[amsat-bb] Re: Cheap CP 2.4 ghz antenna?

[John Melton]

Hi Greg,

I have used a quad patch Wi-Fi antenna, hand pointed, with great results 
  on AO-51 mode S.

-- John g0orx/n6lyt

On 10/18/09 23:12, Greg D. wrote:
> Hi folks,
> 
> So I have a pair of 14 dbi flat panel "Wi-Fi" antennas, complete with pigtail and N connector.  I assume they're linearly polarized.  Satellite downlinks really ought to be circular, if possible.
> 
> For satellite use, could I simply mount the two on my Az/El rotor boom, with one rotated 90-degrees from the other, and with a 1.23 inch shim behind it (for the 1/4 wave offset, if I did the math right), then combine the two antennas with a simple "T" connector?  The impedance would be wrong, but for Rx only, probably irrelevant.  I'd be feeding it into a Kuhne preamp, and from there to the Drake downconverter.
> 
> As a receive setup for the likes of AO-40, this probably wouldn't be all that good.  My 30" screened BBQ Grill with helix feed, after all, was barely up to the job.  But for AO-51's V/US mode, I'd think it would be fine, offer a whole lot less wind resistance, and weigh a whole lot less too.
> 
> Since AO-51's 2.4 ghz antenna is linearly polarized, it probably doesn't matter whether the result is left-hand or right-hand polarized, so it doesn't matter that I forget which "hand" rule to use for figuring it out...
> 
> I've also heard that these panel antennas may have great numerical gain, but also have a lot of loss (cheap PC board materials), so maybe this isn't too good of an idea.  What do you think?
> 
> Greg  KO6TH