Need some help

[Bamacountryboy]

I have recently got my technician license , and have set up a mobile unit in my Jeep . I put in a Yaris FT-7800 and a Larson dual band antenna . The antenna is mounted on the front driver side fender between the fender and hood . I have a Barricade roof rack . I have no problem hitting repeaters that are 13+ miles away but when it comes to Simplex it seems like I have no range at all . Should I move the antenna . I know the Jeep is not the best suited because it is a soft top but I would like to get better range on simplex . Thanks for any help


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[nwoods]

There are a few things to consider. What frequencies are you using for Simplex or Duplexing out to a repeater? If in the same freq range, as i suspect, there wouldn’t be any range difference. However, your radio unit may be set up to broadcast at different power ranges. Perhaps your set up is defaulting to low power for Simplex? If so, this should be reversible by playing with the programming.

 

[prerunner1982]

Antenna height is key for VHF/UHF.
When working the repeater the antenna is a couple hundred possibly over 1000' in the air giving it a much greater range.
Simplex (person-person/vehicle-vehicle/person-vehicle) the antennas are 6' (+/-) off the ground and with the curvature of the earth you will only get 6-10 miles of communication distance on flat ground not considering any obstructions (buildings, foliage, etc).
The antenna up on the rack would probably do ok, if it's a 1/2 wave length on 2m it isn't a ground dependent antenna anyway and 70cm requires such little ground plane that as long as the mount has a good bond with the rack it might work just fine. Give it a shot, part of amateur radio as a hobby is experimenting.

 

[sonoronos]

This might be a dumb question, but have you made sure that your transmit offset is disabled?

 

[Bamacountryboy]

This might be a dumb question, but have you made sure that your transmit offset is disabled?

Yes , I can hear them but not well and not for a long distance . I am moving the antenna this weekend and see if that helps


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[sonoronos]

interesting....so this is a receive only problem for you?

 

[Bamacountryboy]

Ok moving the antenna solved my problem . I was able to talk and receive simplex the other night over a span of about 25 miles . Thanks you everyone


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[craig333]

I'm glad you fixed your problem. I'm likely going to have the same issue. I have no issues hitting repeaters but given the antenna location, simplex is likely (just haven't had the opportunity to actually check it yet) to be fairly short range. Unfortunately I don't have a lot of options for relocating the antenna.

 

[unusedusername]

@craig333: You can use a longer antenna in the same location for good results.

I have the same placement for my 2m/70cm antenna on the driver's side cowl. A 1/4 wave antenna really does not work well in this location, but a 1/2 wave and a 5/8ths wave works well.