Re: [amsat-bb] Cushcraft dualband on satellites

["John P. Toscano" <tosca005@xxxxxxxxxx>]

John Geiger (NE0P) wrote:
> Does anyone on the list have experience using the Cushcraft A27010-S dualband yagi on satellite operations?  This is the 5 elements on each band version.  I am wondering how well the 5 elements on 70cm would hear the downlinks on FO29/AO51/SO50 and how it would do with 50 watts on the uplinks for AO7/VO52.  I would be mounting this antenna horizontal, with no elevation. 

I have a low opinion of this antenna.  I added one to my tower, mounted 
with vertical polarization, for better range on FM, to complement my far 
superior horizontally-polarized single-band antennas for those two 
bands, and to complement my Cushcraft ARX-270N vertical omni.

For terrestrial work, the ARX-270N is superior in most cases to the 
short beam.  About the only thing that the beam does for me is to allow 
me to point away from a noise source, but it doesn't seem to have even 
as much gain as the omni vertical.

I can't say I've tried it on satellites, but in addition to what I 
perceive as poor basic performance, I would worry about the desense 
problem with both antennas so close together.  I have a moderate problem 
with desense/noise in mode VU with antennas that are 4 feet apart, and 
even moving them 6 feet apart (as I did with my Field Day setup), helped 
out quite a bit.  So I extrapolate (yeah, that's dangerous) that moving 
them 1.5 inches apart would be bad.

FWIW, the good news is that the forward pattern is broad enough that 
pointing is not critical.

And BTW, I'm *NOT* just a Cushcraft-basher, even though I am very much 
more fond of M-squared antennas.  I've made nearly all of my satellite 
contacts and nearly all of my contest contacts below 450 MHz on 
Cushcraft antennas.  But not that one.

73 de W0JT
Amsat Life Member #2292
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