Hi Tom
As a reasonably long time licensed ham (40 years), but very new to satellites, I would like to ask the brain trust whether CP antennas are really needed. I am ready to buy a set, but in poking around the net, I found this exchange by Mike , K6MYC, about not using CP antennas:
Look at http://www.qth.com/ka9fox/ant-nest.txt
Look towards the bottom, and Mike's replies are in caps.
I do not have the real estate for separate 144/432 antennas for terrestrial and sat. I have the az/el rotors.
So whats the thought on this? Should I just go with a pair of H-pol beams and leave well enough alone, or should I go with the CP antennas?
I may have misubderstood, but it looks like Mike is saying use two stacked yagis in the same linear polarisation instead of one CP antenna.
My practical experiences don't agree with Mike's.
Having polarisation switching on LEOs in my opinion is worth several dB more than doubling your boom length or stacking.
If I had a pair of linear yagis and did not want to go CP, I would mount them orthogonally and switch between them during the pass to avoid nulls.
73, Howard G6LVB