AMSAT-BB:
I am a relatively new ham (1.5 months) and I have caught the satellite bug. I own a Kenwood TH-D72A which from reading this list and some others is a great little HT to operate satellites.
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do.
I have read about the Arrow Antenna:
http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html
My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-)
Can folks suggest a portable setup that could work with my HT? Or are my expectations too high?
73
-aps (KC2ZSX)
The Arrow antenna will be a good choice. The very first contact I made after receiving my Arrow antenna was with Col. Doug Wheelock aboard the ISS on July 14, 2010. I was using a Kenwood Th-F6a HT @ 5w output with my new Arrow II. The Arrow is not the only choice, but I think many will agree that it is a good choice for portable operations. Welcome to the wonderful world of amateur satellite communications!
Chuck, KM9U
----- Original Message ----- From: "Alexander Sack" [email protected] To: [email protected] Sent: Wednesday, May 04, 2011 22:27 Subject: [amsat-bb] Portable satellite antenna
AMSAT-BB:
I am a relatively new ham (1.5 months) and I have caught the satellite bug. I own a Kenwood TH-D72A which from reading this list and some others is a great little HT to operate satellites.
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do.
I have read about the Arrow Antenna:
http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html
My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-)
Can folks suggest a portable setup that could work with my HT? Or are my expectations too high?
73
-aps (KC2ZSX) _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do. My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-) I own a Kenwood TH-D72A
Walk outside during a pass. Have the radio configured and working for normal APRS. Then just change from 144.39 (APRS) to 145.825 and you should see everything from the ISS. No need for anything other than the rubber duck antenna.
You can confirm the ISS is in APRS mode by checking the age of packets on this site: www.ariss.net. As of right now, it appears the packets are less than an hour old, so clearly the ISS APRS downlink is on and working.
You can try to send a few packets, but with the rubber-duck you won't make it in. With a full sized 19" whip you can make it (but only if you have the uplink all to yourself). Of course, the arrow antenna should do it fine. But there are two other approaches.
1) A simple dipole held horizontal 18" above a ground plane of some kind. Chicken wire, rabbit fencing, should be about 4' square or so. This should give you about 5 dBi gain. Then you should be able to get in during the center 2 minutes of the overhead pass each day.
2) Use the same ground plane above, and install a 58" vertical whip antenna on it. That antenna will give almost 7 dBi gain when the ISS is above 30 degrees (center 2 minutes of an overhead pass).
When you TX and see the radio flash "MY POSITION", then you know you got in and everyone else saw you too. Or send an email to yourself using the APRS message feature.
Good luck! Bob, WB4aPR
Back when I used to get on the ISS APRS all I used was a j-pole antenna. It might not be the best but I never had a problem getting in.
73 Matt W5LL
On 5/5/2011 7:06 AM, Bob Bruninga wrote:
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do. My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-) I own a Kenwood TH-D72A
Walk outside during a pass. Have the radio configured and working for normal APRS. Then just change from 144.39 (APRS) to 145.825 and you should see everything from the ISS. No need for anything other than the rubber duck antenna.
You can confirm the ISS is in APRS mode by checking the age of packets on this site: www.ariss.net. As of right now, it appears the packets are less than an hour old, so clearly the ISS APRS downlink is on and working.
You can try to send a few packets, but with the rubber-duck you won't make it in. With a full sized 19" whip you can make it (but only if you have the uplink all to yourself). Of course, the arrow antenna should do it fine. But there are two other approaches.
- A simple dipole held horizontal 18" above a ground plane of some kind.
Chicken wire, rabbit fencing, should be about 4' square or so. This should give you about 5 dBi gain. Then you should be able to get in during the center 2 minutes of the overhead pass each day.
- Use the same ground plane above, and install a 58" vertical whip antenna
on it. That antenna will give almost 7 dBi gain when the ISS is above 30 degrees (center 2 minutes of an overhead pass).
When you TX and see the radio flash "MY POSITION", then you know you got in and everyone else saw you too. Or send an email to yourself using the APRS message feature.
Good luck! Bob, WB4aPR
Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 9:16 AM, Matt Patterson [email protected] wrote:
Back when I used to get on the ISS APRS all I used was a j-pole antenna. It might not be the best but I never had a problem getting in.
Thanks Matt. Good to know.
If anyone has a used Arrow II with duplexer, I'd be interested in buying it (contact me off list).
73
-aps
On Thu, May 5, 2011 at 8:06 AM, Bob Bruninga [email protected] wrote:
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do. My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-) I own a Kenwood TH-D72A
Walk outside during a pass. Have the radio configured and working for normal APRS. Then just change from 144.39 (APRS) to 145.825 and you should see everything from the ISS. No need for anything other than the rubber duck antenna.
You can confirm the ISS is in APRS mode by checking the age of packets on this site: www.ariss.net. As of right now, it appears the packets are less than an hour old, so clearly the ISS APRS downlink is on and working.
You can try to send a few packets, but with the rubber-duck you won't make it in. With a full sized 19" whip you can make it (but only if you have the uplink all to yourself). Of course, the arrow antenna should do it fine. But there are two other approaches.
- A simple dipole held horizontal 18" above a ground plane of some kind.
Chicken wire, rabbit fencing, should be about 4' square or so. This should give you about 5 dBi gain. Then you should be able to get in during the center 2 minutes of the overhead pass each day.
- Use the same ground plane above, and install a 58" vertical whip antenna
on it. That antenna will give almost 7 dBi gain when the ISS is above 30 degrees (center 2 minutes of an overhead pass).
When you TX and see the radio flash "MY POSITION", then you know you got in and everyone else saw you too. Or send an email to yourself using the APRS message feature.
Good luck! Bob, WB4aPR
Bob, Everyone:
Thanks for the advice. I think I am going to try exactly what you describe with respect to receiving APRS packets from the ISS. Then if that goes well I will most likely get a portable Arrow.
I do use for HF a Buddipole - I am pretty sure I could make a vertical with enough gain to accomplish bullet item #2 above. However, its less maneuverable for manually tracking a satellite.
73
-aps
Hi
Here is a video of me using my Arrow with AO-51.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1HfvmU_utI8
Randy K7AGE
On Wed, May 4, 2011 at 7:27 PM, Alexander Sack [email protected] wrote:
AMSAT-BB:
I am a relatively new ham (1.5 months) and I have caught the satellite bug. I own a Kenwood TH-D72A which from reading this list and some others is a great little HT to operate satellites.
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do.
I have read about the Arrow Antenna:
http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html
My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-)
Can folks suggest a portable setup that could work with my HT? Or are my expectations too high?
73
-aps (KC2ZSX) _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
Alexander,
Your expectations are not high at all.
If you don't mind homebrewing, Kent Britain WA5VJB, has plans for an easy to build (as evidenced by the fact that I built one) dual band yagi go says tha works great. Cost me under $20.00 in parts and a few hours of time.
Go here for the plans: http://www.wa5vjb.com/references/Cheap%20Antennas-LEOs.pdf
73
Sent from my iPod Rick Tejera Editor, SACnews Saguaro Astronomy Club www.saguaroastro.org K7TEJ
On May 4, 2011, at 19:27, Alexander Sack [email protected] wrote:
AMSAT-BB:
I am a relatively new ham (1.5 months) and I have caught the satellite bug. I own a Kenwood TH-D72A which from reading this list and some others is a great little HT to operate satellites.
The issue is an antenna. I live in an antenna restricted area so I am not sure what to do.
I have read about the Arrow Antenna:
http://www.arrowantennas.com/arrowii/146-437.html
My goal is to work minimally the ISS! :-)
Can folks suggest a portable setup that could work with my HT? Or are my expectations too high?
73
-aps (KC2ZSX) _______________________________________________ Sent via [email protected]. Opinions expressed are those of the author. Not an AMSAT-NA member? Join now to support the amateur satellite program! Subscription settings: http://amsat.org/mailman/listinfo/amsat-bb
participants (6)
-
Alexander Sack -
Bob Bruninga -
KM9U -
Matt Patterson -
Randy Hall -
Rick Tejera