[amsat-bb] Newbie needs help with AO-40!!

["Thomas B. Turner Jr." <thomasturner@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Thanks for all the fast replies.

     On the 7th of Jan I had a low squint angle and a open sky to the sat. I
do have tree issues at some angles but not this night. I have a 1.3-1.5:1
swr in the shack on two different meters. I haven't checked it at the
antenna lately(1.5yrs) but I will when it quits raining. I will see how much
power I am getting to the antenna and relay that info. My receive ant is on
the ground and on the other side of the house from my tower that has my
other sat antennas so I should get no interference there.

    I should have made myself more clear about the polarity switch. I think
it is working properly because I can tell a huge difference on receive when
working the low satellites, and I could tell a difference on AO-40. When the
switch was off I couldn't hear myself at all. When I turned on the power to
the switch I could hear myself whistle, but just barely. It was my return
signal, by the way, because I could hear about a 1/2 second delay in my
whistle.

    I thought that I had heard reference to this Cushcraft before!! Just
some slight questions about how I liked it. You know people don't want to
criticize your equipment!! I still think this is my main problem, but I will
try to eliminate all other possibilities before scrapping the Cushcraft and
building/buying a new antenna for 70cm.

    This weekend (11th and 12th) are a couple of good passes for me and I
will try a IC 820H that I had when I first got started in sat work. I puts
out 30 watts.
    Gunther, I looked at your website and now my computer is not working
right. I drooled in the keyboard!!!!How does the 1.2gHz helix work for
uplink? I made a helix for my .75M offset dish for receiving and it was not
hard to make. I have considered using the 1.2gHz module in the TS-2000X for
uplink but with 150 ft. to the tower, not much would reach the antenna
without hard line and/or an amp at the tower. It only puts out 10 watts. How
effective do you think 9913 or LMR 400 with an amp at the tower would work
for 1.2gHz. I really don't want to use hard line if I can keep from it.
    Thanks again for all the support and encouragement. I live in rural east
Arkansas and hams that can help are non-existent.
    73  Thomas KA5YJJ

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