Jim,
I've been preaching preamps from the AO-10 years. WE especially had a "hard sell" with folks trying to get on AO-40 mode-S. Now there are a lot of wiser folks. ...and remember it belongs as close to your antenna as possible...loss ahead of the preamp adds directly to noise figure.
I copied AO-52 telemetry using a 19-inch whip on a small and a UHF preamp (mgf-1402) to mixW2 sw.
73, Ed
At 08:25 PM 9/17/2007, Jim Jerzycke wrote:
Welcome to the wonderful world of mast-mounted preamps! 90% of the people who get involved with satellites (INCLUDING myself) think they don't *need* a preamp. After doing all you can (better antenna, lower loss feedline, etc) to get your receive setup maxed out, you finally decide to "just try one; I can always sell it on eBay", and are usually amazed at the improvement it gives you. The _first_ thing I suggest to newcomers is to buy a good preamp. Sadly, most are like I was, and stumble around for weeks or months worrying about other things before finally buying one. Congrats, and enjoy your preamp! 73, Jim KQ6EA
--- Bob Stewart bob@evoria.net wrote:
My new 70cm preamp came in today! I got the ARR mast-mount version. I wasn't sure I'd hear any improvement, but it's very noticeable. I was able to hear QSOs on SO-50 down to about 15 degrees tonight, whereas before, 20 was really stretching. I am using a turnstile in the attic with reflector elements at about 9.25" below the radiators. I can see that I'm eventually going to have to build more robust versions of my turnstiles and put them on top of the roof.
My power supply is a bit odd, so maybe someone will get a kick out of it. I have an Atlas 210X left over from years ago, and the PSU will power either of my bricks. The 210X slides into the PSU which an SO-239 on the back of it. In order to get the power up to the preamp, I added a fused switchbox and sent the power through that SO-239. This allowed me to just screw on a Radio Shack 50 ft length of RG-58 without having to cobble up a connector on the rig end.
Bob - AE6RV _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
73, Ed - KL7UW ====================================== BP40IQ 50-MHz - 10-GHz www.kl7uw.com 144-EME: FT-847, mgf-1801, 4x-xpol-20, 185w DUBUS Magazine USA Rep dubususa@hotmail.com ======================================