Good evening,
Name here is Larry, N1MIW. I recently moved to a better (higher) QTH and finally got around to setting up the satellite station "almost" like it used to be, but am experiencing some reception difficulties on UHF. I'm hoping someone out here can help me diagnose what I'm doing wrong, or what the problem is. I am using a Yaesu FT-847 which is computer controlled, as well as the Yaesu G-5400 rotator. The antennas are mounted on a solid fiberglass mast only ~17 feet off the ground, and fed with LMR-400. The frequencies are correct for the satellite I want to use.
My problem is with the 436CP30 antenna. I cannot seem to find good results with it since my move - terrestrial or sat related. My SWR is around 1.5:1 at 435MHz, and the polarity switch is working. I tried changing feedlines and removing the pre-amp, but I still cannot seem to make it work correctly. I am trying to receive SO-50 D/L, and VO-52 U/L, but both are just not working like I remember it being before the move. I don't have any broken or mis-aligned elements (that I noticed - I'll look again). The only thing I was looking into was instead of having it placed on the boom in a "+" pattern was making it an "x" pattern - would that make a difference? I don't remember hearing or reading about that anywhere, so I was looking for your opinion.
On a side note, what's your opinion of this antenna? Like I said, I used to have good luck with it, but I'm not sure what's different, except the new home. Should I get "horizon" to "horizon" coverage (plus or minus a few degrees)? Oh, I also looped the coax off the back like the manual states, but the improvement is very minimal. I checked the "jumpers" at the tuning box, and they seem OK too.
I'm running out of ideas, and any guidance would be appreciated. Thanks & looking forward to working the birds again!
73's... Larry N1MIW