[amsat-bb] Re: AO-51 mode V/S

[Patrick STODDARD (WD9EWK/VA7EWK)]

Hi Jess!

> Did anyone have a problem with the 145.88 uplink last week?  For
> some reason the uplink wiped out my downlink. I had not had the
> problem before. I probably am the only one it affected since I have
> a different down converter set up than most. I use one of K5GNA
> converters with the original LO crystal. I convert the 123.2 Mhz IF to
> 29.2 Mhz. I have examined all the obvious harmonic/image/IF
> combinations but haven't hit on anything I think should be a problem.

I was able to get on Saturday evening (early Sunday, UTC), and had
mixed results.  Using the TranSystem dipole/corner reflector on my
downconverter (K5GNA-modified AIDC3731), it worked great.  Even on
a 12-degree eastern pass.  When I went to the N connector on the
downconverter and used a "Cantenna" WiFi antenna, I'd wipe out my
IF receiver when transmitting.

>From the downconverter, my coax to my power injector and from there
to the receiver is RG6, to an F-to-BNC adapter for my IF receiver (AOR
AR8200Mk2B handheld wide-band all-mode receiver).  I've used other
WiFi antennas before with better results, but those were mounted directly
on the N connector and had no coax run before the downconverter.

I was able to make 3 QSOs on an eastern pass and 1 on a western pass
that evening, not bad for a portable station without computer control for
anything.  With the exception of using the AOR receiver instead of my
(now former) VX-2R, this was the same setup I have used in the past and
wrote about in a 2006 AMSAT Journal article.  Someday, I'll try this out
with a computer-controlled station...   :-)

Next time the S-band transmitter is on, I have a few other antennas
I'd like to try.  Maybe I need to reduce, eliminate, or change the
coax from the other WiFi antennas if I plan on using them with the
downconverter.

73!



Patrick WD9EWK/VA7EWK
http://www.wd9ewk.net/