Considering I was using just a basic vertical Slim Jim half-wave antenna in the attic, I began wondering if everyone was really using horizontal polaziation as I had expected?
I began thinking about it and I came to the conclusion that even though FT8 is a weak signal mode on SSB and horizontal polarization is the norm, there must be some stations using just a simple 'white stick' dual band vertical up on their roof.
After all, if you have limited space or you're active on many different bands, you may not be interested in getting a dedicated horizontal antenna for 144 MHz.
The Poll... I thought it might be interesting to see just how many people are using vertical polarization on 2m FT8 so I contacted Tim, GW4VXE who writes for several amateur radio publications and has over 4000 followers on Twitter.
I suggested to Tim that it might be interesting to put a poll up on Twitter just out of interest. Tim duly obliged and put the following poll up on Twitter for about a week.
Tim asked his followers if they used exclusively horizontal or vertical polarization or if they sometimes used either for FT8 on 2-metres.
Results... A total of 76 people voted and the results were...
Vertical Polarization - 32.9% and
Both Vertical & Horizontal - 11.8%
There are a few caveats with the results...
1) The sample size was 76. It's not huge but I think it's still enough to give a good indication.
2) The poll was just on Twitter. Whether having the poll on Facebook or some other platform would make a difference, I don't know.
3) As Tim writes for UK based radio magazines, I would assume most of his followers are from the UK as well. Would the answer be the same in Germany, elsewhere in Europe or the USA?
In Conclusion... I think the poll results show that there are a lot more people using vertical polarization on FT8 on 144 MHz than might be expected.
If you have a radio with 2m SSB on it then try tuning to 144.174 MHz when there is high pressure about and have a listen on FT8, you might be pleasantly suprised.
Credits: My thanks to Tim, GW4VXE for conducting the poll. You can find Tim on Twitter here... https://twitter.com/gw4vxe
2 comments:
Well, the poll is taken with its limitations, which are probably not severe. Not really surprising, given that 2m in the UK traditionally had a lot of input from ex-CBers, where simple verticals were common. And of course, a white stick attracts far fewer neighbour and installation problems than a Yagi.
The positive news is that FT8 allows successful QSOs with simple verticals where SSB would not remotely cut it. And so, FT8 is allowing more people to join in on 2m. There has undoubtedly been a revitalising of that band in the UK.
I am not surprised. To add to this, in Denmark we have a "Net" for in-land SSB QSOs, and the use of vertical polarization is high, probably over 50%. Not surprising that some will use FT8 as well. This could prove interesting for increasing the interest in narrow band DX on 2m.
Main thing is that most people have not optimized the system (cables etc), but it is a start.
The only limitation to using the "white sticks" is the maximum power you can send into them. Not a problem for most people. and some of them have modifications published on the net.
In addition, most use the multi-band verticals makes it tricky to optimize the performance. I am thinking of creating my own "optimization box" out at the mast (long cable), with a triplexer, preamps, and possibly PAs out there, for all 3 bands. It will need some control cable for T/R switching, though.
When I get to this (some day) I will post it on my own blog, too.
Vy 73 de Jan OZ9QV
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