Hi all... my 2 cents...

Lots of sites for DIY signal sources such as http://ve2zaz.net/SigSourc/SigSourc.htm

I have the K5GNA Gardiner signal source and find it too strong. You sure can tell whether your system is on or off. But when in comes to building your own 2.4 helix or patch antennae I can't attenuate enough and have the source and antenna within my house. Gardiner might be great at 1 km :-) I can check my roof top down converter and helix 30 feet directly above my basement shack with the Gardiner. The signal is directly into the side of the helix and fully quiets the 2M receiver. But in my house that signal is everywhere... bouncing of off ducting, freezers, wash machines and who knows what else.

To fine tune and compare various tweaks of a DIY projects to a known source, and in a known direction, I like a real weak source. Nothing like finding out that you made a helix or a patch that receives best when aimed 20 degrees off target :-) and somehow you have a humongous null in the middle. Fortunately I have an old PC that has a real nice weak signal near 144 MHz after down converting. So my in-house, basement antenna range, is now about 10 meters long and the bounced signals and lobes of any design are almost too weak to monitor.

-----Original Message----- From: amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org [mailto:amsat-bb-bounces@amsat.org] On Behalf Of Rm2642@aol.com Sent: May 13, 2008 10:54 AM To: amsat-bb@amsat.org Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: AO-51 mode V/S

Unfortunately, I had no success with the AO-51 V/S mode this past week.

Before the next V/S mode operation comes around, I want to double check performance of my antenna and downconverter. Some of the folks in the UK had these items available during AO-40 days but don't think they're available today, such as:

_http://www.uk.amsat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25... d= 86_ (http://www.uk.amsat.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=25... d=86)

I've seen Bob's K5GNA 2.4GHz Source on eBay with the: _http://cgi.ebay.com/2-4-GHz-SIGNAL-SOURCE-GARDINER-TYPE-LO2398-AMSAT_W0QQit em Z110251114382QQcmdZViewItem_ (http://cgi.ebay.com/2-4-GHz-SIGNAL-SOURCE-GARDINER-TYPE-LO2398-AMSAT_W0QQit emZ110251114382QQcmdZViewItem)

Are there other small modular type 2.4Ghz Sources out there that I can use to verify downlink setup?

Thanks, Ron N6PAA

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