[amsat-bb] Re: Frustration

[Gordon JC Pearce]

Michael Tondee wrote:
> I've been trying to get my receive setup going the last few days but I'm 
> having horrible results. I have my 11 element 70cm "cheap yagi" back up 
> on the mast and my homebrew SaebrTrack and OR-360  AZ/EL TV rotator 
> system interfaced to SatPC32

Simplify.  An 11-element yagi is very very pointy.  Everything would 
need to be absolutely bob on to even be looking *near* the satellite.

Make yourself a K5OE handi-tenna - nice little three-element Yagi, great 
for portable operation.  Work out where the satellite will "rise" and 
"set" and when, and tune manually for Doppler.  Wait for a good high 
pass, and start about 10kHz high.  Most FM radios tune in a minimum of 
5kHz steps, so you've got only a couple of "notches" to try.  The little 
three-element Yagi has a very broad beam, so you don't have to be *too* 
accurate.

Gordon MM0YEQ