+1 to Greg’s comment.If you can’t get into the birds with 10 watts (5 is more like it for most of them) you should probably take a good hard look at your rig.Running a portable setup will help make this point crystal clear.A directional antenna is the way to go- for the benefit of ALL users.NathanN5LEXOn Sunday, April 10, 2022, 6:52 PM, Greg D <ko6th.greg@gmail.com> wrote:
Agreed. My first contacts were all done with a copper pipe J-pole and a
whopping 10 watts for the uplink, received by a Radio Shack DX-440
receiver fed by a long wire strung out to a tree in the back yard.
Unfortunately, the wonderful RS "Easy Sats" are long gone now, but folks
do pretty well with a pair of HTs and an Arrow antenna. One gets a real
sense for antenna patterns and satellite spin when blessing the sky by
waving a hand-held antenna around. It's something one can never truly
get an appreciation for with an automated Az/El antenna system.
Greg KO6TH
Zach Metzinger wrote:
> On 4/10/22 11:04, Mark Johns, K0JM wrote:
>> Also, while linear antennas (horizontal or vertical) will provide
>> gain, they will also suffer from polarization fading as the
>> satellites tumble in space. Circular polarization, or the ability to
>> switch quickly between horizontal and vertical polarization, are much
>> preferred.
>
> That said, at least one operator has made solid contacts using only
> two "J-pole" type antennas, one each for VHF and UHF, on the XW and RS
> satellites. :-D
>
> Start out small and cheap, get your feet wet, then incrementally
> improve your setup. It'll be a lot of fun no matter what!
>
> --- Zach
> N0ZGO
>
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------
>
> Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
> to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership.
> Opinions expressed
> are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views
> of AMSAT-NA.
> Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at
> https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/
>
> View archives of this mailing list at
> https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org
> To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org
> Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at
> https://mailman.amsat.org
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/
View archives of this mailing list at
https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org
To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org
Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org
-----------------------------------------------------------
Sent via AMSAT-BB(a)amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available
to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed
are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA.
Acceptable Use and Privacy Policies available at https://www.amsat.org/about-amsat/
View archives of this mailing list at
https://mailman.amsat.org/hyperkitty/list/amsat-bb@amsat.org
To unsubscribe send an email to amsat-bb-leave(a)amsat.org
Manage all of your AMSAT-NA mailing list preferences at https://mailman.amsat.org