[amsat-bb] Re: New Preamp

[Jim Jerzycke <kq6ea@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Welcome to the wonderful world of mast-mounted
preamps! 90% of the people who get involved with
satellites (INCLUDING myself) think they don't *need*
a preamp. After doing all you can (better antenna,
lower loss feedline, etc) to get your receive setup
maxed out, you finally decide to "just try one; I can
always sell it on eBay", and are usually amazed at the
improvement it gives you.
The _first_ thing I suggest to newcomers is to buy a
good preamp. Sadly, most are like I was, and stumble
around for weeks or months worrying about other things
before finally buying one.
Congrats, and enjoy your preamp!
73, Jim  KQ6EA


--- Bob Stewart <bob@evoria.net> wrote:

> My new 70cm preamp came in today!  I got the ARR
> mast-mount
> version.  I wasn't sure I'd hear any improvement,
> but it's very
> noticeable.  I was able to hear QSOs on SO-50 down
> to about
> 15 degrees tonight, whereas before, 20 was really
> stretching.
> I am using a turnstile in the attic with reflector
> elements at about
> 9.25" below the radiators.  I can see that I'm
> eventually going to
> have to build more robust versions of my turnstiles
> and put them
> on top of the roof.
> 
> My power supply is a bit odd, so maybe someone will
> get a kick
> out of it.  I have an Atlas 210X left over from
> years ago, and
> the PSU will power either of my bricks.  The 210X
> slides into the
> PSU which an SO-239 on the back of it.  In order to
> get the power
> up to the preamp, I added a fused switchbox and sent
> the power 
> through that SO-239.  This allowed me to just screw
> on a Radio 
> Shack 50 ft length of RG-58 without having to cobble
> up a 
> connector on the rig end.
> 
> Bob - AE6RV
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