RE: [amsat-bb] 2.4GHz signal source

["Greg D." <ko6th_greg@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Brian,

50mw is awfully strong for antenna testing.  You generally want the weakest 
signal that you can receive, otherwise you'll have an overwhelmingly strong 
signal no matter which way you point the antenna.

The best signal source that I used for AO-40 antenna testing was simply a 
50mhz can-type crystal oscillator with a short piece of wire sticking up 
into the air from the output pin.  I eventually put it in a small metal box 
with a battery & 5v 3-pin regulator.  The 48th harmonic gets you to 2401 
mhz, +/- tolerance and temperature effects (not trivial when multiplied by 
48 times!), at about a billionth of a butterfly sneeze of power.  But that 
was more than enough for short range (10's of feet) testing, considering the 
real target will be 10's of thousands of miles away.

Greg  KO6TH






Hi.

In the AO40 days, seem so long ago, there where some 2.4GHz signal 
source/beacons around, both homebrew and pro made.
Now im looking for such a device, output should be about 50mW or so, but 
havent had much luck finding any.

I need a signal source to test some amsat and wlan antennas, so the freq 
should not be lower than 2.4GHz.

Could someone point me to a maker or maybe better some homebrew?

Regards
Brian
OZ1SKY ----
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