[amsat-bb] (no subject)

[Patrick McGrane]

I noticed some spots about satellite beams for fm birds.

After 2 years of trying different anrtennas etc, I now have my ideal setup. I tried 3 different homebrew beams. I learned that for a fixed elevation on azimuth rotator, the optimum beam was 7 elements at 10 degrees elevation with a DELTA match on the driven element.
I have great reception using a hamtronics preamp (lnk-450) on the shack end of a 15 foot run of 9913 coax. The reception is good to great from just a few degrees above the horizon up to the zenith or overhead.

I tried 8 elements with a gamma match but was too sharp with little overhead gain.
I tried a 7x7 cross yagi fixed at 20 dgrees with minimal success. The horizontally polarized 7 element delta match outperforms it vastly.
I'm guessing the delta match helps with the higher angles. ( Delta match looks like a triangle at the center of the driven element.)
Consult the antenna book by ARRL or search for information.

Photo of antennas at:      http://members.aceweb.com/n2oeq

Hope this helps someone.  73, pat