I echo your approach, Curt.
I'm primarily a terrestrial narrowband operator. No beams. 8x halos on 2 meters. 4x halos on 6 meters. No rotators, no complexity. However...I live in a rural area with very little band noise.
My suburban brothers need beams to null out broadband noise sources, birdies, etc.
Ev, W2EV
On Friday, July 17, 2020, 6:57:58 PM EDT, Curt Laumann via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
Hi Dave,
We have a similar situation at the University of Arizona: we are also moving towards remote control. Even before the campus virus shutdown elevated the priority of remote operation, I concluded that a directional satellite system is not optimal for K7UAZ -- given the consistent scarcity of volunteer labor available to maintain a directional antenna system. This fall K7UAZ will be migrating to a set of omni, circularly polarized antennas with preamplifiers. Not that controlling az/el rotors is overly complicated, but this change does help make remote operation even easier.
Regards,
Curt / K7ZOO K7UAZ Station Manager
On Fri, Jul 17, 2020 at 12:09 PM David J. Schmocker via AMSAT-BB < amsat-bb@amsat.org> wrote:
Hello,
Does anyone have a detailed system diagram (or interconnect drawing) showing how they have remoted a satellite station please? Specifically which parts of the system require IP-addressable power on/off, etc.
I am in the process of constructing a new satellite station for U/V linear use at Milwaukee Area Technical College (where I teach). Our Data Communication and Networking class introduces satellite technology which I plan to demonstrate live.
Because the hours of access to the building are limited, and because we teach Data Communication and Networking from two campuses (but have Satellite station at only one), remoting this station would be desirable.
I have an APC IP-addressable power strip (117vac) and some power relays if we need 220vac switched, an IC-9700, two high-power switchable LNAs (2m and 70cm), antennas (20 element RHCP for 2m and 16 Turn G3RUH Helix for 70cm), and a Yaesu 5500 rotor with Green Heron Az/El controller (I'll bring Heliax from home to get to the rooftop). Hopefully our city campus location is not overly noisy. I plan to construct the HEO-ready station as soon as I can be back on campus to do this.
One specific area of concern: how to pass audio over internet. I've heard Skype and some other vehicles have problematic latency but I have yet to remote any station to use 'near real-time audio' for CW or SSB QSOs so I lack experience with this. The satellite computer (controlling antennas and managing Doppler) is a Mac mini running MacLoggerDX and MacDoppler software.
If helpful, I have two surplus new Raspberry Pi 3s (new and unused) that could be repurposed for part of this if helpful.
You'll be happy to know I've been reading the mail and I know to first listen and test so we Tx with minimum power. But as a satellite newby, I'm sure I'll need abundant guidance when we get QRV.
Any detailed system diagrams (could be off-list directly to me) showing how you built and configured such a remote station satellite system would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you
very 73,
Dave KJ9I KD9BOG (at work)
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_______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@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. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: https://www.amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb