Message: 1 Date: Sun, 19 Feb 2017 01:29:59 +0000 (UTC) From: "Frank Staffa Jr." <kb2cwn@yahoo.com mailto:kb2cwn@yahoo.com> To: "amsat-bb@amsat.org mailto:amsat-bb@amsat.org" <amsat-bb@amsat.org mailto:amsat-bb@amsat.org> Subject: Re: [amsat-bb] (no subject) Message-ID: <481922136.333610.1487467799948@mail.yahoo.com mailto:481922136.333610.1487467799948@mail.yahoo.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8

Well, I have spent a good portion of the day trying to find preamps for my M2 leopack. I read that at the very least putting one on the 70cm antenna will help a lot with the receive. But, I just can not find any. Most of the names I came across must have went out of business because their website are no longer in existence. ?Any suggestions out their from you season operators out there? The ones that I got last post I couldn't find.?Thanks

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On Fri, Feb 17, 2017 at 3:17 PM, Frank Staffa Jr.<kb2cwn@yahoo.com mailto:kb2cwn@yahoo.com> wrote: Hello everyone. I just purchased a M2 leopack antenna system and I was reading about different coax cables to use for low loss. Since I am mounting the antenna only about 10 feet off the ground, 50 foot will be enough to go into the shack. I wanted to purchase RG8x but read that the best way to go is with LMR400. What I dislike about it is that its much wider and very stiff, and will make it difficult around bends. I also have the Az/alt rotator which I will have to loop each antenna to have enough for turns. Any other suggestions out there for an alternative to LMR-400?Thanks?Frank KB2CWN?

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Frank,

I went through the same thing you did. I am running a Kenwood TS-790 (so about 30 watts max) and have about 100 feet of feedline so I need preamps on both 2 meters and 70 cms. I looked and the recommendations you have already received are great but I ended up going with these:

http://vhfdesign.com/en/category/lna http://vhfdesign.com/en/category/lna

I found that they were less expensive that some of the others and they would handle my power requirements. They have RF protection but I think most folks would say that you still might need to use a sequencer or just an on/off switch depending on the band you are receiving on (that is the mechanism I went with- I just switch the transmit band preamp off (thus it is bypassed) using a simple switch in the shack). They would probably be fine for FM but for SSB it is not worth taking the chance (I switch them religiously). You could also use the simple sequencer they sell. That is my next project. I have been very pleased with them but have only had them in place for a few days. The company was very responsive to my questions via email and I was a bit of a pain when I bought them because they appear to be a new(ish) company. Good luck and have fun! Fred - KF4FC