To determine if an LNA will help, I'd try listening to a few passes using a short run of coax (<10 feet) right at the antenna if it's on a balcony. Drag a laptop and the SDRplay up there. If you get significantly better reception, then yes, an LNA will help.
Reducing noise sources is always something that should be done, but if you're in a city, realistically you probably won't make a huge dent without turning off almost everything in the house.
And if you have the room to build a bigger yagi, that will always help too.
73,
Paul, N8HM
On Sat, Jan 11, 2020 at 9:45 PM Chris Prosser via AMSAT-BB [email protected] wrote:
Hi Folks,
I would love your opinion on my next steps.
I've been slowly putting together a station. I finally got it operational and I'm having a really hard time hearing anything other than morse code off satellites (mainly the XW birds). I can pick up some voices from the linear transponder, but it's too buried in noise for me to make out.
Key Facts:
- For an antenna I'm using a yagi I built from "Cheap Antennas for the AMSAT LEO's Kent Britain -- WA5VJB"
- fixed elevation of 15% on a rotator.
- 50 feet of LMR-400 (in 30/10/10 segments) running from my shack on the first floor up to the 3rd floor balcony where the antenna is.
- UHF Connectors
- SDRPlay RSPdx for receive.
- no common mode chokes on either end of the transmission line
- Live in north seattle, so bunch of noise already
- ton of computer equipment in my shack with more switching power supplies than I can count.
- LED lights, though I think I already sleuthed out the really bad ones.
So...what are people's thoughts? Would an LNA help drown out the noise in my house and compensate for cable loss? Or should I start by doing the lengthy process of finding and ameliorating as many noise sources as I can first?
Thanks, Chris -- Chris Prosser [email protected] _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. 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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb