<"Louder" is more S-meter bars, or audibly louder?> <Is the horizon, for you, over a relatively unpopulated area? Do you live in a more populated area?> Audibly much louder at or near the horizon. I have never checked the S-meter while transmitting, but relied on what I hear in my earphones. Actually, on the D72, the S-meter only operates on receive and displays the power level on transmit, so it won't tell me what I need to know. Not super populated and I roam a lot and notice the same thing happening no matter where I go-as long as I have a pretty good view of the horizon. Brad Smith KC9UQR
Hi Brad, There is one more thing that may be causing this as an indirect effect. It is related to the way we have to twist the beams to match the phase of the signals.
At very low angles the phase is mostly vertical doesn't seem to change and the signal is consistent. Whereas on higher ones the beams have to be turned VERY OFTEN to keep up with the rapid phase changes.
There have been discussions on this BB and in articles about why this happens but as a net effect the downlink sounds pretty bad on very high passes. It sounds great for a second and becomes pure noise the next second. I hope this is what you are referring to. In contrast, when using a RHCP antenna, the signal is strongest at higher elevations, as it should logically be. Unfortunately RHCP antennas are surely not meant for hand held operation. ( as a side note, I'd like to add that I'm thrilled to get 6 of 9 bars from a tiny satellite that is 2000 miles away, Wow !) 73! Umesh, k6vug
On Friday, July 26, 2019, 4:03:14 PM PDT, Brad Smith via AMSAT-BB amsat-bb@amsat.org wrote:
<"Louder" is more S-meter bars, or audibly louder?> <Is the horizon, for you, over a relatively unpopulated area? Do you live in a more populated area?> Audibly much louder at or near the horizon. I have never checked the S-meter while transmitting, but relied on what I hear in my earphones. Actually, on the D72, the S-meter only operates on receive and displays the power level on transmit, so it won't tell me what I need to know. Not super populated and I roam a lot and notice the same thing happening no matter where I go-as long as I have a pretty good view of the horizon. Brad Smith KC9UQR
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