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« on: June 01, 2025, 2149 UTC »
Charlie, I know you can't help yourself, but please keep the politics to yourself. This a technical forum.
That said, all the above points are valid. Your mileage will also vary depending on the distance to your target, time of day, frequency, and type of transmit antenna employed. It should be mentioned that some antennas are less forgiving of surrounding terrain than others. A vertical, for example, has a low angle of radiation. If you are in a steep valley, or next to some bluffs, a chunk of your radiated signal will hit the cliffs, hills, etc and not make its way toward your intended target. Under these conditions, a dipole would be a better choice.
Also, if your interested in broadcasting, I would recommend you forgo getting a ham ticket and focus on your efforts in free radio. Many hams are of the dudley do-right variety and will harp on you about such things, especially playing music.
Modern solid state transmitter technology has evolved to the level that a transmitter in the 150W range can be about the size of a lunch box and run on battery power. Modern yard power equipment also has large lithium batteries that can run such a transmitter for an hour or so. Anything beyond that is going to require more batteries, or something less practical like a generator. This may require a rethink of strategy, or locale.
+-RH