[amsat-bb] Re: Easy to make, low cost omni-directional antennae

[Jeff Mock]

Hi,

I'm new to satellite stuff and I had essentially the same requirements 
as you.  I live in a dense urban environment so I have more QRM problems 
than most, limited roof space, and I try to keep a low profile and not 
get the neighbors too excited.

I wound up purchasing two eggbeaters from M2, one for 70cm and one for 2m:
    http://www.m2inc.com/products/vhf/2m/eb144.html

They work well, they are well-built, and are great for AO-51, 
ISS-digital, and GO-32.  I also wound up getting an ARR masthead preamp 
for the 70cm eggbeater to compensate for my long feedline to the roof
    http://www.advancedreceiver.com/page10.html

To tell you the truth, the two eggbeaters are marginal for me working 
SO-50.  It is just above the noise and I don't feel like I hear it well 
enough to transmit.  If you want to listen for weak signals you might go 
straight to a directional setup with more gain.  I feel a rotator in my 
not-too-distant future...

Eggbeaters aren't terribly portable.  The copperweld loop is going to 
spring loose when you take it apart and poke someone in the eye, so I 
don't move them.  For portable I got and Arrow-II handheld 70cm/2m yagi. 
It's great fun and seems to be popular.  I used it with an old Icom-W32A 
HT on vacation and used it to work AO-51.  It breaks down really small, 
fits in a little bag, and I can put it together in less than 5-minutes:
    http://www.arrowantennas.com/146-437.html

jeff
AD6EO

Graeme Nelson wrote:
> Hi all,
> 
> I'm wanting to make an antenna for "talking with the birds", mainly ISS and 
> LEOs.  Thank you to Don ZL1THO and John KB2HSH for the suggestions and 
> encouragement they have already e-mailed me.
> 
> I have done some more thinking since then and come up with the following list 
> of criteria for the first antenna I make for satellite work:
> * easy to make
> * lost cost
> * omni-directional
> * good performance, especially for satellite work, without moving it
> * portable enough that I can pack it into the van when I go on holiday and it 
> won't take up much space (it needs to share the space with all the stuff for 
> my wife and 3 children, as well as me).  It would also be nice to be able to 
> store it in the corner of my office at work if I so desire.
> 
> When I started looking in earnest last Friday, a ham colleague of mine did a 
> Google search an came across a turnstile antenna that looked promising 
> (http://www.wb8erj.com/turnstile_antenna.htm).  That evening, I noticed the 
> eggbeater on the web site of John KB2HSH (http://kb2hsh.blogspot.com/), which 
> looks nice and easy to build.  I then did some searching and came upon the 
> Eggbeater II by Jerry K5OE (http://members.aol.com/k5oejerry/eggbeater2.htm), 
> arguably a better fixed antenna for satellite use than the original eggbeater. 
>   A while later, I also found the EZ-Lindenblad by Tony AA2TX 
> (http://www.arrl.org/qst/2007/08/monteiro.pdf).
> 
> I am currently leaning towards the EZ-Lindenblad (for 2m) and a parasitic 
> Lindenblad (for 70cm ... when I get hold of the design; I intend to e-mail 
> Tony about it if/when I go ahead with the EZ-Lindenblad).
> 
> How do these antennae compare performance-wise?  Am I leaning in the right 
> direction (EZ-Lindenblad), or should I be looking at something else?  Your 
> input would be much appreciated.
> 
> TTFN.,
> Graeme
> ZL2GDN
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