On Mon, Feb 7, 2011 at 10:38 PM, zach hillerson qstick333@yahoo.com wrote:

I am getting closer to putting my first satellite base station together (in lieu of the Arrow that I am currently using) and am giving serious consideration to a fixed 15* antenna setup such as the Gulf Alpha designs.  Having never mounted antennas, rotors etc... I am a bit concerned about my less than amazing mechanical aptitude and having to get cross-booms, Az/El rotors etc... working correctly.

Is anyone using SatPc32 to successfully control Azimuth only rotors?  If so, what is required to get everything working together?  I would still like to automate the rotor and doppler control if at all possible.

On a somewhat related note - is anyone else using a setup like this (fixed elevation) and if so, are you happy with the performance?

Thanks for any thoughts, I appreciate the input,

Zach KJ4ZVV

Zach --

As long as you keep the yagis reasonably low gain, and therefore a reasonably broad pattern in elevation, you will find that this is a very good -- some would say ideal -- setup for LEO work. Your text above says 'fixed 15* set-up", and I'm not sure if that fulfills the low gain requirement above. If you're worried about all the technical requirements, consider using an antenna rotor with a manual control. Again, if the beam is wide enough, you will be able to twiddle this easily, and the price is right for these units.

SatPC32 is indeed flexible enough to control az only, though the exact arrangement will depend on the rotors and their controllers.

73, Bruce VE9QRP