Re: [amsat-bb] Leo Class stations (Antenna Options)

[Stan <stan@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello Steve,

A few suggestions:

What $ budget  have you thought of ?

Think of satellite equipment infrastructure in the long term.
What bands will I need for satellite work, Start off with 2M and 70 cm 
then add 1269, 2401, 10, 451, 24,048..... 5668,   47,048
Better to have more antenna gain than too little, same with RF power, 
you can always back of RF power as needed.
Az and EL positioners allow remote positioning on the tower. Computer 
autotracking  allows more focus on operating the radio and logging.
Elevation on a tower allows greater (cleaner) access to the horizon at 
AOS and LOS for the long haul satellite DX.

When properly installed and with a minimum of maintenance, Your 
satellite system can be ready for any satellite operation.

I currently use: KLM 22 el xpol on 2M, CC 38 el xpol on 70 cm, 2x M2 35 
el yagis vert stacked for 1269/1296,
Andrews gridded dish for 2401 MHz, Yaesu G5400B az/el positioner, 
LabJack with NOVA for autotracking,
Mast mounted preamplifiers for 2M and 70cm, Landwehr, 1296, SSB 
electronics and DEMI 2401 = 145.0 RX only downconverter .
All on 40' of ROHN 25 guyed once.

Think about the infrastructure and the long term satellite capabilities.

P.S. You can always use the equipment for terrestrial QSOs , too.

Stan, WA1ECF   LM496




Steve O'Neal wrote:

>All
>
>Wondering what folks are using now days for a LEO class station in terms of
>antennas?
>
>I was QRV on Uo and Ko back in the 90's from VK land and found traditional
>verticals lacking, went to a Cushcraft set of crossed Yagi's which worked
>much better, but require a lot of manual intervention during a pass. Extra
>gain in the TX (uplink) section helped overcome the uplink desense over
>population centers by the way, I had the sats to myself for early parts of
>the pass coming in from the North over Darwin.
>
>Opinions on an optimum (not really) set of antennas for LEOS would be
>appreciated. Of course big crossed Yagis are one obvious answer, what is a
>simpler approach (that works) HI.
>
>Steve
>N6CRR/VK8SO
>
>
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>


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