hello,

I have a beginner question. I am in the process of setting up my first satellite station. My initial investment is minimal and I have chosen to start out with a pair of 2m and 70cm omni antennas on the roof. To help out a bit I am also adding a mast mount preamp on each antenna. To protect the preamps they will be switched out of line by a RF sense switch (one for each amp). For reference the two preamps and the pair of RF switches are all made by Ramsey (I know there are better preamps, but not available in my current budget). I am keeping this initial adventure limited to the LEOs (and ISS, etc.).

_The question: _ When I assemble the RF switches I must choose a RF range for the switch to work within. The range is determined by the choice of a specific resistor. The default three ranges suggested are 0-10 watts, 10-30 watts, and 30-100 watts. I would be able to change the range later but it would require removing the unit from the mast.

So... not having any experience (yet),_ what uplink power range is recommend for non-gain antennas?_ Is there one range that should cover the LEOs? If not, how much should I expect the required uplink power needs to vary across various satellites? Is it different for each band? I have read that it is always best to never be louder than the beacon and that's fine. I'm just needing to know where to start off my hardware choices.

Thanks in advance for any help from you folks with the know-how. I look forward to a qso with you.

.paul ac0z