ARLA/CLUSTER: HamRadioNow: Home on the (Antenna) Range

[João Costa > CT1FBF]

 Antenna Testing is a big part of the various VHF conferences held
around the US and the world. They set up an antenna range and compare
antennas against a known reference for gain and pattern. Results are
published, and while there's little head-to-head competition, there
are bragging rights.

Gary KN4AQ visited the antenna range at the Southeastern VHF Society
conference, held this year (April, 2017) in Charlotte, NC. He poked
around with his camera for a while, then talked to the guy who's been
setting the range up for the past decade, Al Tirevold WA0HQQ.

Before and after the interview segment, Gary and co-host David W0DHG
talk about the niche phenomenon of SSB and CW on VHF/UHF (and above).
Yes, there is more to 2-meters than FM (and DV) and repeaters! Gary's
ham-history goes back to the 60's, just before repeaters filled up
most of the 144 and 440 bands. He recalls that there was a little SSB
and a little more AM activity around 145.0, but mostly it was vacant
space.

HRN 318: Home on the (Antenna) Range, on Ham Radio Now
https://youtu.be/rIwzLHpvCwE


Links:
- SouthEastern VHF Society: http://svhfs.org/wp/
- All the raw 'B-Roll' video Gary shot starts at 54:09

Previous editions of HamRadioNow
http://www.youtube.com/user/HamRadioNow/videos