Hello Reid: If you don’t mind experimenting, connect one of these 2.4G MMDS grid antennas
http://www.amazon.com/2-4GHz-24dBi-Outdoor-Antenna-Cable/dp/B001J1Y7IA/ref=c...
to the downconverter taken from this antenna
http://cgi.ebay.com/Yagi-MMDS-ITFS-AFN-High-Gain-Antenna-Downconverter-Used-... The downconverter IF output is given at 222-408 MHz. The noise figure which isn’t all that great is listed as < 2dBi. I use a grid antenna because it has much less wind load than the solid surface of a TV dish.
For my S Band downlink, I use the AIDC 3731 downconverter tuned to the 2M band. For test tuning purposes, I built one of these 2.4GHz source oscillators to locate the 2M IF output from the downconverter.
http://ve2zaz.net/SigSourc/SigSourc.htm
DC power to the downconverter is explained here for a Bias T.
http://www.hamtv.com/pdffiles/biasT.pdf Finally, if you want Doppler frequency control, a program called SATPC32 explains how to write the Doppler.SQF file based on the downconverter Local Oscillator offset frequency. You can expect others with better suggestions. But, the above detail works well for me. Squelch quieting for AO-51 V/S band downlink often pushes the S meter full scale (there are also deep fades with AO-51). 73, Ron n6paa