At 06:17 AM 3/28/2008, Bill Dzurilla wrote:
Have not tried the Lindenblad. Not many are using it or talking about it, so I doubt it is all that great. Same for the turnstile.
The Lindenblad is said to be quite good, but requires a bit more mechanical work to build.
I do far better with a 5w HT and a handheld Arrow than I do with an IC-7000, ARR preamp, and any of the omnis I have tried. However, unlike some people, I don't
A directional antenna really does improve things on 70cm.
If you do go omni, get it high enough to be in the clear. And unless you get a preamp, use very good coax and keep the line as short as possible. You can get a 70cm receive-only preamp from Ramsey Electronics for $17, but with that you'll need a separate coax line for the 2m uplink, or a duplexer. The ARR is the cheapest RF switching preamp and it's over $125.
I wouldn't bother with a switching preamp, unless you're planning on using the omni for transmitting (e.g. for working the ISS repeater). You certainly don't need a switching preamp to work any of the Mode J birds, because the uplink is on a different band, and you want full duplex capability if you can have it. In any case, a good masthead preamp is a must for omnis.
I also homebrewed one of Kent's dual band LEO cheap yagis, see http://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf. It can be built for $10 and it works as good or better than the far more expensive expensive Arrow, although
I have had a lot of success with a homebrew directional antenna. Only reason I would consider an Arrow is for the portability as you mention.
Have not tried this, but I'm almost certain that a cheap yagi mounted at a fixed 20-30 degree elevation and rotated with an old TV rotator will be less expensive and give substantially better results than any omni, even an omni with a preamp.
I have heard this can work well, though I've never tried it. You will want to make sure that the Yagi only has moderate gain, as you will need a fairly wide pattern, so that the satellite can still be on the edge of the main lobe at high elevation.
73 de VK3JED http://vkradio.com