The antenna of the Minuteman Repeater Association‘s Stoneham UHF repeater will soon be replaced, according to MMRA President Bob DeMattia, K1IW.
“The new antenna will provide a -30 db null toward the PAVE PAWS radar in Bourne, versus a current antenna gain of +5dB.”
[See ARRL Continues to Deal with DOD Over PAVE PAWS Sites and other related stories.]DeMattia says the new antenna will provide a directional pattern with a major lobe directed at 345 degrees magnetic “creating a line through Woburn, Wilmington, Tewksbury, and Pelham, NH.” Stations in the major lobe could see a signal gain of 10 dB.
K1IW writes, “The 3dB beamwidth is 60 degrees, so stations along the lines of Burlington, Carlisle, Westford and Reading, Andover, Haverhill will see 7 dB improvement. Once outside this wedge, signal strength drops off quickly. On the direct side of the antenna, signal is -20 dB. There are no appreciable minor lobes.
DeMattia says that signal reports are welcome.