VE6AB Portable Ops
Take-down Yagi On The Rocks
This photo finds me just off a back-country trail that borders Upper Kananaskis Lake in Kananaskis Country, located along the eastern border with Banff Park.
I have hiked this area for many years, and I thought this would be a good place to run some tests with my take-down yagi.
In this photo I have just taken a break from working a repeater back in Calgary, a distance of approximately 90 kilometers as the crow flies, with my Yaesu VX-8R attached to my take-down yagi.
Working a repeater with a 2 meter yagi and a HT at a distance of 90 kilometers would normally not be that difficult out on the plains, however in this case the Kananaskis Lakes are located in a valley that runs in a North/South direction, and Calgary lies behind the east side of this valley.
So how did I work the repeater back in Calgary you ask.....
With Calgary located on a line that runs away from my left shoulder, and with a ridge that forms the east side of the valley in the way of my signal, I actually work the Calgary repeater by bouncing my signal off of the mountain located directly across the lake from me, and somewhat behind the tree in the photo.
Over the years while hiking and fishing back-country lakes in the Rockies, and in particular those located in Kananaskis Country, I discovered long ago that you are at a disadvantage using your favorite HT with its rubber-duck antenna.
What works is a handheld directional antenna that you use with your favorite HT, and by bouncing the signal off of a mountain that you select through experimentation.
You also will find that you may have to listen in a totally different direction, than the direction you point the antenna while transmitting and bouncing the signal back to the repeater in Calgary as in this case.
On this day, besides the necessities being carried in my daypack to stay safe while out in the back-country, I also have my Nomad solar-charging panel attached to my pack, where it goes about its duty of charging the spare AA battery pack for my VX-8R.
As you can tell by the fact that I was wearing my favorite mountaineering jacket along with a fleece inner jacket, and by the snow on the upper elevations of the mountains around me, it was a cool kind of fall day, and its only a matter of time before winter arrives.
Still, it was a good day to spend time out and about in the rock pile.
Click on the photo for a closer look....
Here is a look at my take-down yagi being tested in the antenna lab.....
http://www.jerryclement.ca/MachineShop/Antenna-Werks/i-SDDXRVC
