I want to thank you all for your support and input. I am building my downlink now and should be testing it on sunday. Once i know i can hear, i will build the uplink....now all i need is a sat ready radio. I am only able to work fm at the moment.
This is a great group of users and i am very glad to have found you.
Cheers!
Steve KI6OQU
Steve (and the list):
I can add another data-point for you, as I'm playing with minimal antennas while rebuilding my station. My latest toy is a simple three-wire groundplane for 70cm made of #10 electrical wire soldered directly to a male N-connector. This connector is plugged into one side of an all-weather switching low-noise preamp, and both are in the hay-loft of a barn, up about 12' from ground, but with wood, roofing and hay all around. The preamp is connected to the radio by 100' of LMR-400 coax.
This has been in place for only 24h or so, but I've listened to a 33 deg. pass of FO-29 and some cubesats with quite decent success. The telemetry of FO-29 (100mw) was audible always; after about 15 deg. I could comfortably hear a SSB conversation on that bird. SO-50 was not quite as successful, but I have a TS-2000 so it's sometimes hard to get a bead on that bird.
Of course, without the preamp, nada, nothing.
Sometimes I worry that we purchase complex and expensive antennas with preamps and never fully explore the potential of preamps with very simple, and inexpensive, antennas. This isn't to say that I'm leaving this g/p as my only antenna, but it provides a simple, cheap and effective first step and helpful baseline from which to compare improvements.
I also think it might be a good way to get people into this branch of the ham hobby. And in that spirit, about a year ago, I posted a video of a FT-817 receiving a cubesat beacon with a directly-attached 1/4w groundplane:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1251407580465862002
73, Bruce VE9QRP
On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Alan P. Biddle APBIDDLE@united.net wrote:
Steve,
Once i know i can hear, i will build the uplink
Would that everybody else followed your wise approach! ;)
Alan WA4SCA
Bruce is right about the preamp! When I started I wasn't using a preamp, and wondered why, with good antennas and low-loss feedline, I just couldn't hear things as well as I expected. After buying my preamps, it was a totally different experience! You MUST have enough receive gain to hear the birds or you're just spinning your wheels! I've since helped several other newcomers who were skeptical of the need for a preamp until I took one of mine over to their shack, installed it, and powered it up. The look on people's face when they hear the difference it makes is amazing. 73, Jim KQ6EA
--- On Sat, 4/11/09, Bruce Robertson ve9qrp@gmail.com wrote:
From: Bruce Robertson ve9qrp@gmail.com Subject: [amsat-bb] Re: Egg Beater To: "Steve Bluemel" stevebluemel@gmail.com Cc: AMSAT-BB@amsat.org Date: Saturday, April 11, 2009, 11:54 AM Steve (and the list):
I can add another data-point for you, as I'm playing with minimal antennas while rebuilding my station. My latest toy is a simple three-wire groundplane for 70cm made of #10 electrical wire soldered directly to a male N-connector. This connector is plugged into one side of an all-weather switching low-noise preamp, and both are in the hay-loft of a barn, up about 12' from ground, but with wood, roofing and hay all around. The preamp is connected to the radio by 100' of LMR-400 coax.
This has been in place for only 24h or so, but I've listened to a 33 deg. pass of FO-29 and some cubesats with quite decent success. The telemetry of FO-29 (100mw) was audible always; after about 15 deg. I could comfortably hear a SSB conversation on that bird. SO-50 was not quite as successful, but I have a TS-2000 so it's sometimes hard to get a bead on that bird.
Of course, without the preamp, nada, nothing.
Sometimes I worry that we purchase complex and expensive antennas with preamps and never fully explore the potential of preamps with very simple, and inexpensive, antennas. This isn't to say that I'm leaving this g/p as my only antenna, but it provides a simple, cheap and effective first step and helpful baseline from which to compare improvements.
I also think it might be a good way to get people into this branch of the ham hobby. And in that spirit, about a year ago, I posted a video of a FT-817 receiving a cubesat beacon with a directly-attached 1/4w groundplane:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=1251407580465862002
73, Bruce VE9QRP
On Sat, Apr 11, 2009 at 1:30 PM, Alan P. Biddle APBIDDLE@united.net wrote:
Steve,
Once i know i can hear, i will build the uplink
Would that everybody else followed your wise approach!
;)
Alan WA4SCA
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
participants (4)
-
Alan P. Biddle -
Bruce Robertson -
Jim Jerzycke -
Steve Bluemel