Hi James,
I used my Down East Microwave 5.760 transverter. This is the system I use terrestrially. It uses a 2M (144 MHz) IF. The antenna is a 2 ft dish with Directive Systems feed.
What I did was simply hook my Funcube Dongle to the IF port of the transverter and set it for 224 MHz (5.84 - 5.76 = .08 MHz -- so 144 + 80 = 224)
I did test the system at 5.84 GHz with a signal source and saw the output was down about 15 dB from 5.76 GHz, but I figured "close enough" for a try.
It worked! I just received my FITSAT-1 NIWAKA SWL card for 5.84 GHz in the mail.
I have not tried to decode data. That is a whole other game. They are transmitting at 115k2 baud.
I have added a preamp to my system and tests show it makes up for most of the losses I incur going up in frequency. So I'm hoping to try receiving again.
The attempt will have to be set up with the FITSAT command team as the 5.84 G downlink is only turned on when the satellite is in a particular orientation based on the position of the receiving ground station. It is on for just 2 minutes.
Also, be aware that the doppler can be pretty severe - it was over 100 kHz during the pass I heard.
Mike, N1JEZ AMSAT 29649
--- 73, Mike, N1JEZ "A closed mouth gathers no feet"
On Wed, 19 Dec 2012 14:23:32 -0600, James Luhn wrote:
I am looking for some information on how to receive 5.8GHz. What devices are used to receive this frequency? I have the capability to receive up to 2.4GHz but I am not sure what is available to receive data on 5.8GHz.
As always, thanks a million for everyone's support.
73, -james W5AOO