Hi Jess!
Did anyone have a problem with the 145.88 uplink last week? For some reason the uplink wiped out my downlink. I had not had the problem before. I probably am the only one it affected since I have a different down converter set up than most. I use one of K5GNA converters with the original LO crystal. I convert the 123.2 Mhz IF to 29.2 Mhz. I have examined all the obvious harmonic/image/IF combinations but haven't hit on anything I think should be a problem.
I was able to get on Saturday evening (early Sunday, UTC), and had mixed results. Using the TranSystem dipole/corner reflector on my downconverter (K5GNA-modified AIDC3731), it worked great. Even on a 12-degree eastern pass. When I went to the N connector on the downconverter and used a "Cantenna" WiFi antenna, I'd wipe out my IF receiver when transmitting.
From the downconverter, my coax to my power injector and from there
to the receiver is RG6, to an F-to-BNC adapter for my IF receiver (AOR AR8200Mk2B handheld wide-band all-mode receiver). I've used other WiFi antennas before with better results, but those were mounted directly on the N connector and had no coax run before the downconverter.
I was able to make 3 QSOs on an eastern pass and 1 on a western pass that evening, not bad for a portable station without computer control for anything. With the exception of using the AOR receiver instead of my (now former) VX-2R, this was the same setup I have used in the past and wrote about in a 2006 AMSAT Journal article. Someday, I'll try this out with a computer-controlled station... :-)
Next time the S-band transmitter is on, I have a few other antennas I'd like to try. Maybe I need to reduce, eliminate, or change the coax from the other WiFi antennas if I plan on using them with the downconverter.
73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/