This is what makes this aspect of the hobby so incredibly exciting: SUCCESS can be achieved with antennas ranging from the $30 Pryme AL-800 or $25 Smiley 270A ... to handheld $15 home-made tape measure beams ... to beams made out of barbed wire or old umbrellas ... to the commercial units and elevation rotators.
I lost track of how many successful satellite contacts Alan N5AFV has made with "merely" his Icom IC-W32a and AL-800 antenna - last time I checked with him, it was MORE THAN 9,000.
SO ... please do not think you need to spend hundreds of dollars to work LEOs!
Clint Bradford K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com
Clint is correct - simple antennas work.
Current N5AFV totals with Icom W32A HT and: AL800 9,605 ctx MFJ-1717 115 ctx RD-98 15 ctx Total 9,735 ctx
At 03:01 PM 3/8/2015, Clint Bradford wrote:
This is what makes this aspect of the hobby so incredibly exciting: SUCCESS can be achieved with antennas ranging from the $30 Pryme AL-800 or $25 Smiley 270A ... to handheld $15 home-made tape measure beams ... to beams made out of barbed wire or old umbrellas ... to the commercial units and elevation rotators.
I lost track of how many successful satellite contacts Alan N5AFV has made with "merely" his Icom IC-W32a and AL-800 antenna - last time I checked with him, it was MORE THAN 9,000.
SO ... please do not think you need to spend hundreds of dollars to work LEOs!
Clint Bradford K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Allen,
Of those 9735 QSOs, how many of those were made on SO-50 compared to AO-27, AO-51, and other satellites with stronger downlinks?
Thanks, and 73!
Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK http://www.wd9ewk.net/
On Sunday, March 8, 2015, Allen F. Mattis afmattis@hal-pc.org wrote:
Current N5AFV totals with Icom W32A HT and: AL800 9,605 ctx MFJ-1717 115 ctx RD-98 15 ctx Total 9,735 ctx
Yes,
and so do the circular polarized, switchable, mast mounted rotor and computer controlled systems with automatic doppler control, SDR based waterfall displays etc etc etc.
It is not what is better, or cheaper or simpler or bigger or whatever. This is about another great fundraising opportunity for AMSAT and I hope they sell lots of them.
73, Stefan VE4NSA
On Sun, Mar 8, 2015 at 4:08 PM, Allen F. Mattis afmattis@hal-pc.org wrote:
Clint is correct - simple antennas work.
Current N5AFV totals with Icom W32A HT and: AL800 9,605 ctx MFJ-1717 115 ctx RD-98 15 ctx Total 9,735 ctx
At 03:01 PM 3/8/2015, Clint Bradford wrote:
This is what makes this aspect of the hobby so incredibly exciting: SUCCESS can be achieved with antennas ranging from the $30 Pryme AL-800 or $25 Smiley 270A ... to handheld $15 home-made tape measure beams ... to beams made out of barbed wire or old umbrellas ... to the commercial units and elevation rotators.
I lost track of how many successful satellite contacts Alan N5AFV has made with "merely" his Icom IC-W32a and AL-800 antenna - last time I checked with him, it was MORE THAN 9,000.
SO ... please do not think you need to spend hundreds of dollars to work LEOs!
Clint Bradford K6LCS http://www.work-sat.com
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. AMSAT-NA makes this open forum available to all interested persons worldwide without requiring membership. Opinions expressed are solely those of the author, and do not reflect the official views of AMSAT-NA. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (4)
-
Allen F. Mattis -
Clint Bradford -
Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK) -
Stefan Wagener