[OZAPRS] Was Byonics, Australian requirements

[Damien Gardner Jnr]

-----Original Message-----
From: ozaprs-bounces at aprs.net.au [mailto:ozaprs-bounces at aprs.net.au] On
Behalf Of David Hopkins
>The big drawback on HF is as Ray pointed out, cost of transceiver, 
>size of the radio and the antenna.
>A car fitted with this gear is easy for thieves to spot and rob.
>VHF equipment is less conspicuous.
>So long as one sticks to the main highways one can use the GPRS
network.
>While this costs money its a lot cheaper than buying a HF transceiver.
>David

I'm curious.. How much bigger can a HF antenna possibly be, compared to
a VHF antenna??  I know both of mine have always stood out like dogs
balls, whether they were on the boot of my commodore, or (these days) on
the bullbar on the hilux (http://offshore.pinegap.net/P5198782.jpg - nb:
turn headlights off before driving through water) - not sure how I'd fit
extra antennas there, maybe move some stuff to bonnet side-mount ;)

How good *is* HF coverage? I know pretty much as soon as I head into
Gippsland on my way north, I totally run out of aprs coverage till I hit
just south of Canberra, if I go up through the snowies, or for a small
pocket around Batemans bay, if I'm heading to Sydney, then proper
coverage starts around Wollongong...  I'm wondering if I'm better
getting a 50W amp to go between the D7 and the 9dB antenna, or maybe
it's worth giving HF a try??

Regards,

Damien


--
Damien Gardner Jnr
VK2TDG. Dip EE. StudIEAust
Home: rendrag at rendrag.net -  http://www.rendrag.net/
Play: vk2tdg at pinegap.net  -  http://pinegap.net/
--
We rode on the winds of the rising storm,
  We ran to the sounds of thunder.
We danced among the lightning bolts,
  and tore the world asunder



_______________________________________________
Ozaprs mailing list
Ozaprs at aprs.net.au
http://aprs.net.au/mailman/listinfo/ozaprs