On 07/22/20 09:51, Diane Bruce via AMSAT-BB wrote:
here that want something more than that. We enjoy the challenge. It's what drew us to this side of the hobby in the first place. Why can't we do
Yes! It's what got me on the sats in the first place.
I'll echo this sentiment.
In my case, building equipment is my primary focus and adds to my operating enjoyment. My most recent homebrew equipment includes a 3D printed 70cm-band passive Lindenblad antenna, previously mentioned on this list, and a complementary LNA built from scratch using a MAX2640 device. The latter has taken 11 years to realize, based on the date I put on the PCB silkscreen. :-)
The 3D printed antenna spreader is being written up now and will be submitted to the Journal, with the STL and OpenSCAD source files available for anyone to use/enhance under a BSD-like license.
I completely understand that some amateurs will focus on the operational aspects of the hobby and have little to no interest in designing/building hardware. We need this segment of our demographic, just as much as we need the builders.
It is my hope that more operators discover the enjoyment of building, and that we have more VHF/UHF/microwave homebrew hardware operating on the ground with satellites. It isn't necessary to have the latest multi-kilo-buck touch-screen one-box-does-everything rig to work the satellites.
It's also my hope that I find some time to work a few of you, now that I have a workable antenna setup. ;-)
--- Zach N0ZGO