Need more information than you provided:
1. Are you talking about analog repeater or digital repeater? 2. There are not very many digital/fusion repeaters in Houston. There are many more UHF DMR repeaters in the area. 3. You did not say what part of Houston you are in. I checked the BVARC roster and couldn’t find your address. 4. How much power are you using? Twenty five to thirty watts should hit anything around Houston, especially if the repeater has some height to it - >500’. 5. What kind of coax are you using? For UHF you need to be using LMR400. 6. Are you shielded behind a building between you and the 444.000 repeater? 7. Are you shielded behind any other structures for the other fusion repeaters. Several of the DMR repeaters have handheld coverage around Houston. 8. You just may need more height on the antenna. You can use Google Earth and do a profile to see if there is any “dirt” between you and the repeater. 9. If you have decent coverage on analog – 20 to 30 miles – then your installation is fine. I would try and get about 30’ feet if you could. That does help you get over the ground clutter. 10. You could go to the 50A but it only offer 1.8db gain on UHF and 1.5 on VHF. That is not a big improvement on VHF/UHF. As I mentioned, elevation would be the thing to work on. Of course the repeater could be sick and that is all you are going to get. Lots of variables to consider before changing antennas. Mike N5VCX From: BVARC [mailto:bvarc-boun...@bvarc.org] On Behalf Of Gayle Dotts via BVARC Sent: Sunday, April 15, 2018 11:05 PM To: BRAZOS VALLEY AMATEUR RADIO CLUB Cc: Gayle Dotts Subject: [BVARC] 2/70 uhf/vhf home base antenna Currently have a Diamond 30a up 18 feet. With my FTM100dr rig only hitting 444.000 repeater off and on..... I think I am needing an upgrade..... would a Diamond 50a work better? Gayle KF5LVZ _____ <http://www.avg.com/internet-security> AVG logo This email has been checked for viruses by AVG antivirus software. www.avg.com <http://www.avg.com/internet-security>
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