Eric,
I don't have any experience with that transverter board, or with transverters generally. If you can get the 70cm board to operate at 435-438 MHz, it could be useful for satellite work even at 3 to 4 watts. I regularly work the SSB transponders with a 5W FT-817ND as part of my portable station. If you could get that transverter up toward 4W, it could work as an alternative to a radio like an FT-817ND.
For my portable work, I use short coax runs - 10 feet between antenna (Elk 2m/70cm log periodic) and a 2m/70cm diplexer, and 3-foot runs from the band ports on the diplexer to my transmitter and receiver. Longer coax runs may not be the best for that 3-4W output, and could also require the use of a preamplifier on receive.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/ Twitter: @WD9EWK
On Sun, Jan 31, 2016 at 6:46 PM, Eric Wolak ag6ie@wolak.net wrote:
Hi folks,
I'm trying to get on the air with the linear transponder satellites, and it looks like I need 70cm SSB capability to really get on the air. My Icom IC-796MkII can do SSB on 2m, but not 70cm, so I'm trying to find an affordable way to get 70cm SSB transmit.
Does anybody have experience with these $100 transverter boards from Ukraine? It looks like they're tuned for the weak-signal/SSB end of the band and might require a bit of work to get up to 435MHz for satellites. Is 3-4W enough to be heard?