[amsat-bb] Re: Gulf Alpha antenna

[Bruce Robertson]

On Mon, May 25, 2009 at 9:18 AM,  <vk5alx at amsat.org> wrote:
> I   use  a  homebrew 2x5 on a 2 metre long boom and it works very well
> with all current sats.
> 73s, Alex VK5ALX
>
>>One of the other questions I have, "2m Satellite 2x5 does it have enough
>>gain to work the birds?
>>
>> 73,
>> Norman.
>
>>73's Jan - PE0SAT

I've been experimenting with extremely cheap antennas and mast-mounted
preamps. In a relatively radio-quiet environment, I can use a wire
dipole on 2m -- directly attached to the preamp -- and hear VO-52 from
about 5 degrees above the horizon. AO-7 is quite copyable, too.

The 2x5 of course has much better directionality, which will improve
gain, and the circular polarization, which should reduce fading.

My point is two-fold. First, Alex, make the preamp your first
purchase, not the beam. (Perhaps that's already your plan.) Second,
you might enjoy playing around with a very simple antenna with the
preamp first, before adding the complexity of steering a rotor through
a pass. I'm certainly not advocating that people do without beams: I
have a set of home-brews that are about 6 elements, and I've done most
of my work with them. I just think there is a cheaper, easier, first
step.

73,
Bruce VE9QRP