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Author Topic: 162 Mhz NWR distance  (Read 2067 times)

Elf36

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162 Mhz NWR distance
« on: October 31, 2021, 1134 UTC »
I haven't got an antenna set-up yet for VHF/UHF, but I was messing around listening to weather stations near me using an HF antenna. I was wondering how far out you have heard these WX stations around 162 Mhz?

Offline ThaDood

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Re: 162 Mhz NWR distance?
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2021, 1849 UTC »
Well, they are great VHF High Band Propagational 24/7 Beacons, fo' sure. I've heard them +200 miles when tropo enhancement happens. Hey... Our taxes pay for these, so might as well use them.   https://www.weather.gov/nwr/ 
“I am often asked how radio works. Well, you see, wire telegraphy
is like a very long cat. You yank his tail in New York and he
meows in Los Angeles. Do you understand this? Now, radio is
exactly the same, except that there is no cat.”
-Attributed to Albert Einstein, but I ripped it from the latest Splatter .PDF March 2025 issue.

Elf36

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Re: 162 Mhz NWR distance
« Reply #2 on: October 31, 2021, 2000 UTC »
Good deal. Always looking for new things to check out. Been doing some local aircraft listening also. I tuned into 123.450 Mhz a bit, but didn't hear anything. I'll have to try it earlier in the morning or late at night. If I'm not mistaken I learned about the 123.450 from a post you made a while back. Take care.

Offline RobRich

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Re: 162 Mhz NWR distance
« Reply #3 on: November 02, 2021, 1408 UTC »
If NOAA/NWS transmissions are circularly polarized, your might actually fair okay if a station is within one of the many lobes your OCFD presents at VHF.

In the meantime, you might consider a basic coaxial vertical dipole. It is lightweight enough to hang on even a rather small branch of a tree. Receive bandwidth should be rather wide at VHF, too, so one cut for VHF air should suffice for the weather band as well. Example here:

https://vk1nam.wordpress.com/2018/02/10/portable-2m-144-mhz-coaxial-dipole-antenna/

I would make some improvements like using a lower sleeve instead of the coax shield if transmitting, but otherwise building it as described with even cheap RG-6 would be okay for receiving, and you even could replace the turned choke with just 2-3 snap-on chokes for simplicity's sake if desired.
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