Has anyone had success getting into VO52 using a vertical, omnidirectional antenna on the uplink. I have a nice M2 2M9SSB for 2m but only have a dualband J pole to cover UHF with and wonder if I could get into VO52 with it for my uplink antenna.
73s John AA5JG
I have had some success with vertical monobanders on all of the birds including VO-52 and A0-7. I use a Ringo Ranger II on two meters and a 1/4 wave homebrew two meter groundplane for 70cm, which makes it 3 waves long for 70cm. The main disadvantage I run into is that two different antennas located at different locations on the house here cause dissimilar tracking of the birds.
Remember, a vertical antenna with gain will cause your angle of radiation to be lower than a simple 1/4 wave for that particular frequency. I find that with the Ringo my best angle is about 15 - 50 degrees. The 1/4 wave 2 meter used on 70 cm is a bit better. It is difficult to work AO-7 with this arrangement but is doable.
Some day I'll get my arrays back in the air (down since the storms of '04').
Reid, W4UPD Amsat #17002
On 6/9/2011 12:35 PM, John Geiger wrote:
Has anyone had success getting into VO52 using a vertical, omnidirectional antenna on the uplink. I have a nice M2 2M9SSB for 2m but only have a dualband J pole to cover UHF with and wonder if I could get into VO52 with it for my uplink antenna.
73s John AA5JG _______________________________________________ Sent via AMSAT-BB@amsat.org. 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
As I currently live in an antenna-restricted subdivision, I have been experimenting with low-profile antennas for a couple of years now. My experience has been that verticals are "iffy" for a couple of reasons: not enough gain at low elevations when the path is longest, a deep null above 40 degrees or so, and fades due to polarization mis-matches. That being said, I seem to do alright on VO-52 right now with a 1/4 wave UHF groundplane on the uplink and a well-hidden 2-meter Eggbeater on the downlink, at elevations between about 20 and 40 degrees.
I am in the process of building a turnstile for 437, which I hope will improve both my uplink on VO-52 as well as my downlink on all the other birds.
George, KA3HSW
----- Original Message ----
From: John Geiger aa5jg@fidmail.com To: AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org Sent: Thu, June 9, 2011 11:35:50 AM Subject: [amsat-bb] VO52 and verticals
Has anyone had success getting into VO52 using a vertical, omnidirectional antenna on the uplink. I have a nice M2 2M9SSB for 2m but only have a dualband J pole to cover UHF with and wonder if I could get into VO52 with it for my uplink antenna.
73s John AA5JG
At 02:35 AM 6/10/2011, John Geiger wrote:
Has anyone had success getting into VO52 using a vertical, omnidirectional antenna on the uplink. I have a nice M2 2M9SSB for 2m but only have a dualband J pole to cover UHF with and wonder if I could get into VO52 with it for my uplink antenna.
I have tried, but wasn't confident enough with my downlink signal strength to attempt a QSO on SSB.
73 de VK3JED / VK3IRL http://vkradio.com
participants (4)
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George Henry -
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Tony Langdon -
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