December 2007 - AMSAT-BB - mailman.amsat.org

Request for online sources of antenna modeling stuff
by STeve Andre' 04 Dec '07

04 Dec '07

Hello All, My wife (n8kpl) is taking a mathmatical modeling class, and she is looking for sites that talk about modeling of antennas. Since this is a math class, finding programs that do it isn't quite enough, since she has to do the work. I'm not finding what much stuff online. Thus I am asking on these two lists for help in finding stuff. An online course in antenna modeling would be great, finding formulas and practical experience would be great too. I'm thinking of yagi antennas as a good choice. We're looking at books as well so if you have favorites, that would be good to know. I have an interest in this myself, so this isn't just trying to get data for a school project. ;-) Thanks all, --STeve Andre' wb8wsf en82

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FS: Arrow Antenna
by Jeff Davis 04 Dec '07

04 Dec '07

I've got a spare Arrow Antenna -- the Arrow II Model 146/437-10WBP satellite antenna (split boom with the 10W duplexer @ cable) -- for sale. It has never been used other than to be assembled once and then disassembled. In the original bag with original instructions. New price is $139 + $10 shipping. I'll ship it to your door CONUS for $110. Paypal, money order, personal check, or grand prize winning Powerball lottery ticket accepted. No trades. Contact me off the list for more details. Thanks and 73, Jeff, KE9V

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AO7
by k3szh＠netzero.net 04 Dec '07

04 Dec '07

Congratulation Frank K9CIS for passing the 1000 mark contact on AO7.You are the only 2ND station in the whole USA to do it,plus you did it by your great CW skill. Again well done,I am holding my glass high. 73 Joe K3SZH Amsat 3788

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Re: How to make phasing cable for 440 MHz Arrow II
by Wayne Estes 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Click the links below to see how KB2M modified the 7+7 Arrow 70cm yagi to be circular polarized. Hand-written diagram from W0OQC: http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff239/Wayne_Estes/Ham%20Radio/W0OQCHarne… Calculations to determine length of the two 70 Ohm matching cables and the 93 Ohm phasing cable: http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff239/Wayne_Estes/Ham%20Radio/W0OQCcalcu… Photo of KB2M's finished wiring harness: http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff239/Wayne_Estes/Ham%20Radio/KB2MArrowm… Photo of KB2M's RHCP 7x7 Arrow yagi on the mast: http://i238.photobucket.com/albums/ff239/Wayne_Estes/Ham%20Radio/KB2MArrowo… Note that this was done as a portable uplink antenna for AO40. I can't think of any currently functioning ham satellites that would really need a RHCP 70cm antenna. The impedance matching cables are 3/4 wavelength long. That makes the dimensional tolerances 1/3 as critical compared to making 1/4 wavelength cables. The phasing cable is 1/4 wavelength long for obvious reasons. Also note that the dimensions should be measured from the center of the Tee to the end of the pin on the BNC connectors (connector and Tee contribute to the electrical length). Wayne Estes W9AE Oakland, Oregon, USA, CN83ik

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About CAPE telemetry / Acerca de la telemetría de CAPE.
by HEYLER YESID LEDEZMA LEUDO 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Hi. I am Heiler Ledezma, researcher from satellite 'Libertad 1', I want to know if somebody could to send to me the telemetry received about the cubesat CAPE. This information is very important for somethings researchings. Thanks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buenas tardes. Soy Heiler Ledezma, investigador del satélite 'Libertad 1 ', quisiera saber si alguien podría enviarme la telemetría recibida de el cubesat CAPE. Esta información es muy importante. Gracias. Heiler Yesid Ledezma Leudo. Estudiante de Tecnología Electrónica -U. Distrital. --------------------------------- Comparte video en la ventana de tus mensajes (y también tus fotos de Flickr). Usa el nuevo Yahoo! Messenger versión Beta. Visita http://mx.beta.messenger.yahoo.com/

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About CAPE telemetry / Acerca de la telemetría de CAPE.
by HEYLER YESID LEDEZMA LEUDO 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Hi. I am Heiler Ledezma, researcher from satellite 'Libertad 1', I want to know if somebody could to send to me the telemetry received about the cubesat CAPE. This information is very important for somethings researchings. Thanks. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Buenas tardes. Soy Heiler Ledezma, investigador del satélite 'Libertad 1 ', quisiera saber si alguien podría enviarme la telemetría recibida de el cubesat CAPE. Esta información es muy importante. Gracias. Heiler Yesid Ledezma Leudo. Estudiante de Tecnología Electrónica -U. Distrital. --------------------------------- ¡Capacidad ilimitada de almacenamiento en tu correo! No te preocupes más por el espacio de tu cuenta con Correo Yahoo!: http://correo.yahoo.com.mx/

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Evening SO-50 NA passes tonight
by Jonny 290 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

If anybody is like me and likes to burn the midnight oil, I'll be working the two overnight SO-50 passes, the first from 0638-0652Z and the second from 0820-0831Z. I know that traffic is very low on the birds at night, but I just thought I'd throw it out there. My station is now in the 'tune and tweak' mode and I am attempting to work as many passes as possible so I can plot my antenna/receiver response vs. the pass altitude and bearing to get an idea of my environment here; unfortunately it's tough as I am at work from 2100-0500Z. also if anybody wants to chat about some sort of overnight sked, that'd be awesome - I'm sure there's at least one or two NA ops that keep the same hours that I do. :P Up to four contacts on the birds, enjoying every pass as it's exciting as heck! my YL figured out that every time a certain alarm goes off on my cell phone I scamper back into the shack for 15 minutes and the U-110 starts thump thump thumping :) Matt KC4YLV em26

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Re: AO-16 update--for AMSAT NEWS Release
by Wouter Jan Ubbels 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Hi all, great to see AO-16 come back to live, It's always good to hear its steady buzzing sound:) Based on a suggestion by Mike, DK3WN, I have now also included decoding of the 7 short 2-byte MBL telemetry frames from AO-16 in the latest release ( v1.0.3 Beta) of Warbler (an AO-16 soundcard demodulator program I wrote). These frames are included in the .kss file which Warbler creates, and can therefore be viewed with DK3WN's MBL telemetry decoder. You can download the latest release from my website at http://home.casema.nl/b.ubbels/Warbler.htm 73 Wouter Jan Ubbels PE4WJ

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FS: Kenwood TH77 dualband HT
by John Geiger 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

I have for sale a Kenwood TH77 dualband (2m/70cm) HT in good condition. It does dual receive which would work perfectly for the FM sats like AO51 and AO27. It comes with the antenna, and 1 PB-6 battery that holds a charge, but I can't guarantee for how long. The HT can run directly off of 12 volts from a jack in the top-for 5 watts out. It does not have the tone board installed, but they should still be available somewhere. It also has the original box and manual. I will include one extra long life battery that is dead and needs rebuilding. There is no charger for the PB-6 included, but you can charge it with a drop in or universal charger. I am asking $65 plus shipping for this package. I can take paypal, check, or MO. 73s John AA5JG ____________________________________________________________________________________ Be a better friend, newshound, and know-it-all with Yahoo! Mobile. Try it now. http://mobile.yahoo.com/;_ylt=Ahu06i62sR8HDtDypao8Wcj9tAcJ

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FS Bird Model 43 & Slugs
by Steven Raas 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Bird Model 43 Watt meter S/N 165665 Great condx 'N' conectors Price $160.00 Shipping included to lower 48 states Bird Slug 500E 500w 400-1000 mhz unused/factory sealed - $70.00 Shipping Incl to lower 48 Bird Slug 100C 100w 100-250 mhz - $50.00 Shipping Incl to lower 48 Bird Slug 250C 250w 100-250 mhz - $60.00 Shipping Incl to lower 48 Bird Slug 50E 50w 400-1000 mhz $50.00 Shipping incl to lower 48 Inquiries or questions to sraas(a)optonline.net 73 Steven J.Raas QRV From FN20vg on 2/432 Terestrial-Sats-Digital-EME Member of - ARRL & AMSAT Supporter of N3FJP Software <http://www.n3fjp.com/> http://www.n3fjp.com Page - <http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/> http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/

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For Sale AZ/EL Rotor
by Steven Raas 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

For Sale Yaesu G-5500 rotor and control box. VG Condx Pick up ONLY in Freehold, NJ - Price $500.00 2x50' shielded control cables can be included for an additional $40.00 Also Pick up only. Steven J.Raas QRV From FN20vg on 2/432 Terestrial-Sats-Digital-EME Member of - ARRL & AMSAT Supporter of N3FJP Software <http://www.n3fjp.com/> http://www.n3fjp.com Page - <http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/> http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/

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fs ic-820
by Steven Raas 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Radio is now spoken for.. Thank you. Steven J.Raas QRV From FN20vg on 2/432 Terestrial-Sats-Digital-EME Member of - ARRL & AMSAT Supporter of N3FJP Software <http://www.n3fjp.com/> http://www.n3fjp.com Page - <http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/> http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/

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Re: Wanted: 70 cm helix design
by WILLIAMS MICHAEL 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Commercial: www.wimo.com Homebrew: http://members.aol.com/k5oe Select homebrew hardware picture alblum at lower left of page. also http://ve2zaz.net (great site) If I can help in any way, please email me. 73 Mike K9QHO AMSAT 33589

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UHF Power divider/combiner (?) Identification help - Please.
by Dave Aitch 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Single input, two outputs, all N type. 19.5 cms long. Looks like it is made from brass underneath the black paint The (silver foil ) description label is very worn. I see the following information on it. A small (male?) figure outlined, with a Yagi in it's right hand. The address: 132 Blvd Dauphine FRANCE Who was this made by please ? I need to gather the correct data before I put it on the market. Many thanks, Dave. AMSAT 5766

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Icom Sat Rig All Mode FS
by Steven Raas 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

For Sale: Icom IC-820H 2m/432 all mode great condition 100% functional. Includes MIC, Power Cable, Manual & AG-25 (2m Preamp) & Rig Blaster Plug N Play USB interface for PC control w/control cables. ( great for Auto Doppler tuning ! ) Photos can be seen on my web page listed below. Price is $560 + actual Shipping ( lower 48 will be probabaly around 12-15 $ ) Inquires & Questions are welcome please e-mail: sraas(a)optonline.net Steven J.Raas QRV From FN20vg on 2/432 Terestrial-Sats-Digital-EME Member of - ARRL & AMSAT Supporter of N3FJP Software <http://www.n3fjp.com/> http://www.n3fjp.com Page - <http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/> http://n2jdq2007.tripod.com/

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Re: Performance of IC-471?
by Richard Limebear 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

KC4YLV wrote: > The reason I'm drawn to the 471 are its single band construction with robust filtering, I already have a mint 271a and think the 471 would match well. Can anybody comment as to the suitability and/or performance of the ol' 471 on satellite? Excellent satellite rig; I still use one. One mod I did was to replace the front-end device. The rig comes with a 3SK48 but I replaced this with a BF981; its a straight drop-in replacement and needs no re-alignment. Its Q10 on the RF-YGR board. Ticklish to make sure you have the replacement device the right way round though; email me direct if you want deeper instructions. Claimed to give a 10dB gain improvement with a noise figure reduction of about 2.5dB overall. Only thing is I'm not sure if this device is still available (I did the mod in 1993). -- 73 Richard W L Limebear G3RWL g3rwl(a)amsat.org FOC # 1188 So many beautiful girls ... (sob) so little time

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APRS and space station
by Ed Tump 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Folks, If anyone here has had good success with sending an APRS location and digi-peating it through the ISS, please send me some tips or online links. I have a simple HT connected to the Arrow sat antenna. The laptop is running UISS. I can hear the data traffic very clearly. I also see them pop up on my UISS screen. But the times I have sent a TX to the ISS it does not seem to show up on this web page: http://www.ariss.net/ Anyone with success please let me know. 73, Ed KC9GWK Grid EN52 AmSat Member

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Re: Performance of IC-471? (bought a 475!)
by Jonny 290 03 Dec '07

03 Dec '07

Just to keep people updated, the radio gods have smiled on me today. I was unable to win the auction for the 471H that I was eyeing up, but by some strange luck I happened to catch a 475A on eBay for an unexpectedly low price with only a couple minor non-performance issues. I'm so excited to have the (arguably more important) half of my dream setup fall into my lap! It'll be very nice to be able to have the RX side computer-controlled - I've already built a CI-V interface for programming my mobile so I'm ready to go. Matt KC4YLV em26 On Nov 30, 2007 8:34 PM, jonny 290 <jonny290(a)gmail.com> wrote: > > I'm currently shopping for a competent 70cm all-mode, as I believe my > Icom 208H and PCR100s > are just not sensitive or selective enough to do the job. > > >

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AO-16 update--for AMSAT NEWS Release
by Andrew Glasbrenner 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

FYI, Drew KO4MA AO-16 PACSAT Update December 3, 2007 After several months of silence, Amsat Oscar 16 (PACSAT) was commanded back ON on November 8, 2007. The satellite is transmitting on TX A at 437.024 MHz (+/- Doppler). Please note this transmitter is LHCP (left hand circular polarity). Recent attempts to reload the AO-16 satellite operating system and housekeeping tasks have thus far been unsuccessful. Harold Price, NK6K, Jim White, WD0E, Bruce Rahn, WB9ANQ, and Mark Hammond, N8MH are analyzing dumps of the spacecraft memory. This analysis and additional testing will continue for the next week or two before additional attempts to reload the spacecraft are attempted. AO-16 is, however, very alive and sending MBL telemetry! Thanks to all who have submitted MBL telemetry data. Please continue to send your AO-16 MBL telemetry files in KISS format to: telemetry AT quagliana DOT com. Thanks to Douglas Quagliana, KA2UPW for serving as telemetry coordinator. The AO-16 Command Team is especially interested in telemetry collected while AO-16 transitions into and out of eclipse. Announcement: Mike Rupprecht, DK3WN, has just released the AO-16 PACSAT MBL telemetry decoder! This very fine decoder may be downloaded from: www.dk3wn.info/files/ao16mbl.zip The program is intuitive, and the output of the KISS telemetry files in graphic format is excellent. Now, AO-16 "telemetry hunters" can view the MBL telemetry files. Thank you, Mike, DK3WN, for the speedy development and release of this useful telemetry tool. Further announcements and updates from the AO-16 Command Team can be expected in the coming weeks. Submitted by Mark Hammond, N8MH (on behalf of the AO-16 Command Team).

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AO-51 You Tube Videos
by Doug Kuitula 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

Hi all, I ran across some very interesting You Tube videos by Randy K7AGE on the AMSAT-UK website. He demonstrates working AO-51 using an Arrow antenna and a handheld. I was especially interested in the bracket he made for holding the HT to the antenna. I'll have to make one of my own. His tripod set up for the antenna is quite nice as well. You can check it out at the following: www.uk.amsat.org/content/view/556/68 Well done Randy! 73 de Doug KA8QCU

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ANDE is now cruising at 235km height
by Henk, PA3GUO 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

ANDE is now cruising at 235 km, and keeps on coming down. In case you have never had time to try listening, maybe now is the moment, as there will not be many days left ! Why not collect some telemetry packets and join the special de-orbit event ? The more packets you captures during the last 10 days of ANDE in space, the more points you earn. On the ANDE de-Orbit AWARD your score will be listed. http://www.ande-deorbit.com has all the details. Let us know if you will participate ! Henk, PA3GUO ps: if you go to http://www.ew.usna.edu/~bruninga/ande-ops.html you can try to predict yourself when the last day in space will be, based on the graph given there.

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How to make phasing cable for 440 MHz Arrow II cross Yagi?
by Rick Mann 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

Hi. I have an Arrow II cross Yagi handheld antenna, but it doesn't come with a phasing cable to make it circularly polarized. I have some of the required components, but I can't find the guide I was using before. Can someone tell me how to make such a cable (or point me to a resource online)? Thanks! -- Rick

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Satellite portable.
by John Hackett 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

Satellite portable ... or ... satellite tracking on your mobile phone. Avid readers of the bulletin boards may be aware that a couple of years ago I mentioned that it might be a good idea if someone wrote a tracking program for mobile phones that ran the popular Symbian operating system. At that time, nobody resonded. There have been programs for certain PDA's and Win-doze mobile but until recently, nothing for the Symbian OS.. A portable satellite station can be as small as a dual-band handheld, a 3/4 wave whip (albiet minimalistic) and your mobile phone. Of course, one can print out orbit predictions as well as lugging around a laptop for fancy graphics - but the really 'smart' people could just use a 'smartphone'. Therefore ... since nobody responded first time around - ( I can't even write my name properly) - I repeated my request for someone to write a tracking program for Symbian phones ... which resulted in K0SM Andy making me aware of his excellent tracking program for mobile phones called 'SATme'. Users of Java programs on mobile phones are usually aware that many strange things can and usually do happen with the installation of certain programs. The reason I mention this is to illustrate the 'service' Andy provided - which was nothing less than spectacular! ... in fact, he customised his program - (on a Saturday night !, while we were in "QSO" on the internet) - to specifically fit my N70 phone, giving me the parameters I wanted in a tracking program for portable operations. Tailor-made tracking programs? ...this is most certainly in the true spirit of amateur radio. A DEMO of Andy's program may be downloaded from this location ... <http://www.k0sm.com/> I'm also using my phone as a QSO recorder ... as well as transmitting CW WAV files ... to compliment the maniature homebrew keyer I have strapped to my thigh, made from 2 x microswitches 'thieved' from a computer mouse. I have the phones clock set up for various satellite 'periods' - (AOS audio warnings, to you!) while the phone's 'notepad' shows the uplink/downlink frequencies. A mobile phone can be a very useful addition to your portable satellite station if you don't want to lug your laptop around. The 'Mprs' program not only shows up on Findu.com - it sends your GPS position and if you wish, even a text message from your phone. Google maps is self explaitory. Did I mention that in extreme cicumstances my Nokia N74 could even be used as a telephone ??. 73 John. <la2qaa(a)amsat.org>

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Re: How to make phasing cable for 440 MHz Arrow II cross Ya gi?
by w4mvb＠juno.com 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

My experiments over the last several years indicates that the value of circular polarization for LEO satellites is somewhat over rated. The key to success is switchable polarization. My current antennas consists of a often modified M2 2M 14 element (7+7) crossed yagi and a pair of K1FO style yagi's for 435 - one mounted vertically and one horizontally. Both are circularly polarized (or nearly so) and I can switch the polarization on both. I built a number of antennas before I arrived at this configuration and during the process I used linear fixed polarization, circular fixed polarization and switchable polarization both fixed and circular. No matter what polarization I used the key was always the ability to switch. When FO-20 and 29 were active you could get "locked out" for a considerable part of an orbit if you could not switch polarization. Switching between vertical and horizontal polarization worked as well as switching between RHCP and LHCP. I once decided that if you mount one antenna at 45 degrees the problem would be solved. As those of you who use handheld arrow style antennas know even that had to be reversed at some point to get a reasonable signal. Circular polarization can provide a 3 db advantage over linear polarization but that is only true if both transmit and receive antenna are the same polarization and both are aimed directly at each other. Although this works well on the HEO stabilized birds it almost never happens on the lower orbit satellites. It's doubtful if the 3 db advantage could be detected on the low orbit birds even if it did happen given the other variables in the transmit/receive path. Although I'm sure there are those who would disagree I think it is just as effective (and much less complex) to simply switch between vertical and horizontal elements where both are available. My 2 cents worth. 73 de Jess - W4MVB

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Successful contact at last
by Jonny 290 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

Finally nailed my first satellite QSO today on the evening pass of AO-51 with NK0Z. Quite tickled; i've found that I can copy fine from about 5-30 degrees elevation; above that I'm losing some. I am thinking of building an eggbeater and switching to it on high elevations as I think the 6 element beams I have might have too narrow beamwidth to get away without either that or an elevation rotor, which isn't really an option right now. Hope to land some more QSO's this weekend! Matt KC4YLV em26

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Re: How to make phasing cable for 440 MHz Arrow II cross Yagi?
by Rick Mann 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

On Dec 1, 2007, at 9:42 PM, Jim Jerzycke wrote: > That's because it's not meant to be circularly > polarized. You basically have two single-band antennas > on a common boom. If yours has separate feedlines for > each antenna you can either run two separate radios, > or connect them both to a duplexer, and use the > resulting single feedline to feed a single radio. > 73, Jim KQ6EA Are you referring to the 70cm/2m Arrow II antenna? I wasn't clear, but I'm talking about the dual 70cm: http://www.arrowantennas.com/437x14ii.html -- Rick

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Re: How to make phasing cable for 440 MHz Arrow II cross Yagi?
by Rick Mann 02 Dec '07

02 Dec '07

On Dec 1, 2007, at 9:31 PM, Bruce wrote: > you can't make it circular because you would need either 2m elements > or 70cm elements on both planes. the arrow is designed as a 2m yagi > on one plane and a 70 cm yagi on the other. you rotate your hand > left and right to change polarity as you listen to the bird. Thanks Bruce, but I actually have two 70 cm antennas at 90 deg to each other: http://www.arrowantennas.com/437x14ii.html As I understand things, I should be able to use a phasing cable to circularly polarize it. -- Rick

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Woohoo! Guatemala on AO-27!!!
by Bob Stewart 01 Dec '07

01 Dec '07

I turned the rig on at the last minute to record the AO-27 pass at about 2058Z and there's Allen (N5AFV) working TG9GJG. Quick! Hit all the buttons and grab the mike! Thanks for the QSO, Julio! Bob - AE6RV

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So close to success! (SO-50 pass)
by Jonny 290 01 Dec '07

01 Dec '07

Satellite station is about 90% done as far as hardware goes - about all I need to do is to get a quality 70cm rig and perhaps set up elevation control for the beams (6 elements for each band). I have only received faint signals so far and nothing really good quality. So, this evening I fired up the Orbitron as usual to see if I could try to RX any passes. Turns out there was a nice SO-50 pass, about 41 degrees peak, and decided to give it a shot. One thing I tried was tearing my shack-mount, terribly-constructed preamp out of line. I have to say that I slacked on it - I used 3" pieces of RG-174 as patches in the (unshielded) box, and attempted to have a bypass relay setup - but with a cheap little DIP relay. Crappy, I know, but it's old. So, I just hooked the Icom 208 straight up to the antenna feedline, and said "what the hey." It's a better receiver than the PCR100 but still has a wideband RX front end so I was fearing knocking the RX out when TXing (both antennas are vertical polarization and I have no filtering yet) Sure enough as soon as the bird hit about 7-8 degrees (I'm at 15 foot antenna elevation in a mildly urban area) I was able to activate it, and I got a full quieting carrier when I called CQ. I was able to CQ for about 75% of the pass, I lost it above 35 degrees or so. Quickly regained it on the descent. Right as I was losing it I heard a station with a Spanish accent come back to my CQ but it was too late - lost the bird. Anyways I am terribly excited and hope that I can get some passes in when there is actual activity. Hope to talk to you all on the birds very soon! (like tomorrow) Very surprised at the audio and transmission quality. For some reason I imagined that the signal would have much more flutter and fading. It was remarkably consistent. good job amsat! :) As an aside, I intend to catch as many overnight passes of -50 and -51 as possible. If anybody in NA wants to try to set up a sked some time, do send me an email. 73 de Matt KC4YLV em26

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Re: [Mw] Japanese Lunar Orbiter received
by Michael Fletcher 01 Dec '07

01 Dec '07

Hi all, added a couple of video clips, photos and spectrograms (last 11 lines of this "update task list" page): http://www.kolumbus.fi/michael.fletcher/latest.htm Receiving the lunar orbiter carrier with a W-LAN patch antenna is pretty cool. I was copying Kaguya with my portable setup off and on last week whilst on a business trip - the equipment and battery fit into a small attache case... 73's Michael, OH2AUE -- "Life is too short for Sudoku"

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Performance of IC-471?
by jonny 290 01 Dec '07

01 Dec '07

Hi list, I'm still working hard at my station and saving pennies. I caught an SO-50 pass the other day (though there was terrible howling signal the whole time and I couldn't copy any voice) and I'm getting ready to mast mount my 70cm preamp. I'm currently shopping for a competent 70cm all-mode, as I believe my Icom 208H and PCR100s are just not sensitive or selective enough to do the job. The reason I'm drawn to the 471 are its single band construction with robust filtering, I already have a mint 271a and think the 471 would match well, and the through-hole construction means that I have a shot at preserving my investment via future repairs, barring any blown out-of-production ICs of course. Can anybody comment as to the suitability and/or performance of the ol' 471 on satellite? I imagine it's pretty decent, possibly great with a proper alignment/tuneup. I've read things about people modding the front end of 251/451's which is just one generation prior, and I am somewhat familiar with the 271 front end so I imagine I can play around with some silicon swaps on the front end to boost the performance if it's needed later (which I doubt with a good radio and a mast-mount preamp). Down the road after I get a good job I want to set up a 275/475 station but of course you all know the price tag on those beauties. I figure a 271/471 pair will keep me happy for as many years as it takes to find my '75 "twins". 73, hope to get TRX on the birds soon, and I appreciate any insight. Matt KC4YLV

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