I learnt several things during my journey. First of all, line of sight is still true, even with more power, but there is more margin for error. Little obstacles that would cause a 5 Watt signal to be absorbed before it got to the other end are all but invisible with full power. Don't get me wrong, a hill is a hill and a radio signal won't go through it, but trees, houses, and all the other little things we humans build on the planet each obstruct a little bit of signal. Higher power gives you more margin and less effect on the resulting audio. The next thing I learned is that two cars, travelling in convoy can overwhelm each other w