[aprssig] APRS on Amtrak, DC to Minneapolis

[Fred Hillhouse]

Trains are tough! They follow valleys, rivers, and such. And, are almost always in the lowest spots!

 

You need to travel in an observation car if available! It will be a bit higher and have less shielding around you. Not only will the radio get better coverage, your eyes will too! J Too bad if this is not an option!

 

A better-than-HT-antenna (1/4 – 1/2 wave?) and more power should help.

 

If you look into building a battery pack, you may want to look at this page, http://oh8stn.org/.

 

I am a fan of LiFePO4 batteries and am considering building a pack myself. A 4S pack would be a good voltage, then just add capacity. These two items may be of interest.

http://www.batteryspace.com/LiFePO4-40152SE-Cell-3.2V-15-Ah-150ASurge-Rate-48Wh-with-6M-screw-Termin.aspx

http://www.batteryspace.com/LiFePO4-40152SE-Cell-3.2V-15-Ah-150ASurge-Rate-48Wh-with-6M-screw-Termin.aspx

 

Buddipole has built battery packs. They are build using the A123Systems batteries. They may do a custom configuration. They use 3.2V cells.

 

Best regards,

Fred N7FMH

 

 

 

From: aprssig [mailto:aprssig-bounces at tapr.org] On Behalf Of Robert Bruninga
Sent: Thursday, May 31, 2018 10:08 PM
To: TAPR APRS Mailing List
Subject: [aprssig] APRS on Amtrak, DC to Minneapolis

 

ANyone have experience with 5 watts on the Capital limited and Empire Builder AMTRAK routes, DC to Minneapolis?

 

My 5 watts was abysmal from DC to Connecticut (a few hits in 6 hours), so I guess I should pack a 25 watt Amp?

with antenna taped in the window.  I have a month til I go to build a battery pack for the current.

 

In fact, maybe I should build a nice Train-Go-Kit which includes the battery pack and power distribution center for all the other stuff I want to plugin while I RELAX!

 

Too bad I cannot run a cable out the back of the last car for a magmount HF antenna...;-)

 

Bob

WB4APR



---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://lists.tapr.org/pipermail/aprssig_lists.tapr.org/attachments/20180601/5c099183/attachment.html>